317: Research Lab

Research Lab

I woke up early the next morning, even before Grace walked in and slipped out of the clutches of the two girls before freshening up and getting dressed. I had a lot to do today so I wanted to have a quick breakfast and get to work. As I opened the door Grace was right there about to open it herself. I quickly raised my finger to my lips, which Grace nodded in response. "Let them sleep in today."1

"Yes, Master," Grace replied with a polite bow. "Grace, did you want to take some time off and visit your parents?" 

"I was actually going to ask if I could take a week off in two weeks' time.." Grace replied. I had to put things in work terms, or Grace wouldn't listen to me. She was very adamant about being my personal maid.

"That's fine. Anytime you want to take time off, just tell me." I said with a smile.

"If I took too much time off, you would sleep in and slack off. While mornings like this are not bad, you still have a bad habit of not getting up even when you need to go to the academy. You need to keep a set schedule to regulate your body otherwise, you might get sick." How did giving time off result in me being scolded?

"I will listen to the great and wonderful Miss. Grace! Please go easy on me, Miss. Grace!" I said teasingly, which caused me to get pinched. I laughed and ran down the hall. I turned around to stick my tongue out at her again to see her slowly walking down the hall with a small smile on her face. But when she realized I was looking, her face went back to being as serious as ever.

After a light breakfast, I went outside and began using earth magic to form the entry away to the underground research center. Luckily with earth magic, you can form a rocky layer over the dirt walls. Once the main entrance was done, I used detection to find a good location to begin making the first floor of the research center. To start, I only took out a space big enough for me to fit with ease and created a teleport magic inscription on the floor of the entrance that would activate with a bit of magic. After testing it a few times with some rocks, I was able to get the positioning and depth right. Only then did I teleport myself down.

After casting a light orb, I made the area I was in stone and then opened up the areas around me a bit more. "I am about a hundred feet underground, so…. I can go up about fifty feet, I guess."

I used earth magic to continue expanding the entire area. Then made a second teleport room that would lead to the living area. With a bit of magic to create ventilation, the base structure of the research lab was done. "Okay, time to take out my items here…." 

I set up all the weapons I had in a line against a wall, spaced out evenly. I then built enclosures around them with multiple barriers in case anything happened while they were being worked on. "I am not sure if this will keep the strange power from destroying anything, but it will also give me time to investigate exactly what this power is so I can make new countermeasures."

I have to admit I was a little excited to tinker with my new toys. Well, calling them toys is a bit of an understatement. But I was very curious to see how this thing ticked. If I am able to create a spell to defend against this kind of magic, then I will not need to worry anymore about what we are attacked with. Which reminds me….

"Let's put both of those over here….." I forgot about the things from the dungeon. Even X7 still has yet to be taken out. 

I took out the two large rooms with the massive energy source and set up a teleport to these two new places. Luckily everything seemed intact and was working properly even after transferring everything. I then took the ship I found along with all the other tech I found and set it all up within these rooms. "We will need more researchers…." 

I had too many things and little staff. At most, I can get a few brains from the academy but this is not enough. "Should I speak to the dean about it? Or maybe have the King and the Dean come take a look to see what we can do…."

I tapped my finger off my chin for a moment and nodded: "Yes, I will get the king involved, then he can give me funding for research and hiring of staff…. Hehe… Old man, you better be ready!"

With everything set up, I returned to the house and let X7 out of my inventory. "This is…?"

"Annie, this is X7. You can get him a room with the servants' area for the time being." After saying this, I turned to X7, who was looking around curiously at everything, and said: "Annie here will help settle you in. What you do from here is up to you."

"What I want to do?" X7 asked while tilting his head. I guess he was still unsure of how to handle making decisions of his own yet. He had a will of his own but he was probably still listening to his base programming. 

"For now just spend a few days and follow Annie around. She will be working but it will give you a bit of insight on what this world is like. Annie, I know it might be a bit of trouble but X7 is from the dungeon I went to. He is not human." I could see Annie looking at me with a questioning gaze so I decided to explain things.

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