Cat explained everything she saw. How she found the dungeon, where it was, what the ruins looked like, she even described the stairs leading down to the entrance. She gave as much details as she could remember.

"So how big is this dungeon?" Asked Chris. "Do we need to quarantine a big area?"

Everyone looked at Chris surprised. Catherine was the first to answer him.

"The entrance is a teleport to the actual dungeon." She explained. "So we only need to quarantine that area as there are no other way in. As for it's size... We'll need to investigate first."

[Wait... Actual teleportation technology?] Chris was surprised. This was a world filled with magic, so he always thought it was possible, but he didn't expect to actually have a teleportation portal. [The possibilities are insane if we manage to reverse engineer that thing.]

Mia noticed the smirk on his face and guessed his thoughts. "Don't be too eager. Teleportation arrays exist in this world, but they are even more valuable than dungeons."

"Hehe, sorry about that." Laughed Chris. "So what are your suggestions to deal with the dungeon?"

"We need to get rid of the Gnolls first." Said Berg. "They are a danger to our workforce, and we can't afford to waste time and manpower by keeping our guard up against them all the time."

"But if we get rid of the Gnolls, the area becomes defenseless and anyone can stumble on the entrance." Added Ferlin.

"Why not just fill the entrance with dirt to hide it until we are more prepared?" Proposed Titus.

"That's a good idea! The entrance isn't that big, we can send a few trusted men or even do it ourselves." Said an excited Cat. "If they don't go down, they won't be able to guess what's inside. Dungeons are so rare that no one would guess that's what it is until they are right in front of the gate."

Everyone seemed to agree so Chris made the decision. "Very well. Cat your next task is to eliminate the Gnolls camps. Please submit to Mia a report of the needed forces for the job."

"Yes!" Catherine wouldn't say no to some action.

Chris added with a smirk: "Only a couple of people should be necessary to fill it with our new hand carts. How about we send Titus take care of it, since it was his idea?"

"Ugh... Very well my Lord." Answered Titus reluctantly.

"This should do for the dungeon. We still have to discuss how to make best use of it, but this can wait for a later date. The next item is the defense wall."

A few groans were heard in the tent.

This was a hotly debated topic amongst Chris' subordinates. Two proposals were on the table. The first one was to build a city wall to completely enclose the city behind it. The other one was to take advantage of the topography and use the natural bottleneck, Carl and a few scouts found east of the valley. ( https://www.dropbox.com/s/0qwhpq80qzgiagh/MoltenValley%28chap%2016%29.jpg?dl=0 )

They both had advantages and disadvantages. And it was now time to make a decision.

For this they were joined by both Rinat and Aiden. They were both trustworthy and they would be heavily involved in the project.

Chris waited for them to take a sit and resumed his speech. "The mortar formula has been perfected by Aiden and his men. Thank you for your work!"

Aiden simply bowed with a wide grin on his face. He was clearly proud of the results. After all his team had just perfected a material that would change their lives... For decades to come.

"Aiden's orders are to ramp up production of the mortar. The goal is to make several tons everyday in order to prepare for the defensive walls."

"Which means we can not waste time and have to start construction right away." Said Chris.

"I vote for a city wall." The first to talk was Catherine. "I have patrolled the area enough to know that the Kunalls are not the only danger around. The Gnolls are a good example."

Cid stood up and voiced his opinion. "As the captain of the city guards, I vote for a city wall. A protective wall will be of great help against bandits and other dangers."

"I vote for the eastern defense wall." Said Berg. "The gorge between the two mountains is narrow and easily defensible. We can even alter the terrain to give us more tactical advantages. It will also prevent the Kunalls from laying siege to us."

It was Mia's turn next. "I choose the eastern defense walls. It will be better for our people to be spared the agony of a siege. Our industries need to be able to operate at full force during a war, this is the best way to allow that for now."

Chris was surprised that Mia and Cat did not share the same opinion. But he was glad as this clearly did not impact their friendship.

Ferlin's and Titus's opinions were also split. Ferlin chose the city wall and Titus the eastern defense walls. Chris almost suspected they did so in order to avoid giving the deciding votes as this meant both options had three votes. Chris could settle it here, but he turned to Aiden and Rinat. They could not vote, but he could listen to their advice.

"From my perspective as a carpenter, there is not much difference between a city wall in a circular form and a straight defense wall." Said Rinat. "But in this case, the perimeter of the city wall seems much bigger than the length of the defense wall. It will take much longer to finish."

"I agree." Added Aiden. He pointed on the map, to a spot near the possible construction site. "We can find lime and sand around there, there is also a forest nearby. This means that with the proper preparations, the distance from the city should not impact the efficiency of our workers."

Chris sat back on his chair and thought for a while. [Our camp hasn't been attack yet, so it's true that tension is low. But bandits and beasts are a real danger... But a city wall is useless if we can't complete it before the Kunalls attack. And if they can't break the walls, all they'll have to do is to lay siege and starve us to death.]

"Very well. Let's go with the eastern defense wall. It's the only option that can finished in time. We have to remember that we are on the clock. In a few weeks, the scout camp will notice that their scout parties are not coming back."

Chris pointed to the map, on the agreed spot and marked the position of the construction site. ( https://www.dropbox.com/s/0qwhpq80qzgiagh/MoltenValley%28chap%2016%29.jpg?dl=0 )

"Aiden, you'll take the lead as our chief mason and lead the project on site." As he said this, he handed Aiden a scroll he just received from Mia. On it were the details of the build. "The wall needs to be at least 5 meters high and 3 meters thick."

Aiden read the scroll in details. The gorge was 320 meters in length. This meant it occupied a volume of 4,800 cubic meters. The mix of rocks and mortar had a weight of 2 tons per cubic meter in average. So he needed 9,600 cubic meters of rocks and mortar at minimum. Mia left it up to him to complete the list as he still had to see how deep the foundation had to be. This depended a lot on the type of soil, so he had to be on site to check.

"Please find an appropriate place to camp." Said Mia. "In a few days I will send you 500 men and women to start digging the foundation as well as 100 miners and lumberjacks to prepare the materials needed."

"Yes!" Aiden answered with enthusiasm. This was clearly the biggest job of his career so far.

"Rinat, your job is to prepare a warehouse to protect our materials and tools from the elements. You are needed here for other projects, so take note of everything your carpenters can do to help and come back." Said Chris.

"Yes!"

"With this, the meeting is over. Work hard everyone, we have a lot to do!" Everyone saluted and left as Chris said this.

He was about to leave as well when he suddenly froze. He noticed the pillow on Mia's bed. It was the one she took from his tent, it was still all ruffled after a night's use..

[A rare collector item! Mia's pillow!]