Work Begins, A Pleasant Surprise

Instead of clearing up their thoughts, Kirou's words only drove the group into further confusion. Seeing this reaction, Kirou had no choice but to explain his plans to them thoroughly.

"This entire area, from the cliff over there to roughly five meters deep into the treeline next to us is considered my private property. And this doesn't mean just the surface here or the underground cavern either, but everything in between as well. With that thought in mind, I want you guys to secure the first layer below us first before we truly get started on developing above ground. The reason for this stems from the fact that I don't plan on making a large settlement above ground where we'll have to constantly cut down the forest, which would come back to bite us in the form of a monster stampede. If something like that happens here, we'd be up sh*t creek without a paddle to save us, since this area is a literal cliff."

As Kirou spoke, he took out a random leather book and pencil from his inventory and started to draw out both a horizontal and a vertical map view of his entire property. Once he was done with his quick sketches, he gave it to Jackson and the others to see what they had to work with, giving everyone a genuine surprise. That surprise stemmed from the fact that Kirou's property covered a very large area and practically came with its own pier in the basement.

Kirou waited for everyone to get a glimpse of both sketches before clearing his throat, attracting everyone's attention. Now that he had it, he spoke up in a casual tone, "As you can see from the sketches, I've got plenty of space to work with so I'd like to impart a section of it to you and anyone else that decides to settle down in my domain. As for the rest of the area beyond the first layer, I plan to develop it slowly over a period of time when both the manpower and resources to do so are acquired."

Having said his piece to the group that now looked at him in worship, Kirou took back the leather book that he allowed to be passed around before. Upon receiving the book, Kirou sketched another map of his domain, this time adding a bit of detail to its design. These bits of details included the various ways in which Kirou wanted to segregate the total space from the cliff he was currently standing on to the underground cavern.

Along with a few bits and pieces added here and there, the final sketch was complete, showing the area being segregated into six layers, seven if you count the surface. Besides the first floor and part of the second floor that Kirou left blank, leaving their fates up to the various NPCs that he eventually anticipated flocking to his domain, the other five and a half floors had a proper design applied for the allocated space. This had taken Kirou a bit over half an hour of constant drawing, along with quite a few pages of work, so after he was done, he passed over the book once more and took a seat.

Although it was only the design for the first floor or lack of it that concerned everyone present, along with the path that would lead directly to the underground cavern, everyone present still looked over the designs for the other floors. To say that they were in awe would be a complete understatement but it was truly the only thing that could describe their current state. This was especially so for the two elves since they were apart of a gaming studio that had their hands on many blueprints.

As everyone was busy looking over his sketches, Kirou entered a meditative state and tried to connect with his shadow clones still in the underground cavern. That was easier said than done as there seemed to be something preventing his mind from extending too far from his body. Kirou repeated this over a dozen times before finally giving up due to exhausting his mental energy. This forced Kirou to spend a few more minutes to recuperate, following which he stood up, attracting everyone's attention.

Seeing that everyone was now staring at him, Kirou retrieved the leather book with his designs and spoke up in a casual tone, "Ok, ladies and gents. I believe it's time that we got started. This isn't a project that can be done in just a day so we better get started now if we wanna secure a place for you guys early. For now, I'll help out in providing you guys a starting place but you'll have to properly dig out the rest of the area on your own. While you guys are busy digging, I'll also start working on a proper resting place on the surface for you."

At the end of his words, someone from the crowd raised their hand, prompting Kirou to turn to him. Seeing that he had Kirou's attention, the bandit, a man that looked like he was in his mid-twenties spoke up, "Leader, I don't mean to be a buzz kill but doesn't that seem contradictory?"

"How so?" asked Kirou with a knowing smile.

The young bandit saw the smile but had no idea what it meant as he spoke up, "I'm sorry if it comes out as me being ignorant, but isn't building a structure on the surface at the same time as a group of people is working underground kinda dangerous?"

At those words, quite a few of the other members of the bandit group started murmuring amongst themselves. The only ones who kept quiet were the players and Bandit Warrior Jackson. While the players either didn't care or knew something, no one would know. As for Bandit Warrior Jackson, he was looking at Kirou with complete trust.

As if to answer his faith in him, Kirou spoke up to the group while removing a sword from his inventory. This action startled everyone but Kirou ignored them as he spoke, "You've raised a valid point. it is indeed dangerous to be constructing a building on the surface while a few of you will be working underground."

After saying this, Kirou placed the tip of the sword in his hand on the floor and started walking around, dragging the sword on the ground behind him. The rest looked at him in confusion at this action. Kirou did this for a few seconds, by the end of which, a large square taking up twenty meters was formed.

Seeing the confusion on their faces at his actions, Kirou continued, "In fact, it's downright evil of me to be sending you guys underground to work as I construct the shelter above ground as anything can happen to you as a fault of this action."

"But.... that.." The young man had no idea what to say after Kirou just admitted how dangerous such an action truly was. The rest of the bandit group looked at Kirou in shock as well. As for the players and Bandit Warrior Jackson, they just kept quiet, waiting for him to finish.

"It is indeed dangerous for me to do that to you guys, except that doesn't apply in this situation. There are two reasons as to why it doesn't apply." Having said this, Kirou called over Asura and ran his hands through the badger mole cub's fur as he quietly gave it an order. The badger mole cub just looked at Kirou in confusion before nodding.

"The first reason stems from the fact that while I'll be working on the surface, the ones doing the digging will have their starting point at roughly twenty-one meters underground."

After saying those words, the group watched as Asura summoned up a giant block of earth within the large square that Kirou drew earlier. The group watched as Asura struggled to move the giant block of earth a few meters away, revealing a large pit underneath.

When the large block of earth was at a sufficient distance away from the hole, the poor cub collapsed next to it. Kirou then went over and sat next to the cub that was now looking at him as if he was an evil bastard. Seeing this, Kirou chuckled as he retrieved an item from his inventory and placed it before the cub's mouth.

Kirou then ignored the cub's actions and turned to address the group now looking in his direction, specifically at Asura and the large block of earth, "As you can tell from that pit that was just created, you'll be at quite the distance underground working so the little amount of space I'll dig out as the foundation on the surface won't affect you while you are working."

Seeing that everyone was still entranced by the stunt that Asura had just pulled, Kirou stood up and coughed, gathering everyone's eyes on him. When this happened, Kirou spoke up once more, "Now comes the second reason."

Kirou walked back from the block a bit and took an offensive stance. Everyone grew confused at this. Kirou had his fighter gloves equipped and there was a visible aura forming on his right hand. A second later, the aura on his hand stabilized in the form of a black sphere and Kirou immediately vanished from where he stood. Before anyone could question where he went, they were all greeted with a loud bang, followed by a burst of black light that seized their attention.

When the black light faded, everyone found Kirou now standing before that block of earth with his fist against it. What shocked everyone was that when they looked at the place where Kirou's fist had hit, it was completely unscathed while Kirou's fist was currently a bloody mess. The girls in the group looked away from the grotesque-looking sight while the guys were wincing at the sight.

As for the injured man himself, Kirou showed no expression of pain on his face while he lowered his slightly trembling arm. After that was done, Kirou spoke up, "This is my second reason. As you can tell from my attack on this block of earth, it seems like the earth beneath us is reinforced or compressed to a certain degree. Without the required digging tools or the strength to overcome the earth itself, penetrating the earth is pretty much a pipe dream. Hell, even with the proper tools, it will still take a while to dig through this so I suggest you guys start digging." To prove this point, Kirou removed his Dwarf Pickaxe from his inventory and gave it a single swing on the block of earth, making a five-inch deep hole in it with his left hand before putting it away.

After doing this, Kirou went to sit next to his badger mole cub that was looking much better now than it was earlier. Seeing that Kirou went as far as injuring his arm with such a powerful attack to prove their safety in working underground, a few members of the former bandit squad grit their teeth and started making their way to the bottom of the pit that Asura created while the rest got to work in setting up a pulley system to remove the excess debris that was sure to form while they worked. Bandit Warrior Jackson looked at Kirou as if he wanted to say something for a few moments before shaking his head and directly diving into the pit.

On the players' side, Mistaken Fox opted to help out with the digging by summoning out his Stone Axe Minotaur while the two elves did what they were best at, refining various medicines. Moon Lily hesitated slightly before heading off into the forest to find herbs that the two elves could probably make use of.

As Kirou sat with his back on the giant block of earth, there was a peculiar expression on his face. If anyone had bothered to take a closer look at the giant block of earth Kirou was currently leaning against before going to work, they would have noticed something shocking. A few inches on the ground on the side that Kirou had attacked earlier now hosted new marks, drag marks to be specific.

If anyone had seen this, they would have been shocked as this meant that although Kirou suffered a bloody arm in the process, his attack had successfully pushed back an object that weighed over seven hundred tonnes. As if to reward him for his stupid (cough cough).... heroic action, Kirou received a familiar prompt from the system.

<System Message: Your previous action has been recognized as a skill>

[Generating skill...]

[Skill Generated: Aura Strike]