As they approached, the wall in the distance slowly growing larger, they began to notice traces of battle that had happened here all too recently as well. Freshly stamped grass, with the occasional discarded weapon scattered around, joined by a lone body of a seemingly stomped to death soldier or two. Nothing too major, a few traces of a skirmish, not nearly as bad as what they had already walked through. How wrong they were. Oh, how truly wrong they were, and that too with several days the city's defenders have had time to begin cleaning up the mess.

  Ground was a weird mess of brown, pale yellow and red, a mixture of mud, dried grass and copious amounts of blood. More and more discarded weapons, or often times their fragments, could be seen stuck in that mud, with the slightest traces of beastmen remains also surfacing here and there. At least there was a distinct lack of entire bodies littering the immediate lands around the settlement's walls, keeping the danger of some sort of a disease developing and spreading rather low.

  Their approach was also noticed soon enough, though there was little to no reaction, at least as far as Zena and her group could see. What they did not yet know, was that those guards patrolling the walls had noticed Jack at the very front of the small group, immediately relaxing. If anything, by now they knew full well just how powerful the shadowy leader of the maids truly was.

  Jack could see Zena tense up just a bit as they moved closer and closer to the gates, though as she neither saw nor sensed any increase of activity, the tension was only slight, with her hands close to her bow and arrows, though not yet outright gripping them.

  "Relax. This is sort of my place." Jack spoke calmly.

  "I-Im sorry?" Zena jerked her head Jack's way, the motion reactive and sharp. She had clearly not expected Jack to speak up right now, caught of guard and all.

  "I said, It's sort of my place." Jack repeated, his tone still calm, as though nothing could disturb his peace of mind "This is where I will also leave you to find your own path forward. And that is as much as I will do. The rest, as it just so happens, will depend on your own ability and whatnot."

  Zena could not ask for more, clearly, for their savior had already shown more kindness than they could have ever hoped for. Thus, she simply nodded hear head meekly as her thoughts already rushed forward, making mental math on the things she and her wards would need, and what they could even offer in turn said needed things.

  The gate creaked as it slowly opened, revealing a rather empty gate before them, only a couple of guards standing on the other side, though it was clear no one was even dreaming of stopping the arriving group. They passed through the enforced brick gatehouse and gained entry to the city's interior. There, a simple, if somewhat expansive zone came into Zena's view, littered with large number of one or two story brick buildings. Whoever had been responsible, had crealy foreseen the need for wide streets, eventually capable of supporting a large trafic of people and pack animals if needed.

  "Come along." Jack waved Zena and her group to follow him, leading them all straight to Selin's house. As luck would have it, she was around, too busy with the aftermath of their recent battle to head to the dungeon and grind some more levels, though it was clear she desired nothing more than do just that. Still, duty called and so here she was, solving the problems that had piled up before her.

  Mina Ast was, as expected, also nearby, as always keeping her eye on Selin, ensuring the woman was both safe and did not spend too much time in solving whatever problems had amassed themselves. Exhausted Selin, ready to collapse at any moment was an ineffective Selin, and as such required MIna's constant attention when too much work had piled up. And that was not for lack of Selin trying.

  Mina gave Jack a slight, yet obvious bow, showing her respect for both his station and individual strength. She had seen more than enough during the siege after all.

  Jack spent little time in beating around the bush, dragging Zena and Aki with him inside Selin's home and explained the situation as was.

  "So you want us to integrate them?" Selin asked once more to make sure she understood Jack's plan. It was too damn stupid to assume she could ever comprehend Jack's way of thinking, so she had simply stopped trying, focusing her attention on things she could control and fix.

  "More or less." Jack shrugged in turn "All I care, at the end of the day, is that they survive I suppose. This was nothing more than an impulsive act of mercy. If it blooms into something good- wonderful. If not- meh. Can always try another, if the mood strikes again."

  "Understood." Selin sighed in surrender, then looked towards Zena and Aki, forcing a small, if helpless smile of her own. "Let's figure things out, shall we girls?" she then pointed towards the empty chairs next to the rooms walls "Pick one and sit right here. We do have a decent amount of things to hash out."

  The two obediently followed Selin's instructions, doing as told, though they still gazed Jack's way every now and then, her eyes locked on his frame as he turned and left. Not before dropping another line.

  "Are my maids out somewhere, or already delving the dungeon?"

  "They are helping with the cleanup." Selin replied as a matter of fact.

  "I was correct then. Good to know." Jack hummed as he finally departed for good, earning another bow of respect from Mina as he passed her by the second time. Authority and mutual respect were the two things that kept small clans like theirs alive and kicking, s oit was only fair for Mina to show the deference that Jack deserved.

  "Right, do tell all earth mages available to gather at our home come morning. I noticed the surrounding lands have been somewhat cleaned of the corpses, but not to the level we want. I see it solved tomorrow." Jack then told Mina, barely stopping.

  "It will be done." Mina replied, ready to do as told. Jack almost never gave any orders himself, always delegating such tasks either to his maids, the man Spartacus who followed him, or Selin herself. To now receive one meant it was important and he clearly did not want to put more workload on Selin, so it was only natural for Mina to do as told.

  "What to do, what to do?" Jack hummed as he walked to his home. His maids were busy with the cleanup, assisting Selin's people in removing all the corpses left behind by the assault, throwing beastmen ones into the dungeon where they would be quickly absorbed or performing pyre burials for their own. In the end, Jack decided it was only fair for him to do something nice for his maids every now and then, so he did something he had not done in quite a while, preparing quite the meal for when they returned.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Sure, it could be argued he had done just as much, perhaps more than the maids, but he was also the only god, even if only in past and future tense right now, and as such had to be held to a higher standard. They would no doubt be exhausted once they returned, and as such, deserved some special treatment. True to Jack's expectation, the maids, along with Spartacus, returned only with dusk, once it was dark enough to demand extra illumination to continue their work.

  Each and every one of them dragged their feet, sighing heavily as they did so, already splitting tasks as to who did what to prepare supper. Imagine then their surprise when they noticed the table already set and full of almost divine smelling good, causing them all to gulp unconsciously.

  "Well done." Jack greeted them calmly, the barest of smiles on his face. "You have worked hard, and since tomorrow will be no lighter, a small reward is in order. Wash up first and then it's all yours."

  Jack could almost see hearts blooming in the eyes of his maids as they gazed at him. He could do nothing but retain the small smile on his face as he waved them away. "Go on. Wash up first and food only after." He did not have to say thrice, his servants heading towards the baths in an orderly line, soon enough disappearing within the two rooms.

  The meal was mostly quiet, with only barely audible sighs and pleased humms filling the room every now and then. That and of course the clinking of cutlery. There was no room for conversations right now. The food was just that magnificent and calming, so it was only right to enjoy it in as much of a vacuum as possible.

  Jack had not lied. The next day was indeed just as much of a hard work as the last, even if they had more hands helping than before. Just as he had asked, Mina had indeed gathered all earth mages within the city and sent them his way, arriving just as he had ordered. Then, using their skills, as well as with Valente's and Sindu's cooperation, they performed quite the neat magic that cleaned up the battlefield- or what still remained of it- quite nicely, even if after them the fields were left scorched and turned over.

  Valente and Sindu combined their magic to create something of an intelligent fire wall, cleaning the surface quite nicely, hardening it in the process. Then, the conscripted earth mages had cooperated and turned the field over, allowing Jack's two mage maids to to it all over again, burning all excess away and leaving only earth behind. And thanks to all the ash that remained, earth was in turn fertilized, preparing it for another season.

  People are, at the end of the day, fascinating creatures in their own unique ways. They might not be the most powerful, faster, or even venomous creatures inhabiting the world, hell, they might even rank among some of the weakest within those classes, but one could never, ever underestimate their ability to adapt and survive. What humans could not do with raw might, they would solve with speed. If that did not work, they would then use coaxing, intimidation, wisdom, or even group work. And once those failed, and people were left with nothing but hunger, everything else in their arsenal would be thrown in as well. No, the word 'impossible' was never truly considered, foe there was always an answer, even if it eluded them at the time.

  Was it then any wonder that given the opportunity, they would work like possessed to expand the number of tools at their disposal to solve whatever problem they could face? No, it was entirely within expectations that people would do just that. And so, Selin;s tribe did precisely that. They delved the dungeon relentlessly, always chasing the experience, higher levels and materials to upgrade their gear. And they were successful, pushing further and harder with each passing they. The beastmen threat would not go away on their own- a fact they were reminded several more times over the next couple of months as they had to deal with a couple more beastmen raiding groups.

  Unlike the first time however, there was never a doubt in Jack's mind about the outcome of the fight if his own forces- the maids and Spartacus- did not intervene. No, by the time the second raid cam by, the city had several more second awakening experts within its wall, all too eager to exact their own justice upon the dreaded beastmen raiders. And it showed on their faces during the fights. Smiles spread wide, revealing tooth grins as they rained down hell upon their prey, clashing against beastmen leaders who were forced to act if they did not want to lose too many of their own.

  Unfortunately for the beastmen side, Jack was still more than willing to craft weapons, further pushing the might the Cradle could exert on would be invaders and raiders. And exert power they did, breaking, routing and then chasing down those trying their damndest to run away. There were, of course, few that always slipped through the cracks, somehow managing to get away from the battlefield in time. Their fates would not be pleasant though.

  In order to bring back the knowledge they had acquired, they would first have to survive all alone within the outer steppe, all while doing their best to retreat and somehow find safe way back. And that, was much, much easier said than done. Plenty of predators would be more than happy to pounce on a lone, seemingly squishy rodent running whoever knows where. Worse yet, they were never as fast as wild animals, making them a greater target for the aforementioned predators.

  Jack himself could be said to have gained the most during these few months. It was one thing to gain passive experience through the weapons he had made and handed out to the kids and Anastiela's team. It was a whole another ball park to have the same happening, and also earning experience kickbacks from several hundred more people grinding dungeons between level fifteen and and early twenties. As such, Jack's won level had skyrocketed all the way to forty nine, a while twelve level gain, just a small step away from his third awakening. And that would be quite the the insane power gain, even when compared to his second awakening. Not that he knew precisely the scope or form of it.

  Still, he had almost achieved the stage he had desired before his venture into the Deadlands, on all fronts as well. His power was at the desired threshold, his maids were also closing in on level 30, just like the kids all the way on the other continent, and Selin's tribe was well entrenched by this point. Not only were there enough second awakening experts to ensure it would be a herculean task for the entirety of beastmen race to try and take city, but the Cradle itself resembled a proper fortress at this time.

  What was once nothing more than several meter high walls, now stretched up to an insane height over twelve meters, with advanced siege artillery stationed at the top. Not only that, the walls themselves were thick, impressively so, allowing for quite the number of defenders to man them at the same time. Better yet, they had expanded a lot as well, now encapsulating all access points to the dungeon in the middle, effectively taking over it entirely.

  Jack had also then worked his magic, upgrading all other three entrances the same way he had the first one, making it one hell of a scaling dungeon complex. Though because the land their walls- outer ones at least- encompassed was so much more than Selin's tribe alone needed, a lot of it was unused right now, leaving place for a lot of development to still be decided before yet another layer of walls should be erected.

  The walls themselves were also the result of a lucky coincidence, admittedly. It was not expected that they could achieve anything the like any time soon, however, one of the first few earth mages who reached second awakening had quite the good look, at least as far as the Cradle was concerned. The man had earned an advancement option for hi earth mage called 'Earthen Rampart '. As the name suggests, it allowed him to form magnificent, permanent earth structures, or reinforce them to a ridiculous degree. And with a budding city, the few crafting specialists from other tribes began trickling in. What better place to focus on their crafts than a permanent place of residence?

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 49

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +14

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX). Destroyers presence(unique legendary).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster, Eldritch garbage disposal(legendary).

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.