Sunlight filtered through the canopy of the giant tree, creating a soft shade beneath which a young man slowly ate a vegetarian breakfast of fruit, watching in the distance a group of golems patrolling along a strange 2-meter-high earthen rampart.
"Munch, munch! Um, you see, Bab, honestly, I'm wondering about something. I have a great idea for the base, but we have a problem with the lake taking up too much space. So the question is, is it easier to move the lake or the tree?" Finishing his bite, he added, "I think it's easier to move the lake. Seriously, it's not that big, and the tree grows really fast, and I don't want to damage it by moving it."
After a moment of silence, he continued, "The simplest thing would be to just keep the lake in the layout, but it would look ugly, take up too much space, and break the symmetry."
He looked at Bab, who was staring blankly into space. "Hmm, yes, you're right, symmetry isn't necessary, but for the basic plan I've got in mind, I can assure you that asymmetry would look ugly."
Turning back to Bob, who was lying down looking at the sun, "What do you think, Bob?"
Finishing his breakfast, punctuated by unanswered questions to Bob and Bab, Adam got up and walked toward the wall at the edge of the base. "Come on, guys, I'll show you your work for the coming days."
Approaching the wall, he explained, "You'll see, it's not complicated. You just have to build the wall because right now it's really not very solid."
Once at the foot of the wall, he showed them, "You take the earth from the wall, put it in the mold, add a little water, and fill the mold as much as possible without leaving too much air. You remove the mold and boom, you have a dirt brick."
He turned to look at the two little guys to see if they were still listening. "When you run out of earth on one part of the wall, you use the bricks you made earlier to rebuild a nice wall. Don't worry about the strength, I'll come back later and bind it all together and reinforce it with earth energy."
Staring at them, he concluded his presentation. "Any questions? In any case, I'll be nearby if you need me."
Of course, the golems had no questions, being unable to speak, they couldn't express themselves anyway.
"Well, I'll leave you to it. Good luck, guys."
Walking away, he left Bob and Bab to start building the earthen brick wall. Heading towards the fields, he thought to himself, "The fighters are done, the workers are done, now I need farmers."
...
Sitting on the roof of the hut with his legs dangling in the air, Adam looked at his base, which was teeming with life, especially the two new farmer golems who were busy plowing the fields. Under their straw hats made of stone and still wearing overalls, Adam couldn't wait to give them an ear of wheat to hold in their mouths to complete their perfect farmer's outfit. He sighed in despair. "Too many golems kill the golem. I don't really have any work left to do, and what little work I do have left could be handled by golems. All I'd have left is planning work."
"Damn, even here, AI is going to steal my job!" Laughing, "HaHaHa, no matter, the goal now is to become a boss who takes naps while the workers work. Come on, Adam, let's get to work. We're expanding the army and finishing the weapons."
...
Working on a second knight golem in the afternoon, Adam heard a lot of noise approaching the entrance of the base: voices, the sound of hooves, and something heavy dragging through the grass.
Looking up, he saw a crowd of people approaching the base through the entrance. They appeared to be human, wearing a mix of modern and medieval clothing, some riding horses, others riding oxen. At the front was a blonde/red-haired woman dressed in an adventurer's outfit made of leather and studded with gems in certain places. She was sitting on a warhorse covered in armor of multicolored gems, resplendent and impossible to miss.
Standing up and walking towards the entrance, he called to his fighting golems to follow him and asked the others to hide in the hut.
Seeing Bob, Bab, and the two farmers named take cover, he joined Primo, who stood guard at the entrance like an impressive statue watching the approaching procession.
Taking up position one step behind Primo's right, Titan stood to his right at the same level as Primo, forming a barrier between Adam and the approaching caravan. Skar and the new knight who had just joined his Order of Blood had jumped onto the rampart framing the entrance, ready to leap into the fray with their pairs of axes. Iron and Eagle waited behind Adam, ready to get him to safety at the first sign of danger.
Raising his voice, he called out, "Hey, do you speak English? Are you even human? I'm a little too lazy to fight, you guys look way better equipped than me."
Faced with the heavy silence before him, Adam was filled with confusion. "Friends, friends or enemies, enemies? To know if I'm going to hide while the big guys beat you up."
The silence grew heavier and heavier until it reached breaking point. "HAHAHAHA, boss, I think we've stumbled upon a good comedian this time. Of course we're human, kid. Do I look like an alien?"
Adam's tone rose as he became angry. "How should I know? There are clearly not only humans here, and I've never seen an alien, so who's to say they all look like humans?"
Frowning, the annoyance was evident on his closed face. "What do you think they look like, maybe?"
"Pfffff, kid, of course I know what they look like, just like everyone else, whether they're beastmen, Minimars, Salvagers, the..." The girl on the horse cut him off sharply. "Shut up, Traal! Since when do we give out information for free? Have you ever seen a merchant guild sell things for 0 shards? No, nobody has, and that's normal, so now you keep quiet."
"But, but Amber, everyone knows this information, I didn't teach him anything!" Faced with his confusion, she sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Traal, everyone who has taken the time to spend days or more in town gathering information or buying information knows the different species and appearances here just as well as we do, not some smart aleck who just arrived and is isolated in a corner of the plains. "
She looked Adam straight in the eye. "Sometimes having competent subordinates is really complicated. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of the stone puppets by your side. They seem like perfect employees who don't talk too much."
Adam laughed. "Is that a compliment, or are you trying to get me to spill the beans about them? Sorry, but subtle interrogation games really aren't my thing."
Raising her eyebrows in surprise, she laughed softly. "Oh, really? That's not the impression you just gave me."
Looking at Traal's confused face, his small eyes shifting from Ambre to Adam, Adam smiled mockingly. "He looked like an easy target, so I took a chance."
"HAHAHAHA!"
Amber burst out laughing. It was a loud, raucous laugh that turned into a violent cough. She slapped her thigh and held her stomach, cramping from the violent laughter.
"Indeed," Amber gasped, wiping a tear from her eye. "He's clearly not the smartest, but watch out, handsome, he hits hard."
Understanding the not-so-subtle threat, Adam regained his composure. "From what I understand, you are a merchant guild with a lot of information that would be useful to me." Facing Amber, he continued, "I obviously have things to sell to pay for it."