Taking a Break

In a large storage house somewhere in Kassio's Common District, a commotion has been occurring long before the big shot's arrival. This was a state of the art facility which prioritized functionality and efficiency above extravagance. It was under the ownership of an anonymous name of a currently hidden organization, otherwise known as Draconic Genesis.

Crates both big and small were being moved around by varying-sized golems or humanoid silhouettes that were similar to mannequins. They were each made of unique and luxurious stone materials that catered to the specific role and tasks they were given, and again, putting functionality and quality above luxury.

Things were moving along incredibly smoothly and with frightening efficiency. Most organizations or factions couldn't afford the mass usage of golems, especially their maintenance, upkeep, and contract adherence.

Maintenance wasn't too bad if everyone was careful with them. The physical body, materials used, runes, and magic arrays/circles had to be properly taken care of to avoid mishaps or glitches in their operations. They were very similar to items or equipment so their durability had to be repaired now and then.

Upkeep was rather simple but more expensive than all the other options. The golems and silhouettes were powered by solid, liquid, or gas state mana, or other mana sources like monster cores but that had risks. The most commonly used power source were mana stones and crystals, the second and third level of solid-state mana density. They weren't too cheap or too expensive.

Contracts for golems were usually made with spirits. This was similar to the relationship between artificial intelligence and a robot.

These contracts weren't particularly expensive services to make with spirits, but the terms had to be constantly upheld and people who were able to establish a connection with spirits were few in numbers due to its difficulty.

Spirits weren't always dead people or creatures, they were just souls without bodies. This meant that spirits could also be artificially created if someone was proficient with soul mana. It made it easier in almost every way if the soul was personally created because it removed many negative factors while adding some good ones. The process was long though, and the chances of failing to make an independent soul were unreasonably high. Furthermore, it was astonishingly expensive and an exhausting process.

Despite all these hardships regarding golem-powered labor, Draconic Genesis hardly suffered from using this type of workforce. In fact, it thrived and prospered under such a system unlike any other could.

Genesis was unique among all the other factions because of Leo's existence, making all the nonsense known as contracts unnecessary. All they needed to do was connect Leo's conscious manually to every golem and voilà. Handling such a large-scale workload was a piece of cake for him.

In the futuristic-transition era that humanity was currently in, the basic standards for artificial intelligence would be mind-boggling for any pre-Monolith generations, after all, the Monolith Foundation heavily relied on AI to maintain their virtual-world-farms so they could harvest ideas and inventions from them.

Your average AI could manage large chunks of planetary populations or cities with ease while an advanced AI could manage an entire planet or two. Due to how overpowered a Super AI is, they were commonly seen as extremely overkill in any situation.

The reason why three Super AI were present in the lottery was because of Monolith's attitude towards the situation, which went along the lines of...

"Why not?"

"We don't see a problem."

"Maybe we can finally see their limits? It's a big game after all."

At the time, these comments from Monolith upper echelons were like sudden slaps to the face for the general public. Angered and enthusiastic uproars spread throughout the solar system but inevitably fell upon deaf ears. It was one of the countless legendary moments where humanity realized just how powerful Monolith had become.

The benefits of having Leo as the soul controlling the antonymous labor force were genuinely godlike and unreal.

Upkeep was reduced to the point where a measly and cheap mana stone of low quality, which would typically last the average three to five-meter tall golem twelve hours, now lasts a solid week if the work isn't too strenuous. That's an average increase of 1,300% in mana/energy efficiency!

Performance and attributes also went through the roof. Their movements, actions, and dexterity were fluid and natural, yet swift and decisive. It was almost unnatural how the golems could act in such a way.

Their reaction speed was also incredible, with no accidents getting reported as of yet. Their cognitive ability was also sufficient enough where they could realize an error in their orders or surroundings and silently suggest a correction. They did still however need to rely on external help so they couldn't independently work yet.

On top of it all, Leo claims that he can do far better with higher quality products and golems! Also, if Kyren gets stronger, so will he, and therefore increasing his abilities further.

Because Leo has given the golems so many heaven-defying buffs while asking for close to nothing in return, most of those that knew of his existence would be wary of such a powerful spirit's intentions. But only Kyren and his closest people knew.

While autonomous labor handled the heavy lifting and menial work, a small group of individuals were managing everything and ordering the golems around. Their chain of command was perfect and they acted as though they were doing it for years.

These people all had one thing in common and that was the uniform they were wearing. It was similar to the draconic warriors that appeared around the city but with some slight differences.

The warriors had more of a combat-based uniform while these were meant for workers and people who focused on job classes. Another key difference was the color scheme of the mask and outfit. Instead of purple and silver, they were a vibrant royal blue paired with a pale powder blue secondary color. The black parts were the only parts that didn't change.

The facial areas were open so that others could actually see their faces, which was different from the completely covered combat-oriented versions. It was similar to Iron Man's helmet and how it could open and close.

The reason why these draconic workers had a blue theme was that they were under the direct control of Cerulean Dragon.

Speaking of which, Lady Aqua leaned over some railing on a high up platform as she peered over her busy workforce. Her mask covered her facial expressions so no one could see her emotions or appearance, but her aura and demeanor were a mix of calm indifference and faint excitement.

She was present at this warehouse because she needed to check up on how things were going. This place was important for their plans so everything needed to be perfect and done with care.

Behind her, a lanky but dignified man in his late thirties stood behind her as he read aloud a summary of crucial information. He went by Charles and he was one of Maya's newly appointed officials who managed the local region's economical and trade activities. When Kyren used his special reaper proficiency on all his employees, this person got an exemplary score in every category except for a little tarnish on his past deeds.

After further questioning, he was honest right off the bat about how he worked for a morally corrupt merchant in the past so that he could earn enough money to pull his family out of poverty. After his parents passed away, he was the head of the house because he was the oldest, so he was prepared to do many things to save them, and doing dirty work for that merchant was one of them.

He, unfortunately, got caught trying to betray this merchant by reporting his heinous acts to the authorities, resulting in him and his remaining siblings getting sold off into slavery. He was hard working and a mellow guy so he became one of Maya's officials. Furthermore, he was an experienced and capable person so his past transgressions were overlooked. He was only to be closely watched, but otherwise, he was fine.

"Recently, worker output has been increasing greatly. This is most likely still due to the large arena event Lord Angevin hosted more than a week ago."

".....By the way, what do you think of him upon your first impression?"

"Hmmm, his way with words moved even me to look forward to our future during his speech. I would have to say that he's extremely charismatic despite his hidden appearance and mysterious nature."

Her mind involuntarily dazed as she said under her breath, "Yes, very charismatic~"

A deep and longing sigh escaped her lips as her thoughts wandered. It's been a while since any of the girls, herself included, had the opportunity to be romantic with him ever since they got super busy. She saw him multiple times every day, but she couldn't help but miss him.

It was only in his presence that her worries and doubts about leaving her family and home behind went away. She felt like what she did back then was the right choice if she wanted to avoid an extremely unpleasant fate, but she couldn't help but feel homesick.

"*mumbling*.....Lady Aqua, are you listening?"

"Ah, just lost in thought. How are our stocks of products looking?"

He flipped through some pages and scanned them until he found the right one, "As you requested, we've been focusing on production and trading for merchandise that would focus on marketing for Adventures. From equipment to consumables, we can steadily supply around a dozen regions if we keep this pace up.

As for the special products such as the five-star materials, our stock is unimaginably large, especially for the stuff of legends such as this. In my personal opinion, if we properly market the consumable materials as per the Big Boss's plan, we can supply not just the Empire, but multiple countries with a constant steady flow."

"That's good to hear."

"Lord Angevin is a truly brilliant man. From what I've seen, the way he's structuring this organization is incredibly unique with undeniable potential. There's never been anything like it in all of history so it's almost otherworldly!"

Charles' usual mellow and collected tone was getting slightly more enthusiastic. He held the Violet Dragon persona in high regard after getting freed from slavery, seeing him in real life, and scrutinizing his plans and Genesis' future. He was practically his idol.

He continued to sing nothing but praises for a while before he got back to business.

Once he finished summarizing the reports, Maya dismissed him to continue his work on site. They were very busy since a huge event was drawing near.

Now alone on the balcony, she continued to watch everything below. It looked like an anthill with a constant stream of movement and productivity. It was very satisfying to watch.

All of a sudden, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind while a deep and entrancing voice whispered in her ear, "Surprise~ Been a while, huh?"

"GAHH," She gasped as her heart leaped up into her throat.

Unlike the draconic warriors and workers who wore helmets, she and the rest of the leaders wore full face masks. Her fish fin looking ears were exposed so she could feel his breath tickle her.

Under the mask, her face turned highlighter blue after the shock faded. She lowered her voice to a whisper as she nervously checked to see if anyone saw them, "Kyren!! Why would you do that?! You scared me half to death!"

Her small and delicate gloved hands balled up into fists as she playfully struck the arms wrapped around her with defiance.

"Shall we take this elsewhere?"

"Ehh!?!"

Kyren's arms were still around her as he started to fall backward to land on his back. She gasped yet again as she was getting pulled down with him.

[Gate]

As soon as they were about to hit the ground, they seemed to fall through the floor. They eventually landed on something soft and comfortable to her surprise.

Kyren released his grasp on her and she immediately sat up and checked her surroundings.

"The Spatial Palace?" After realizing this, she took off her mask and stored it in her dimensional storage. She forgot about getting kidnapped and looked around.

She instantly recognized the divine architecture and unique style. They were in a lavish bedroom that had murals of aquatic life on the upper walls and ceilings that felt lifelike. A steaming indoor bath the size of a large-sized pool was in the corner. The bed and the bath were actually genuine and not for decoration as per Kyren's wishes.

"How do you like it? You can change anything you want in this room. I do need to figure out a way for you to be able to enter whenever you wish. You can only come here through me for now."

Her eyes sparkled as she continued to look around, "Is this... from the Merfolk?!"

Although the architecture was of the Spatial Palace, it had some blaring similarities to the unique style of the inhabitants in Gruta lake. Memories about her culture and way of living rushed back to her in a satisfying flood.

She turned her head and looked at him, trying to contain her emotions, "You noticed...?"

"..... Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." His voice was aloof but his expression and smile were warm.

It was blatantly obvious that he noticed her odd behavior at some point and somehow linked it to homesickness. He also seemed to remember in astonishing detail about the Merfolk's unusual architectural style.

Kyren leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. Her eyes became teary and before he could pull away, she embraced him tightly.

She tenderly raised her head and put her lips close to her ear as she said in a whisper, "Hehe, you only did this to get inside my clothes, huh?"

After knowing him for quite a while now, she knew that him showing no reaction at all didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't inwardly surprised. She interpreted his silence as a confirmation for her theory.

Knowing that he was found out, he turned his gaze to a wall in the opposite direction of Maya as though he saw something interesting on it, "Still don't know what you're talking about."

A heartfelt giggle escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He did the same for her waist and pulled her in close. Their faces were enticingly close while their bodies melted into each other.

She moved first and her lips came into contact with his as if arrogantly challenging him. Now provoked and slightly allured by her actions, he got a little more aggressive as his tongue invaded her mouth. The make-out session quickly turned from passionate to erotic and steamy.

Maya wasn't given a chance to regain a lead and she was completely dominated. She didn't mind though, she even enjoyed it. It was him doing it after all. She's been deeply in love with him for a long time now after all.