Building Blocks

Back in Redgate, Mikax and the rest were working diligently. It had been a few days since the young ladies were leaving the capital. In that time, the area around the Valedge Inn had changed drastically. It was easy for Mr. Akkar to buy up the buildings that surrounded the Inn. Mikax had given him hundreds of gold coins.

Mikax had begun doing the demo work himself, he wanted to keep the material in the best shape possible. They had hired carpenters to use the material to build housing just outside of town for those who were living on the street or had fallen on hard times. This would give The Misfit Toys an even better local reputation. Right now this was the only place they were and they needed the people of Redgate to support them so they could be open about its members.

They had easily recruited the blacksmith Braka, he was only considered a contracted member so they hadn't revealed everything just yet. They had sent him to the other towns nearby to recruit more blacksmiths. Mikax didn't doubt in his mind they would all come running, he had given Braka some Star metal to show off.

Starmetal was only near level 125 which was high for this world but he assumed the amount here on Bedel was low. During an event in E2, there was an almost apocalyptic event that involved meteors pelting the planet for nearly a week. In the aftermath Mikax had been a part of the cleanup and pocketed an extremely large amount of it into his storage space, because of this he had promised to pay the blacksmiths that joined them in Starmetal.

The Misfits that were in town worked diligently day in and day out. By the time everyone had come back Mikax had fully torn down 6 buildings on the block. The area was hardly recognizable anymore, the only building left standing was the Valedge Inn. Orion and Lyra stood in the bar area feeling sentimental. They had spent over 10 years here as a married couple working almost daily. It would feel weird to lose it once it was replaced but they knew it was for a better future.

"It's time, we have enough blacksmiths in town currently to start our work. Is there anything about this place you'd like us to recreate?" Mikax asked the couple who had been there with him since his first day.

They looked at each other before shaking their heads, they knew it was time to start fresh. They were betting their future on The Misfit Toys.

Mikax went to meet with the blacksmiths that crowded into Braka's forging area. There were far too many people to work efficiently so they were all confused why he had called so many of them here. They were worried they would get a lesser cut of the metal that had been flaunted in their faces.

"We are in a hurry. I plan to have you all working in shifts so that no one is overworked, everyone has a fair chance to profit, and we complete our goals." Mikax pulled out a parchment revealing what he wanted the men to mass produce. Anyone from Earth would immediately associate the image with a certain brand of children's building block.

Mikax didn't pretend to be smarter than he was. He had no idea how to build a fully metal structure with the technology they had. What he was sure they could do was find a way to mass-produce metal bricks that interlocked with each other, he would then use higher-level magic to weld the blocks together.

Everyone was confused as to why he would need these and why he would need so many. Mikax didn't care if they didn't understand now, they certainly would when he was finished.

Mikax began to produce stacks of Dakrine ore. He chose this metal because it was the only ore other than Starmetal he had a surplus of. Not only that it was found on the bodies of level 200 golems on E2 which made it extremely durable and far beyond anyone currently on Bedel. This created a unique problem that took Mikax almost all week to solve.

He was fully capable of creating a flame hot enough to melt the metal down but no one else was. He also needed to be careful because the flames that could melt this metal could also melt just about everything else in the room, including the people. Mikax spent all of his free time rummaging through his storage space until he found a way to rig a makeshift furnace.

By combining multiple ice-based runes with the random pieces of max-level crafting equipment he had picked up, he had found a way to stabilize a small hellflame inside of a beaker and on top of a mortar. These two pieces could resist the flame itself but no one could touch it and the heat it gave off was so intense even Mikax struggled to stay conscious. After rigging up the ice runes all around it they had managed to concentrate the heat directly out of the top. This allowed a worker time to melt down the ore to be refined before being exposed to the heat for too long.

As they saw Mikax and Braka setting up and demonstrating the process they finally understood the unique reason Mikax had requested so many of them. They estimated even with the numbers they had it would take them nearly a month to complete everything with everyone working 24/7. Once they had been shown everything they needed to know they drew lots to break up into teams and shifts before getting to work.

Over the next few days, Kydorzia and Arlyne had returned to Redgate. They were amazed at the progress that everyone had made. Everyone working diligently was sure a sight to see.

The Misfit Toys had been gathering their blocks near the old layout of the buildings. Mikax was currently working with Braka to lay a metal foundation to build upon. It was Braka's job to mold it while Mikax helped melt the metal.

Once they had finished it was time to start the real work. This time they needed to be extremely precise. Just like when he chose the people to found the guild with, the foundation of the building was equally important. Crowds had begun to form daily to watch the work. No one had seen anything like this before.

Over the next couple of weeks, the walls of a massive metallic building had slowly formed. As the walls formed Eura had been summoned to assist with some of the interior walls. Braka was chosen as Mikax's test subject to gauge the reaction of the town to the demons. After introducing himself to the blacksmith, everyone was surprised to see Braka faint like a woman in an old-time movie, complete with his hand to his forehead and all. Mikax moved to catch him with a sigh. He was not expecting such a manly looking man to be so much trouble. They had prepared for anger not drama.

After Braka had woken up he was surprised to see all of the people that had joined The Misfit Toys sitting around joking and talking with each other as if Eura was just any other person. He had no idea what to do, he was worried they would silence him if he didn't respond properly.

"Believe it or not every single person sitting there reacted the same way, Eura included when I waltzed into his life, even if he won't admit it." A voice quietly spoke behind Braka, by now he easily recognized it as Mikax. He took a deep breath and gulped, it was as if death himself had appeared.

"I know it's hard to understand but humans and demons aren't all that different once you get passed how they look." Mikax continued talking, Braka was afraid to even move. "You don't have to accept him. We won't even stop you from telling the world at this point." Braka didn't believe this last statement he wasn't going to test it though.

Mikax stood up and walked back towards the group. They all had gotten used to Mikax randomly disappearing and reappearing nearby using his high agility. Braka saw Eura stand and approach him. Out of instinct he had tried to back away some. Eura removed his sheath from his belt and placed down his sword on the ground, everyone was watching the exchange with bated breath.

"I'm not going to hurt you", the former Demon Lord put his hands out facing up in front of him in a welcoming manor. He sat down in front of Braka, "like I said earlier before you had fallen, I am Eura."

"B-b-Braka." The blacksmith was scared stiff.

With as welcoming of a smile he could muster Eura continued to talk to Braka, "you at one point might have had to be afraid of me but as a member of The Misfit Toys we have different goals. We want to see everyone prosper and have a home. Mikax asked me to talk to you personally to see if you would join us as the official blacksmith of the guild."

Braka didn't know what to say, on one hand he wanted to run and never come back, on the other he knew that whoever took that position would have Mikax's pouches at their disposal which had god knows what rare materials.

"You don't have to make a choice now. You're having a lot of things thrown at you. We believe you'll be a very valuable asset to our team so I hope you join." Eura stood up and finished his short talk with Braka. He had led before so he knew that pushing the man might get him to agree but it would not be fair or what was best for The Misfit Toys. Before leaving Braka alone completely, Eura got him a mug of mead before bowing and taking his leave.

Braka sat in silence for a long time. He didn't know what to believe anymore. No one said it to him directly but the likelihood that Eura was that demon was high. With Mikax involved he would say it was an absolute certainty. It had been over a month since Mikax had arrived so word had spread of what happened in the King's throne room and the would be robber.

The last few weeks Braka had gotten to know almost everyone who was laughing and joking in the guild building and he got along well with them. He admired Mikax for being creative and at the same time admitting his short comings. Could he accept a demon as a comrade? This, Braka wasn't sure of.