DND Realms: The Rise of the Titan-Dragon Prodigy

"Mia, the Wind King Eagle has agreed to let us transform the cloud islands," Muria said, standing on the crystal eagle nest, smiling at the dragonborn maid who stood behind him with her head bowed. "Start preparing. First, estimate the total cost of transforming these cloud islands and present it to me."

"Young Master Muria, isn't this a bit..." Mia glanced back at the giants who had come with them. They had all turned their heads, seemingly fascinated by something else, pretending they hadn't heard or seen anything Muria had done.

"A bit what?" Muria smiled warmly, touching his face. As his fingers brushed his cheek, an illusion of an intricately inscribed ancient divine script on his faceplate flickered and disappeared.

That was the Holy Radiance Abyss, a piece of armor whose defensive power was unparalleled in the world of Erathia. Thus, Muria's face was impervious even to magical cannons.

"...Nothing," Mia fell silent, stifling the words "shameless." This was her master, and as his personal maid, she couldn't be so disrespectful. "Your Highness, if the Wind King Eagle wakes up, it might..."

"Mia," Muria interrupted his maid, "Brother Eagle has already agreed, so when it wakes up, it will only be pleased and gratified by the transformed cloud islands, not angry. It will get mad only if we make a mess of the islands during the transformation."

"I'll go estimate the cost then, young master." Rendered speechless by Muria's shamelessness, Mia gave a slight bow and returned to the palace. She gathered the cloud giants to begin measuring the cloud islands, calculating their sizes, and then roughly estimating the cost based on the Golden Dragon Mother's method of transforming them into floating cities.

"Wind King Eagle," Muria gazed at the sleeping giant beast for a long while. Saying he wasn't apprehensive of this giant beast would be a lie; even the Titans didn't want to be its enemy.

However, the current state of the Wind King Eagle gave Muria the courage to eye these cloud islands. Such beings usually slept for centuries, and their recovery periods were even longer. This extended time was enough for Muria.

Because Muria had ample confidence in his future and his bloodline. When the Wind King Eagle woke up, no matter its attitude towards the floating city transformation, Muria would have enough power to "soothe" and "enlighten" it.

…

"Why is it so expensive?" Muria stared at the long string of daunting numbers on the stack of cost estimates before him. His good mood from breaking his soul limit vanished instantly. "Mia, are you sure there's no mistake?"

"I've recalculated three times, young master Muria." The busty maid stood beside him, her expression calm—a way to express her dissatisfaction. She had painstakingly led over a hundred cloud giants to measure all 132 cloud islands, only to have Muria question the results.

"Ahem!" Muria coughed, realizing his previous faux pas when he saw Mia's squirrel-like, puffed-cheeked pout. "Mia, I'm not questioning your abilities; I was just shocked by the transformation costs. Such a vast expenditure would drain the entire kingdom of Rockman and still be insufficient to complete all the island transformations."

"Indeed, using the resources of the Rockman Kingdom to transform all the cloud islands is infeasible," Mia confirmed her calculated conclusion. "Young master Muria, perhaps you should reconsider the feasibility of the cloud island transformation plan."

Muria tapped his fingers on the desk, deep in thought. Transforming all the cloud islands into floating cities would require resources equivalent to nearly a billion units of elemental crystals—a sum that would terrify even gods.

But upon reflection, this estimated cost wasn't unreasonable. The Golden Dragon Mother's method for transforming cloud islands into floating cities saved about 40% compared to directly building floating cities of the same scale, but it was still an astronomical figure.

A floating city was the ultimate achievement for legendary mages. Mages with floating cities could challenge gods; they were the highest-ranking among mages, barring epic mages.

Not all legendary mages could own such a top-tier war fortress and laboratory. More than 80% of mages would go bankrupt trying to build a floating city.

For example, Heinar, the Elemental Master who created the demiplane Muria now owned, was a prominent figure among legendary mages. Yet, even he had to take on debts to build his floating city. The longer the construction, the more debt he incurred.

When Heinar died unexpectedly, the construction of his floating city halted, leaving him unable to continue.

Similarly, building a floating city could bankrupt a wealthy duchy, leading to economic collapse, national turmoil, and rampant banditry. Without a legendary figure to maintain order, the country could fall.

The Rockman Kingdom, which Muria ruled, was far stronger than a duchy. Before the demonic disaster, the kingdom's stable economy could have supported transforming fifteen cloud islands without issue.

Now, after such a prolonged demonic disaster, even with the protection of ancient dragons, the Rockman Kingdom was severely weakened. Its current economic strength could barely support transforming five cloud islands, let alone 132. Muria couldn't squeeze enough resources from the kingdom, even if he drained it dry.

Of course, if Muria were willing to wait, in fifty years, with human reproductive capability and two to three generations, the kingdom could recover and even surpass its former glory. The remains of the Medis Kingdom in the Underdark would nourish the Rockman Kingdom, providing ample resources.

Even though the best parts of the Medis Kingdom had been divided among the Golden Dragon Mother and other ancient dragons, the remaining scraps were still enough to enrich the Rockman Kingdom.

"Fifty years is too long!" Muria frowned. His original plan was to stay in the Rockman Kingdom for about ten to twenty years. Fifty years exceeded his expectations. Even then, the kingdom's economic recovery wouldn't support this massive project.

"I don't have time to linger on this subcontinent. If a complete transformation isn't possible, then I'll just transform part of it. Do what we can. I can't let down Beladin who entrusted the kingdom to me."

"Young master Muria, transforming part of it?"

"Just make the cloud islands mobile."

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