Steel and Mana

Chapter 14 – Foundation

While the works were underway, Sasha being the carrier of the building blocks between the two sites, I took Oleg and some soldiers up the mountains. Now, it was time to get water flowing to where I wanted. Not even Oleg's complaints could hold me back this time. Following the clues on the rocks left behind by the snow and ice, I could easily infer where to look for our underground spring. It turned out I wasn't wrong as only on the second day I found a cave where I could hear water rushing after ten minutes of exploring.

"Gods above!" Oleg exclaimed as he followed me with a torch, finding it hard to squeeze through the openings with his huge body… but he was right.

What we saw was mesmerizing. It was just as beautiful as my first glimpse at this world: an enormous cavern with flowing water coming from above, rolling down in a hidden riverbed inside the mountain, rushing forward, heading into a hole, disappearing to who knows where. It was like a scenery out of some movies from my time… like an ancient cave of dwarfs. I just hoped some Balrog wouldn't show up, killing us prematurely.

"Perfect!" I clapped, feeling happy but also careful not to slip. "Watch out, as it's not just cold here; everything is wet! You fell into the river, and you will be gone! No coming back from that!" I warned the rest while finding a place to stick my torch. Besides our fire, a low, pale blue light came from some kind of moss on the walls. I wasn't a biologist, but I was sure it wasn't something we had in my world.

"Be careful, Young Lord!" Oleg warned me while I lowered myself, lying on my stomach, and got close to the river bank and put my hand into the fast-flowing body of water.

"Woah! Chilly!"

Scooping out a handful, I tasted it, and even though water doesn't really have a taste, it was the tastiest water I ever tried! Hell, it was more refreshing than any energy drink I had while studying!

"Perfect!" I backed off, standing up and looking at the rest. "We will mark it! First, we must widen the opening so workers can come in! We will open up a new channel to the river that will lead to the outside and tunnel it down to our city!"

"Young Lord, cutting through the mountain will not be easy! It is extremely sturdy!"

"I know, but it is a must! Plus, it's only the cave's opening! After I get my workers who are precise enough, I will start on the foundation of the city. What iron tools do we need will be imported for now… But building an advanced blacksmith's workshop will be easy after water flows towards where we want it. I can build a kiln, and we can start producing our own iron tools!"

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Winter was coming just when we were finishing up the foundations. It was also the first time I could prove to my parents that my formula was right and produced the empire's secret formula... cement. I laid down the first blocks myself as my people began to use the stones and my cement to build the base of my city… mainly the future sewers and pipes! Of course, cutting out round rocks was hard, so I opted to work smart, not hard. We used big blocks that we drilled a hole into. It was much easier that way, and we just laid things down like playing Lego. Although, they didn't get my reference when it slipped out loud from my mouth. Oh well! They couldn't understand why this was important, and when finished, they asked why we buried them? It would have been too much to explain, so I just smiled, saying they will see it next year.

This winter, beasts attacked once again. I brought Sasha along, heading to the walls so she could witness it, and something interesting happened. The beasts noticed her very quickly and stopped attacking. Like they were afraid of her presence. This made me sure that they had something magical in their blood… probably in their meat, too. No wonder my dad and his soldiers grew this big! Eating magical beast meat!

"Don't eat them." I blurted out, looking at Sasha, who was thoroughly confused.

"Why? They are juicy and tasted good when you gave me some…"

"Yeah, but I think it's what makes my dad and the soldiers this bulky… If you start looking like a wrestler, I ain't touching you!"

"Who would want you to touch them?!" She flared up, almost screaming, drawing the nearby soldier's attention.

"You, of course," I replied with a shrug.

"It is you who love to touch! Always climbing on me while we sleep! You are heavy, you know!"

"No, I'm not." I rolled my eyes, "You could push me off any time, yet you don't. If you dislike it, you are free to leave my room any time."

"Hmph!"

"Exactly." I concluded, grabbing her waist, "I remember someone caressing my hair this morning."

"You were up?!" She yelped, but before we could continue, my Father's loud snort interrupted us.

"Now the prey has gone! Tsk! Go back to your rooms and produce a grandson already instead of screwing US over, son!"

Well… that made Sasha blush to a color that was similar to my hair. But Dad was right… so I led her away. We needed a grandson… khm; I mean, if Sasha's presence alone stops a beast from coming near us, how will we replenish our spent resources?

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"Will this work?" She asked, looking at my blueprints in our room the same night. She was wearing a puffy, thick robe while I knew she had nothing under it… which did make my imagination wiggle a little.

"Yep!" I answered, finishing washing my face in a bowl, wearing only a towel around my waist. By now, she was somewhat used to it, even though she did complain about it on the walls. Mainly because others were around us. When we were alone, she was much more… accepting. Was it because she was timid?

"We will run these pipes down from the mountain?" She asked again, finding it inconceivable.

"They are called aqueducts. Until better options surface, these will do! You will be surprised how effective they are! If done right, they will be there even after 2000 years! While I oversee the building of those, you will work with others on this!" I explained, walking next to her and hugging her waist, which, this time, didn't result in her complaining.

"The big one?" She picked up another blueprint, looking at it. By now, she could read it fluently and understand the numbers placed on it.

"Yep! That will be the main castellum!"

"Distribution tank."

"Exactly!" I giggled, slipping my hand down onto her buttocks. No resistance… Nice!

"Water will gather there, and with the pipes connected to it, it will be sent through them…"

"Yep! With this, the city will always have running water! In every home! Want to take a bath? Open it, and water will flow! Fountains, decorative trees, and flowers, everything is possible! It will be nice, sweet-smelling, and-"

"And stop groping my ass!" She moaned, pulling away as I was leaning very close to her neck, breathing down on it. Bummer. "I can't focus like this! I don't want to mess it up, so teach me instead of fondling me, you perv!"

"Okay, okay!" I answered with a chuckle, sitting down with her and explaining how it would actually work. Not just to her… but throughout the upcoming days, I also taught the selected few we invited to the castle for the winter break.

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The moment winter was over, I led our people out. To my surprise, the moment it happened, another group was waiting for me, asking me to join up with us. Looking around, I realized we essentially tripled our workforce. I hoped some new faces would show up this spring, and it did happen! With more people, I could accelerate things… I delegated them under Sasha, so she should be their overseer and make sure they work as intended. Their first job was to clean away the building site while Oleg brought the others to the mine, which had already expanded to double its original size. When Sasha ran out of materials to build with, she could go and pick up the next batch at the mine and bring it away. Easy-peasy!

If everything goes as planned, I will be able to finish the aqueducts by summer and connect it to the piping. I would do a test run to see how the water flows before we close it down for now. Hopefully, all will go without major issues, and I can start building the first part of the city… Or more precisely, the inner city with my own palace! Aaaand with some surrounding buildings, made out of stone for the most talented people we have. I can't just build my own as it would make me look horrible… maybe even make them think it was all for my own place, and they will have nothing.

Of course, only some of the city would be built of stone. I want variety, so I have already made plans and decided to mix a little bit of Asian and Roman architecture. My own palace will be such a mix, using stone blocks for the base and a wall surrounding it, while the actual building atop it will be built of wood, copying my knowledge about the Forbidden City in my memories. The most genius thing is they made it without nails… so I won't need to waste iron on it either!

My only wish was now that I would have at least ten Sasha with me… The fact that with her around me, I could carve my perfected formation into anything and turn it weightless was a godsend. It made handling the materials extremely easy, and one man could raise any blocks above his head and place them down where we needed them. Maybe they built the pyramids with magic? I was honestly considering it…

"Young Lord!"

It was Oleg's shout that knocked me out of my things, and I saw him and Sasha run towards me, looking panicked. Not good…

"What happened?" I asked with worry.

"To the mines! Quick!" He said, almost pulling me away while Sasha grabbed onto my other hand.

"What the hell happened?!" I asked again, now with a raised voice.

"A witch! Another witch!" She exclaimed, and I managed to kick out my own leg; if not for them, I would have landed face-first on the ground.

"What?! Are you sure?!"

"Yes!" Sasha nodded rapidly, "She is young! Before I had a chance to activate the formations, she went close, and it… came to life! She is a witch!"

"Now… isn't that interesting?" I whispered, my excitement going through the roof, and soon, I was the one who was dragging them along to meet her.