The Enchanted Shopping Plaza had been open for only a day, yet by the next morning it felt like it had existed for weeks. Ethan walked toward it with steady steps, watching the early crowds gather even before merchants finished unlocking their doors. Adventurers who stayed in the Magic Apartments carried steaming bread and gear bags as they wandered down the stone walkway. Merchants waved at them from their stalls, eager to start trading. The air felt alive with movement and possibility.

Ethan paused near the fountain, listening to the soft splash of mana purified water. The plaza already had a rhythm. People walked across the glowing tiles, chatted under the warm lamp posts, and browsed items displayed in the shop windows. The energy felt right. And now it was time to move to the next major project: the Adventurer Residential Zone.

He knew adventurers were different from families or merchants. They needed sturdy rooms, reinforced walls, large storage, quiet resting areas, and easy access to shops and training grounds. They carried heavy gear and traveled often, so flexibility and accessibility mattered. Ethan walked to the northern edge of the plaza, scanning the open field that stretched toward a line of low hills. This area would become their home.

The beastfolk workers gathered around him as he pointed to the field. Today we start the Adventurer Residential Zone, Ethan said. Strong rooms, big lockers, reinforced floors. A place built for movement. A place that feels like home even for people who rarely stay in one place. The workers nodded with excitement. They liked building big structures but were eager to try something more rugged.

Ethan used rope and long wooden stakes to outline the zone. Each building would be smaller than the Magic Apartments but sturdier, with thicker walls and stronger mana channels. He drew the layout on the ground: several long lodging halls, each with a central rest chamber and side rooms. Wider doors for beastfolk. Noise dampening runes. Reinforced support beams that could take the shock of heavy armor or dropped weapons.

The mage studied Ethan’s layout with interest. You want this to be both safe and adaptable, he said. Ethan nodded. Adventurers changed plans constantly, and their needs shifted depending on quests. The zone needed flexibility without sacrificing stability.

Work began quickly. The workers cleared grass and leveled the ground. Ethan inspected the soil with his heel and nodded. The earth was firm enough to hold long buildings without buckling. The mage knelt and pressed his hands into the dirt, carving the first deep mana trunk line for the new zone. The glowing green line shot forward like a living root system spreading through the field.

Adventurers gathered nearby watching with interest. One beastfolk ranger asked if the rooms would have private storage units. Ethan walked over and explained the plan. Each room would have two built in lockers reinforced with mana bonds. The ranger’s tail flicked with excitement. Another adventurer, an elf archer, asked about training space. Ethan pointed toward the far side of the field. A training yard would be built there later, with target boards and mana hardened barriers.

As the morning passed, the first lodging hall foundation took shape. The workers placed stone blocks in long straight lines. Ethan checked each alignment carefully. He reminded them that reinforced living spaces meant safety during monster attacks, adventurer fights, or accidental spell explosions. The workers laughed nervously, but they understood the importance.

The mage carved channels into the stone blocks for mana and stability. When activated, the blocks glowed faint cyan, humming in low tones that felt like quiet thunder. Adventurers leaning nearby stepped back, impressed. Some had never seen engineered magic combined with physical construction before.

By midday Ethan outlined the interior of the first hall. Rooms along each side. A wide hallway for armored movement. A central lounge where adventurers could lay out maps, plan quests, or clean gear. The workers raised the first beams, their shadows stretching across the open field. Ethan guided them, adjusting angles and spacing.

A group of merchants paused their work in the plaza to watch. One joked that the adventurers would finally stop crowding the inns inside the city walls. Another said that the zone might attract adventurers from neighboring kingdoms. Ethan smiled. Exactly what he wanted.

In the afternoon they reached a point where Ethan needed to test the structure’s resistance. He asked one of the beastfolk adventurers to swing a heavy metal training hammer at a reinforced support pillar. The adventurer hesitated, then swung with everything he had. The impact echoed across the field. The pillar stayed perfectly firm, mana humming steady. Everyone cheered. Even the mage looked surprised at the durability.

As the sun lowered, Ethan and the workers finished the outer structure of the first lodging hall. The walls rose higher, the beams stood strong, and the mana channels glowed brighter as the sky darkened. Ethan walked through the outline imagining it filled with adventurers resting after long hunts, sharpening weapons on the balcony railings, or arguing about treasure splits in the central lounge.

He climbed a small hill nearby and looked down at the growing district. The Magic Apartments glowed like a towering lantern. The Enchanted Shopping Plaza bustled with merchants and customers. And now, the foundations of the Adventurer Residential Zone stretched across the field.

He whispered to himself Tomorrow the rooms rise. Tomorrow the zone becomes real.