Chapter 212: The Mysterious Powerhouse Of Blackstone
Even so, demand continued to exceed supply. More and more people chose to settle permanently, while merchants, adventurers, and travelers arrived every day, filling the streets with life.
Because of this explosive growth, Luke was forced to begin his expansion plan far earlier than expected.
Construction had already started toward the northern side of Blackstone, where the terrain rose into a higher slope than the current settlement.
Once completed, the expanded district would not only accommodate the rapidly growing population but also provide enough space for future markets, residences, and military facilities.
The defensive wall encircling Blackstone’s 1-kilometer territory had also been completed.
He also recall the commotion he had created on that time.
Originally, it stood only twenty feet high.
Luke, however, wasn’t satisfied.
A few days later, he quietly left the territory and transformed into his Cosmic Heart Titan. Using Elythos’ Cosmic Construct ability, he silently reshaped the entire defensive wall.
Without damaging a single section, the massive stone barrier rose from twenty feet to thirty feet in height. At the same time, using dense materials of his cosmic system, he condensed them within the structure, reinforcing every layer until the wall became far sturdier than before.
By the time Luke finished.
Even an Early Golden Knight would struggle to breach it.
The moment the transformation was complete—
RUMBLE!!!
The entire Blackstone Territory trembled violently.
The sudden earthquake terrified both the old residents and the countless newcomers.
"W-What’s happening?!"
"An earthquake?!"
"No it’s a landslide!"
Panic spread through the streets as people rushed outside, many believing the nearby Stormhowl Mountains had collapsed and were about to bury Blackstone.
Fortunately the shaking lasted only a short while.
As everyone cautiously looked toward the city walls.
Silence fell.
Their eyes slowly widened.
"T-The wall! It got taller?"
"And thicker?"
The defensive wall surrounding Blackstone had somehow risen by another ten feet. Not only that, but its surface had also become noticeably darker and denser, radiating a sense of unshakable solidity.
The sight left people dumbfounded.
Unable to comprehend what had happened, everyone eventually reached the same conclusion.
"It must’ve been Lady Tara!"
"She is the only Earth Mage in the territory!"
"It has to be her!"
Within a single day, Tara’s reputation exploded throughout Blackstone.
Rumors spread one after another, each more exaggerated than the last, until the entire territory acknowledged her with a brand-new title—
*The Mysterious Powerhouse of Blackstone Territory.*
Even the four Mid-Golden Knights representing the associations were startled by the sudden commotion.
After all, Blackstone already had Aurora Valcrest, an Early Golden Knight powerhouse, guarding the territory.
Now.
Another mysterious powerhouse had seemingly revealed themselves.
Naturally, all four associations immediately raised Blackstone’s danger assessment by another level.
Luke himself was equally speechless after hearing the rumors.
"Sure." He simply let everyone continue believing Tara was responsible.
It saved him the trouble of explaining anything.
Unfortunately, reshaping an entire city’s defensive wall wasn’t without a price.
Luke had pushed the Cosmic Heart Titan far beyond its current limits. The enormous Aether consumption had almost break his body completely, forcing him to spend the next few days recovering inside the Healing Spring.
During that time. He received a thorough scolding from Aurielle.
"You really don’t know how to take care of yourself."
"What if something had happened to you?"
"Did you even stop to think about me?"
"There are plenty of people in the territory who can handle these things."
"You don’t have to shoulder everything yourself."
She lectured him from morning until evening without giving him a chance to escape.
Luke could only smile wryly and apologize over and over again, offering thousands of kisses before she finally forgave him.
Only then did Aurielle’s expression soften.
As for the two of them.
They ended up spending the next few days, together in the Healing Spring, enjoying a rare period of peace before Blackstone’s next storm arrived.
That wasn’t the only astonishing event to shake Blackstone during those seven days.
Another incident drew even greater attention.
Beside the Ashveil Route, a colossal crater had been discovered.
It stretched nearly fifty kilometers across and plunged over ten kilometers into the earth.
It was the very place where the Ancient Temple had once stood. The place where Nyx had unleashed his power.
Naturally, no one knew that.
To the outside world, the gigantic crater had appeared overnight without any warning.
The discovery immediately ignited the curiosity of adventurers.
"An ancient ruin has appeared!"
"There has to be a hidden inheritance down there!"
"No natural landslide could create something like this."
Rumors spread like wildfire, and within days, adventurers, mercenary companies, tomb raiders, treasure hunters, and explorers from every direction began pouring into Blackstone.
Even the four Mid-Golden Knight managers representing the associations personally investigated the site.
For several consecutive days, they searched every corner of the enormous crater.
Yet...
They found absolutely nothing.
Only an impossibly vast crater that seemed as though a god had scooped away an entire section of the world.
Ironically, their failure only fueled even more speculation.
If four Mid-Golden Knights couldn’t uncover its secret.Then perhaps the real treasure was simply hidden deeper.
That single thought attracted even more people to Blackstone.
Even now, one could see adventurers, mercenaries, treasure hunters, tomb raiders, and explorers descending into the gigantic crater every single day, convinced that somewhere within its endless depths, an ancient secret was waiting to be discovered.
"They still haven’t come to meet me."
Luke lightly tapped his finger against the table, his brows furrowing as he thought about the four association managers.
Since Blackstone’s rapid expansion, the Alchemist Association, Blacksmith Association, and Merchant Guild had all begun transporting new resources and products into the territory, clearly intending to expand their businesses.
Only the Adventurer Guild remained largely unchanged, continuing its operations as though nothing unusual had happened.
There was, however, one piece of information that had caught Luke’s attention.
"The Tigris woman the Adventurer Guild’s branch master is a complete battle fanatic."
Luke let out a helpless sigh.
She had even come personally to challenge him to a duel.
Aurora had stepped forward before Luke could respond.
"I’ll handle her."
Those had been Aurora’s exact words.
Remembering that scene, Luke couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.
"I probably shouldn’t have let her go..."
But he allowed on that time, since he thought that maybe the guild master would be some early Golden Knight.
But at that time, Aurora said some chunibyo-like line in front of her.
"My master is high above the heavens and he doesn’t have time to deal with a pesky tiger woman."
"As my master has me."
This brought another rumor about him, that even the territory’s own powerhouse had fallen into the hands of the womanizer hero, Luke.
Some people even started calling him Womanizer Luke, rather than Hero Luke or Baron Luke, in silence.
For that, he had to hide from Aurielle for few days, as she was shouting while finding him. "You were the one who told her for sure."
"As she is innocent."
Yeah, Aurora was innocent, he knew, but her husband was even more innocent.
At that, he cursed the system, "System, because of all that obsessive things, this is happening."
Yeah, her behavior was changing much from that moment, as she was hardly able to tolerate any other women near him.
And the whole night, she also didn’t let him separate alone, which brought problems for his training.
So he had to send a clone for training and let Aurielle use his body as a teddy bear.
At that time, he even thought that bringing a teddy bear would work.
But the next moment he canceled that plan. As in yandere novels, the teddy bear suffers first, then comes the real husband’s turn.
"Haa..." He inhaled, before thinking about Aurora.
Aurora and Raya, the guild master of the Adventurer Guild, had become friends.
As after Aurora said those words, Raya was provoked, and they fought for days in the mountains.
Using only physical strength.
Which was also the perk of Golden Knights, who had huge stamina compared to Silver Knights.
That fight amazed many people, because they came to understand that Raya Tempest was a mid-golden knight level.
But Aurora was able to fight with little bit of losing.
Which brought another gossip to Blackstone, that the four association masters were all mid-golden knights.
"Mid-Golden knight." Luke muttered thoughtfully.
If it was before his Nexus Titan, then he would definitely be worried.
But now he didn’t fear them much. Of course, their danger to the territory still held.
After all, if a fight occurred here, then the territory would not survive.
As he was thinking this, he heard a voice from outside. "Master, I am going to play with Raya."
With that, Aurora left the Time Chamber.
"Sigh." Luke sighed, because he could guess how she almost fought with the mid-golden knight Raya.
"Because of her defense." He leaned back on the chair, as those words escaped his mouth.