He watched with vague interest as Tavia took command of the arrived carts. The items she ordered looked adequate to his eyes, but he had little interest in the aesthetics of where he lived.

That was obvious when Cal adapted quickly to the little shed when he arrived in the Northern Wastes.

As long as the bed he slept in was comfortable, he could care less about the rest.

No, that’s not true. I need to add a storage room to the very short list. A good bed and a large storage room are all I need.

Cal checked his mana core. He felt enough time had passed for him to make another try with [Rainfall], and he was right. Well over half of his mana had recovered.

He was still coming to terms with how easily he had been successful in casting [Rainfall]. It was likely his high affinity with the water element coming into play. Still, even then, it was shockingly easy to cast the spell. It was like his mana jumped at the chance to do so without any effort on his part.

I struggled for months to get a simple spark when I tried to cast [Lightning Bolt], surely I couldn’t have been that terrible with the lightning element… right?

Cal commanded his mana core to release half its total capacity before a plausible reason appeared in his mind. The ease at which his mana flowed.

I was a mediocre [Mage], with an average affinity in the lightning, but nobody could ever say I was lazy. To make it easier to cast [Lightning Bolt], I practiced my mana's quick release and flow at a fanatic rate. I took it to a point where it was almost like breathing.

He lifted his arm and targeted a spot slightly in front of him instead of directly above. He didn’t want to give himself an impromptu shower again and didn’t want to add to the newly created pond.

Cal was sure it would evaporate soon enough either way, but the problem was that it would obscure how much rain had fallen. He would need that information to determine the right amount of mana to use on his dirt patch.

Water vapor. Condensation. The droplets fall.

He let his mana free. It was similar to what happened on his first try but with less intensity. The soft, white glow of the mana leaving his palm and shooting up into the sky was dimmer, as it should be.

Stormy rain clouds quickly formed, but he noticed it was slightly slower. But not enough to make any real difference that would matter when it was only fractions of a second slower to cast.

Cal didn’t take his eyes off the dark clouds until the very end.

The rate at which the rain falls has slowed.

He kept count of the spell’s duration, and as expected, it lasted the exact same time as his first try. He studied the ground and came to a conclusion when he saw the amount of water left on the ground.

This should be a reasonable amount for watering the dirt patch between the fertilization steps. I don’t feel it is necessary for me to test the lower limit of the spell. Tavia might actually lose her remaining calm if I continue to distract the workers from following her orders.

Cal was well aware that all the work had stopped the moment he cast [Rainfall]. It was apparent that the people Miren had sent to deliver Tavia’s order didn’t deal with magic in their daily lives.

He lowered his arm and walked back to his house, sloshing through the water on the ground. It was impossible to avoid since he was in the middle of everything.

The workers who had previously stared at him with open mouths quickly returned to their jobs as he approached. Tavia said some words to them—which he missed—before giving her full attention to him.

“How long have you been practicing that spell?” Tavia asked immediately when he was within earshot.

Cal didn’t really want to answer that. At this point, it was like he was almost showing off, even though he wasn’t trying to do anything of the sort.

It would be easy to find out I went to the Grand Market if Tavia really wanted to. I guess this is another thing that there’s no point in hiding.

“That was the first time I tried it,” Cal admitted, though it was almost sheepish. “The natural process was simple enough for me to understand quickly. Replicating it with mana was somehow easier.”

“… Do you have a perfect affinity with water?” Tavia’s eyes widened. “You can’t have mastery, can you?” She paused before shaking her head. “No, that would require you to access the element without a simulacrum… which you did use, right?”

“I did, today, actually,” Cal confirmed and moved to push past the subject. “I have a high affinity for water, and maybe that’s more than enough for a low-level spell like Rainfall. Now, what I’m more interested in are the decorations you bought.”

Understandably, Tavia wanted to continue talking about his ease of spellcasting. Still, she held back her desire, at least for now. She sighed, “I can show you what I bought, or you can see it when everything is set up. I would prefer the former so you can reject the things you don’t want.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He couldn’t think of anything he wanted less. He allowed Tavia to deal with this precisely because he couldn’t be bothered. Now she suggested he waste time approving everything she bought.

No, I think not.

“I want to see it all come together,” Cal backed away slightly. “I wouldn’t want to change your vision by rejecting individual pieces.”

“Oh, that does make sense,” Tavia muttered as she nodded slowly. She hadn’t noticed the distance between them increasing.

“It does,” Cal agreed, backing away even more. He was moving in the direction of the storage room. “How long do you think it will take them to finish?”

“Not too long. Maybe thirty minutes or so—where are you going?” Tavia finally noticed that he was several feet away.

“I have to make a quick trip to Mariner’s Rest,” Cal was near the door to the storage room. “I should be back by the time everything is done.” He entered the storage room as Tavia gave him a confused nod.

He walked to the shovel he had set aside so it could repair itself and took it off the rack. The trip to Mariner’s Rest wasn’t part of his plans until Tavia mentioned showing him the decorations.

I have nothing to do here other than look at the decorations. I didn’t expect to learn [Rainfall] so quickly, but that’s exactly what happened. I can either waste my time and dawdle or head to Orrin’s and get the rake. Obviously, I choose to do the latter.

Cal studied the shovel and tried to see any sign of a repair in progress. It had been over twenty-four hours without use, so the self-repair trait should be active.

I don’t see anything that stands out. Then again, the shovel is at ‘Good Quality,’ so there weren’t many defects to repair. And the trait takes seven days—another thing that will make it hard to notice a difference this early.

He put the shovel on his back strap and headed out. Tavia was nowhere to be seen, but he could hear her voice inside the house.

Cal didn’t waste time and started to head to the tree line.

The shovel will just sit in my storage room. It’s better spent with Orrin so he can learn from it.

***

He heard silence as he approached Orrin’s shop. With how much the boy had worked to make all the tools Seris had delivered, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Even someone as motivated as Orrin would need a break after that.

I just hope he made the rake before this break.

Cal entered the house and froze. It had already looked like a disaster before, but it was a disaster of a different type now.

Seris told me that Orrin destroyed all the Basic-ranked tools he had made, but that clearly isn’t the case.

There was equipment piled up, scattered haphazardly, and generally just tossed around the house. Orrin clearly didn’t intend to sell them, so these might be queued for destruction.

He shook his head in admiration at the obsession needed to make these many tools in such a short amount of time. It spoke well of the speed Orrin now possessed.

Even if making these tools seemed like a failure on the surface, speed was also a skill that needed to be trained. It was similar to how Cal had relentlessly worked on his mana flow until it became second nature.

Cal ventured deeper into the house until he arrived at the backyard—Orrin’s smithy. He saw the boy measuring small, pitch-black pellets before placing them individually into a sand-like material.

He had little idea what Orrin was doing, but the pellets were new. He could see they had blue flecks that glowed briefly when dropped into the sand-like material.

Cal cleared his throat to get the boy’s attention.

“Initiate Cal!” Orrin moved to try and hide what he was doing, but when he realized that was impossible, he acted like everything was normal. It didn’t work. “What brings you here?”

Cal raised an eyebrow at the poor attempt to act normal but let it go for now.

He had looked around but unfortunately couldn’t see his new commissions set to the side. Still, he had some hope it was stored away elsewhere. “I needed the rake I commissioned earlier than I expected.”

“Oh, good!” Orrin jumped to his feet before moving to where large metal sheets were leaning on the wall. He reached behind them and pulled out the rake Cal wanted. It looked odd with the extra long tines, but it was precisely what he wanted. “This is the first one I made. I’m experimenting with some new techniques, so I would like to give it another try later.”

“Uncommon rank?” Cal asked as he took the rake.

“Yes.”

He pulled out a silver and handed it to Orrin, accepting fifty copper in return as change. “So, I’m guessing these new techniques relate to those pellets you tried to hide?”

Orrin’s expression turned almost embarrassed. “When Seris told me that you needed extras, I asked around and found out that guild members sometimes use equipment that has a different composition with a material called Voidiron. I’ve been trying to figure out how to use it but haven’t been successful so far.”

Cal stared at the black pellets with a frown. He was trying to recall if he had seen any equipment that had this color in his last life, but as far as he knew, he hadn’t.

“Who told you this?”

“… A sailor Seris introduced me to.” Orrin was not convincing.

“Really? What’s the sailor’s name?” Cal asked with a raised brow.

Orrin looked away, determined to keep his mouth shut. Cal could use the shovel he intended to give him for study as leverage, but hiding a source was something he could respect.

Plus, I would rather not tarnish my image for something that isn’t important.

“Well, this seems promising if what you say is true. I would love to have tools that are more durable,” Cal said, pulling the shovel off his back. "I have a gift for you.”

Orrin finally looked at him again. Cal could see how empty his mind become from shock.

“I can leave this here for about a week, so use the time well,” Cal continued as if he couldn’t see Orrin struggling to form words.

“I—What—How?—Really?” Orrin stammered.

“Really.”

“An Advanced rank shovel!” Orrin almost squealed. He rushed to Cal like he would give him a hug before stopping himself at the last moment. But barely. He gingerly took the shovel and said, “Thank you, Initiate Cal!”

“Take care of it, and do not use it. It’s currently self-repairing, which will stop if used,” Cal warned.

“Repair?—I will,” Orrin stopped his question and nodded rapidly.

“Good… Do you know where Seris is?”

“I haven’t seen her since the morning, but she should be at the port,” Orrin gave the shovel frequent looks, wanting to study it immediately.

She’s probably with Drex… I’ll talk to her when she comes to my field. At least that way, I’ll keep my guildmarks for a few more hours.

“Then I’ll head back. I have a busy day ahead of me,” Cal felt the need to justify leaving for some reason. Not that Orrin cared since he wanted Cal to go, so he could get to the shovel.

“Take care, Initiate Cal!”

Cal left Orrin’s smithy before quickly making his way out of Mariner’s Rest. He was excited to use the rake and start the repair of his little dirt patch. A first step before hopefully doing the same for the whole field.