It had been two days sense the ass whopping Joshua had gotten via a flick of a finger and over those two days he had been getting better at this new way of using his aura. Of course he knew that it could be straining and it wouldn't protect him against all incoming attacks like his aura shield ability, but it would give him another form of defense as the tank of the group. The more he used it the better he got at it and eventually it got to the point that he was able to hold the state for fifteen minutes before dropping it because of the strain. The more he used it the more his body got accustomed to it and the more useful it would become.
He made sure to get some extra rest the night before since it was time for them to head back to James Town and go on another expedition. This time around they would be exploring an area near the mountain range that they had locked away behind their territory. This time around they wouldn't have to worry about other groups getting involved. The only thing they would have to watch out for is beast that Joshua was certain would be fairly high leveled. If they wanted to level at a fast pace then they would have to fight above their levels which was the case for Joshua, Amy, and Lilly. Now they needed to do something similar for Adrian, Henry, and Aito so that they wouldn't fall behind on their leveling. Even with all the runs they had done at the last dungeon his three best friends had only gained one level in the end even if they were getting close to a second.
Before any of that though they were going to make a stop by James Town and help set everything up with the architects that Henry had been gathering up over the past few days. The town was already set up design wise so now it was time for individual buildings to start being put together. Although Henry had no problem designing the town himself in a decent way it was a completely different thing from actually putting the buildings together and designing them to withstand all the necessities that they would need in the end. That's where all of the other architects come into the flow of things. Julia was also coming along to help out while the rest of her group rested, they'd get back to grinding in a couple of days.
Joshua found himself being the first person to reach gateway to earth and had already set the coordinates for the portal that he planned to take. It didn't take long for the rest to show up with his sister even coming on time which was surprising since he hadn't been at home to wake her up and bring her over. He had been spending the past few days training his aura so he hadn't actually spent all that much time at home and stayed in the little cottage in the training area instead. After everyone had gathered up along with the group of Architects that Henry had gathered they made their way through the portal and found themselves in the center of James Town with everything looking the same as how they had left it before.
"Good to see the place didn't have any issues while we were gone." Henry said as he looked around for a moment while all of the people he brought along were looking at the space with excitement. It was clear to Joshua and the rest of his group that they really loved their jobs if they stuck to doing such things even in the current circumstances of the world. Julia was right along with them looking around with a slight sparkle in her eyes, but she coughed and fixed her glasses in embarrassment when she noticed Joshua's group looking at her.
"So where should we start then?" Julia asked trying to hide her embarrassment as she turned to look at the person that seemed to be the head of the group of architects. The man didn't seem anything but normal when you looked at him. The only defining thing about him was the fact that he probably looked a lot younger than he actually was based off of the way he acted. When anyone talked to him his responses always made you feel like you were talking to a grand parent or something. With everyone having their lifespan greatly extended and their bodies rejuvenated the elderly were sometimes hard to notice, but this man was as blunt about it as possible.
"Well before we get to that young lady I'd say we've got some introductions to make." The man said as he turned to look at the rest of Joshua's group. "I'm Oscar and I've been working on all sorts of designs from just about anything you can think of since the 1950's. It would be a pleasure to be a part of designing some of the new places that will be a part of the world. It's been a long time since I've been a part of something so exciting." He said with a big grin.
"It's nice to meet you Oscar, if Henry believes in your skills then I'm sure we're all in for a great surprise." Joshua said with a small smile as he shook the shorter man's hand. Oscar was only about five and a half feet tall, but even with his old age he seemed to be bursting with a lot of energy and excitement. The man was bald, but had a decent beard that was grey in color showing that he used to be old even if his body had been revitalized. At the moment he looked like a man in his mid-thirties, but if what he said was true then he had to have at least been in his eighties nearing nineties before things changed.
"Well then from what I can see of the place you've got most of the design down, but want a simple structure for the different types of buildings you plan to place in the area. Hmmm…" The old man seemed to be thinking to himself as he had an image pulled up and projected in front of him via the system to show the area from a top down perspective. It was clear to them all that the old man had been asked to help out with other towns based off of how he seemed to know exactly what to do under the current circumstances. "Well we should probably go with a variation of four different types of housing structures so that they don't all seem exactly the same, but at the same time won't take too long to put together. We should also do something similar with the market buildings."
"I was thinking along those lines as well, but I wasn't sure which designs to go with." Henry said as he walked over to observe what the old man was looking at. For the next few minutes they seemed to launch themselves into a long discussion on all of the things they needed to set up for things to work out for the best. Julia joined in along with the other architects that came along with the old man, but the rest of Joshua's group just stayed off to the side and let them figure it all out. Joshua knew when something was over his head and wasn't going to have anything to do with talks of the proper structure four a two story house or a four story building.
It took the group about an hour to finish up discussing everything as they came up with different designs for the buildings they planned to have the robots put together for them. The only problem is that they came into a snag with a couple of ideas they had for things they wanted to put into place for the town and these were the underground structure they wanted in place as either shelters or bases in case the town was in trouble or the world encountered another apocalyptic issue in the future. The system had no problem building and underground sewer system for them in the way they wanted, but it had nothing about shelters and it was probably something that was only in the city system builder. Town of this scale probably weren't expected to have them, Henry wanted to have one in place for any territories they decided to take now and in the future.
That's when a person came forward to solve the problem that nobody in the group was expecting. "I think I have an idea of how to help you with that dilemma." Lilly said with a small smile getting everyone's attention. She had been rather quiet the entire time the discussion was happening, but now that they had hit a snag she had decided to intervene.
"You've got an idea to get around this Lilly?" Henry asked a bit confused like most others, but Joshua figured out what Lilly was thinking of since he had been thinking of asking her about it when they came across this problem in the first place.
"Yep, I've got a pet that's perfect for the job." Lilly said with a smile before she summoned the pet she was thinking of from her soul realm. The creature was definitely on the smaller side being around the same size as Mr. and Mrs. Hoppy. It was the little prairie dog they had gotten from the last dungeon they had gone through before joining up with Adrian's group. The little guy was named Nibbles and was looking around excitedly at being brought out of Lilly's soul realm. At this point he wasn't being used all that often since he wasn't strong in a combat sense still being an infant version of his race, but his ability to burrow and create tunnels underground was just as great as all of the other prairie dogs they had faced in the dungeon.
The rest of the group looked at the little guy in awe. The Architects especially were surprised since they hadn't come across a person that could summon beast before. "Well then how about we test out and see what this little guy can do at one of the design spots we've already decided on for an underground shelter?" Oscar asked as he turned to look at Henry.
"Sounds like a good enough idea to me." Henry simply replied as the group made their way over to an empty lot that didn't have any foundation on it yet. They'd build the underground shelter first before putting anything up above just to make sure the ground was solid in the area. "Alright this is the perfect spot for your little guy to do his work."
Lilly nodded before she picked up Nibbles from off of her shoulder and smiled at the little rodent before putting him down on the ground and patting his head. "Alright Nibbles I want you to dig a tunnel straight down then build a big room like this." Lilly said trying to make sure her pet understood what she wanted. She showed Nibbles an image of the space underground for the shelter that the group had been wanting to make and he seemed to get excited before running around in a circle on the spot.
At first everyone thought that the prairie dog didn't know exactly what he was supposed to do and seemed disappointed, but things changed when he started munching away at the dirt. That's when all of the looks of disappointment turned to confusion, and then finally settled on astonishment at what they were witnessing the little guy do. Within ten minutes Nibbles already had an enormous hole in the spot that Henry had pointed out and it was so deep that the rest of the group couldn't even see the bottom of it. By the half hour mark the group had seen Nibbles make his way out of the large ten meter in diameter hole with two filled up cheeks as he continued to chew away.
"Where does it all go?" Amy asked the question that was on everyone's mind as Lilly picked up the little fur ball that had just eaten several tons worth of dirt like it was nothing. Joshua sighed before hovering down the whole with his scarf and flash light. Henry followed with a spell that allowed him to glide down and they were both able to inspect the place. The structure was even more solid then it probably would have been if they had robots from the system do it and it didn't even take long.
"That rat is amazing." Was the only thing Henry could say and Joshua just nodded at the statement.