So much for not making a mess, at least I have two more pickaxes ready to hand over to the Overseer for next month.
Cal tried using equipment other than the pickaxe, but it wasn’t nearly as effective. His field had no necessary work left, so anything he tried there would be purely to experiment with his trance state.
The simple fact that the work was unnecessary made it nearly impossible to enter the trance state. Every action he took was accompanied by a thought about how pointless it was. So, to solve that issue, he decided to expand the size of his field by digging up more of the surface around its boundaries.
The right side of the field was blocked by small hills of rocks and debris, and the bottom bordered the path into the field, so the top was chosen as the side to expand.
Cal let the pickaxe rest on his shoulder as he considered giving up for the day. He felt like he was making zero progress, and the building frustration was making it harder to fall into the trance state with every failed try.
He looked around and took in his surroundings. He had dug up close to half an acre.
If this can’t help me today, another try will do nothing but annoy me further.
Cal went to his storage room and glanced at his interface, noting the two additional pickaxes he had added to his alternates.
[Advanced Pickaxe: Average Quality] Upgrade: 1125/4000 Tasks (Alternate)
- Self-Repair
[Advanced Pickaxe: Average Quality] Upgrade: 678/4000 Tasks (Second alternate)
- Self-Repair
He put them up on the racks and knew they wouldn’t be touched again. At least he wouldn’t touch them until he needed to hand them over to the Overseer.
Cal left the storage room and stretched. Most of the day had been spent unsuccessfully trying to modify the trance state. He could even use the word ‘wasted,’ but that wouldn’t be entirely correct. He still hadn’t given up and would try again soon. He would keep trying until he genuinely felt like it had no hope.
It was too important of a matter to give up after a minor setback.
He was about to water the overly thirsty crops—as had become his habit every six hours—but he froze when he was halfway to his cultivated land. He pulled up his interface.
[Harvest Guardian] - Summon a golem made of earth and stone to assist you. This golem can help with heavy lifting, protect your fields from intruders, and fight alongside you in battles. Duration of the trait is until destruction. Limited to 1 active golem.
This was a perfect time to test the [Trait]. If he could make a golem that could water the crops at an assigned interval, it would be one tedious task he wouldn’t need to worry about. At least, it would be useful until he had a reliable irrigation system in place.
Cal reached out with an open palm pointing to the ground and activated [Harvest Guardian].
Unable to activate [Harvest Guardian].
Insufficient material in the immediate surroundings.
… Or tried to activate [Harvest Guardian].
He moved to stand next to one of the many piles of rock—which wasn’t his meditation pile of rock—and tried again.
[Harvest Guardian] activated.
Cal sucked in a deep breath when his mana core was emptied out in one massive pull. His mana sank into the pile of rocks before the small area it covered rumbled. The rocks shifted slightly before a few were dislodged and rolled to the base.
He took a large step back. He didn’t want to be in the way of the golem that would soon make its appearance.
Several more rocks shifted and rolled down the pile before it looked like a small sinkhole formed where his mana sank into the pile. The affected rocks melted together as they coalesced to form a small, misshapen blob that pulsed lightly.
This golem is forming without an elemental affinity.
Do you wish to use your essential mana reserves to apply one of your affinities to this golem?
WARNING
Dipping into your essential mana reserves will make you unable to use mana for a variable period of time. The length is determined by how much of the reserve you deplete.
Cal instinctively denied the option.
Proceeding without the use of essential mana reserves.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
He didn’t decide to reject it on purpose, but it wouldn’t have changed even if he put some thought toward it. Essential mana reserves were only meant to be touched when no other options were left. It was what he used to detonate himself in his first life.
Using it for something as trivial as casting a better spell was near-revolting to him.
… Wait. This is the same penalty that [Mist Walker] carries.
Cal stared blankly at the slowly forming golem as he slowly accepted that fact. It wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it might have made him an unintended genius.
This means the penalty will disappear when my mana capacity is large enough to handle the casting without dipping into my essential reserves.
A smile unknowingly formed on his lips, one that died quickly when his attention was back on the golem.
“What the hell is this?” Cal asked out loud in shock as if someone would answer him.
He didn’t put much importance on the formation of the golem. It would be in the basic form with vaguely discernible limbs and extremities, which was no surprise. The true worth of the golem would come only when he tested the commands that it could be issued.
Of course, this was Cal’s assumption. As has become common recently, his assumption was hilariously wrong.
The golem that stood before him wasn’t the seven-foot-tall, dull-grey behemoth that he expected. It barely reached his hips, standing no taller than three feet in height.
It looks like a toy.
Cal stared at it awkwardly and wondered what use the golem could be, even if it was intelligent. The only plus he could see about this was the mana cost to maintain it, which was none. Somehow the golem was self-sustaining.
“Can you understand me?”
To his surprise, the golem nodded its head slowly. That brought his hopes up.
“What type of commands can you recognize?” Cal knew that was a dumb question to ask the moment it left his lips. The golem staring at him with its roughly humanoid face without a reaction proved it. “Let’s try something vague. Water these crops.” He was pointing to the near-dry soil closely
He had an idea of how it would do this in his mind.
To Cal’s surprise, the golem actually moved. It was horribly slow, but that didn’t matter much with the task it was given. He was more curious to see it complete his command.
The golem slowly made its way to the storage room and retrieved one of the tubs Cal had been using to make the powdered crystal slurry. He waited for it to scoop as much water as it could from the pond before carrying the partially filled tub of water to the cultivated soil.
“Empty the tub back into the pond and return it to the storage room.” Cal had seen enough to know its capabilities. It did exactly as he imagined while he gave the command.
I hit the jackpot. All the work the golem does for me should still count toward my [Tier] growth, though I need to confirm it. I need to get Orrin to make correctly sized tools for it to be effective.
“Fascinating.”
Cal’s hand shot out, fingers curling into a claw, ready to subdue the unexpected person who spoke beside him. He barely stopped in time the he realized that he was looking into an amused Overseer’s eyes.
“Unfortunately, I’m not Tarn, Apprentice Cal,” the Overseer chuckled at the menacing look pointed towards him.
Cal blinked before he backed away sheepishly. “That was instinctive. I must still be on edge after what happened at the Great Market.”
“Hm,” the Overseer sounded like he couldn’t care less. “Since when were you able to create a golem?”
… I intended to hide it from the Overseer for as long as I could. So much for that.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you not absorb the earth simulacrum yesterday?” The Overseer added when Cal didn’t respond for a few seconds.
“… That’s true,” Cal nodded slowly. The Overseer might seem like he knows all of his secrets, but that didn’t mean he wanted to reveal everything—
“This wouldn’t happen to be something similar to your lightning attack, would it?”
Cal gave up. “You seem to know more about what I can do than I do myself.”
“Then you just aren’t being observant enough,” the Overseer waved him off. “You are an interesting puzzle, Apprentice Cal. One that I find myself enjoy solving.”
That doesn’t sound great.
“I’m happy to be of service,” Cal said dryly before trying to move the subject to something else. Anything else. “What brings the Overseer all the way here?”
“There might be an issue that you should be aware of. It just so happens that the grandson of an Elder was slightly ruffled during your incident with Tarn. So far, the Initiate is choosing to keep the story to himself as he was told to do so, but I find these types of guild members to be temperamental.”
Cal wasn’t prepared for that. It was the last thing he thought the Overseer would say to his attempt to redirect the topic. “Since you felt the need to come all the way here, can I assume my anonymity could be broken at any time?”
“Traveling anywhere inside the guild’s territory isn’t as difficult as you make it seem, but you’re not wrong.”
Cal frowned as he tried to recall the Initiates who accompanied Tarn. Unfortunately, their faces were blank slates since he barely paid them any attention. The Overseer didn’t let him think of them for long.
“The genuine reason I visited is to discuss the booklet I gave you. Did you have time to look through it?”
He almost felt embarrassed that [Mage] was his choice after he asked the Overseer for all this information. “Thank you for taking the time to personally write out the information in such—”
“You want to choose Mage, don’t you,” the Overseer interrupted with a laugh.
“… Yes.”
“I can’t say I’m not disappointed that you aren’t interested in Rune Scribe, but that path definitely isn’t for everyone. Would you like to get this done now?” The Overseer almost looked more eager than Cal himself.
“I thought I needed to wait a month after the Selection for a retry.”
“Usually, yes,” the Overseer confirmed, “but since you’re choosing to keep your presence quiet, using the main activation pillar is foolish. That would broadcast your assignment with how flashy that thing is.”
“Oh.” He didn’t expect to get his second [Class] until a few weeks later. “I’d love to get it done now, but I have a question before we leave.” The Overseer motioned for him to ask. “Is there a storage pouch that’s larger on the inside? I want to carry my tools everywhere, but it’s unwieldily with the number I possess.”
“… I’m not sure why you felt the need to ask that before we left, but yes. The options are endless and come in multiple forms. The more expensive they are, the greater they usually hold in their space.”
… I change my mind. Again. Out of the rewards the Laws of the World gave me, [Pocket Dimension] definitely was the trap.
“Apprentice Cal? Are you alright?” The Overseer stepped closer with a frown.
Cal realized that he had turned pale. Paler than he usually was. He had almost made a massive mistake he would have regretted dearly.
“Sorry, I was thinking of the cost of the storage item,” Cal lied easily.
“Hm, that is indeed out of your reach at the moment. But you should be able to save the twenty guildmarks needed soon enough,” the Overseer was losing his patience. “Shall we leave for your second Selection?”
Cal nodded quickly and followed the Overseer out of the field. He discreetly selected the reward on the way out.
You have chosen [Secondary Title].
You are now eligible for a secondary Selection.