Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 71: First Impressions

The clothing consisted of two layers. The inner layer was essentially a long-armed shirt, with the exception that it didn’t have any buttons. Instead, one side was wrapped above the other, and both sides were fastened with a clasp to stay snugly on his chest. The arms and shoulders had a slightly looser fit and didn’t restrict his movements at all. It fit perfectly and Zac felt it must have been custom-made for his frame.

His pants were made in some smooth cloth as well, and went in darker brown compared to the beige of the shirt. They were slightly baggy at the thighs but snugly fit around his calves, and they reminded Zac of some jester’s pants. But at least they weren’t tapered in bright colors or had bells attached.

The outer layer was a green robe that was put on in the same manner as the inner shirt, with one side was placed over the other. But instead of being kept in place with clasps it stayed fastened with a wide leather girdle. It was sleeveless and went down to his knees just like the dress he used earlier, which was why he got turned around earlier. Adorning the hem of the robe was intricate fractals in the same style as the array flags, meaning they likely were put there by the System, or its own craftsmen at least.

No shoes were provided though by the system, which was fine by him since he couldn’t wear them at the moment in any case. All in all, it seemed the System tailored the rewards to his needs, which he guessed was due to getting such high marks on his completion.

A stream of information entered his mind as he touched a fractal, and he was delighted to know that the gear had quite a few features. It was self-cleaning and self-mending which translated into Zac not looking like a murder-hobo again in a few weeks. It even had two forms of protection.

One was that it displaced force over his whole body instead of only at the point of impact. Quite some force was needed to break through that passive defense and Zac wouldn’t keep getting the small flesh wounds from bites and arrows. That should come in quite handy when fighting the horde of beasts in the future.

It also carried a similar protection such as the one on the demon’s armors, except that it didn’t provide any recoil force. Instead it could be used twice in a day and could stop a much stronger attack, which was far more valuable as Zac saw it. His strongest Dao-empowered strike had been able to break through the golden shield in his fight with Rydel, so he knew roughly where its limit lay.

Looking fresh and presentable, except for his bare feet, Zac once again headed back to the shipyard. It still seemed deserted as there were no sounds of activity breaking the silence. Still, Zac entered a building next to the huge warehouse that seemed to be either an office or rec house.

The inside was made of stone, cut and polished to perfection. All the furniture and details were created in heavy stone as well, and Zac couldn’t see one curved line. Everything was squared, and the whole lobby gave Zac a truly brutalist impression.

The room clearly was a lobby. Apart from some stone furniture a huge counter was placed in the middle, and behind it stood a statue of a humanoid. It had no facial features and its face was instead covered in a large fractal in the computer font. It was dressed in a simple silver-colored robe, and looked somewhat human apart from the fact it had a few extra fingers on each of its hands. All in all, it looked like a robot statue carved out of soapstone or onyx.

It was completely still, and Zac wasn’t sure whether this was one of the so-called Creators or just an elaborate decoration. Ogras had called them living golems and this kind of fit the bill.

“Hello? I’m Zac Atwood. Am I disturbing?” He tentatively tried to call on the statue.

[Greetings, Mr. Atwood. I am Rahm, liaison of Iliex Pre-cosmic Shipyard Nr. 65 238, now located at your planet. Future inquiries are preferably directed at me, and I will endeavor to resolve any issues and complaints in an expedient and equitable manner.]

The statue came to life and answered in a perfunctory voice. It then even followed up with an aristocratic bow in Zac’s direction. It seemed that the Iliex conversed in the same manner as Abby had, using some magic instead of a mouth. Zac quickly bowed back with far less grace, flustered at the cordiality.

[Haha don’t mind Rahm, that rigid old goat. We’re not some dour robots like he would have you believe.] Boomed a similar, but far rowdier voice from the interiors of the building as deep thuds approached the lobby. Soon the speaker entered through a passage, and Zac had to stop himself from taking a step back.

It was a three meter tall amalgamation between spider and robot. It had five huge legs that bent at the middle, each over three meters long. If they stretched upward the weird-looking Creator would stand at over four meters. The torso itself was largely humanoid, with the face sharing the characteristic fractal. It did however have four arms instead of two, and it actually looked like the body was full of either tools or weapons.

Zac could only stare at the monstrosity with mouth slightly ajar, which seemed to please the spider robot immensely.

[Pretty impressive, isn’t it brat? Took me the better part of three hundred years to fuse form and function into the great body before you. Even had to steal some C-graded nebulous copper to finish it. Well, I guess that’s why I was demoted to the foreman of this shithole. No offense.] He shouted as he slapped one of the metallic legs, creating an echoing clangor throughout the building.

The more normal-looking Creator didn’t react at all to the entrance and tirade of this fantastical being, seeming used to its antics.

[So, kid, what do you wanna build? Terrornaughts? Modified destroyers? If you can get some D-graded crystals we can make some nasty cosmic bombs, blow one of the neighboring islands off the face of the earth! Attack is the best defense, who knows what kind of assholes lives there!]

The man’s legs started tap excitedly at the floor as he started to list what could only be terrible weapons, each tap actually punching a hole in the ground. Zac was unable to react for a second, his mind working overtime to grasp the new information. Luckily, the liaison saved the day with a timely interjection.

[D-grade battle-ships such as Terrornaughts and destroyers are not within the accord with The Great Shaper. Please purview the pre-approved designs.]

Two crystals appeared in its hands, of which Zac graciously accepted one. The metal spider-being waved his copy away though, and the Rahm could only put it back.

[May I present Karunthel, foreman and foremost expert of this shipyard. And he was relocated here after a few… Unfortunate…. Experiments, not some minor item acquisition infraction.] The liaison, who started to feel like a long-suffering butler, said as he gestured toward the spider.

[Bah, I know I know, no blowing up any islands or continents of the baby world.] Karunthel said as he rolled his shoulders.

“Actually I’m not here regarding any ships at the moment. I was wondering if it was possible to, uh, camouflage the fact that this is a Iliex Shipyard, make it look like it’s a normal one?” Zac asked tentatively, gauging the reactions of the two golems.

[Haha afraid of a little heat, brat? Any greedy forces nearby? You should just carpet bomb anything that looks at your stuff, far more effective.] The foreman said with a booming laugh.

[Well, I guess we could make it look like a human dock, hide the inscriptions and such. But such changes are not included in the standard package.] Karunthel continued, seemingly entering into business-mode.

“What do you mean?” Zac asked with a sinking feeling.

[Money! We don’t work for free, and restructuring the whole thing to make it look uglier is gonna cost you.]

“How much?” Zac asked, determined to just grit his teeth and bear the cost, almost no matter how large.

[Eight millio-]

[Five hundred and twenty five thousand Nexus Coins.] The liaison quickly interjected, only to be lightly kicked with one of the spider legs as the foreman muttered something Zac couldn’t discern.

Zac was starting to get a headache as it seemed everyone entering his life lately was filled with greed. Luckily Rahm had come to his rescue, and he helplessly accepted the reconstruction, leaving him with a huge hole in his pocket. A window looking like a purchase confirmation appeared in front of him and he accepted.

[Remuneration confirmed. Expected duration for project 4 hours. May this be the start of a long and mutually beneficial cooperation.] Rahm said and once again bowed toward Zac.

More impressively, his whole body started flickering, and he changed into an actual human. Of course, there was a tinge of lifelessness in the Creator’s eyes belying his real identity to Zac. Though that might just be the personality of this particular individual rather than a failure in the camouflage. But after watching its movements and mannerisms for a few seconds he saw some imperfections in the disguise. But from a distance or for a short while no one should be able to tell at all.

[Bah, how boring. Call me when you want to create things that go boom. And don’t expect me to turn into a stupid bipedal after getting these shiny legs. But don’t worry, no brat on a baby world will be able to expose me, native or foreign.] The foreman said and started to walk away with a wave.

“Um, are you able to build anything that can help against a monster horde?” Zac asked, as this was the most pressing issue now that the reconstruction was dealt with.

Karunthel stopped in his tracks as he was leaving and eagerly turned toward Zac once again. But after a few seconds of hesitation, he answered.

[I’m sorry kiddo, but most of what I’m allowed to create right now is meant for naval exploration with limited functions for naval battle. It’s cheaper if you buy the fortifications and arrays from the Shop. It’s not Creator-quality, but it’s more effective against beast hordes. And don’t expect us to help you kill any critters, we’re only here to build things.]

Having nothing else to do at the shipyard Zac thanked the two golems and left. As he left he saw quite a few humans efficiently scurrying about as they remodeled the whole area. But he knew that it wasn’t actual humans, rather more camouflaged Creators.

He was very pleased with the result of the visit, apart from having been forced to spend most of his hard-earned coin. But since there might arrive more people or demons at any moment he didn’t hesitate to spend it. If what Ogras said was true, then not even a whisper of any rumors could be allowed to grow.

He was a bit disappointed that they wouldn’t provide any assistance in case of an attack. But he had a feeling the System put various restrictions on those who worked for it. Abby wasn’t allowed to explain certain things, and Rahm told him they were only allowed to build pre-approved ships. It meant that the golems likely weren’t even allowed to provide assistance outside doing their jobs. Otherwise Zac believed that the crazy foreman wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to blow up hordes of monsters, even if it was just for fun.

He arrived back at the camper and once again opened up the Town Shop. It was time to start the improvements. First he bought an [F-Grade Middle Scale Cosmic Smelting Furnace] for 200 000 Nexus Coins, leaving him with a scant 20 000 Nexus Coins. Luckily the shops only cost a symbolic sum, as they made their money through trade.

The purpose of the furnace was to refine various F-graded metals and minerals, and Nexus Crystals were one of the things it could refine. It was an expensive purchase but Ogras had promised it would be far more profitable to refine the materials by himself before he sold them, as every shop would try to scam him on rates when he sold raw crystals.

It was a large black box roughly two meters tall and three meters wide. On one side it had a chute for throwing in the raw materials, and on the other, it had a hole leading out to a large tray. He immediately summoned a sack of crystals and threw the contents into the chute, and contentedly watched his wealth grow. It took roughly 10 minutes for the whole sack to be processed into crystals, and when they came out they looked identical to the ones he had stolen long ago. Gone were any defects or rock remains, leaving only unblemished uniform crystals.

Next, he needed someone to buy his products.