Chapter 68: Building Construction

The next morning, all six goblins woke up early and gathered in my courtyard, waiting for their quests while the sky was still dim and the sun had yet to rise.

They spent the time doing some light warm-ups and stretches, looking surprisingly eager to get started.

Meanwhile, the Castle Core’s upgrade was progressing smoothly. With every passing hour, I could feel its energy growing stronger as the upgrade gradually took effect.

"Hehe, Big Boss! What am I going to do today?" Gopuro asked, hoisting his giant iron axe onto his shoulder.

"You’ll keep chopping wood," I replied.

"HELL YEAH! LEAVE IT TO ME!!!" The guy practically roared with excitement. "I’m gonna chop down this whole forest!!!"

"Haha... this guy..." I couldn’t help feeling amused.

Honestly, what the hell is with Gopuro and his obsession with chopping wood?

Is he ever going to get bored of it?

"Alright, then. You can get going."

"Yup!"

Gopuro immediately hurried over to the quest paper posted on my castle wall and accepted another Wood Chopping Quest. With that settled, he marched toward the forest, whistling a cheerful little tune with his giant axe resting proudly on his shoulder.

And just like that, Gopuro’s assignment was taken care of.

Before long, the sound of another tree crashing to the ground echoed from the forest as he put his [Big Slash] skill to work.

Well, at least I knew he wouldn’t be slacking off.

Now... it was time to deal with everyone else.

"Big Boss, I like chopping wood too!" Gopugiga suddenly declared, flexing his massive muscles. "As you can see, I can carry the biggest logs!"

"Yeah! Count me in, too!" Gopuflammy chimed in enthusiastically.

"Haha, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but there’s more important work to do than just chopping wood!" I said. "Don’t worry, though. I’ll make sure everyone gets paid fairly for their work!"

"Ooooh!"

The goblins’ eyes immediately lit up at the mention of payment.

"Alright! Big Boss, just tell us what to do!" Gopushadow said eagerly.

"Don’t worry. Everyone will have a job."

I surveyed the group, already sorting through the tasks I had in mind.

If I wanted to turn this castle into a proper territory, I couldn’t have everyone spending their days doing the same thing. We needed more than a steady supply of wood. We needed infrastructure, supplies, and eventually, specialized workers who could help the settlement grow.

Fortunately, I had just the thing to get started.

*****

A few moments later...

"Alright! Let’s build something!"

Ever since the Construction Shop reached Level 2, I had unlocked the [Building Construction] skill. However, I hadn’t really had the chance to put it to use yet.

Now, it was finally time to give it a try.

As I activated the skill, a neat interface appeared in my vision, presenting me with two options.

[Upgrade Existing Buildings]

[Construct New Buildings]

At the moment, my only existing structures were the castle itself and the surrounding walls.

Upgrading the castle would allow me to add more floors above ground or excavate another basement level. As for the walls, I could make them taller and thicker to improve the castle’s defenses.

However, neither option seemed particularly necessary right now.

My six citizens were perfectly content living in the spacious main hall, while the raccoons seemed quite happy in the basement. There was no urgent need for additional living space, and my current walls were still more than sufficient to protect the goblins from ordinary threats.

So, I went straight for the second option.

[Construct New Buildings]

Now that the Construction Shop had reached Level 2, my Building Construction skill had automatically upgraded to Level 2 as well, unlocking a whole bunch of new construction options.

Among them were some particularly interesting facilities, such as the Blacksmith Workshop and the Alchemy Workshop.

However, there was one small catch.

Before I could construct higher-tier buildings, I first had to fulfill their lower-tier prerequisites. Apparently, more advanced facilities required certain basic structures to be completed before construction could begin.

For example, the Blacksmith Workshop required both a Storage House and a Charcoal Kiln.

It made sense, I supposed. A blacksmith needed somewhere to keep raw materials and equipment, not to mention a steady supply of charcoal to fuel the furnace.

With that in mind, I decided to start with a few essential structures.

The first buildings I planned to construct today were:

A Well

A Storage House

A Charcoal Kiln

A Cookhouse

These four would provide the basic infrastructure my little territory needed. The Well would give my citizens a more reliable source of water, the Storage House would help me organize the resources we gathered, the Charcoal Kiln would supply fuel for future metalworking, and the Cookhouse would make preparing meals much more convenient.

With those facilities in place, I could gradually move on to more advanced construction.

Now then, let’s see what we have here.

I selected the building tab and opened the list of available structures. Each option came with a detailed description, its material requirements, and the construction cost, which varied depending on the System Assist Mode I chose.

Interestingly, some buildings even came in different designs, allowing me to choose between construction materials.

I decided to start with the Storage House.

For it, I could choose between a wooden version and a stone version.

Considering that Gopuro was planning to spend his days chopping down trees, I figured wood wouldn’t be in short supply anytime soon.

So, naturally, I went with the wooden design.

[Wooden Storage House Lv. 1]

Description: A basic storage facility constructed primarily from wood. Provides sheltered space for storing building materials, tools, equipment, and other supplies. Protects stored goods from rain and other environmental elements while keeping them organized and readily accessible.

Storage Capacity: 50 m3

Material Cost:

Wood: 150Stone: 5

Construction Cost: Depends on System Assist Mode

****

The material cost seemed quite reasonable.

"Alright, let’s find a place for it."

As I clicked the [Build] button in the Storage House tab, the System behaved much as it had when I purchase furniture from the Furniture Shop. A faint grid materialized across the ground around me, and a 3D holographic preview of the Storage House appeared in my courtyard.

With this, I could move the hologram around freely and see exactly where the building would fit within my territory.

If it overlapped with an existing structure or occupied an unsuitable area, the hologram turned red. If the location was unobstructed and suitable for construction, it glowed green instead.