Chapter 83
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Ben sincerely thanked each of the knights for helping him out with the funeral. They all walked back up to the fortress together and the knights returned to the Barracks. Ben walked with Mythia over to the Movie Theater and bought the movie Frozen from the System Store.
He had never seen the movie before but knew how popular it was back on Earth and it was set in an old Kingdom style which Mythia and the other people living in the fortress could relate with.
He was surprised as they began to watch the movie how the main character reminded him of Mythia in some ways. A young girl who lost her parents is trying to cope with the overwhelming power of ice magic. While Mythia was also dealing with the loss of her parents because she was too powerless to stop her enemy. Both girls were struggling toward a future where they could freely wield power without having to live in fear.
The movie seemed to help Mythia she was enthralled by the ice magic the young queen could use and had learned you can be powerful and loving of your fellow man. Just because you were strong it did not mean you should make others suffer.
In this world, the strong often stepped on by the week and Mythia was learning by example from Ben that you could be strong and compassionate towards those who deserved it and a force of destruction against those who did not.
When they left the movies Ben added the new movie to the theater playlist and brought Mythia over to the Seamstress.
Ben wanted to allow her to see the Seamstress menus so he asked Athena if it were possible. Just as Ben had made Rayner his Chancellor so that he could use the Warehouse Ben would need to give Mythia a title.
For her to have access to main workshops she would need a royal title so Ben made her a princess of his unofficial nameless kingdom.
The two of them looked through teens clothes from Earth and Victus and began production of everything she liked. About forty-five minutes they had just over forty new outfits along with accessories.
From the Seamstress, they went to the Shoe Maker and went through the same process of making formal and casual shoes along with sneakers and boots.
While the clothing and footwear were still being produced Ben brought Mythia over to the Armorsmith and custom designed a lightweight Magnesium Mythril suit of armor which was slender and decorative. She was able to watch the custom design menu and tell ben what she liked or didn't like with the armor design.
Ben did his best to listen to her requests and make it look as if it were designed for a fantasy princess. He made the entire suit of armor at the Armorsmith except for the helmet.
He had no plans of allowing her to wear this armor into combat so it would be mainly for show and emergency situations. For this reason, he did not get carried away by making a fully enclosed helmet for her.
Ben went over to the Jeweler and designed a slender Mythril tiara with different colored gems set in it. On the sides of the tiara, he added two swept-back wings which made the headgear look like a Valkyrie crown. The Mythril tiara headpiece may resemble jeweled crown but it was still strong enough to protect her head.
The two of them went back to the Keep and into her closet where Ben took out her new clothes and footwear from the Warehouse. He purchased a case of Cedarwood hangers from the System Store and the two of them began to organize her closet.
Off In the corner of her room, Ben also placed an armor stand to display her elegant fantasy armor with the jeweled tiara when she wasn't wearing it.
Ben continued to make the rest of the day all about her. They walked around and talked with people stopped at the Recreation Center to play games and later had dinner together.
As the day wound down he studied with her before she went off to bed. Mythia gave him a hug and thanked Ben for everything he did today and for bringing her parents to her. Even if she couldn't see them any longer at least they didn't feel so far away. Whenever she missed them she could have Ben take her down to the Cemetery to be near them.
Ben was soon back inside the Qi chamber after Mythia went off to bed. He spent a full night there and could feel his cultivation making rapid progress. It was almost as good as when he first started. He missed those days now when he could gain a cultivation level in only a few days.
A couple hours past sunrise he left the QI Chamber and checked his System Map to find Mythia was in the Gym working out already. He used Zoom to teleport into his store office and went out on the sales floor to greet the customers and help them with any questions they had.
At the closing time, Ben took the money from yesterday and today's sales after Baynard had caught up with the books and used Zoom to teleport over to the old warehouse district.
There was one last property lot for him to build on and Ben was beginning to run out of ideas on what to build. He still had a few modern type Entertainments he could build but he wanted to stay away from anything that was too modern like the Movie Theater.
He had already built the Hotel Tower which had hot and cold running water and flushing toilets in each room so he decided to build a Public Bathhouse.
He had to tweak the Bathhouse design a little and add a service counter in the front lobby. The Public Bathhouse at his Fortress was free for everyone but he would be charging people to use this one.
[Public Bathhouse]: A large facility that provides separate baths for men and women. Hot and cold running water is available in both the showers and baths. Also, includes a large sauna, steam room and 5 large jacuzzis on the men's and women's sides.
[Locked until: built water treatment plant] [requires: stone, wood] [costs: 200g]
Now he had placed a property on every lot but there was still a few areas in between these new structures where he could build. Out in front of the hotel, he made a large stone paved parking lot where people could pull up their carts near the door and even park them out of the way overnight.
He then built another huge parking lot near the Park with the observation deck to allow people to drive their carts onto his property and park them. Ben thought if he didn't have any parking areas the streets around here would become packed with carts lining the streets and people would end up having to park far away and be forced to walk back to his business district. If it wasn't convenient to find a place to park a cart he was afraid that people would become frustrated and leave.
He also made a few connecting roads that ran through the lots connecting the businesses to the parking lots. With the additional roads connecting everything together, his new property began to look like a small city subdivision.
For now, he was done building here and he still had room to possibly add four smaller buildings of some type later if he wanted to expand.
Ben used his Disguise Self spell, changed into his commoner clothes, and walked to his Small Palace. Now with eight new buildings, Ben would need people to work them.
Not far from the slave's hidden neighborhood behind the Small Palace, Ben built six guilds. He surrounded the guilds with a couple rows of trees to keep them hidden from visitors.
[Bakers]: Increase baked goods production and quality of all produced baked foods by your workshops, factories, and restaurants.
[Culinarians]: Increase cooked food production and quality of all produced foods by your workshops, factories, and restaurants.
[Equestrian]: Increases the stables capabilities. This guild provides improved health and stamina of your stabled mounts.
[Musicians]: Increase the popularity of your music and concert halls. Musicians and jobs related to music of any type are available for recruitment.
[Performers]: Increase the popularity of your performance establishments. Actors/Actresses, Comedians, and magicians along with any jobs related to performers are available for recruitment.
[Servants]: Increases the efficiency of all servants. Servants can be used to fill the role of most jobs that are not considered skilled craftsmen or skilled professions.
[Taverns and Inns]: Increases the quality rating of rooms, food, and drinks for all places who provide these services and refreshments.
He recruited four level-five bakers, six level-five chefs, Ten level-three waitresses, two level-five bartenders, four level-three barmaids, one level-three stable master, twenty stable hands, ten cashiers, ten maids, six level-five actors, six level-five actresses, four level-five comedians, one level-two servant to work as an elevator operator, an orchestra conductor and one level-five musician who played the following instruments, Harp, Trombone, Tuba, Oboe, Clarinet, Snare drum, Bass drum, Cymbals, and Xylophone.
To hire this many high-level recruits Ben had to, unfortunately, sell off some of his resources. These new recruits cost quite a bit of money but he felt it was worth it. Without skilled employees, his businesses would not stand out above the competition in the city. What good would it be to have a fancy restaurant that served average food and had lousy service? He wanted each of his new businesses to provide an unforgettable experience for his customers that would make them say "Let's come back here from now on".
With almost one hundred new employees following along, Ben led them all into the Small Palace. Ben found his Steward Hughes inside and asked him to help him out. Ben had originally thought the Small Palace was too big but it only had fifty suite bedrooms and twenty servants bedrooms.
Now that he had ninety-seven new employees they would need to arrange them into two-person roommate teams. As Ben went from one suite to the next adding extra beds his Steward Hughes split the men and women up into roommates of the same gender.
Ben explained to Huges after he had purchased and arranged enough new beds that the Palace staff would need to begin cooking and cleaning for these new people. The slave maids would need to clean rooms along with other palace rooms. The cooks would need to provide breakfast and dinner for over one hundred people daily and the laundry room would need to take care of their dirty clothing and bedding.
It would also be Steward Hughes's job to show them the Market out back and how to use it along with the Recreation Center and Restaurant. After some thought Ben told Hughes if things became too difficult on the Chefs to make so many meals every day then He could make the decision to have everyone just eat at the Restaurant or split them into groups where they alternated between the Dining Hall and the Restaurant. Ben wasn't too worried about it either way whatever was easier on them.
Ben told his new people to settle in for the night and Hughes would show them around in the morning. He had made plans with the new employees before he left them to come back around noon tomorrow to bring everyone to see where they would be working.
The sun had set outside now and it was time to complete the Observation Tower while it was dark out. Ben walked over to the central park and paid for the Tower construction. Before he built it though he decided to spend a little more money to paint the tower. He chose to paint the tower a light blue color so it would blend with the sky and be less conspicuous if possible. A 100 foot tall gray concrete tower stood out too much and was drab looking but with a simple layer of paint it finished it off.
After a quick stroll around his property, everything seemed to be in order and ready to go so he cast Zoom back to the fortress keep. He found Mythia at her desk in her bedroom and she was reading a history book he had put together from various loose parchments he had bought from around town and the System Store.
It was unexpected to see her with this advanced book when just a couple days ago he was teaching her how to sound out simple words. Mythia told Ben that she should only need another day or two at the school before she had learned how to fluently read and write.
Ben left Mythia to her studies and went downstairs and used the Qi Chamber. Before Mythia left for the Gym the following morning he went to the Restaurant with her and they had breakfast together.
They parted ways after they had breakfast together. Mythia walked off toward the Gym and Ben cast his Zoom spell and teleported to the Small Palace. His Steward Edward Hughes was already making his rounds in the Small Palace and directing the maids on which rooms they needed to clean today.
Ben asked Hughes to help him round up the Stable Master and the twenty stable hands.
"Good morning Steward Hughes when you are done instructing the maids can you please have the Stable Master and Stables Hands get ready and wait for me in one of the Drawing Rooms. I need to attend to something outside for a few minutes then I will meet up with them." Ben explained.
"As you wish my lord. I will attend to it promptly." Hughes bowed toward Ben and left to see If the Stable Master and Stable Hands were awake yet.
Ben went outside and started construction on a new Stables and a small stone-paved parking lot next to the Stables.
The parking lot was connected to the driveway and allowed anyone who arrived from the street to drive up and park a cart or carriage in the large lot beside the new Stables.
Now the Stable Hands could unhitch and stable the horses here at night time and hitch them up to the carriages in the morning. Ben had not thought about where the horses would stay once the carriages had arrived here for the night up until now.
If there were no Stables then the horses would have to remain hitched to the carriages all night out in the elements or left to free graze around the property. Ben didn't want them to be left out all night especially once the weather began to get cold.
When the Stables were finished Ben went in and found the Stable workers dressed and waiting. Firstly he took them outside and showed them around the stables and explained the other Stables where the horses were kept right now was the same as this one.
Ben walked across the city with the Stable Master and Stable Hands and told them they would be responsible for bringing the new workers to work every morning and then taking them back to the Small Palace at the end of the day. They would have to take shifts on staying up late for the Cabaret workers who would have later hours.
The Cabaret was more of a late night entertainment spot and its hours would be 4PM-12PM. Not that any of the customers had watches or clocks to know the time but the employees would know from the System Menus in the businesses.
When they reach the Stables in the old warehouse district Ben gave the Stable Master the key to unlock the gates to the parking lot where the carriages where stored. Ben brought out forty leather harnesses, collars, bridles, and reins. He began to show the Stable Hands how to attach the horses to the carriages but just like the first Stable Hands, they seemed to instinctively know how to hitch or saddle a horse.
It was still early in the morning and as the Stable Hands busied themselves with the horses and carriages Ben could see groups of people gathering around the perimeter of his property. The Observation Tower was a huge beacon reaching for the sky and everyone who saw it would wonder what it was and where it came from. Ben remained out if sight in the stables until the carriages were ready to go.
Once all of the carriages had a team of two horses attached Ben handed out one of his noble badges to each of his Stables employees. This would ensure they could get into the noble district without any problems when he wasn't with them.
Ben knew how professional the Royal Palace guards were who also worked at the noble district gates and he suspected they would even remember his carriages and know they were his people without stopping them to see their badges. Now that the king had a matching carriage and they knew Ben gave it to him it was obvious anyone in a matching carriage would be from Ben's noble household.
He had the twenty Stable Hands all climb into one of the coachman cabs and he hopped into the lead coachman cab with the driver and led the line of carriages back to his noble district estate. Just as he thought the Royal Palace guards opened the gates when they saw the train of carriages heading toward them. Ben stood in the doorway of the coachman cab and saluted them as they passed through. He had a fair amount of respect for these palace guards and wanted to show he appreciated their hard work.
Back again at the Small Palace Ben had everyone head over to the Restaurant and eat breakfast before they took off. He still didn't have proper uniforms for them all so today was going to be an introduction to their workplace.
As they all filed out of the Restaurant Ben handed each of them a gold noble badge and explained its significance and that they were to always wear it outside of the estate and they were to make sure they did not lose it.
For the five hours, Ben guided the group of employees through each of the businesses they would be working at and explained what their jobs entailed. Before they went back with the carriages to his estate.
Everyone was left to do whatever they wanted for the remainder of the day and Ben went up to the Small Palace third floor. He entered one of the offices and sat down at a desk. With a quill, a bottle of ink, and a stack of paper he began to write out rough menus for his new Greenhouse Restaurant.
He had to come up with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert menus. For his Restaurant to be successful he would need to have it opened all day so that he could bring in enough sales to make it worth running.
The great thing for Ben was he did not have to purchase any supplies to run his businesses and his [recruited] employees worked without receiving a salary. Ben provided everything they needed so he did not feel bad having them work for free and because they were created by the system they did not have the mindset to think they should be provided a salary.
It would be the same as if a person died and went to heaven and asked God for a paycheck for living in heaven and attending to an angel's duties. Ben was their creator and they were completely loyal to him. They might not show it in a fanatical way but if he were to tell them to walk off a cliff they would do it without question.
Once he had worked out his Restaurant menus, Ben had to come up with a small food menu and a menu of mixed drinks for the Cabaret. He was making a decent selection of hard liquor that was sold at the store so it was possible to make an extensive list of popular mixed drinks from Earth.
Next on his list was the Theater, Ben had to come up with a Theater performance schedule. He no longer only had musicians. He had recruited comedians along with actors and actresses. He had to work out how often he would have musical, theatrical, and comedic performances.
Ben knew that practicing for plays took more time than practicing for a musical or comedic performance so he had to keep this in mind. The more he sat and thought about it the harder it became to try and come up with a schedule.
As he thought about it he began to realize he would need a Theater manager who could make a changing schedule. Certain plays or musical performances would take more or less time to perfect so the schedule could not be set in stone it would need to change from week to week.
Ben made his mind up and went out behind the Small Palace to where he had built the Guilds earlier. He did not look for recruits under the performer's category but in the "behind the scenes" category. He recruited a female Theatre Director and a female Playwright to manage his Theater.
Ben described the situation he had with making a schedule for the Theater. He would have to leave it up to his two new managers to work with the performers to create schedules that could be advertised to the public.
There wasn't much room left in the area of bedrooms in the Small Place so Ben constructed a couple of small houses for the two female Theater Managers in the small hidden slave neighborhood out back.
Ben stopped in the Recreation Center and asked a few female slaves who were playing cards to teach the new women how to use Market, Restaurant, and modern appliances in their homes. He still had a few things he wanted to take care of so he had to find someone to help them get settled in.
Being a business owner was still new to Ben and he had so many things on his plate right now that he could only continue tweaking here and there until everything was complete. When he had constructed his Greenhouse Restaurant he had built a market inside the kitchen for the chefs to remove any needed supplies but he had forgotten to do this for the other places he built.
He had to go back through and build a concealed Market in each business. Even the hotel would need one for cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and any bedding or covers which might need to be replaced in the future.
At the entrance of each business, he also built a checkout station with a cash register. Under each of the checkout, stations he installed a safe. The cashier could simply dump the coins into a slot on the safe at the end of the day and the total sales would be deposited inside the safe. They would never have to open the safe this way and the only one who could gain access to the coins inside would be Ben. As a final touch, he also placed stanchion rope barriers to form enter and exit queues at each entrance to keep the flow of customers moving smoothly.
'Alright, this should be good for now, I still need to work on uniforms for everyone. Before I leave I should double check and make sure everything is locked up here. I am sure this Observation Tower is going to draw a larger group of curious people tomorrow and I don't want them freely walking through these businesses until they are open.'
Ben made a final pass around the property and decided to add electric street lights around the property. He had always been concerned about using electric lights in Goldcrest but no one had ever questioned him on the ones in his store. He had even made up a whole story about how he obtained them.
'I guess in a world of magic and cultivation people are more adaptable to new strange things.'
Ben shook his head with a forced smile as he cast his Zoom spell and returned to his fortress.
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Ben sincerely thanked each of the knights for helping him out with the funeral. They all walked back up to the fortress together and the knights returned to the Barracks. Ben walked with Mythia over to the Movie Theater and bought the movie Frozen from the System Store.
He had never seen the movie before but knew how popular it was back on Earth and it was set in an old Kingdom style which Mythia and the other people living in the fortress could relate with.
He was surprised as they began to watch the movie how the main character reminded him of Mythia in some ways. A young girl who lost her parents is trying to cope with the overwhelming power of ice magic. While Mythia was also dealing with the loss of her parents because she was too powerless to stop her enemy. Both girls were struggling toward a future where they could freely wield power without having to live in fear.
The movie seemed to help Mythia she was enthralled by the ice magic the young queen could use and had learned you can be powerful and loving of your fellow man. Just because you were strong it did not mean you should make others suffer.
In this world, the strong often stepped on by the week and Mythia was learning by example from Ben that you could be strong and compassionate towards those who deserved it and a force of destruction against those who did not.
When they left the movies Ben added the new movie to the theater playlist and brought Mythia over to the Seamstress.
Ben wanted to allow her to see the Seamstress menus so he asked Athena if it were possible. Just as Ben had made Rayner his Chancellor so that he could use the Warehouse Ben would need to give Mythia a title.
For her to have access to main workshops she would need a royal title so Ben made her a princess of his unofficial nameless kingdom.
The two of them looked through teens clothes from Earth and Victus and began production of everything she liked. About forty-five minutes they had just over forty new outfits along with accessories.
From the Seamstress, they went to the Shoe Maker and went through the same process of making formal and casual shoes along with sneakers and boots.
While the clothing and footwear were still being produced Ben brought Mythia over to the Armorsmith and custom designed a lightweight Magnesium Mythril suit of armor which was slender and decorative. She was able to watch the custom design menu and tell ben what she liked or didn't like with the armor design.
Ben did his best to listen to her requests and make it look as if it were designed for a fantasy princess. He made the entire suit of armor at the Armorsmith except for the helmet.
He had no plans of allowing her to wear this armor into combat so it would be mainly for show and emergency situations. For this reason, he did not get carried away by making a fully enclosed helmet for her.
Ben went over to the Jeweler and designed a slender Mythril tiara with different colored gems set in it. On the sides of the tiara, he added two swept-back wings which made the headgear look like a Valkyrie crown. The Mythril tiara headpiece may resemble jeweled crown but it was still strong enough to protect her head.
The two of them went back to the Keep and into her closet where Ben took out her new clothes and footwear from the Warehouse. He purchased a case of Cedarwood hangers from the System Store and the two of them began to organize her closet.
Off In the corner of her room, Ben also placed an armor stand to display her elegant fantasy armor with the jeweled tiara when she wasn't wearing it.
Ben continued to make the rest of the day all about her. They walked around and talked with people stopped at the Recreation Center to play games and later had dinner together.
As the day wound down he studied with her before she went off to bed. Mythia gave him a hug and thanked Ben for everything he did today and for bringing her parents to her. Even if she couldn't see them any longer at least they didn't feel so far away. Whenever she missed them she could have Ben take her down to the Cemetery to be near them.
Ben was soon back inside the Qi chamber after Mythia went off to bed. He spent a full night there and could feel his cultivation making rapid progress. It was almost as good as when he first started. He missed those days now when he could gain a cultivation level in only a few days.
A couple hours past sunrise he left the QI Chamber and checked his System Map to find Mythia was in the Gym working out already. He used Zoom to teleport into his store office and went out on the sales floor to greet the customers and help them with any questions they had.
At the closing time, Ben took the money from yesterday and today's sales after Baynard had caught up with the books and used Zoom to teleport over to the old warehouse district.
There was one last property lot for him to build on and Ben was beginning to run out of ideas on what to build. He still had a few modern type Entertainments he could build but he wanted to stay away from anything that was too modern like the Movie Theater.
He had already built the Hotel Tower which had hot and cold running water and flushing toilets in each room so he decided to build a Public Bathhouse.
He had to tweak the Bathhouse design a little and add a service counter in the front lobby. The Public Bathhouse at his Fortress was free for everyone but he would be charging people to use this one.
[Public Bathhouse]: A large facility that provides separate baths for men and women. Hot and cold running water is available in both the showers and baths. Also, includes a large sauna, steam room and 5 large jacuzzis on the men's and women's sides.
[Locked until: built water treatment plant] [requires: stone, wood] [costs: 200g]
Now he had placed a property on every lot but there was still a few areas in between these new structures where he could build. Out in front of the hotel, he made a large stone paved parking lot where people could pull up their carts near the door and even park them out of the way overnight.
He then built another huge parking lot near the Park with the observation deck to allow people to drive their carts onto his property and park them. Ben thought if he didn't have any parking areas the streets around here would become packed with carts lining the streets and people would end up having to park far away and be forced to walk back to his business district. If it wasn't convenient to find a place to park a cart he was afraid that people would become frustrated and leave.
He also made a few connecting roads that ran through the lots connecting the businesses to the parking lots. With the additional roads connecting everything together, his new property began to look like a small city subdivision.
For now, he was done building here and he still had room to possibly add four smaller buildings of some type later if he wanted to expand.
Ben used his Disguise Self spell, changed into his commoner clothes, and walked to his Small Palace. Now with eight new buildings, Ben would need people to work them.
Not far from the slave's hidden neighborhood behind the Small Palace, Ben built six guilds. He surrounded the guilds with a couple rows of trees to keep them hidden from visitors.
[Bakers]: Increase baked goods production and quality of all produced baked foods by your workshops, factories, and restaurants.
[Culinarians]: Increase cooked food production and quality of all produced foods by your workshops, factories, and restaurants.
[Equestrian]: Increases the stables capabilities. This guild provides improved health and stamina of your stabled mounts.
[Musicians]: Increase the popularity of your music and concert halls. Musicians and jobs related to music of any type are available for recruitment.
[Performers]: Increase the popularity of your performance establishments. Actors/Actresses, Comedians, and magicians along with any jobs related to performers are available for recruitment.
[Servants]: Increases the efficiency of all servants. Servants can be used to fill the role of most jobs that are not considered skilled craftsmen or skilled professions.
[Taverns and Inns]: Increases the quality rating of rooms, food, and drinks for all places who provide these services and refreshments.
He recruited four level-five bakers, six level-five chefs, Ten level-three waitresses, two level-five bartenders, four level-three barmaids, one level-three stable master, twenty stable hands, ten cashiers, ten maids, six level-five actors, six level-five actresses, four level-five comedians, one level-two servant to work as an elevator operator, an orchestra conductor and one level-five musician who played the following instruments, Harp, Trombone, Tuba, Oboe, Clarinet, Snare drum, Bass drum, Cymbals, and Xylophone.
To hire this many high-level recruits Ben had to, unfortunately, sell off some of his resources. These new recruits cost quite a bit of money but he felt it was worth it. Without skilled employees, his businesses would not stand out above the competition in the city. What good would it be to have a fancy restaurant that served average food and had lousy service? He wanted each of his new businesses to provide an unforgettable experience for his customers that would make them say "Let's come back here from now on".
With almost one hundred new employees following along, Ben led them all into the Small Palace. Ben found his Steward Hughes inside and asked him to help him out. Ben had originally thought the Small Palace was too big but it only had fifty suite bedrooms and twenty servants bedrooms.
Now that he had ninety-seven new employees they would need to arrange them into two-person roommate teams. As Ben went from one suite to the next adding extra beds his Steward Hughes split the men and women up into roommates of the same gender.
Ben explained to Huges after he had purchased and arranged enough new beds that the Palace staff would need to begin cooking and cleaning for these new people. The slave maids would need to clean rooms along with other palace rooms. The cooks would need to provide breakfast and dinner for over one hundred people daily and the laundry room would need to take care of their dirty clothing and bedding.
It would also be Steward Hughes's job to show them the Market out back and how to use it along with the Recreation Center and Restaurant. After some thought Ben told Hughes if things became too difficult on the Chefs to make so many meals every day then He could make the decision to have everyone just eat at the Restaurant or split them into groups where they alternated between the Dining Hall and the Restaurant. Ben wasn't too worried about it either way whatever was easier on them.
Ben told his new people to settle in for the night and Hughes would show them around in the morning. He had made plans with the new employees before he left them to come back around noon tomorrow to bring everyone to see where they would be working.
The sun had set outside now and it was time to complete the Observation Tower while it was dark out. Ben walked over to the central park and paid for the Tower construction. Before he built it though he decided to spend a little more money to paint the tower. He chose to paint the tower a light blue color so it would blend with the sky and be less conspicuous if possible. A 100 foot tall gray concrete tower stood out too much and was drab looking but with a simple layer of paint it finished it off.
After a quick stroll around his property, everything seemed to be in order and ready to go so he cast Zoom back to the fortress keep. He found Mythia at her desk in her bedroom and she was reading a history book he had put together from various loose parchments he had bought from around town and the System Store.
It was unexpected to see her with this advanced book when just a couple days ago he was teaching her how to sound out simple words. Mythia told Ben that she should only need another day or two at the school before she had learned how to fluently read and write.
Ben left Mythia to her studies and went downstairs and used the Qi Chamber. Before Mythia left for the Gym the following morning he went to the Restaurant with her and they had breakfast together.
They parted ways after they had breakfast together. Mythia walked off toward the Gym and Ben cast his Zoom spell and teleported to the Small Palace. His Steward Edward Hughes was already making his rounds in the Small Palace and directing the maids on which rooms they needed to clean today.
Ben asked Hughes to help him round up the Stable Master and the twenty stable hands.
"Good morning Steward Hughes when you are done instructing the maids can you please have the Stable Master and Stables Hands get ready and wait for me in one of the Drawing Rooms. I need to attend to something outside for a few minutes then I will meet up with them." Ben explained.
"As you wish my lord. I will attend to it promptly." Hughes bowed toward Ben and left to see If the Stable Master and Stable Hands were awake yet.
Ben went outside and started construction on a new Stables and a small stone-paved parking lot next to the Stables.
The parking lot was connected to the driveway and allowed anyone who arrived from the street to drive up and park a cart or carriage in the large lot beside the new Stables.
Now the Stable Hands could unhitch and stable the horses here at night time and hitch them up to the carriages in the morning. Ben had not thought about where the horses would stay once the carriages had arrived here for the night up until now.
If there were no Stables then the horses would have to remain hitched to the carriages all night out in the elements or left to free graze around the property. Ben didn't want them to be left out all night especially once the weather began to get cold.
When the Stables were finished Ben went in and found the Stable workers dressed and waiting. Firstly he took them outside and showed them around the stables and explained the other Stables where the horses were kept right now was the same as this one.
Ben walked across the city with the Stable Master and Stable Hands and told them they would be responsible for bringing the new workers to work every morning and then taking them back to the Small Palace at the end of the day. They would have to take shifts on staying up late for the Cabaret workers who would have later hours.
The Cabaret was more of a late night entertainment spot and its hours would be 4PM-12PM. Not that any of the customers had watches or clocks to know the time but the employees would know from the System Menus in the businesses.
When they reach the Stables in the old warehouse district Ben gave the Stable Master the key to unlock the gates to the parking lot where the carriages where stored. Ben brought out forty leather harnesses, collars, bridles, and reins. He began to show the Stable Hands how to attach the horses to the carriages but just like the first Stable Hands, they seemed to instinctively know how to hitch or saddle a horse.
It was still early in the morning and as the Stable Hands busied themselves with the horses and carriages Ben could see groups of people gathering around the perimeter of his property. The Observation Tower was a huge beacon reaching for the sky and everyone who saw it would wonder what it was and where it came from. Ben remained out if sight in the stables until the carriages were ready to go.
Once all of the carriages had a team of two horses attached Ben handed out one of his noble badges to each of his Stables employees. This would ensure they could get into the noble district without any problems when he wasn't with them.
Ben knew how professional the Royal Palace guards were who also worked at the noble district gates and he suspected they would even remember his carriages and know they were his people without stopping them to see their badges. Now that the king had a matching carriage and they knew Ben gave it to him it was obvious anyone in a matching carriage would be from Ben's noble household.
He had the twenty Stable Hands all climb into one of the coachman cabs and he hopped into the lead coachman cab with the driver and led the line of carriages back to his noble district estate. Just as he thought the Royal Palace guards opened the gates when they saw the train of carriages heading toward them. Ben stood in the doorway of the coachman cab and saluted them as they passed through. He had a fair amount of respect for these palace guards and wanted to show he appreciated their hard work.
Back again at the Small Palace Ben had everyone head over to the Restaurant and eat breakfast before they took off. He still didn't have proper uniforms for them all so today was going to be an introduction to their workplace.
As they all filed out of the Restaurant Ben handed each of them a gold noble badge and explained its significance and that they were to always wear it outside of the estate and they were to make sure they did not lose it.
For the five hours, Ben guided the group of employees through each of the businesses they would be working at and explained what their jobs entailed. Before they went back with the carriages to his estate.
Everyone was left to do whatever they wanted for the remainder of the day and Ben went up to the Small Palace third floor. He entered one of the offices and sat down at a desk. With a quill, a bottle of ink, and a stack of paper he began to write out rough menus for his new Greenhouse Restaurant.
He had to come up with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert menus. For his Restaurant to be successful he would need to have it opened all day so that he could bring in enough sales to make it worth running.
The great thing for Ben was he did not have to purchase any supplies to run his businesses and his [recruited] employees worked without receiving a salary. Ben provided everything they needed so he did not feel bad having them work for free and because they were created by the system they did not have the mindset to think they should be provided a salary.
It would be the same as if a person died and went to heaven and asked God for a paycheck for living in heaven and attending to an angel's duties. Ben was their creator and they were completely loyal to him. They might not show it in a fanatical way but if he were to tell them to walk off a cliff they would do it without question.
Once he had worked out his Restaurant menus, Ben had to come up with a small food menu and a menu of mixed drinks for the Cabaret. He was making a decent selection of hard liquor that was sold at the store so it was possible to make an extensive list of popular mixed drinks from Earth.
Next on his list was the Theater, Ben had to come up with a Theater performance schedule. He no longer only had musicians. He had recruited comedians along with actors and actresses. He had to work out how often he would have musical, theatrical, and comedic performances.
Ben knew that practicing for plays took more time than practicing for a musical or comedic performance so he had to keep this in mind. The more he sat and thought about it the harder it became to try and come up with a schedule.
As he thought about it he began to realize he would need a Theater manager who could make a changing schedule. Certain plays or musical performances would take more or less time to perfect so the schedule could not be set in stone it would need to change from week to week.
Ben made his mind up and went out behind the Small Palace to where he had built the Guilds earlier. He did not look for recruits under the performer's category but in the "behind the scenes" category. He recruited a female Theatre Director and a female Playwright to manage his Theater.
Ben described the situation he had with making a schedule for the Theater. He would have to leave it up to his two new managers to work with the performers to create schedules that could be advertised to the public.
There wasn't much room left in the area of bedrooms in the Small Place so Ben constructed a couple of small houses for the two female Theater Managers in the small hidden slave neighborhood out back.
Ben stopped in the Recreation Center and asked a few female slaves who were playing cards to teach the new women how to use Market, Restaurant, and modern appliances in their homes. He still had a few things he wanted to take care of so he had to find someone to help them get settled in.
Being a business owner was still new to Ben and he had so many things on his plate right now that he could only continue tweaking here and there until everything was complete. When he had constructed his Greenhouse Restaurant he had built a market inside the kitchen for the chefs to remove any needed supplies but he had forgotten to do this for the other places he built.
He had to go back through and build a concealed Market in each business. Even the hotel would need one for cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and any bedding or covers which might need to be replaced in the future.
At the entrance of each business, he also built a checkout station with a cash register. Under each of the checkout, stations he installed a safe. The cashier could simply dump the coins into a slot on the safe at the end of the day and the total sales would be deposited inside the safe. They would never have to open the safe this way and the only one who could gain access to the coins inside would be Ben. As a final touch, he also placed stanchion rope barriers to form enter and exit queues at each entrance to keep the flow of customers moving smoothly.
'Alright, this should be good for now, I still need to work on uniforms for everyone. Before I leave I should double check and make sure everything is locked up here. I am sure this Observation Tower is going to draw a larger group of curious people tomorrow and I don't want them freely walking through these businesses until they are open.'
Ben made a final pass around the property and decided to add electric street lights around the property. He had always been concerned about using electric lights in Goldcrest but no one had ever questioned him on the ones in his store. He had even made up a whole story about how he obtained them.
'I guess in a world of magic and cultivation people are more adaptable to new strange things.'
Ben shook his head with a forced smile as he cast his Zoom spell and returned to his fortress.
Ben sincerely thanked each of the knights for helping him out with the funeral. They all walked back up to the fortress together and the knights returned to the Barracks. Ben walked with Mythia over to the Movie Theater and bought the movie Frozen from the System Store.He had never seen the movie before but knew how popular it was back on Earth and it was set in an old Kingdom style which Mythia and the other people living in the fortress could relate with.He was surprised as they began to watch the movie how the main character reminded him of Mythia in some ways. A young girl who lost her parents is trying to cope with the overwhelming power of ice magic. While Mythia was also dealing with the loss of her parents because she was too powerless to stop her enemy. Both girls were struggling toward a future where they could freely wield power without having to live in fear.The movie seemed to help Mythia she was enthralled by the ice magic the young queen could use and had learned you can be powerful and loving of your fellow man. Just because you were strong it did not mean you should make others suffer.In this world, the strong often stepped on by the week and Mythia was learning by example from Ben that you could be strong and compassionate towards those who deserved it and a force of destruction against those who did not.When they left the movies Ben added the new movie to the theater playlist and brought Mythia over to the Seamstress.Ben wanted to allow her to see the Seamstress menus so he asked Athena if it were possible. Just as Ben had made Rayner his Chancellor so that he could use the Warehouse Ben would need to give Mythia a title.For her to have access to main workshops she would need a royal title so Ben made her a princess of his unofficial nameless kingdom.The two of them looked through teens clothes from Earth and Victus and began production of everything she liked. About forty-five minutes they had just over forty new outfits along with accessories.From the Seamstress, they went to the Shoe Maker and went through the same process of making formal and casual shoes along with sneakers and boots.While the clothing and footwear were still being produced Ben brought Mythia over to the Armorsmith and custom designed a lightweight Magnesium Mythril suit of armor which was slender and decorative. She was able to watch the custom design menu and tell ben what she liked or didn't like with the armor design.Ben did his best to listen to her requests and make it look as if it were designed for a fantasy princess. He made the entire suit of armor at the Armorsmith except for the helmet.He had no plans of allowing her to wear this armor into combat so it would be mainly for show and emergency situations. For this reason, he did not get carried away by making a fully enclosed helmet for her.Ben went over to the Jeweler and designed a slender Mythril tiara with different colored gems set in it. On the sides of the tiara, he added two swept-back wings which made the headgear look like a Valkyrie crown. The Mythril tiara headpiece may resemble jeweled crown but it was still strong enough to protect her head.The two of them went back to the Keep and into her closet where Ben took out her new clothes and footwear from the Warehouse. He purchased a case of Cedarwood hangers from the System Store and the two of them began to organize her closet.Off In the corner of her room, Ben also placed an armor stand to display her elegant fantasy armor with the jeweled tiara when she wasn't wearing it.Ben continued to make the rest of the day all about her. They walked around and talked with people stopped at the Recreation Center to play games and later had dinner together.As the day wound down he studied with her before she went off to bed. Mythia gave him a hug and thanked Ben for everything he did today and for bringing her parents to her. Even if she couldn't see them any longer at least they didn't feel so far away. Whenever she missed them she could have Ben take her down to the Cemetery to be near them.Ben was soon back inside the Qi chamber after Mythia went off to bed. He spent a full night there and could feel his cultivation making rapid progress. It was almost as good as when he first started. He missed those days now when he could gain a cultivation level in only a few days.A couple hours past sunrise he left the QI Chamber and checked his System Map to find Mythia was in the Gym working out already. He used Zoom to teleport into his store office and went out on the sales floor to greet the customers and help them with any questions they had.At the closing time, Ben took the money from yesterday and today's sales after Baynard had caught up with the books and used Zoom to teleport over to the old warehouse district.There was one last property lot for him to build on and Ben was beginning to run out of ideas on what to build. He still had a few modern type Entertainments he could build but he wanted to stay away from anything that was too modern like the Movie Theater.He had already built the Hotel Tower which had hot and cold running water and flushing toilets in each room so he decided to build a Public Bathhouse.He had to tweak the Bathhouse design a little and add a service counter in the front lobby. The Public Bathhouse at his Fortress was free for everyone but he would be charging people to use this one.Public Bathhouse: A large facility that provides separate baths for men and women. Hot and cold running water is available in both the showers and baths. Also, includes a large sauna, steam room and 5 large jacuzzis on the men's and women's sides.Locked until: built water treatment plant requires: stone, wood costs: 200gNow he had placed a property on every lot but there was still a few areas in between these new structures where he could build. Out in front of the hotel, he made a large stone paved parking lot where people could pull up their carts near the door and even park them out of the way overnight.He then built another huge parking lot near the Park with the observation deck to allow people to drive their carts onto his property and park them. Ben thought if he didn't have any parking areas the streets around here would become packed with carts lining the streets and people would end up having to park far away and be forced to walk back to his business district. If it wasn't convenient to find a place to park a cart he was afraid that people would become frustrated and leave.He also made a few connecting roads that ran through the lots connecting the businesses to the parking lots. With the additional roads connecting everything together, his new property began to look like a small city subdivision.For now, he was done building here and he still had room to possibly add four smaller buildings of some type later if he wanted to expand.Ben used his Disguise Self spell, changed into his commoner clothes, and walked to his Small Palace. Now with eight new buildings, Ben would need people to work them.Not far from the slave's hidden neighborhood behind the Small Palace, Ben built six guilds. He surrounded the guilds with a couple rows of trees to keep them hidden from visitors.Bakers: Increase baked goods production and quality of all produced baked foods by your workshops, factories, and restaurants.Culinarians: Increase cooked food production and quality of all produced foods by your workshops, factories, and restaurants.Equestrian: Increases the stables capabilities. This guild provides improved health and stamina of your stabled mounts.Musicians: Increase the popularity of your music and concert halls. Musicians and jobs related to music of any type are available for recruitment.Performers: Increase the popularity of your performance establishments. Actors/Actresses, Comedians, and magicians along with any jobs related to performers are available for recruitment.Servants: Increases the efficiency of all servants. Servants can be used to fill the role of most jobs that are not considered skilled craftsmen or skilled professions.Taverns and Inns: Increases the quality rating of rooms, food, and drinks for all places who provide these services and refreshments.He recruited four level-five bakers, six level-five chefs, Ten level-three waitresses, two level-five bartenders, four level-three barmaids, one level-three stable master, twenty stable hands, ten cashiers, ten maids, six level-five actors, six level-five actresses, four level-five comedians, one level-two servant to work as an elevator operator, an orchestra conductor and one level-five musician who played the following instruments, Harp, Trombone, Tuba, Oboe, Clarinet, Snare drum, Bass drum, Cymbals, and Xylophone.To hire this many high-level recruits Ben had to, unfortunately, sell off some of his resources. These new recruits cost quite a bit of money but he felt it was worth it. Without skilled employees, his businesses would not stand out above the competition in the city. What good would it be to have a fancy restaurant that served average food and had lousy service? He wanted each of his new businesses to provide an unforgettable experience for his customers that would make them say "Let's come back here from now on".With almost one hundred new employees following along, Ben led them all into the Small Palace. Ben found his Steward Hughes inside and asked him to help him out. Ben had originally thought the Small Palace was too big but it only had fifty suite bedrooms and twenty servants bedrooms.Now that he had ninety-seven new employees they would need to arrange them into two-person roommate teams. As Ben went from one suite to the next adding extra beds his Steward Hughes split the men and women up into roommates of the same gender.Ben explained to Huges after he had purchased and arranged enough new beds that the Palace staff would need to begin cooking and cleaning for these new people. The slave maids would need to clean rooms along with other palace rooms. The cooks would need to provide breakfast and dinner for over one hundred people daily and the laundry room would need to take care of their dirty clothing and bedding.It would also be Steward Hughes's job to show them the Market out back and how to use it along with the Recreation Center and Restaurant. After some thought Ben told Hughes if things became too difficult on the Chefs to make so many meals every day then He could make the decision to have everyone just eat at the Restaurant or split them into groups where they alternated between the Dining Hall and the Restaurant. Ben wasn't too worried about it either way whatever was easier on them.Ben told his new people to settle in for the night and Hughes would show them around in the morning. He had made plans with the new employees before he left them to come back around noon tomorrow to bring everyone to see where they would be working.The sun had set outside now and it was time to complete the Observation Tower while it was dark out. Ben walked over to the central park and paid for the Tower construction. Before he built it though he decided to spend a little more money to paint the tower. He chose to paint the tower a light blue color so it would blend with the sky and be less conspicuous if possible. A 100 foot tall gray concrete tower stood out too much and was drab looking but with a simple layer of paint it finished it off.After a quick stroll around his property, everything seemed to be in order and ready to go so he cast Zoom back to the fortress keep. He found Mythia at her desk in her bedroom and she was reading a history book he had put together from various loose parchments he had bought from around town and the System Store.It was unexpected to see her with this advanced book when just a couple days ago he was teaching her how to sound out simple words. Mythia told Ben that she should only need another day or two at the school before she had learned how to fluently read and write.Ben left Mythia to her studies and went downstairs and used the Qi Chamber. Before Mythia left for the Gym the following morning he went to the Restaurant with her and they had breakfast together.They parted ways after they had breakfast together. Mythia walked off toward the Gym and Ben cast his Zoom spell and teleported to the Small Palace. His Steward Edward Hughes was already making his rounds in the Small Palace and directing the maids on which rooms they needed to clean today.Ben asked Hughes to help him round up the Stable Master and the twenty stable hands."Good morning Steward Hughes when you are done instructing the maids can you please have the Stable Master and Stables Hands get ready and wait for me in one of the Drawing Rooms. I need to attend to something outside for a few minutes then I will meet up with them." Ben explained."As you wish my lord. I will attend to it promptly." Hughes bowed toward Ben and left to see If the Stable Master and Stable Hands were awake yet.Ben went outside and started construction on a new Stables and a small stone-paved parking lot next to the Stables.The parking lot was connected to the driveway and allowed anyone who arrived from the street to drive up and park a cart or carriage in the large lot beside the new Stables.Now the Stable Hands could unhitch and stable the horses here at night time and hitch them up to the carriages in the morning. Ben had not thought about where the horses would stay once the carriages had arrived here for the night up until now.If there were no Stables then the horses would have to remain hitched to the carriages all night out in the elements or left to free graze around the property. Ben didn't want them to be left out all night especially once the weather began to get cold.When the Stables were finished Ben went in and found the Stable workers dressed and waiting. Firstly he took them outside and showed them around the stables and explained the other Stables where the horses were kept right now was the same as this one.Ben walked across the city with the Stable Master and Stable Hands and told them they would be responsible for bringing the new workers to work every morning and then taking them back to the Small Palace at the end of the day. They would have to take shifts on staying up late for the Cabaret workers who would have later hours.The Cabaret was more of a late night entertainment spot and its hours would be 4PM-12PM. Not that any of the customers had watches or clocks to know the time but the employees would know from the System Menus in the businesses.When they reach the Stables in the old warehouse district Ben gave the Stable Master the key to unlock the gates to the parking lot where the carriages where stored. Ben brought out forty leather harnesses, collars, bridles, and reins. He began to show the Stable Hands how to attach the horses to the carriages but just like the first Stable Hands, they seemed to instinctively know how to hitch or saddle a horse.It was still early in the morning and as the Stable Hands busied themselves with the horses and carriages Ben could see groups of people gathering around the perimeter of his property. The Observation Tower was a huge beacon reaching for the sky and everyone who saw it would wonder what it was and where it came from. Ben remained out if sight in the stables until the carriages were ready to go.Once all of the carriages had a team of two horses attached Ben handed out one of his noble badges to each of his Stables employees. This would ensure they could get into the noble district without any problems when he wasn't with them.Ben knew how professional the Royal Palace guards were who also worked at the noble district gates and he suspected they would even remember his carriages and know they were his people without stopping them to see their badges. Now that the king had a matching carriage and they knew Ben gave it to him it was obvious anyone in a matching carriage would be from Ben's noble household.He had the twenty Stable Hands all climb into one of the coachman cabs and he hopped into the lead coachman cab with the driver and led the line of carriages back to his noble district estate. Just as he thought the Royal Palace guards opened the gates when they saw the train of carriages heading toward them. Ben stood in the doorway of the coachman cab and saluted them as they passed through. He had a fair amount of respect for these palace guards and wanted to show he appreciated their hard work.Back again at the Small Palace Ben had everyone head over to the Restaurant and eat breakfast before they took off. He still didn't have proper uniforms for them all so today was going to be an introduction to their workplace.As they all filed out of the Restaurant Ben handed each of them a gold noble badge and explained its significance and that they were to always wear it outside of the estate and they were to make sure they did not lose it.For the five hours, Ben guided the group of employees through each of the businesses they would be working at and explained what their jobs entailed. Before they went back with the carriages to his estate.Everyone was left to do whatever they wanted for the remainder of the day and Ben went up to the Small Palace third floor. He entered one of the offices and sat down at a desk. With a quill, a bottle of ink, and a stack of paper he began to write out rough menus for his new Greenhouse Restaurant.He had to come up with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert menus. For his Restaurant to be successful he would need to have it opened all day so that he could bring in enough sales to make it worth running.The great thing for Ben was he did not have to purchase any supplies to run his businesses and his recruited employees worked without receiving a salary. Ben provided everything they needed so he did not feel bad having them work for free and because they were created by the system they did not have the mindset to think they should be provided a salary.It would be the same as if a person died and went to heaven and asked God for a paycheck for living in heaven and attending to an angel's duties. Ben was their creator and they were completely loyal to him. They might not show it in a fanatical way but if he were to tell them to walk off a cliff they would do it without question.Once he had worked out his Restaurant menus, Ben had to come up with a small food menu and a menu of mixed drinks for the Cabaret. He was making a decent selection of hard liquor that was sold at the store so it was possible to make an extensive list of popular mixed drinks from Earth.Next on his list was the Theater, Ben had to come up with a Theater performance schedule. He no longer only had musicians. He had recruited comedians along with actors and actresses. He had to work out how often he would have musical, theatrical, and comedic performances.Ben knew that practicing for plays took more time than practicing for a musical or comedic performance so he had to keep this in mind. The more he sat and thought about it the harder it became to try and come up with a schedule.As he thought about it he began to realize he would need a Theater manager who could make a changing schedule. Certain plays or musical performances would take more or less time to perfect so the schedule could not be set in stone it would need to change from week to week.Ben made his mind up and went out behind the Small Palace to where he had built the Guilds earlier. He did not look for recruits under the performer's category but in the "behind the scenes" category. He recruited a female Theatre Director and a female Playwright to manage his Theater.Ben described the situation he had with making a schedule for the Theater. He would have to leave it up to his two new managers to work with the performers to create schedules that could be advertised to the public.There wasn't much room left in the area of bedrooms in the Small Place so Ben constructed a couple of small houses for the two female Theater Managers in the small hidden slave neighborhood out back.Ben stopped in the Recreation Center and asked a few female slaves who were playing cards to teach the new women how to use Market, Restaurant, and modern appliances in their homes. He still had a few things he wanted to take care of so he had to find someone to help them get settled in.Being a business owner was still new to Ben and he had so many things on his plate right now that he could only continue tweaking here and there until everything was complete. When he had constructed his Greenhouse Restaurant he had built a market inside the kitchen for the chefs to remove any needed supplies but he had forgotten to do this for the other places he built.He had to go back through and build a concealed Market in each business. Even the hotel would need one for cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and any bedding or covers which might need to be replaced in the future.At the entrance of each business, he also built a checkout station with a cash register. Under each of the checkout, stations he installed a safe. The cashier could simply dump the coins into a slot on the safe at the end of the day and the total sales would be deposited inside the safe. They would never have to open the safe this way and the only one who could gain access to the coins inside would be Ben. As a final touch, he also placed stanchion rope barriers to form enter and exit queues at each entrance to keep the flow of customers moving smoothly.'Alright, this should be good for now, I still need to work on uniforms for everyone. Before I leave I should double check and make sure everything is locked up here. I am sure this Observation Tower is going to draw a larger group of curious people tomorrow and I don't want them freely walking through these businesses until they are open.'Ben made a final pass around the property and decided to add electric street lights around the property. He had always been concerned about using electric lights in Goldcrest but no one had ever questioned him on the ones in his store. He had even made up a whole story about how he obtained them.'I guess in a world of magic and cultivation people are more adaptable to new strange things.'Ben shook his head with a forced smile as he cast his Zoom spell and returned to his fortress.
