Raze ~ 11!

~ Eleven ~

“Now I’m wondering where our guild got that blueprint that they had me use to build that building.” Joe mumbled to himself. “It was already on a magical blueprint, and I feel like that isn’t something they just found. Hmm.”

“Joe!” Poppy snapped his fingers in front of Joe and made the man jump. This resulted in a backflip and stylish landing, but it was still unwelcome. “What did you want to show us before we left the city? Having all these people around me all the time is not comfy. I feel like there have to be at least a few dozen people in here that are leveling up thieving skills, and I want to be gone before they practice on me.”

“Right, sorry! We are almost there, promise!” Joe smiled and sped up, finding that the crowd thinned as they got closer to the guard’s areas. Maybe Poppy had a point about thieves…? Joe walked over to the Captains area and knocked on the door. It took a long moment, but then the door popped open and a surprised face poked out. 

“Joe? What is it? Is everything okay?” The Captain was concerned seeing a group waiting for him.

“Nothing new, Dad!” Joe responded with wide arms. “I just wanted to play catch with you, get a few hugs, maybe talk about when the wedding will be!”

Captain Blas went pale, and he started looking for an exit or a weapon to fend off the crazy man at his house. Joe chuckled and dropped his arms. “Just kidding. I wanted to ask permission to scan a barracks. I have a new spell that will allow me to make a copy of a building’s blueprints, and we need sleeping areas pretty badly.”

The Captain dropped his arms and heaved a sigh of relief. “I can't see that being an issue, but I’ll come with just to halt any issues. This is a safe process?”

“Pretty sure.” Joe promised, getting a look in return.

“Then I’m definitely coming along.” Blas shut the door and followed them to a barracks, watching in fascination as Joe had his now-grumbling team stand around him in an odd spacing; the four of them in a square around where Joe stood in the center.

Joe pulled out a circular metal disk, the only magical blueprint he had managed to create, and a mid-grade rare Core. “Alright everyone, I made this ritual ahead of time so we could save some time here. You all ready? Here we go!”

He put a touch of mana into the disk to activate it, and lines of power wrapped around he and his team. Four magical circles appeared around them, but in a moment two of the circles lifted off and joined together in midair. Then, those two went to the building and ran along the walls and seemed to swallow the entire structure. The power contained in the rings made it seem like the building was going to be burnt to a crisp, but there was no damage done as the rings drifted away from the barracks. The rings flew in front of Joe and shrank down and down… then into the blueprint paper he had supplied.

The paper shifted back and forth like a bear scratching its back on a tree, then settled onto Joe’s open palm. He looked around, noting that his team was on the ground panting. His own mana had touched zero a couple times, but he had come prepared. Joe stored the empty mana potion bottle in his ring, hoping that he would be able to get some other use out of it later. 

“Good job, everyone. We got the blueprint of a Common-ranked barracks, and this means we can get the people relying on us a whole lot of sleeping space.” Joe pulled Bard to his feet, and the thick man swatted his hands away with a grumble. “Thank you all for your help, and yes, I am working on a way to keep you from having to do this again.”

Blas looked at the barracks and saw no damage, so he waved the group away and went off to do his own thing. Joe smiled as he looked at the barracks ritual diagram, and his team all started walking back to the square to teleport to the guild area again. Alexis caught her breath and looked at Joe critically. “No armor?”

“No, but this gives me fifteen percent increased mana regen.” Joe informed her. “That means that I can keep going in battle a lot longer, and just get my shield back if it goes down. It also self-cleans and repairs over time.”

“Hmm.” Alexis kept walking, but Joe couldn't tell if she was approving or annoyed by his choices.

They teleported back to the demolished area the guild now owned, and split up to take care of personal things before heading out. Joe went to find Aten, hoping to get some good brownie points in before asking for the next few things that he was going to need on his journey. After waiting in the line for a short while, he got into the main area where both Aten and Mike were slumped over their desks. Both were trying to focus on what was happening; both were trying to read the next thing that needed to be signed. Joe felt pity for them in that moment, but hardened his mindset. There was a reason he hadn't wanted to start his own guild.

Joe slapped his hand on the desk and both men jolted back. “Hey, guys! Listen, if you have the resources for it, I can get together with your people and get a barracks set up now. I'm gonna need a lot of help, but we can get a few hundred people into shelter tonight if we work fast.”

“Bed?” Mike blearily called out.

“Mike, he’s… Joe.” Aten shook his head and giggled. “That’s not bed.”

“Wow, you guys need sleep.” Joe got the men on their feet and pulled them toward the quartermaster. “Here is a list, you need to get all these resources to wherever you want this monstrosity to go. Hop to it, people want a bed.”

Aten made motions at the quartermaster, who nodded and got a few teams of people running supplies. Massive amounts of strength or access to spatial storage devices made quick work of the needed components, and the man pulled a Core out of a small vault and handed it to Joe with a frown. That was the real downside to this ritual. A Core to get the blueprint, a Core to build the building. Still, in terms of convenience, it was the best possible trade that could be made.

Joe followed the others to where the barracks would be built, and a town planner had already zoned off an area. There were a lot of tents that had been in the area, but since it was only late afternoon they were largely unoccupied. Joe looked around at the gathering crowd and had an idea, “I need volunteers to help with a spell! Ten minutes of work, and you get a spot in the building that’ll be built here!”

There were enough takers that Joe felt excited about his chances at keeping some mana. Twenty-nine people in total stood where Joe had directed them, and as he looked around for others, he saw Bard and Alexis laughing at the people that had stepped up. Hopefully no one would notice them. “Here we go!”

Joe held out the ritual that had inscribed itself on the blueprint, feeding mana into it and feeling the Core in his hand begin to drain. Since rituals cost sixty-seven percent less for him - thanks to his ritual magic skill - he only lost about a third of the Core, and could make two more buildings if he needed to do so! Fun! The group of almost thirty lifted into the air on bands of power. The stacks of building material below them started to float alongside them, and then tiny bolts of power began dripping off the ritual and onto the material like rain falling on a wreck.

The wood, stone, and metals began to arrange themselves, looking for all the world like a building being blown up; in slow motion, and in reverse. The building ‘toppled’ upward, the roof being built first, then the interior from the top down. Joe laughed when he saw that happen, it reminded him of old engineering jokes. As the foundation of the building settled in place, the group arrived on the ground with a swirl of air that tossed the surrounding dust and dirt into the air.

Ritual Blueprint loses 1 point of durability! Uses remaining: ⅘

What? Did that mean that he could reuse this same ritual diagram four more times? It… yes, it looked like he could! Was that because he created the ritual by using a ritual? When he altered a blueprint directly, did that make it single use? 

Joe started to congratulate the others, then realized that most of them were unconscious. Then he realized that the majority of them were fighter classes, and he had just forcefully unlocked their magic for them. Oops. Joe walked over to Aten and slapped him on the side. “Hey, Aten, all done here buddy! Listen, there are a few things that I am going to need for my trip, and I was hoping you could help me out. Here’s a list.”

The two of them started to walk back to Aten’s office, but Joe paused and smiled brightly at Mike. “Hey! Mike!”

“Yes, Joe?” Mike looked away from the immaculate new building and at the Rituarchitect.

Joe pointed upward, at the roof of the building. “This one has shingles.”