As the two men neared an especially large outcropping of rock, Jonathan sighed. They had been traveling for so long without stopping for anything more than a few hours. He knew that neither of them needed any rest or even food at this point in their journeys of power, but the endless walking was starting to infringe upon his concentration.
“Edgar, shouldn't we stop at some point? Make a base for ourselves? It would be helpful to have somewhere to retreat to if we end up drawing down a horde of high leveled monsters on ourselves. In addition, we should probably have somewhere to retreat to in case things go south.”
“But, we are going north… Anyway, that is not such a bad idea. With our powers we can easily create a shelter on the side of a mountain, maybe even more than one to suit our wanderings. We have a lot of time available to use in any case.” Edgar looked up at the towering mound of stone that stood about a few miles distance from them. “In fact, this spot looks as likely as any to be the site of such a dwelling space.”
“Yes, it certainly seemed more defensible than any of the other hills that we have come across during this journey. Let’s go check it out then, I guess.”
True to his word, Jonathan waited until he was standing in front of the mountain, about a minute of casual running later, and gazed up its side. The mountain was sheer, but not overly so, and there were plenty of nooks and crannies that could be used as the basis for a shelter. There were no natural caves, which would have made their job easier, but they had the abilities to make such a thing.
Jonathan suddenly had a vision of a nearly impregnable fortress cut into the side of the rock that would be proof against almost all manner of attack. He and Edgar could stockpile their treasure within it, train there, and even rest there, if the need arose. With the amount of fighting that they would be doing over the next few weeks, or maybe even months, it would be good to have such a place to retreat to in case of an emergency, with the trend in the amount of healing that Jonathan receive per level diminishing, they would need a safe space to heal, and indeed for Jonathan to create some sort of healing spell. They had only possessed one healing potion, and it had already been used, meaning that from now on, the two men were on their own.
Jonathan ran up the side of the mountain a moment later, spotting a place that he could possibly begin to dig into the side of the rockface. Most of the mountain was made out of hard stone, but a few places were cracked, providing an entrance point for any efforts in the field of excavation. Jonathan paused in front of one such spot, and then started to slam his gauntleted fist into the wall, sending up showers of rock. The rock was surprisingly tough, but with the gap in the side, it was easy enough to break apart. Large chunks of rock fell down the side of the mountain past Jonathan, and Edgar quickly flew up, using his wind powers to direct the boulders away from Jonathan. He also used his wind abilities to clear out the dust rising up from the rock, allowing Jonathan to see properly. Not that he really needed to do so, but it was still disconcerting to solely rely on his other senses for such an involved task.
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The cave started to come into being over the next hour, and Jonathan dug deep into the cave wall, creating a large cavern behind the rock face. He kept the door small enough, so that it could be easily defended, and left ten feet of pure stone between the walls and the interior of the cavern. As he finished with the cavern, he took a deep breath, and felt his stamina bar begin to tick back up. He had a monumental amount of stamina, but even he had his limits, and he had been reaching them now.
A fifty foot long cavern, about 30 feet wide, extended into the cave, propped up by four pillars that Jonathan had left in place. He was no architect, but he knew enough about physics to know what would happen if he had simply dug into the mountain without any supporting structures. The interior of the cave was very dark, lit only by the meager light coming from the outside. However, Jonathan and Edgar could see well enough in here.
They still wanted some sort of light for the place though, and Jonathan took out a few scraps of his old clothes from his storage device, and set them down, before lighting them with a small ball of mana. Edgar set up a small vortex of wind that constantly fanned the flames, keeping the cloth burning for longer. Interestingly enough, the Void energy contained within the mana caused the fire to spread to the ground beneath it, creating a small pool of light that illuminated the cave with a soft purple light. Now the vortex of wind was serving to contain the fire, rather than fan it.
It was an unprecedented situation, but one that worked out well for Jonathan. It seemed that any flames created by his Void mana would burn as long as they had something to devour. He had never been able to test this before, given that there were few things to burn in this world. As the light flickered, he took in the space around him, proud of the work that he had completed. It was nothing more than a hole in the side of the mountain as of now, but it would grow over time.
“Well, this seems as likely a place as any to spend the next few months in,” Edgar said, impressed. He started to pace around the room, laying a hand on the walls.
As he did so, a thin razor of wind swept across the wall, smoothing it out. Jonathan sighed, and watched the man work, cycling his mana as he did so. He was nowhere near even the first tier of Journeyman Rank, but he still had to practice, or he would never get there. The difficulty had taken a qualitative, and quantitative leap after ascending to Journeyman Rank, reflecting its origins within the real world. Most apprentices learned their craft in a matter of months, or maybe years, but journeymen could live their whole lives at that rank. In any case, this cave would provide a refuge for him to ponder his mana within, and finally get to reading the book.