"Who here knows how to build homes?" After organizing his lamenting thoughts, Ed turned back to the crowd at the cathedral. It was worth mentioning that Ed had already patched up the holes caused by the meteor rain but the cathedral still remained broken.
That meant that the crowd was able to watch each of Ed's actions as well as the crumbling buildings. It hadn't been just the soft vibrations that the earthquake had sent around the area.
"W- What???" Some reacted with shock while others reacted in a more lively manner.
"WOOOOW ED!!!" "F*ck that's cool!" Actually, a large majority of them reacted this way. That included the female orcs who some might assume would feel more attachment towards keeping their homes tidy.
"Hahaha!" They too were laughing. It was similar to those demolishing events in Ed's past life. He hadn't ever been to one but browsing through cable tv would allow one to find all sorts of reality tv shows or documentaries. A perfect way to learn useless knowledge.
"Anybody know?" In the end, Ed had to ask his question again as the orcs were far too busy causing a ruckus.
It was only once he asked again for a third time that an orc stepped up with a chuckle. He had likely formed part of the lively crowd instead of the more boorish and serious orcs.
"I know how" He raised his burly hand and said. Ed proceeded to scan him to verify those qualifications. So far, his burly and weathered hand did indeed suggest so but there was nothing wrong with assessing anyone he planned on interacting with.
[Bulwud (Builder)]
Sanctuary orc who has built many wooden houses. He values hard labor and loves to spend his time with others. Some call him the contractor.
As Ed quickly read through the information provided by the assessment, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in question towards the system.
'The assessment skill uses the system's database, doesn't this mean that the system has been spying on everything inside of the dungeon?' For it to know even the nicknames of some of these orcs was a bit preposterous otherwise, no?
That also begged the question of why it collected so much useless information. At least Ed didn't think knowing such things had much value. Maybe that was why it had taken him such a long time to notice how odd it was for the system to have full access to the lives of those in the dungeon.
'I guess the system must have been here for a while' At the very least it had been there long enough to see these orcs mingle with one another and form these relationships that reached a nickname basis.
"The contractor, right?" Ed asked Bulwud just to verify the system's arguably pointless tidbit.
"Umm, yeah…" Bulwud said as he scratched his cheek somewhat awkwardly. If he knew he was the contractor why did he have to ask? Clearly, Ed had already done his homework, or at least it seemed that way to him.
"Great, I'm going to need you to start building houses here again" Ed told Bulwud who immediately had his eyes widen in surprise.
"Di- Did I do something wrong?" Bulwud asked stuttering from anxiety. Could it be that the reason he knew him as the contractor was due to unsavory rumors!?
"What? No! You don't have to replace all those houses" Ed only planned on making enough for everyone. He also wanted to make sure to set the infrastructure for roads and other important segments of your average town or city.
To explain this, Ed dismissed the cathedral crowd and went inside with Bulwud. Sharog also followed out of curiosity and interest.
"Here is what I want…" Ed began to explain his plans. He only wanted stone houses with simple wooden roofs. These houses would be nearly identical and would only have two or three rooms each. As the orcs didn't have proper furniture it didn't really matter for the homes to be so small.
Ed's explanation also included small models constructed out of the earth. He chose not to make something like blueprints since the orcs weren't at such a level of finesse.
"This is too much for me…" Bulwud while working under Duma had only made wooden cabin-like houses. He knew nothing about stone houses! A thunder cry tribe builder might know a thing or two but none had survived the attack from the sacred tribe.
"Just give it a go, if you face anything too difficult just talk to me" Bulwud was one of the eldest orcs in Sanctuary but he wasn't a master by any account. The sanctuary orcs were all pretty young anyway so being the oldest didn't mean much. With those closing words, Ed dismissed Bulwud.
The latter bade farewell and the first thing he did was approach some of the orcs lingering around the cathedral. He began to talk to them about joining him for the project.
'I guess that's why they call him contractor' Ed thought casually before saying some parting words to Sharog who had all along listened carefully from the side.
"See you then Ed, I'll be teaching Gurln if you need me" Ed had come at an inopportune time considering that Sharog was planning to teach Gurln after assigning some labor to some orcs. Nevertheless, Sharog didn't hold it against him and simply left ahead of him.
'Looks like I can get started now' Ed said inwardly as he gazed around the inside of the cathedral. He could feel the history the green vines exuded and the weathered feeling of every single crack, from very crumbled stone, every scribbled writing. Nonetheless, it was time for a change.
Ed manually moved out every cart held inside and any other item. Most of the orcs had already cleared out so he didn't' really need to worry about that. The first thing he did from there was…!
Destroy.
Well, carefully dismantle. Ed manipulated the earth and rock contained within the walls to dismantle the cathedral in its entirety. He wanted to build his smithy at the center of the settlement, which just so happened to be the cathedral and its small stage plaza.
Some of the nearby orcs saw this process happening and felt that it was a pity. It was the most advanced structure they had ever witnessed. The carvings on the walls and ceiling, the sloped design of parts of the stone roof. The grandness of a towering spire, the weathered yet sturdy pillars that held everything in place. Every single aspect of the structure was worth admiring.
Some might think it wise to keep it as a piece of history but Ed thought otherwise. He had already admired and read what was on the walls, it was essentially religious propaganda. He didn't need to keep the relics of losers, especially if they carried a risk.
After the walls were separated via earth manipulation, Ed gave them a final glance and sunk into consideration. He had carefully dismantled the cathedral with the intention of potentially storing the walls and their carvings.
'It doesn't matter' Ed thought as he brought back his fist and swung at the wall with vigor. By this point, the roof had already been swallowed by the earth and Ed's mana had been brought down to half. He thus swung his fist right through the wall sending pieces of history flying through the air and landing on the ground as any other pebble would.
He then threw another punch, and another, and another. Each at different segments scattering debris and dust,
'If I didn't choose to preserve my mana this would be that much easier' But Ed had already learned to always be ready. He needed at least half of his mana to be in reserve. What if some humans came by?
The dungeon usually transferred him to the skeleton body first but… what if it didn't or what if it was simply too late. The dungeon had already reacted slowly once costing him the lives of some anti-skeletons.
After all of the destruction was done, Ed could finally start his smithy. Unfortunately, as Ed wanted to do it quickly, he would have no choice but to expend at least another quarter of his mana pool. That meant that if something did happen he would be very much ill prepared.
Ed raised walls where the cathedral's once stood and power washed the dirt and debris that lay on the cathedral's floor, it was the only thing he hadn't removed. Soon, in the stead of the cathedral, there was a box.
'Well, some people like minimalism…' Ed thought as he glanced at the bland brown grey walls. The earth manipulation he performed had been rather sloppy as to conserve mana leading to the odd mix.
'I can always make this look good in the future' A smithy's purpose wasn't to look good, it was to supply weapons. That was also why Ed chose to place it at the center of the town. That way the orcs could arm themselves with ease from anywhere in the settlement.
'Now here comes the hard part…' It was time to build the forge. Ed didn't want anything too fancy, he first needed to set up some basic utility was all.
'Let's see…' Ed thought to his mind forge and more or less mimicked the basic shape entirely on stone. He created a chimney and also a hole in which the metals would be placed to heat up.
Ed didn't forget to try and use a design that would allow the air to heat up any fire he was to create. Without this, he would have a tough time smelting anything.
After some fumbling around and making random changes here and there Ed managed to create what he believed was a satisfactory forge. It had a fire pot and chimney, that was all that he needed.
With the forge built, it was time for Ed to get started. But first, he had to find some metals. Luckily, the boulder of civilization also had a blueprint of the settlement. Ed knew where all of their orc iron came from.
He rubbed his hands in anticipation as he thought about what his first tool would come out as. He was confident that with a level 2 craftsmanship he would be able to ace things for being a rookie!