Chapter 277: Foundations of Ancestral Stone
Following three days of uninhibited passion inside the royal chambers, Kellar emerged into the main plaza. While the captive nobles at the village’s center waited on the verge of collapse—suffocated by uncertainty as though standing upon open embers—defensive preparations atop Karkadann progressed at a pace.
The colossus’s shell was blanketed by layers of ancient minerals solidified over millennia, functioning as an impenetrable foundation. However, the surface was so rugged that engineers determined structures could not be mounted directly. They decided they must first carve away the craggy terrain to shape a flat base where support pillars could be anchored.
In the midst of the inspections, Lennis surveyed the mineral ridges and turned toward the shaman:
"Great Shaman, shearing this by hand with pickaxes and chisels will take months. I propose utilizing the battery of Garnis cannons to blast away all the peaks across its back in a single sweep."
Kellar did not answer right away. Tilting his head, he reached out to the colossus across the mental link:
"Karkadann, did you hear the proposal? Will blasting the ridges along your shell cause you injury?"
"It is fine, Master," the turtle’s voice resonated within his mind. "Those stone formations atop my back are mineral deposits accumulated over eras; they do not constitute part of my body or flesh."
"Very well," Kellar nodded, turning toward Lennis and the artisans. "I authorize the use of artillery, but take Karkadann far from the village. If you strike the rocks nearby, the shrapnel and roar will pose a hazard to our homes. Furthermore, the tons of earth and fragmented stone raining down will create a disaster we would have to clear later. Instead, move toward the canyon of the Wind Mountains. All that pulverized and sheared stone material will prove invaluable for constructing the inter-mountain bridges we plan to build."
Kellar raised his arm and unleashed a whistle toward the sky. Little Green descended with a beat of its wings, perching at his side.
"Accompany them, Little Green," instructed the shaman. "Watch over them from above. Should anything go awry with that frame, you can react to save the engineers from a fall or help them scale the back to monitor progress."
The elemental bird let out a shriek and took to the skies above the contingent, while the giant stone turtle began its march back toward the mountain ranges, escorted by the engineers and artillery carriages.
The thunder echoing through the southern canyon of the Wind Mountains was biblical in scale. Lacking scaffolding or platforms to anchor themselves upon the stone surface, the engineers opted for a solution: they positioned Karkadann flush beside a cliffside and set the Garnis cannon battery along the ridge above, aiming directly downward.
BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
The impacts of compressed air struck with force against the shell’s jagged peaks. Soon, a flaw emerged: the direct artillery strikes unleashed uncontrolled destruction, fracturing stone blocks erratically and leaving an uneven contour across the titan’s back.
Noticing the mess taking shape, Brak surveyed the deformed surface and turned toward his companion:
"Lennis, I know you are the designated construction expert... but if we keep pounding away like this, we will only end up with misshapen terrain. What if we employ the old mining method?"
Lennis brought a hand to his chin, scrutinizing the fissures in the ancient stone before nodding:
"You are right, Brak. If we keep using the cannons, the scattered blast damage will become uncontrollable, and we might end up injuring the great shaman’s new servant. Let us pack controlled charges using our special mining powder instead. We shall drill targeted entry points and set the charges to blow the ridges with precision."
Under the revised strategy, work crews began rappelling down on ropes, assisted by Little Green, who guarded them against rockfalls. Setting the mining charges within exact fissures, they triggered small, focused detonations that cleanly sheared the jagged outcroppings away.
"Central section leveling complete!" bellowed Lennis, pointing toward the surface taking shape as a carved stone plaza. "Garik, the primary plateau now holds fifty meters of flat bedrock!"
Garik, shielding his blueprints against the canyon wind, stared at the progress with enthusiasm. Karkadann’s shell no longer resembled a wild mountain ridge; it now presented a leveled plateau outfitted with foundation notches where iron pillars and rotating platforms for the siege battery would soon be anchored.
As the miners and gunners kept blasting through the deeper layers, having already sheared away excess mineral weight, the workers struck a series of dense veins right at the center of the structure. Unlike the earth-fire stones the tribe commonly used—which emitted a reddish-yellow glow as though harboring an internal flame—these new blocks possessed no incandescent luster. They carried an opaque copper-like metallic appearance, yet proved hundreds of times heavier and dense.
"I feel a tickle along my spine, Master..." Karkadann’s voice echoed inside Kellar’s mind across the spiritual link. "Those ancient minerals weighed upon me. It has been centuries since I last felt this light."
Brak and Lennis examined the rocks, unsure of what they were dealing with, and reported the finding to the Great Shaman. Kellar focused his spiritual energy across the Totem link, locking onto the extracted mineral’s magical signature. Instantly, a golden system interface window deployed within his mind:
[Earth Stone]
A high-density elemental mineral infused with the pure, concentrated essence of the Earth element. Possesses extraordinary physical and magical resistance, capable of absorbing and dispersing kinetic impacts without fracturing. Extremely heavy; ideal for forging heavy armor, immovable foundations, and defensive channeling of telluric energy.
A smile of satisfaction formed on Kellar’s face as he conveyed his orders through the mental link:
"That mineral was what kept Karkadann so heavily overburdened. It is an incredible resource: Primordial Earth Stones. Recover every single fragment that falls into the canyon. We shall utilize all of that material to construct the reinforced armor and defensive superstructures for the fortress upon Karkadann itself."
With the project’s opening phase sealed with success and an abundance of precious rare minerals in hand, the troops commenced preparations for the superstructure.