Chapter 69: Building?!

"Oh, right, since that deity ended up so miserably, what happened to those followers who also participated in the attack on the Land Emperor Tortoise? What became of them?" Muria asked curiously.

"They all died, choked on water, fell to death while walking, got killed in a quarrel with strangers, or were trampled during a beast tide while adventuring in the wilderness... There were many ways they died," a titan casually described.

"Hold on, wait a second," Muria quickly interjected upon hearing these deaths. "I remember it was mentioned that the weakest of those who attacked the Land Emperor Tortoise were at the soul level. How could they choke on water or die from falling?"

"I know you find it unbelievable, but it's true," Heloise explained, looking at Muria. "At the time, it caused a huge stir throughout Erathia, and many beings knew about it."

"It really is unbelievable." Muria looked at the quiet Land Emperor Tortoise, Yashibern, nearby, now understanding what being 'favored by the world' meant—whoever attacked them would die.

"Uh, I have a question?" Muria looked at the uniquely-shelled Land Emperor Tortoise, a bold idea forming in his mind. "If I were to beat it up, would I end up dying mysteriously like those followers of the deity?"

"Heh, that wouldn't happen. You'd just be unlucky for a while," titan Atreyen laughed.

"How unlucky? Or what kind of misfortunes would I encounter?" Muria asked curiously.

"Why ask so many questions, Muria? Just beat up Yashibern once, and you'll find out," titan Atreyen chuckled mischievously, encouraging Muria to act.

"Don't listen to him," Heloise placed a hand on Muria's shoulder. "This guy didn't believe it and hit Yashibern once, then he was unlucky for a whole month."

"What kind of misfortunes did you encounter?"

"It was nothing serious." Seeing Muria's curious look, Atreyen seemed unconcerned.

"It was nothing, just that the ground suddenly collapsed while he was walking, and a meteorite fell from the sky while he was sleeping, hitting his room..." Seeing Atreyen's attitude, Heloise casually described his misfortunes to Muria.

"Cough! Oh, Heloise, it's time for my martial practice, I'll be off." Hearing Heloise tell his embarrassing story, Atreyen coughed a few times, gave a quick goodbye, and hastily made his escape.

"Let's go, Muria. I'll take you to choose a place to build your dwelling," Heloise called to Muria, preparing to leave the area.

"Wait for me." Muria walked towards the Land Emperor Tortoise, Yashibern, and crouched in front of the puzzled creature, extending his hand. "Here, brother turtle, let's shake hands."

Yashibern hesitated slightly, not understanding what Muria intended, but still raised a tortoise paw and placed it in Muria's hand.

Muria grasped the tortoise paw and shook it vigorously under the puzzled gazes of the surrounding exotic beasts and titans. He then stood up and walked towards Heloise.

"What was that all about?" Heloise looked at Muria curiously.

"If beating up the Land Emperor Tortoise makes you unlucky." Muria approached Heloise, slightly excited. "Then getting on its good side, could that make me luckier?"

"Nonsense, there's no tale of getting luckier by befriending a Land Emperor Tortoise," Heloise looked flatly at Muria. "And why would you need better luck anyway?"

"Having better luck makes everything easier. For example, if I want legendary metal, maybe a chunk of Void Star Gold might just fall on my head," Muria chuckled.

"Muria, we titans don't rely on luck," Heloise glanced at Muria. "Fists are far more reliable than your so-called luck. Want something? Go kill some powerful chaotic creatures, and after you're done, you'll have everything."

With that, Heloise strode forward, and Muria quickly followed. She had promised to help him select a mountain peak on which to build his future home.

...

"Are you sure you've chosen this mountain?" Heloise looked at the majestic, fog-enshrouded mountain teeming with lush vegetation.

She had guided Muria around the titan lands for a long time, and finally, Muria had settled on this towering peak piercing the clouds.

"Yes, this mountain," Muria affirmed, looking up at the majestic peak half-hidden by clouds, nodding in satisfaction. This mountain would be his future home.

"Alright!" Upon receiving Muria's answer, Heloise took out a silver-grey cylindrical object covered in intricate patterns. A bolt of golden lightning struck the cylinder, and then dark golden patterns lit up on it.

As Muria watched curiously, Heloise placed the cylinder on the ground, the process mystifying him.

"What's this?"

"We're getting someone to build your dwelling," Heloise glanced at Muria. "Did you think we titans build our homes ourselves?"

"Isn't that the case?"

"Of course not, we'd rather spend that time fighting more battles or slaying demons in the abyss."

"Then who builds the titans' dwellings?"

"Wait a bit, and you'll see. They're about to arrive."

Muria, fueled by curiosity, looked around. Since arriving in the titan lands, his understanding of the world had been constantly updated, and now, he felt his worldview was about to be shaken once more.

"Buzz!" A point of light appeared in the sky, and as it gradually expanded, a gigantic, hundreds of meters in diameter, vertical transportation array appeared mid-air.

Then, a massive object, a kilometer long, slowly emerged from the array.

"Are you kidding me?" Muria gaped at the sci-fi style metallic warship in the sky. Who could explain why such a thing would appear in Erathia, a world of gods and demons?

"Curious how our titan land has such ships entirely made of metal?" Heloise looked up at the warship, speaking evenly.

"Yes, this thing doesn't look like something from Erathia. The floating ships built by mages in my dragon heritage knowledge aren't like this."

Muria stared at the futuristic warship in the sky, his expression one of bewildered amusement. In his memories of dragon heritage, Erathia had many flying creations, but nothing like what he saw now.

"This was brought back by a dignitary of our clan who returned from a voyage through the void," Heloise explained lightly.

"Just this one?"

Heloise gave Muria a look that mixed incredulity with amusement. "Muria, I hope Lord Ansol returns soon to take you to meet the elders of our clan. You know nothing of the power of epic titans."

"It seems I spoke too soon. How many warships did that clan member bring back?" Muria, noting Heloise's disdainful glance, asked sheepishly.

"I don't know. Stop asking me. When you go to that dignitary's residence, you'll understand everything."

"Alright." Hearing Heloise's words, Muria looked up at the hovering warship, watching

 as enormous humanoid mechanical beings flew out.

A strong sense of anticipation built within him; he was eager for his father to return so he could accompany him to meet the epic beings of the titan clan. He wanted to see how they compared to his grandfather, Emperor Demos, and what made an epic being so special.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" From the hovering warship, swarms of metallic mechanical beings emerged like locusts. One particularly large humanoid mechanical being, standing out from the neatly arranged ranks with dazzling blue and white flames, landed in front of Muria and Heloise.

Muria eyed the 25-meter-tall humanoid mechanical being, feeling indescribable emotions. He had thought the world he previously lived in was technologically advanced, lacking only supernatural powers, but reality proved that the titan clan alone possessed technology far beyond his former world's level.

"Hmm?" Muria examined the futuristic mech, startled to discover that the being, armed with a ship-cutting sword and bristling with cannons and various small arms, wasn't purely technological.

"Are these magic runes?" Muria eyed the shallow lines on the metal armor of the mechanical being, not just on the armor but also on the various weapons it carried.

The mech's azure electronic eyes flicked towards Muria, blinking, then performed a chest-thumping salute with human-like grace.

"Mechanical Legion, J508, at your service, Lord Muria! All members of our Mechanical Legion have been modified, with all parts engraved with magic runes."

"Magic-enhanced Mechanical Legion." Muria looked up at the other mechanical beings landing in front of him, then took a closer look at this particularly well-armed humanoid weapon. Suddenly, something else occurred to him.

"Do you know me?" Muria looked at it curiously. None of the titans or exotic beasts in the land knew him, yet here was a mechanical being that, without introduction, called out his name, surprising Muria.

"Lord Muria, from the moment of your birth, your data was entered into our database. All members of the Mechanical Legion are aware of your existence."

"Don't be surprised, these mechanical golems possess information and data on every being living in the clan lands, to avoid unnecessary conflicts," Heloise explained, seeing Muria's astonished look.

"J508, Muria has chosen the mountain behind you as his future residence. You are now to lead your soldiers to start building his dwelling," Heloise then instructed the mechanical being identified as J508.

"Understood." J508 turned around and silently issued commands to the mechanical soldiers arranged in formation on the ground. As one by one they took to the air, drawing their ship-cutting swords, they flew towards the mountain Muria had chosen...

This chapter was terribly written, and I failed to portray a powerful titan clan as I wished. My skills weren't up to the task.

A race with hundreds of thousands of years of history, whose members are so powerful they can travel to other worlds—how advanced might their civilization have become? Or perhaps they don't need to develop at all, simply acquiring the crystallized wisdom of other civilizations. Such accumulation... I find it hard to imagine, hard to describe. Writer's block is painful!