My Kingdom Building Done Right!

As the welcoming feast ended, Leone invited Lord Azar and Malik inside Grimjaw Mountain.

Trailing behind them were the blacksmiths of the Sandreaver Tribe, all pumped up at the thought of their visit’s purpose. They were all eager to learn the forging techniques the Aslan Tribe had developed to create better weapons and armors from Sand Steel.

They prided themselves for being the best of the best. Truth be told, they even felt a bit competitive.

After walking a little more, they arrived at the City of Soleil, which was located deep inside the mountain.

The view made their eyes widen in shock.

At first, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

An underground city wasn’t that surprising, for they lived in one, but the city’s scale and the small artificial sun shining above was impressive to say the least!

"H-How?!" One of the blacksmiths gasped in shock.

Even Malik’s eyes widened in surprise. Even he hadn’t expected such a magnificent sight.

They might have an underground city of their own, but compared to the City of Soleil, theirs simply fell short in every aspect, whether it was design, size, or amenities.

Leone couldn’t help but smile, secretly happy about the surprised reactions of their guests.

Even Lord Azar showed shock and appreciation after seeing this underground city for the first time.

"That’s a Divine Artifact." Lord Azar pointed at the miniature sun. "You really are filled with surprises, Leone."

Leone chuckled before asking Ulric to take the blacksmiths to the forge, where the blacksmiths of both the Aslan and Ravage Tribe had already gathered.

Along the way, the blacksmiths asked Ulric a few questions, which the warrior answered if he could. As for those he couldn’t, he simply said that they should ask his Great Chieftain about it at a later time.

In the meantime, Leone took Malik and Lord Azar to the Forgotten Temple.

"It seems that you remodeled this temple." Lord Azar recognized the temple he had visited a hundred years ago. However, unlike the past temple, it was now grander and bigger.

When they entered the main hall, their gazes immediately landed on the three Goddess Statues that stood at the center.

The Earth Mother, the Goddess Eostre, and the Goddess of Light, Aine.

Malik was only familiar with the statue of the Earth Mother since she looked exactly like the grand statue in the city located at the base of the mountain.

As for the two other Goddesses, Leone gave them a brief explanation on what they represented.

"I see, so you worship the Goddess of Light." Lord Azar rubbed his chin in response.

"My mother was born in the Radiant Empire," Leone replied. "She has taught us to worship the Goddess of Light since we were kids."

"To think that you worship three Goddesses, Leone." Malik crossed his arms over his chest. "Aren’t you afraid they might get jealous of each other?"

"Hahaha... the Goddesses are all benevolent and magnanimous ladies," Leone replied. "They are very merciful as well. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind even if I worship the three of them at the same time."

Malik smirked in response. From what he knew, indeed the Earth Mother was a benevolent Goddess. But as for the Goddess of Light?

He’d rather not comment on it at the moment, so he simply looked at the members of the Aslan Tribe silently praying in front of the three statues.

They looked calm and peaceful, and it didn’t seem like they minded praying to two more Goddesses aside from the Earth Mother.

While they were at the temple, Leone wanted to talk to Lord Azar about the matter with the Dragon Nest. However, since Malik was still there, he decided to postpone this at a later time.

He wasn’t in a hurry to discuss this important matter, especially since his guests had just arrived in their domain after traveling for days.

The City of Soleil was the only place where Leone took Malik and Lord Azar.

The Hidden Valley and the cavern where the first Aslanians lived were places that held great significance and therefore off-limits to outsiders.

Although he showed the City of Soleil to them out of goodwill, it didn’t mean he was open to showing all of his secrets to his allies, even if they were on good terms.

Sure, trust was important.

However, caution was also equally important.

The young chieftain understood that the Aslan Tribe had developed far too quickly.

Grimjaw Mountain held countless secrets. Many of those secrets were things that other tribes or even kingdoms would desperately want to obtain.

The City of Soleil was already impressive enough.

There was no reason for him to reveal everything else.

With that, Leone then led his two guests to the exit of the mountain before taking them to the villas meant for the high-ranking tribes.

"The view is nice here." Lord Azar nodded in satisfaction. "And the breeze is quite refreshing. Very different from the smell of the desert."

"I hope you have a comfortable stay, Lord Azar," Leone said with a smile. "If there is anything you need, feel free to tell the guards. They will do their best to accommodate your requests."

"Thank you, Leone," Lord Azar replied. "I’d like to talk to you in private later. Is that possible?"

"Of course, Lord Azar. It will be my pleasure."

"Good."

The Dragon had sensed that Leone wished to tell him something in private. That being so, he took the initiative to open this topic while Malik was still there with them.

Although the Chieftain of the Sandreaver Tribe was curious, he wasn’t nosy enough to be a third party in such important talks.

After bidding his guests goodbye, Leone soon walked down the mountain.

There, he saw Gaius, the baby dragon, still being pampered by the ladies.

Looking at the sight, Leone had to admit that Gaius was cute and adorable enough to bring out the motherly instincts of the ladies around him.

’As long as he doesn’t make his move on Yuni and Aria, he can do whatever he wants,’ Leone thought to himself.

The young man then once again entered the cave. However, this time, he headed to the Hidden Valley.

To his surprise, the monsters there were all huddled together and had solemn looks on their faces.

Even the arrogant and dominating Dragonmaw Tyrant looked very tense.

"What’s wrong, Mawi?" Leone asked the giant crocodile, whom everyone recognized as the leader of the River Exploration team.

Mawi let out a deep hissing growl to answer the young man’s question.

"I see." Leone nodded in understanding. "You don’t have to worry about Lord Azar. He is our ally, so you don’t need to be too tense."

He then glanced at the other monsters and told them all to calm down because the Shanlong wasn’t their enemy.

Since the Dragonmaw Tyrant and the other Drakes had dragon blood inside their bodies, they could sense the power of the True Dragon that had entered their domain.

This power made them very tense, prompting them to gather just in case Leone asked them to fend off against the powerful monster.

Once the monsters finally calmed down, he next visited the Chieftain of the Red Scale Tribe.

The Kobolds worshipped Dragons, so Leone wondered if any of them wished to meet or talk to Lord Azar during his stay in the Aslan Tribe.

It didn’t take long for him to find Caius, who was currently eating with his people.

After telling the Kobolds about their guests, Caius and Titus glanced at each other.

However, they didn’t look too excited about meeting a Dragon in the flesh.

Perhaps seeing Leone’s confusion, Caius decided to explain their reaction.

"It is not that we are not interested, Leone," Caius said with a smile. "It’s just that, after facing off against the Monster King, we’ve had our fill of dragons for the time being.

"Also, Maximus is now the spiritual pillar of our tribe. He has the bloodline of a Sacred Dragon. For us, that is more than enough for us to worship him."

"I see." Leone nodded in understanding.

"Then again, since Lord Azar will stay here for a while, I’m sure that there will be plenty of opportunities for us to meet in the future," Caius added.

The other Kobolds also nodded because they shared their chieftain’s opinion.

The talks then shifted to the digging project, which made the Kobolds very lively.

"We have made great progress during the past few days," Caius stated. "I believe it won’t take long before we manage to break through the Grimjaw Mountain Range and see what is on the other side of the mountain.

Leone was also very curious to see what kind of people lived in the east.

He hoped that the Aslan Tribe would be able to form a strong connection with their neighbors, which might then lead to a powerful alliance.

Aside from that, opening the east would allow them to hunt and explore new lands. Plus, if there was a possibility of trade, Leone would not hesitate to send a team of people to handle this matter.

If they found valuable resources, they could also use them to further strengthen the Aslan Tribe and prepare for the challenges that awaited them in the future.

Of course, Leone understood that they needed to be careful when dealing with the unknown.

After all, the people living on the other side of the mountain might not necessarily welcome outsiders with open arms.

Still, that was a matter they would address only after they finally broke through the Grimjaw Mountain Range.

For now, Leone could only wait patiently while the Kobolds continued with their work.

"Keep up the good work," Leone said with a smile. "I’m looking forward to seeing what lies beyond the mountain."

"As do I, Great Chieftain." Caius nodded in agreement. "As do I."

With his matters finished, Leone returned to the City of Soleil to check whether the blacksmiths of the Sandreaver Tribe were getting along with the blacksmiths of the Aslan and Ravage Tribe.

Though, it wouldn’t take long for him to discover that the three sides had actually started to share technological expertise with one another, helping each side broaden their horizons.

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A/N: One Chapter is my limit today. I cannot continue writing while feeling dizzy.

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