I thought we had more time.

The night was smooth and delightful. Lilly slept and I watched over her and even got to experience her dreams with her. She ended up sleeping until a bit past noon, by my estimate.

While Lilly slept, I focused more on continuing to fix the place up for her. I knew she wouldn’t care much about little things like doors, but I’d feel better if she had a bit more privacy and a more defendable place than just staying up in my branches.

The first thing I did was make a front door. I grew a solid plank that fit the rectangular hole then added a few loops at the top, middle, and bottom that would act as hinges, then made complimentary loops in the frame where it would go. I created three pins using Earth Magic that would slide between them and hold it in place. When it was all done, I was actually really proud of what I saw. It looked like a classic oak door from my old life.

I then added a less sophisticated door between the main room and the living room, and a third door between the main room and the side room, which I plan on eventually making into a second bedroom. It would be better to have multiple spots for people to sleep in, since most people didn’t travel alone, according to Lilly anyways. I’ll probably have both rooms host two beds each when I get back to a more comfortable height. This would be the most decorating I plan to do for a while.

After the final door has been crafted, I got an unexpected notification.

Due to unconventional skill use, skill Rapid Growth (U) has been split into two skills: Rapid Growth (U) and Body Manipulation (U).

Oh crap! I hope splitting a skill doesn’t change it, cause I freaking LOVED the previous Rapid Growth!

I pull up the skill description, hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

Rapid Growth (U): Passive. Decreases Stamina regeneration but greatly increases growth rate.

Okay, so the active portion of the skill is gone, but the passive portion looks to have just gotten a minor wording change. It looks the same other than that though. I guess I’ll have to see what this new skill is.

Body Manipulation (U): Active. Spend Stamina to manipulate the user’s body, including creation of new body parts.

Basically, the same thing as the previous active portion of Rapid Growth then. I guess I was just using differently than intended.

I dismissed the notification and mentally swiped away the skill descriptions and vowed to upgrade Rapid Growth again when I got a chance. I’d love to be able to grow faster.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

After I had dismissed the two descriptions and notification, I went back to my meditation. I was mildly interested in Lilly’s dreams, but they were more garbles of emotion rather than the played-out movies I used to have. They were positive emotions though, so that was a nice background feeling.

Lilly kept sleeping until noon arrived, and then finally got up, feeling a lot more rested than before. It was a good thing too, as we had some new company come about at that moment.

A tall bald man wearing nothing but leather pants and a strap across his chest entered my field of vision. He was a menacing sight, with the large, double sided battle axe strapped on his back gave a powerful aura, stronger than the Orcs even. He came from the direction of the road and was followed quickly by a robed woman with a staff and a hooded man with a bow. A quick look showed me that he was actually an elf, and my fantasy vibes just sky-rocketed. They were quickly crushed when I realized what this meant for Lilly.

I sent a picture of the incoming trio to Lilly, and she hurriedly got up and rushed to the door. She fumbled for a moment, as there was now no source of light in the room, but I opened the door for her and helped her along. She was outside of the little hole in the ground just as the group came to a stop in front of the door.

When Lilly opened the outer door, the group in front of her all raised their weapons, and I prepared to make a rather thick earthen wall at the slightest provocation from them. I flooded the ground around them and Lilly in preparation for a fight, but she seemed to put them at ease with minimal effort.

“I’m Lilly, daughter of Cedar. I presume you’re the group sent out to find and rescue me and my group?”

Axel (as I will call him, regardless of what his actual name is) stepped forward, putting a hand up to tell his group to settle down.

“We are. We found the wreckage of the caravan on the road, including signs of multiple dead bodies and a bloody trail leading this way. We came to rescue you, anticipating that you would be gravely injured, but from the looks of things, you seem to be in perfect health. Might we have a word with you in your... accommodations? It has been an exhausting few days, fending off a large pack of wolves.”

That was quite the introduction.

As if on cue, a series of howls could be heard for a good 30 seconds. Lilly looked back at me and sent an inquisitive feeling through the link. The group just stared at her in anticipation.

I sent her, “If you think they’re safe enough to be around, I’ll approve it. But if they try to hurt you, I won’t hold back.”

She turned back to the group and said aloud, “Come inside. You’ll be safe in here.”

As she turned to enter through the doorway, I used a combination of Earth Magic and Body Manipulation to open a series of one-inch holes in the ceiling to let some light in. It resulted in illuminating the room to what I consider an acceptable degree.

Axel and the bowman followed her, but the woman just stared at the ground around her. I could feel she had a good bit of mana in her, at least in comparison to Lilly, so I guess she probably felt my mana running through the little home I made. Oh, and probably the quarter of my mana pool I flooded the ground with.

While she examined the ground around her, a loud howl could be heard in the distance, but I knew that BBW wouldn’t dare come back. Not after the thrashing I gave him last time. The howl did serve to shake her enough to walk through the door into my abode.

When the woman crossed the threshold, I used some Body Manipulation to close the door behind her. I may have slammed it a bit harder than necessary, but the little jump she made was well worth it.

I finally have some proper guests.

I mentally rubbed my hands together. I just had to have some fun with them before Lilly gave me away.