A step through to their first stop had Ben peeking in the minds around them for information to that city's guild, following the route he’d taken to lead the two of them to its doors and finding one twice the size of Stonewall’s, which actually meant it was on the smaller end of things. Stonewall’s adventurer’s guild not only belonged to a town that for normal people would be a multi-day trip to the nearest gate city, it was also forced to act as a location for the other main guilds too, even if in a reduced capacity. The one before him, on the other hand, was a guild that basically had the world at its fingertips, by virtue of the portal at the heart of their city. Anyone could go anywhere for a quest if they needed to and would be able to host a healthy adventurer population, even if the population meant the surrounding area should have been regularly cleared of threats.

  With that small size making it busy even as they entered, with people accepting or turning in their quests and leaving the lines to all of the workers long, giving the two of them no choice but to join one and wait, Ben picking which after looking into their various minds to try and figure out which would be the quickest for them to choose as they slowly moved forward as quests were processed until finally they made it to the front.

  “Hello there,” the guild worker told them brightly. “Unfamiliar faces I see. Would you be here to turn in a quest from a different branch or are you signing up?”

  “Neither,” Thera told them, pulling out her card to show her rank. “We were sent here on a quest to build your city a wall. I was told we’d be expected.”

  “Ah, of course,” they nodded, reacting with less surprise than most people Ben had revealed his guild rank to at least. “Our guild master is expecting you. Right this way.”

  Leaving their post, along with everyone who thought it would be a good idea to line up behind the two of them, Ben and Thera were led through a back hall where the employee knocked on one of the doors, announcing them as they did.

  “Ma’am, the first ranks are here.”

  “Wonderful, just a moment.”

  There was some rustling to be heard in the room, the guildmaster sure to be tidying up what she’d been working on before meeting with her guests and stepped out after just a few seconds, looking polite and professional as she greeted them.

  “Welcome. I hadn’t expected the two of you to get here so soon.”

  “You were our first stop,” Thera told her. “But we don’t expect the work to take us too long either. We were told we could get some of the specifications of the build when we arrived.”

  “Of course, it’s nothing too complex. A wall that’s maybe twice as high as you are tall and around half as wide for people to stand along, with a bit of a lip on one side to give any soldiers or any of my adventurers something to hide behind if there’s any incoming fire. We’re looking for it to be built thirty to fifty meters from the city’s edge to give us a bit more room to grow in the future and openings at all of the roads but still linked at the top for anyone along it to be able to run over. When you go out and take a look to start planning, you can come directly back here after and I’ll arrange the best room our city has for however long you expect your work to take and I can give you a list of our finest restaurants. Each has been told to expect you, so if you just show your rank to them, whatever you get will be billed to the guild.”

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  “We shouldn’t need the room, thanks, but as for the food…” she turned to Ben, wanting to see what he wanted first before outright dismissing the option. “We did just have breakfast; you’re not hungry yet, are you?”

  “Nah, I say we stop for lunch after finishing the second one and get dinner after the fourth, so long as nothing crazy pops up to delay us.”

  “Sounds good to me,” she nodded before turning back to the guild master. “We shouldn’t be here long enough to need that, so we’ll just get to work. Do we need to report back to you or anyone here when it’s done?”

  “No, it should be fine,” the guild master told them, curious about how powerful the two could be that they thought they’d be done so soon. Considering that reaching the first rank was dictated by holding two second-tier skills and asked for nothing of their levels after having gotten those awakenings, there was actually quite a range of power that could exist once one reached those heights and she could only assume that at least the earth mage before her had continued to progress further beyond that great barrier. “We’ll see when the wall goes up and the specifications aren’t anything too complicated that needs a final look over. As long as you build us something strong and sturdy, then we’ll be more than satisfied.”

  “Great, in that case, we’ll go get this finished. Ben, let’s go.”

  Giving a polite nod as they did, they two of them left, walking to the edge of the city and beyond to where they’d been asked to build, Thera lifting the two of them up on a small platform as she did to control their speed and keep them from walking that land’s circumference as they examined the area before nodding.

  “Seems straightforward enough,” she nodded. “Unless I’m missing something, is there anything you see we’ll need to worry about?”

  “No, should be simple. I’ll worry about reinforcing it if you want to build around it?”

  “That works.”

  The plan made, they were able to begin as Ben filled his minor role in the construction, using both his material sense and his extraction enhancement with his magic to pull what metal existed in the surrounding soil out, materializing when he needed to and building interlocking metal bars to stick out of the ground for Thera to build around to strengthen the final product as she followed his work with her own, raising up the earth below and condensing it into a solid stone around that frame, baring in mind what the guild master had told them as she matched the given dimensions and made sure to make walkways along different sections for people to climb up it for any offensive use and continuing construction as they went.

  With the workflow being quick. While Thera carried them along the two cast their magic, building it up as they went and only making small adjustments when they needed to, keeping far enough from the city itself and reshaping the landscape in different ways to try and prevent any flooding that taking so much earth to create the wall might cause in different areas until, soon enough, the end of their construction met the beginning, finishing it and leaving them both satisfied with their work.

  “Not bad for a first stop,” Thera smiled, pleased with how it had turned out. While such a thing wouldn’t be enough to stop any flying or burrowing demons, it would at least slow down anything clinging to the surface, and that was all that mattered. If a horde were to bear down on that land, any extra minutes was more time for people to escape and for more help to be sent, which would make a huge difference in whether the city, or even just how many lives, could be saved. “Anything you think we should go back and improve on before we go?”

  “No, I’d say this is great, so let’s head out. After all, only three more walls to do.”