Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

While the kings were busy discussing global threats, Dion, still wearing his mechanical crafter and gunner persona, stood facing the road he had created himself. Behind him stood the two soldier golems he had just made, with Aria enthusiastically inspecting them, her face bright with cheer even as faint smoke rose from her head from deep concentration. Cleo stood behind the golems and Aria, arms crossed over her chest, observing Dion closely.

”Cleo.”

Cleo turned around to see Luna carrying Gina, with Sheila and Mei walking up toward them. Cleo turned to greet them.

”What are they up to?” Sheila asked, pointing at Dion, who was now measuring the width of the road, and Aria, who was climbing a golem to peek inside it.

”Dion said he wants to build a barricade to close off the road. Just watch,” Cleo replied, too lazy to explain.

”Hmm... he’s not doing anything weird again, is he?” Luna asked.

”Not so far,” Cleo answered briefly.

”Wow... so the road leading to Eredor is getting closed off?” Mei asked.

”He said it’s not closed, just restricted... we’ll just see what Dion does,” Cleo said, shrugging her shoulders.

”Wow... what are those? Golems? Why are they so big?” Sheila asked, pointing at the two golems standing tall and still like armored statues.

”Soldier Golems. Dion said they’re for guarding this road,” Cleo replied.

”Hmm... Dion really is amazing. He can make things I’ve never seen before,” Mei said.

”Heheh... Dion’s awesome, right?” Luna said proudly.

”Kyuuu,” Gina raised her paws, looking cheerful and proud.

”Why are you two acting so proud? Just watch and keep it down,” Cleo said tartly.

They watched from a distance to see what Dion would do. Having finished measuring the road’s width, Dion thought to himself, ”Hmm... I don’t know how many barricade walls I need to block this path, since it’s 12.5 meters wide.”

”Dion.”

Dion turned to see Aria approaching him, finished with her inspection of the two soldier golems and looking thoroughly satisfied.

”Your golems... can you make me one? I want to study it and build one myself,” Aria said cheerfully.

”Hmm... maybe later. Right now, can you pull out your iron ore?” Dion asked.

”What for?” Aria asked, confused.

”To build a barricade wall,” Dion replied.

”Hmm... okay.”

Aria turned briefly and called the two soldier golems over, then opened her dimensional storage and pulled out the iron ore, asking the two golems to carry it in front of Dion. After that, Dion opened the skill interface for Building Barricade:

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Building Barricade:

Wall:

1. Reinforced barricade wall x1: 50 iron ore, 30 medium magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

2. ???

Watchtower:

1. Standard battle watchtower: 120 iron ore, 100 medium magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

2. Inferno Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium fire element magic crystals, 50 large fire element magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

3. Blizzard Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium water element magic crystals, 50 large water element magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

4. Tornado Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium wind element magic crystals, 50 large wind element magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

5. ???

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Dion’s eyes landed on the pile of iron ore on the ground. He asked the two golems to move it to the far left edge of the road, then opened his dimensional waist bag to retrieve 30 medium magic crystals.

”Oh... you need magic crystals too?” asked Aria, watching Dion place 30 medium-sized magic crystals near the iron ore.

”Yeah... do you have any?” Dion asked.

”I have 200 medium ones,” Aria replied.

”Great. Now I’m going to try something, step back for a second,” Dion said, standing up.

”Okay,” Aria replied, stepping back alongside Dion.

Looking at the pile of 50 iron ore and 30 colorful, medium-sized magic crystals in front of him, Dion raised his hand.

”Create Reinforced barricade wall... execute.”

A magic circle appeared beneath the pile of iron ore and magic crystals, casting a glow as the progress bar appeared. Dion’s face looked serious, his expression clearly revealing a mix of curiosity, slight hesitation, and impatience as he waited for the progress bar to fill. A bright light wrapped around the magic circle when the bar reached 50%, and once it hit 100%, the glow finally faded.

”Oh... so that’s how it looks,” Dion said.

In front of him stood a steel wall coated in a kind of barrier, standing one and a half meters tall and one meter wide. Dion approached the wall and tapped it,

Clang... clang.

”Wow... nice,” Dion said, admiring his creation.

”This wall seems really strong... it’s not tall and looks like it’s strictly for barricades, but in large quantities, we could line our fortress with this,” Aria said.

”Yeah... but before we decide on that, we have to test it,” Dion said.

Dion turned and caught sight of Cleo watching him. He waved his hand, beckoning her over. Called over, Cleo walked up along with Luna holding Gina, Sheila, and Mei.

”What’s up?” Cleo asked.

”Wait here, I’ll need your power later. But first,” Dion turned to the golem, ”hey... try stepping up and attacking it with your sword,” Dion ordered.

One of the golems saluted, stepped past the barricade wall, and moments later ”clang!” struck the wall with its sword. There wasn’t a single scratch.

”Try with all your strength,” Dion said.

The golem raised its sword with both hands and slashed from the side. Clang! A loud noise echoed this time, but the wall didn’t budge at all.

”Now try shooting it,” Dion said.

The golem saluted, turned around, and walked back to create distance. Facing the wall again, the magic cannon on its shoulder lowered and aimed its barrel at the target.

”We should step back for a moment,” Dion said, turning around.

Dion led the five girls plus Gina off to the side to observe the test from a safe distance. ”Fire!” Dion shouted.

Psiuuu!

A missile-like beam shot toward the wall. Blaam! A loud explosion echoed, sending a wave of hot wind sweeping through the area. Dion was stunned by what he saw, not only was the wall completely unscratched and merely blackened, but he had also just witnessed the staggering power of the soldier golem’s cannon.

”Wow,” uttered Aria, Luna, Sheila, and Mei, staring in awe.

”Kyuu,” Gina gasped, her eyes wide and mouth agape.

”Give me a break... another landscape-altering weapon... I don’t even know what to say anymore,” Cleo muttered, looking exhausted.

”Cleo, go over there and blast that wall with your best magic,” Dion said.

”Huh... are you crazy? No way,” Cleo protested.

”Come on, we have to test its durability if we want to block this road,” Dion coaxed.

”I refuse,” Cleo said, crossing her arms and turning her back on Dion.

”Tch... fine, be that way,” Dion replied.

Dion’s eyes then landed on Gina, who was being held by Luna. A smile spread across his lips as he approached Luna and took Gina from her arms.

”Kyuu?” asked Gina as Dion held her.

”Transform into your big form, go over there, and blast that wall with your fire, okay?” Dion instructed.

Gina looked at the wall, then looked at the golem walking back toward Dion and the others after being called over by Aria. She then glanced at Cleo and froze, Cleo was glaring sharply at the tiny dragon with a glare that silently warned, ”Try it, and you’re not getting dinner tonight.” Instantly, the tiny dragon looked back at Dion, crossed her arms, and shook her head enthusiastically in refusal.

”Ah... you guys are no fun. Fine... I’ll just do it myself,” Dion said. He drew both pistols from his hip and loaded their energy.

But before he could step forward toward the test area, Cleo, Luna, Sheila, Aria, Mei, and even Gina suddenly rushed over to Dion, their faces pale.

”Don’t!” Cleo, Luna, Sheila, Aria, and Mei screamed, pulling Dion back so hard that he fell backward onto his rear.

Dion sat up, feeling a sting in his backside from hitting the ground hard, and stood up while rubbing his rear.

”What was that for?” Dion asked.

”Stop... don’t try anything. The wall is strong enough and works fine as a boundary, no more testing needed,” Cleo said.

”She’s right, the wall is already solid enough, so that’s plenty,” Luna added.

”You were going to build the rest of the wall, right? Better just get to it instead of testing it again. Come on, I’ll keep you company,” Aria said, taking Dion’s arm.

”I can try using my axe, but I’m sure the result will be the same as the golem’s, so I think the wall is plenty strong,” Sheila said.

”Don’t worry, all of us trust the walls you make,” Mei added, giving a thumbs up.

”Hmm... fine then, let’s get back to work,” Dion invited.

”Okay!” ”Kyuu!” Luna, Sheila, Aria, Mei, Cleo, and Gina all raised their hands in agreement.

After that, they went back to arranging the iron ore and medium magic crystals in rows so Dion could craft them effortlessly, while Dion looked at his skill interface:

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Building Barricade:

Wall:

1. Reinforced barricade wall x1: 50 iron ore, 30 medium magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

2. NEW Electric Spike Barricade x1: 100 iron ore, 30 medium magic crystals, 10 large magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

3. ???

Watchtower:

1. Standard battle watchtower: 120 iron ore, 100 medium magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

2. Inferno Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium fire element magic crystals, 50 large fire element magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

3. Blizzard Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium water element magic crystals, 50 large water element magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

4. Tornado Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium wind element magic crystals, 50 large wind element magic crystals. [Execute?] [yes] [no]

5. ???

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