My shovel bit into the ground and I heaved the separated earth up and out of the way. Even as cold as it was, sweat ran down my face briefly before freezing to my skin.

Pulling the shovel back down, I slammed it into the hardened ground once again to repeat the action.

The line of dirt leading away from me was longer than it had been yesterday, and that was all that mattered. No matter how little progress I made in a day, it was being made.

Starting construction at the beginning of Winter wasn't the smartest idea, but it was all we had. It beat sitting around and waiting for the ground to thaw as that was months away.

The ground ate up tools almost quicker than we could forge them. Shovels needed a hardening treatment so good they matched some of the swords we were putting out in durability. I even had to put runes on them in some cases.

A day's worth of work would usually see them bent and disfigured before they were dropped off in a pile for the Blacksmiths to work on. Me included.

We didn't have enough Blacksmiths to shrug the work off onto someone else and even when my days were filled with hard labor, it continued in the forge after the sun went down.

The reforging and adjustment of shovels was almost instinctual by now and wasn't something I thought about often, but it was the reason my spirit ached from overuse.

My strength, particularly, was hard on the tools. Any amount of design altering or adjustments to the materials wasn't enough to keep it from deforming and I was not about to use precious metals for making a shovel of all things. Without the ability to make it stronger, I had to resort to other means.

Which was constantly reinforcing it with my spirit. While cumbersome and exhausting, it got the job done.

One thing I did notice with the constant use of my spirit was I had more of it than before. I was used to running out during long fights during the tutorial but now that I was using it all the time, I noticed differences. I had done something to increase how much of the energy I had.

It felt more robust and I could use it for longer compared to before. How this happened, exactly, was a mystery but I chumped it up to constant use.

Another heave and yet more earth was moved. An effort that sometimes felt futile when I looked out over all the stakes laid out.

The crunch of snow alerted me to someone approaching but it wasn't a surprise. I knew I would be interrupted soon and expected someone to come get me.

"Chris, we're ready," Abigail said.

Sigh.

"Alright," Putting the shovel down, I climbed out of the slight depression in the ground and looked over my progress.

Weeks of effort only for a line a couple hundred feet. It was frustrating but there was nothing I could do about it. Not many could work in this weather and those that could were tied up with other things.

More important things.

Grabbing my furs off the ice rack I had made for them, I tidied myself up while walking back to the camp. It felt like some of the dirt was permanent by this point but I cleaned up the best I could. Without the constant exertion, the cold was a little much, even for me.

It had only gotten worse as the days went on and some of the lower leveled people wouldn't even leave their homes for anything less than a quick trip. Firewood was in steep demand and was constantly being split for people's use.

The initial scouting of the area was done weeks ago and the cliff was thoroughly surveyed up and down both sides. Any place that wasn't structurally sound had Jonathan run over it with his affinity and Law to fortify the earth.

The Architect we had didn't have the Earth affinity but he was able to tell Jonathan how to fix certain areas and keep them from crumbling. Undercuts on the cliff face were the main problem where any amount of weight pressing on the edge would break off.

Other structural challenges appeared but they were able to fix all of them. A second look would go around once everyone was stronger but for now, they were fine.

With the scouting finished, the site of our future city was found.

The cliff extended hundreds of yards from one end to the other and multiple sites had spots good enough to build on but only one was the best. Or at least only one felt right.

While the cliff was mostly uniformly straight, curves and abnormalities still existed. and it was in one of those abnormalities we found it.

A hundred-yard section of the cliff jutted out of the side and extended out past the rest. Almost forming a mini peninsula if it were surrounded by water.

While it wasn't big enough to build a whole city in, it was big enough for the castle. The City itself and its outer walls would have to extend the full 180 degrees, arcing from cliff face to cliff face, but the Inner walls and keep would only have one direction to defend from.

As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the place. While still assailable by land, it was only possible from one direction and defending it was something I was confident in.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

One of the major weaknesses during the tutorial was my inability to be in more places than one and this would change that. I would be able to stand in one spot and defend the entirety of the wall. Only one gate would lead to the castle and I would be able to bar it from anyone who tried to attack. They would have to get past me if they wanted into the keep.

After locating and having the Architect stake out our plot of land, I began digging the foundation for it. The blueprint for what we would build wasn't complete yet, but the footprint it would take up was fixed. There was only so much space in the outcropping which made how large it could be constrained. Not that the castle was going to be small, it didn't even take up the entire space we had, but it made how many different orientations we could build it few.

Preparing the ground was slow going but my dreams would come true eventually. I would force them if I had to.

Our walk back was nearing its end and I had to put those thoughts aside. Our weekly meeting was about to happen and I needed to focus on that right now. It at least gave my body and Spirit a break from digging.

While the meetings were a slog to get through with everything that was taking place, I needed to be aware of what everyone was doing.

Entering the lodge we set aside for our family use marked us as the last to arrive and that didn't surprise me. They probably only came to get me once everyone else was already there.

Austin and Hal were both sitting bundled up next to the fire and if they got any closer, they would be in the flames themselves. They constantly complained about being cold and the fact they were always out in it. Scouting didn't give them a lot of time indoors.

Austin was wrapped in so many layers I could hardly make out where the blob ended and he began. Hal's attire was less drastic, but the layers he had on were hard to miss.

The others in the room were more moderately dressed, at least compared to those two, and Vinny was downright scandalous compared to Austin. Only wearing an underlayer and heavy coat compared to the ball of fur.

The heat radiating off him was cheating in my eyes but it helped him keep warm. His forge was probably the warmest area for miles around and it was certainly the only building without a thick covering of snow.

The rest wore something between the two extremes and sat at the table waiting for the meeting to begin. With the last of us arriving, we were ready to start.

Abigail and I took our place at the table and the conversation began.

"Where are we on the construction effort?" I began.

Last we left off, everything was finishing up but I wanted to make sure nothing new popped up.

Everyone turned to Abigail, "We had to add another storehouse for all the food but otherwise, all of the construction is completed. The builders will soon join you working on the City foundation."

Our initial estimates were wildly incorrect on how much food would be available to us and the additional storehouse painted that well. Basing our expectations on before mana arrived caused us some major readjustments after experiencing it for real.

Winters before would be the time for everything to slow down, animals would hibernate and predators would struggle for food. That was not the case anymore.

Animals were abundant even with the harsh weather. Snow hares and Ice Foxes ran around without a care for the cold and even more joined them. They were conditioned to the cold and mana only made it easier for them to survive.

Not only survive but thrive.

The entire ecosystem had changed and our expectations had to be thrown out with it. Even certain plants were still growing and could sustain themselves off of the cold energies.

Not in large quantities or in great abundance, but it went to show how much was different.

I thought it was a bit early to work on, but Abigail had people with either the Gardener or Farmer profession working out how to grow crops in the cold.

None of the seeds we had would work to grow in the winter and would have to wait for spring but she had them trying to either modify them or use the seeds of what was already growing.

That wouldn't bear fruit anytime soon and was more of a long-term goal, but she was already pushing for it. Seeing things grow up here made her certain it was possible.

Another reason for the additional storehouse was the food kept for longer. One positive about it always being below freezing was food didn't spoil as fast. We didn't even need to build anything to keep an area cold, the weather alone was enough for that.

With our current stores, there would be no eating horses, no matter how many times Austin tried to convince Sarah we would. Much to the girl's dismay.

The second half of what Abigail said was also good news. We called it the City, but it was mostly the Castle. The City would come second after we had the castle built.

I had been breaking ground on that by myself while everyone did other things but I would finally be getting some help. While beneficial, that brought us back to one of the first things we talked about.

"So it's time?" I asked.

Abigail's nod confirmed it and I wouldn't be able to put it off any longer. Placing the pylon was talked about at every meeting and ever since the site of our future city had been found, it only got harder to fend off.

I wanted everything to be perfect before we placed the pylon but that was unrealistic. I knew that wasn't going to happen but I at least wanted some kind of construction finished first.

It seemed like that wouldn't be the case.

Everyone then gave their report on the areas they kept track of but nothing important came up. Things were progressing as planned and nothing unexpected arose.

Even Vincent didn't have anything new. He wasn't usually in our Council meetings but he was added to our group not long ago. He was in charge of most of the crafting and his input was needed. Our stock of tools and materials was mostly handled by him and having him here was easier than asking him all the time.

The meeting wrapped up in record time and I couldn't help but feel that by design. All of them looked at me expectantly.

"Fine, we will place it now." I sighed. By their faces, I knew they weren't going to let me delay its placement, "I'll grab the pylon and meet you over there."

My original plan was to fight the wave personally so no one else had to deal with it but I was persuaded against doing so. Allowing all who wanted to participate would create a sense of comradery that wasn't easily overlooked.

Fighting for the creation of a City would create a sort of Nationalism that I couldn't afford to go without. It would instill a pride in people that they helped found it.

An Us instead of a You, as Abigail described it. She said if I didn't let anyone join the waves and fought them all alone, people would always see it as my City instead of our city.

Abigail wasn't the only one who tried to convince me and I eventually caved. She also mentioned the bonus of fighting with me instead of watching me fight would improve people's opinions of me.

The benefits of allowing everyone to fight outweighed doing it by myself so I agreed. Even if I wanted to fight alone, those times were soon coming to an end.

The location where we would place the pylon was far enough away I didn't think anything here would be attacked, but a few would stay behind just in case. Some of my family didn't wish to fight and they would be able to look over things here.

With all of that in mind, it was time.

"Gather all who would fight and warn the rest," I announced.