Chapter 340: Builder Return

Three days later, the first transport arrived at Mythal. A large cargo ship appeared over the eastern horizon, descending slowly toward the city’s damaged port.

People noticed immediately. A Hunter standing on a broken section of the outer wall looked up. "Something’s coming."

Another Hunter shaded his eyes. "Transport ship."

"From where?"

The first Hunter watched the ship get closer. "...Astran Port."

More ships appeared behind it. Then another. And another. Within minutes the sky was filled with transports, cargo vessels, passenger ships, heavy construction carriers, small private transports, even several Hunter Association vehicles.

Someone near the road stared upward. "How many people did Ko call back?"

Another Hunter laughed. "Apparently everyone."

The ships descended toward the damaged harbor, their engines roaring, dust rolling across the broken streets, one after another landing. The first cargo ramp opened, and a man stepped down carrying a large toolbox. He stopped and stared, the smile on his face disappearing.

Mythal stretched out in front of him. Or what was left of it. A section of the harbor wall was gone. Several warehouses had collapsed. The main road leading into the city was cracked from one side to the other. A defensive tower stood at an angle, its upper half missing. Mana conduits ran along the ground like exposed veins, many of them broken and dark.

He slowly removed his glasses. "...Oh."

Another worker stepped beside him and stared for several seconds. "That’s..." He didn’t finish.

Behind them, more workers came down the ramp. Architects. Engineers. Stoneworkers. Metalworkers. Relic technicians. Construction crews. Surveyors. Merchants carrying supplies. Even several teams that had brought entire workshops with them.

One woman stepped onto the harbor and looked around. "Is this really Mythal?"

The man beside her sighed. "It is."

She stared at the destroyed buildings. "I knew it was damaged."

"So did I."

"I didn’t know it was this bad."

Neither did he.

Mayor Ko was waiting at the harbor, standing at the end of the damaged dock with several officials behind him, watching the returning workers approach. The first man recognized him. "Mayor."

Ko nodded. "Welcome home."

The man looked past him, at the city. "You really kept it standing."

Ko glanced toward the ruins. "Barely."

The builder looked around again, then smiled. "Barely is enough."

Ko’s expression softened. "That’s what I thought."

The builder extended his hand, and Ko shook it. Then another worker stepped forward. "Where do you want us?"

Ko pointed toward the city. "Everywhere."

The worker laughed. "That’s a lot of everywhere."

Ko smiled. "We’ll start with the roads."

The first thing the builders discovered was that they weren’t working alone. A group of Hunters was already clearing the harbor, one lifting an enormous chunk of concrete with both hands and carrying it toward a waiting cart, another using his newly upgraded weapon to cut twisted metal into manageable pieces, a third using earth magic to stabilize the ground beneath a damaged warehouse, a fourth standing on top of a collapsed wall, carefully removing loose stones before they could fall.

One of the returning builders stared. "You’ve got Hunters doing construction?"

The Hunter carrying the concrete looked at him. "We’re helping."

"That’s not what I asked."

He shrugged. "We destroyed half of it."

Another Hunter shouted from nearby. "He’s not wrong!"

The first yelled back. "Shut up!"

The builders laughed. For the first time since stepping off the ship, the tension began to leave their faces.

The main road became the first major project. It was covered in rubble, large pieces of stone blocking entire sections, several vehicles crushed beneath debris, the pavement split into jagged cracks. An architect stood in the middle of it with a map. "We need this cleared before we can bring the heavy equipment in."

A Hunter raised his hand. "How much?"

The architect looked at him. "What?"

"How much needs moving?"

He pointed toward the rubble. "All of that."

The Hunter looked at the pile, then smiled. "Easy."

He walked over. Another Hunter joined him. Then another. Within minutes a dozen Hunters were moving debris, some carrying pieces by hand, others using abilities, one creating a powerful wind that lifted smaller pieces of rubble into waiting piles, another using earth manipulation to pull buried stone from beneath the road, someone with enhanced strength simply picking up chunks of concrete and throwing them into a designated pile.

The builders stood watching. One architect slowly lowered his clipboard. "...They really are doing this."

A worker beside him nodded. "They’ve been doing it since the Disaster ended."

The architect looked at the Hunters. "They should be resting."

The worker smiled. "Try telling them that."

A loud CRACK suddenly came from the nearby buildings. Everyone turned. A damaged wall was beginning to collapse.

"Move!"

The workers scattered. A Hunter immediately stepped forward, his new armor flashing, planting both feet into the ground. "Got it!"

The wall began falling, and he caught the lower section with both hands.

BOOM!

Dust exploded around him. The builder nearest him shouted, "Get out!"

He gritted his teeth. "I’m fine!"

Another Hunter rushed over. "On three!"

The first looked at him. "What?"

"We’re moving it."

"You’re insane."

"One!"

The second Hunter grabbed the other side. "Two!"

The builders backed away.

"Three!"

The two Hunters pushed together, and the broken wall shifted away from the workers and crashed safely into an empty section of street. Dust filled the air. Silence. Then the architect coughed. "Thank you."

The Hunter waved him off. "Don’t mention it."

The architect looked at the enormous piece of wall. "...I was going to."

The Hunter laughed.

The work continued everywhere. Builders surveyed. Hunters cleared. Engineers measured. Merchants unloaded supplies. Civilians carried smaller pieces of debris. The Astral Church established temporary work stations beside the main road, healing tents standing next to construction equipment. Church members treated workers who strained themselves, and helped repair damaged mana conduits too.

One Astral Church member crouched beside an exposed conduit. "This one’s cracked."

A relic technician nodded. "Can you stabilize it?"

"For now."

"That’s enough."

The Church member placed both hands against the conduit, light spreading through the damaged structure, the mana flow steadying.

The technician stared. "That’ll save us hours."

The Church member smiled. "Then let’s save some more."

Near the western district, another group of workers stood before a completely destroyed guild hall. Only the foundation remained, the old guild emblem lying broken among the rubble. A returning architect picked it up and brushed the dust from it. "I remember this place."

A Hunter standing nearby looked at him. "You worked here?"

"Not here." He smiled sadly. "I helped build it." He looked around. "Twenty years ago."

The Hunter didn’t know what to say. The architect placed the broken emblem carefully on a nearby table. "Can it be rebuilt?"

The engineer beside him looked at the foundation. "Not rebuilt."

The architect looked confused. "Then?"

The engineer smiled. "We build a new one."

The architect stared at the foundation, then nodded. "Better?"

"Better."

He rolled up his sleeves. "Let’s do it."

At the northern district, Lily arrived with a team of engineers examining the damaged defensive towers. One builder looked at the remains. "Can we repair this?"

She shook her head. "No."

The builder frowned. "Then what?"

"Replace it."

He looked at her. "With what?"

She smiled. "Something better."

She opened a design on her tablet, and the builder’s eyes widened. "This is..."

"The Guardian Core has already strengthened the network." She pointed toward the damaged tower. "So we don’t have to rebuild the old version."

The builder studied the design. "You’re changing the entire structure."

"Yes."

"That’s going to take longer."

"Not with the System assistance."

He looked at her, and she smiled. "Three hundred percent faster."

The builder blinked. "...You’re serious."

"Very."

He looked at the design again, then laughed. "All right." He turned toward his team. "Forget repairing it." He pointed at the ruined tower. "We’re building the next one."

By afternoon, the city looked completely different. Not rebuilt. Not even close. But organized. The rubble was no longer scattered randomly across the streets, it had been sorted, stone, metal, wood, glass, broken relics, usable materials, everything with a place. The major roads were beginning to open, dangerous structures marked, survey teams moving through every district, construction plans appearing everywhere.

And the returning workers kept coming. Another ship landed. Then another. A transport arrived carrying several dozen architects. A cargo vessel delivered building materials. A convoy brought heavy machinery. Merchants arrived with food and supplies.

Mythal was filling again. Not with refugees. Not with soldiers. With people who had come home to rebuild.

Kai walked through the city that evening, Sera beside him. They passed a group of Hunters carrying rubble.

Sera looked at them. "Didn’t you just give them upgraded equipment?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah."

"And they’re using it to carry rocks."

He smiled. "They can do that too."

One Hunter overheard them. "Hey, Kai!"

He looked over. The Hunter raised his newly upgraded sword. "Best construction tool I’ve ever owned!"

Sera laughed. "Please don’t cut the road in half."

"No promises!"

Kai shook his head. "Idiots."

Sera smiled. "You like them."

"I didn’t say I didn’t."

They continued walking. A group of workers passed them carrying steel beams, and one of them recognized Kai and stopped. "City Leader."

He looked at him. "Yeah?"

The builder smiled. "Thank you."

He frowned slightly. "For what?"

The builder gestured toward the city. "For keeping it alive long enough for us to come back."

He looked at him for a moment, then shook his head. "You don’t have to thank me."

The builder raised an eyebrow. "No?"

He looked toward the Hunters working nearby. "They kept it alive too."

The builder followed his gaze. Hunters were carrying debris. Engineers were fixing conduits. Church members were helping injured workers. Civilians were clearing smaller rubble. Everyone was doing something.

The builder smiled. "Fair enough." He turned away. "Then we’ll do our part."

As evening settled over Mythal, Mayor Ko stood in the central district, watching the returning builders working beneath temporary lights. Hammering. Cutting. Measuring. Planning. The sounds filled the ruined streets. For weeks, those streets had been filled with the sounds of destruction. Now they were filled with something else.

Construction.

Ko smiled. An official approached him. "Mayor."

He turned.

"We’ve counted them."

"How many?"

"Nearly all the teams have returned."

He looked toward the harbor. "And the rest?"

"On their way."

He nodded. "Good."

The official hesitated. "There’s something else."

"What?"

He handed Ko a report. "The builders are asking for more workers."

Ko looked at him. "Already?"

"They say they can handle more projects now."

He laughed. "Of course they can."

The official smiled. "The Hunters are helping."

Ko looked toward the main road, where a group of Hunters was lifting a massive stone block together. One slipped. Another caught him. They laughed, then tried again.

Ko smiled. "Let them."

The official nodded. "Yes, Mayor."

He looked across the city. The destruction was still there. The broken towers. The ruined buildings. The cracked roads. The destroyed guild halls. The exposed conduits. Mythal was still wounded. But now there were people standing everywhere, builders, Hunters, engineers, merchants, architects, Church members, civilians, all working toward the same thing.

He breathed in slowly, then smiled. "They came home."

That night, another transport arrived. The ramp opened, and a tired old architect stepped onto the ground. He looked at the city. At the ruins. At the workers. At the Hunters. At the lights beginning to appear between the broken streets.

His eyes became wet.

Someone beside him asked quietly, "Are you all right?"

He smiled. "Yeah." He picked up his toolbox. "Let’s get to work."

He walked toward the city, more workers following behind him.