"Yes, my Lord, punish this unworthy subordinate. Your eyes have picked every minute detail. So, this is what happened", Kosax started explaining, "You have left us here to build the projects. Most of us were so hungry and thirsty that our efficiency struck below 50%. Then one of the workers sneaked out to find you, despite several warnings. He followed you into the mist and never came back."
Joy furrowed his eyebrows, 'Can anyone follow me outside? What is this mist bullshit anyway?'
"Okay, I will take a look at the mist shortly. Finish the remaining report", Joy turned his attention away from the mist and asked Kosax.
"Yes, my Lord. We have been trying to build the building you asked for. But, due to hunger and thirst, we were unable to execute it with full efficiency. The amount of BP, a person can generate every day had also decreased."
'Now, request you to tell me the concept of BP.'
"Okay, Kosax, I have understood the concern. The only thing left is water. I will do something about that. How many BPs are being generated every day?"
"We have 6 workers working under me right now. Every day, the amount of BP generated by them is 12. But under current circumstances, it has reduced to only 3.5. For the structure you said, I need more workers to complete the project. There is another issue of land shortage. After this project, none of the regions will be vacant. We need more land as of now", Kosax finished the overall report.
"Ah damn! I have wasted 2 days worth of summoning."
Looking at Joy at frustration, Zoroth responded in a meek voice, "I have made improvement in rune engraving. I checked the alter, and the runes' pattern to summon new souls. The pattern to summon daily new souls, changes every day. As if it was corresponding to the date. I am not sure yet, but I have copied the summoning patterns on the rock. The summon, you missed yesterday, is already there. I request my Lord to attempt and verify my theory."
"Huh? It is a surprise for me as well. I did not think you will progress so fast. Ok, let me use the summon for today from the alter, and then the stone from your hand." Joy started to proceed to the alter. His meal was finished. He asked Kosax to start building and gestured Zoroth to follow him.
"As you wish, my Lord." Zoroth accompanied Joy without hesitation. As they were approaching the alter, Joy looked around. He found that the base of the structure had already taken most of the places, it was a real concern for him.
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He placed his hands on the alter, and subconsciously activated it. A pleasant voice echoed in his mind.
"My lady luck has really left me alone." Joy complained to himself.
"Greetings, my Lord." The new worker passionately greeted Joy.
"Welcome to the family. You may report to Kosax. He is currently with the rest of the workers."
"As you wish, my Lord." He bowed down again and left to find Kosax.
"Okay, so Zoroth. Should we start our experiment?"
"Yes, my Lord." This time Zoroth's voice was brimming with excitement.
"When it comes to runes, you always become a new person altogether. You have to lead this department." Joy declared while waiting for the reply of Zoroth.
Zoroth, on the other hand, looked away in embarrassment. He passed the stone to Joy, without any further ado.
Joy smiled and activated the pattern on the rock. He found it was easy to handle, and found the sweet voice in mind.
"Wow! There are also hidden goals to unlock more functions. I will check it later, once the issues are taken care of. You follow me to meet Kosax."
Then gestured the new worker, left Zoroth behind to study the alter, and went to find Kosax.
"Kosax, how much time will it take to make the building?"
"My Lord, all the workers are inexperienced. They were generating only 3.5 BPs, as I mentioned earlier. Now, as they are full, they will start with the utmost efficiency. But, we still lack people, to cut the forests, and of course no the supply of water. The workers are thirsty for the last 2 days. They are swallowing their own saliva and sweat. We need to procure a source of water."
Kosax responded this time, in a detailed manner.
After hearing the report, Joy was absentminded to find the solutions. "I have already made an alliance with the treants, so we will be able to procure more logs from them only. We don't need lumberjacks right now. Regarding the minerals and rocks, we are not in a hurried need of those. But water is really a crisis. I am such a dumb, who wasted all the EP without building a source of water."
When Joy was murmuring, a commotion broke nearby. Joy came back to reality and found a worker had collapsed nearby. The commotion started as all of them were trying to swallow their saliva. But, the demand for water in their body increased a lot.
"Shit! They were already thirsty. I did not check that, before giving them the meat. Now, the water is also required to break the high amount of protein. The urgency has increased a lot. Treat him and the others who are not feeling well. I am going to go outside and find a way to bring water. Do not start working before I come back. It is dangerous."
"As you wish, my Lord."
Joy ran outside and went to find Bor. He was not sure about the forest, and the dangers, hiding in the bushes. So it was not wise to roam around without a guide. He quickly reached where he and Bor sat and discussed, only to find an abandoned spot. The other treants were not present as well. He searched around without any clue and found nothing unusual. Just the presence of treants has all vanished.
He found a long way, after finding a place with muddy water. He quickly took out the wooden barrel given by Kosax. He cleared the water as much as he could and filled it with the water. Then quickly retreated from that spot. He turned away and ran for the Dungeon entrance.
Suddenly, he felt something was chasing him. He turned his face to look and found nothing. When he reached almost at the edge of the forest, he was struck heavily from behind. It was totally out of the blue when he felt a huge mass of something slammed against him. His bones got shattered, and he experienced immense pain.
His body broke through the rest of the forest and bounced on the rocky region near the Dungeon. He was only a few meters away from the Dungeon wall. He tried to crawl but found he couldn't reach the dungeon in this state.
With each passing second, his consciousness was slipping away. He gathered all the remaining power of his body, pushed up a little, and used Sonic Slash. He covered the rest of the zone in one breath, entered the dungeon in that inertia, and crashed inside the Dungeon. Just before entering, he tried to look behind, only to find two huge eyes glowing in the dark shadows of the trees.
He put out the huge barrel of water, placed it out of his ring, and fainted from the pain. All the workers, including Zoroth and Kosax, ran towards him in a hurry. Their Lord was beaten to near-death state. They were worried a lot. They didn't have any medicine or the knowledge to treat. They saw the barrel near Joy, and their eyes were moistened.
Zoroth came forward and discussed something with Kosax. Kosax nodded a bit and faced the workers.
"Drink the water, and get ready. We have to complete the Lord's resting place. Our Lord has beaten because we are too lazy. If we have built enough till now, Lord might have some extra measures and protections to fight outside. Zoroth will take care of the Lord, and he will help us with many things. We need to help each other before the Lord awakens."