A few days later, Vicente's caravan would arrive at the site that Nova had secured for them.
Vicente's group's 33 vehicles arrived at the site early that afternoon, passing over a small hill and then coming face-to-face with the flat area of around 60 square kilometers in front of them.
From there, a group of around 180 people could see the area, which had practically only undergrowth and was surrounded by hills and forested areas.
The natural beauty there was remarkable, but because it was in an area dominated by beasts from the surrounding hills, it wasn't exactly the best place for magicians to settle.
That's precisely why this piece of land had no explorers or even a city already built there.
Although many human areas had forests and other spaces with the presence of beasts nearby, normally, these areas were not as close to the urban area as they would be in this place.
While it would take at least an hour to get from Martell Village to the Crows Woods, it would take no more than 15 minutes from the land in front of the group to the nearby hills. That's why it wasn't such an interesting place to build a human settlement.
But that made the place available to Vicente's group, and he naturally liked how it looked.
As he got down from his carriage, he couldn't help muttering to Sarah and Rory.
"If we build our city here, we'll be able to set up guard posts on these five hills around this area. It will be practically impossible for anyone to reach us without seeing them in advance." He pointed in the direction of the peaks that surrounded the area.
Then, one of the group's builders approached him and said, "Building here will be easy. The terrain is flat, so we won't have to create any special support structures. However, this could also become a defensive problem. As much as the nearby peaks will help us, defending a flat area is more difficult than defending other types of terrain."
"Maybe we should build a wall..."
"That wouldn't be feasible. At least not until we have a large built-up area."
Some of the leaders of the builders, blacksmiths, and engineers approached Vicente to discuss problems and possibilities given the terrain.
"... Ultimately, we have to think about the beasts nearby. If they don't work for us, it will be difficult to build here."
"Don't worry. I'm going to dominate all the beasts on the adjacent peaks." Vicente announced. "I'll make them watch the surrounding area for us, and don't let any beasts come to the place you'll be working from now on."
The men there immediately felt relieved. Most of them were only Acolytes, so they were pretty afraid of having to live and work so close to beast territory.
"Sarah, you will stay here to lead and protect this group," Vicente announced as he looked at the black-haired woman next to him.
Sarah had expected something like this and nodded at him in understanding.
Vicente turned his gaze back to the group and said. "Now, choose a place to start this settlement!"
After that, the coachmen returned to driving their wagons and carriages, heading towards the point chosen by the group's leaders.
Arriving in the middle of that area, they would soon start unloading the materials there while part of the group would start building a camp.
The group leaders would stay by Vicente and Rory's side, and the builders and engineers would exchange ideas while they had already made some markings on the ground.
Vicente would stay in this place for a week to help the group sort out their situation in the surrounding area, so he was in no hurry to leave with Rory for Diamond Province.
One of the Fuller family's 3rd-stage builders then pointed out to his boss an area a little further away and also less flat than the one they were in.
"Boss, you can extract the minerals from that place. Try to extract it so that we can build a significant drinking water reservoir there in the future.
Vicente nodded in the affirmative but didn't start right away. He listened to some of the men's plans, watching them start with some plans.
After giving a few orders and hints about what he wanted them to do, Vicente moved off alone, leaving the whole group working in that area.
Before extracting ores from the ground, he headed towards the peak, where he felt the most noticeable magical fluctuation in the surroundings.
First of all, he had to subdue the beasts in the vicinity and ensure that his group would not be disturbed!
...
When it started to get dark, anyone passing through the area today would see a somewhat different situation there.
today would see a somewhat different situation there.
Where it usually was very dark at night, and a few beasts grazed or even slept, there were a lot of torches and magical devices illuminating an area of about a thousand square meters in the middle of this region surrounded by forests today.
The only beasts and animals there were those brought in by the group of magicians now settled in the area, who had already built a total of 24 tents, a barn, two corrals, 5 large warehouses, and 10 toilets.
Magicians were very quick at what they did, so when Vicente returned in the middle of the night after completing his mission to tame the strongest beasts in the vicinity, the group had already built the essentials for them to start living in the area.
Vicente didn't enter this small camp when he returned from the forests adjacent to his new domain. He went to the place where one of his men had pointed him out so that he could start exploring the area for minerals.
He would spend the whole night working there, using his magnetic powers, spells based on the earth element, and knowledge of forging.
When dawn broke the next day, those who had spent the night resting began to wake up. The first to come to him would be shocked by what he had done in just one night.
Near where he had started his exploration were five large piles of metal ingots of different metals!
The first blacksmith to approach the area would look at it wide-eyed, seeing a quantity of metals there capable of filling the entire association building if they were sent to that city.
Meanwhile, not far from these materials for his group to use in the near future, Vicente was inside a crater 40 meters in diameter and 18 meters deep at ground level.
Vicente felt someone watching him and said. "Tell our builders I'll be mining in this area for three days. Once I've gathered a good amount of metal, I'll build something for you to shelter in case you run into trouble, and then I'll leave."
"Yes, boss!"
