I was able to pick up 'Intent' fairly easily.

It seems to mesh well with my previous training. I just wish I could train it in a timeless environment like Joye created when we were at the camp. It has been a number of days since we found Colgate. We were fitting into the town well. Claire was adopted by the children and made to run all over town chasing them. She seemed good with them. She would make a great mother.

I on the other hand was teaching baking techniques to the neighborhood women. And farming techniques to the men. What would I make a great? I suppose Hawk of the 'Blood Hook Tribe'. That's good enough for me.  

Between that time we squeezed in lessons with the professor mage.

Though he claimed he could teach us nothing he actually was teaching us quite a bit. Claire was making her voids larger and conjuring them in instants now. Her growth was impressive.

I however couldn't quite grasp mana vision, or any of the other magics he tried to teach me.

He explained his theory on magic extremely eloquently. To summarize he thinks it's due to the uneven levels of neutral mana in the world.

This dramatic shift in neutral mana had somehow forced the overwhelming numbers of earth and water specialized mages. But this still didn't explain the fact that he had used two impressive separate spec's as if it was nothing. For that he claimed it was all due to hard work. He claimed with the typical human tests he would have classified as earth spec'd. Honestly just by looking at the man it indeed seemed to be the case.

On a side note I say that because it was actually a noted fact in this world that more effeminate looking men were more often water specialized. While the more masculine men were commonly earth spec.

My American sensibilities thought this was somewhat offensive to someone. But I brushed it off as the other mind's senseless ramblings.

He says the reason he didn't end up with earth being his strongest magic, yes he could also do earth magic, was because he trained endlessly.

Even when a single drop wouldn't come from his finger, he would concentrate. He says he went for weeks just extending his finger with nothing happening. Just focusing his mana, and concentrating on the thought of water. Then one day it happened. He 'thought it was sweat at first' he said with a smile remembering the moment proudly. Within a year's time he had begun to learn water temperature control, the beginning stage to ice formation magic.

I thought perhaps he was just a genius, or it was a Demi-human trait, but it seemed they had taught some of the humans in Godrick the skill as well.

If Susan heard the conversation she would flip her lid. I'm sure if she heard it was possible for her to master water magic as well as earth she would quickly take the professor mage as her teacher and devoted years to training.

But honestly with my plans I can't afford that to happen, she is my crucial link in the Craftsmen Guild.

I Began wondering how everyone at the camp was doing. I felt a stronger sense of patriotism for my people now knowing more about my own family's history.

Surely all that my ancestors had done wasn't right. But they did create a world where less starved. Less noncombatants died. It was a gray but semi-fair world that they had shaped, and now it was up to me to iron out the wrinkles.

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Ah, Charles, the raven sent word.

Our Drew's power was fully unlocked, though it wasn't necessary to send word, anyone with any sensitivity to mana could feel it.

It seems it all really was a success. I knew the mind had likely been linked from his actions but the 'Mana-lock' she gave him at birth always worried me.

Maybe I was just jealous of that woman though.

With this the birth of a new era will begin, your plan twenty two years in the making was really not all for naught.

But really, you didn't tell me I would fall in love with you in the time though.

You had claimed it was all for humanity.

"Pah, more smooth word Charles."

I suppose your words never were exactly honest. But it was just another thing I found myself loving about you after a time.

And of course I would adore my son, though it's only partial he does have my features. It was no wonder he came out so cute even with your incestuous bloodline.

Purity is good, but you said it yourself it limited your mental ability. A vital necessity for a Hawk to have.

'It has to be you, it can only be you. Your bloodline is that which I have long searched for.' He had said with glimmering eyes. What a damn flirt.

And we even have a witch's daughter that was born with the blood of the 'Lower god' Cal.

Honestly though, to marry off you're childhood destined to some other man. A 'Corrupt god' nonetheless. I supposed you were a stickler for tradition. You really went all the way for them, huh?

Humanity had better thank you someday.

And I hope Drew can forgive you.

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"Ah this is really amazing! It works just as he had said."

Susan was messing around with a miniature lock mock up she had made with earth and metal parts. The water flowed from one section to another leveling the water and raising a small wood boat. She opens the lock gate and pushed the boat out with a satisfied smile.

A few various craftsmen were watching with a look of wonder in their eyes. They had seen the simplicity of the design, each wondered 'how had I not thought of that?'

Thus was the case for many of the inventions the craftsmen completed. The plow was something they were currently producing in high numbers. As it stood a plow could do the work twenty farmers do in a day, in half an hour.

They were careful to keep this hidden for now though. They understood well that as soon as these simple devices entered the market there would be copycats and although Drew only truly cared about betterment of humanity, the craftsmen were in it mostly for the gold.

They plan to wait until the main farming season and release all of their supply at low prices to the farmers within the County. They would also then announce the farming reforms. Once it was seen in use there would be a massive demand, most of this demand would flow to this guild, who had already proven they could produce them in seemingly large quantities, at a low price.

As opposed to nobles just having the items reproduced by their own craftsmen as was typically done with expensive items.

It was likely they were thinking about all this new technology much more carefully than Drew was.

Work on the sheet-metal press was complete, and improved in fact. After around two days time they switch from a stone roller to thick cast steel rollers. If Drew saw this he would teach them the method of making bearings, something they vitally needed, but unfortunately he was still on his flight.

If they were truly capable they would have found the design for the bearing on the steam engine and employed its use in the sheet metal press.

And actually after a week using the new metal rollers that's precisely what Susan will do. She will make the bearings with metal rings and compressed stone orbs.

It seems they don't have the technology necessary to mill ball-bearings but forming them in stone with magic will be seen as fairly simple to Susan. They wouldn't last as long as the harden steel counterparts, but they will work well enough.

Sheet metal was made at a fairly high rate. They understood that it would soon be a very important resource so they stockpiled many stacks of the sheets. Drew had been surprised to find a lot of the metal used in this world was actually steel. He was surprised that we weren't aware of something called the 'Bessemer method' but when Susan explained that the craftsmen instead used earth magic to add the 'carbon' he shrugged it off and said 'Well that's probably a better method anyways.'

Drew used many words that the craftsmen didn't understand but they each recognized the tone of the words. They were clearly in the tongue of the builders. The craftsmen creed was an English phrase so it wasn't surprising that each knew a few words in the dead language.

But for this kid to understand so much of it. It's honestly frightening, he was clearly decades ahead of us technologically and intellectually.

Each design that was completed from Drew's drawings was seen as a marvel to the crafts-people. One that particularly struck them was a design using hundreds of precisely sized gears. He called it a timepiece. He said it was able to measure the passage of time to a near perfect level.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He claimed it would only need to be wound every few days, or you could add a counterweight to automatically wind it through the pendulum effect.

None of the craftsmen had been able to reproduce it yet though. The gears had to be far too precise, it wasn't something that they could form with magic. This irritated most of the people. Only the wood-master, the man who had formed the planks for the bridge seemed intrigued by the fact that it couldn't be made using magic.

The wood-master asked Susan to build him a few tools for forming metal. The tool she had ended up devising was a metal file. Something this world hadn't used before, and also something that Drew had not shown or even described to Susan. This was entirely this world's ingenuity. Drew would have been very interested to watch the scene unfold.

The crafts-people would end up using this metal file design to refine many of their items, including some of the cast items they needed for the steam engine that was currently being pieced together

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A deep growl could be heard outside the snowy church.

It was a noise that kept most curious people and potential thieves far away. Inside the church lay a snoring beast. Its wings, if unfurled could easily bash the entire structure down. But it was ever so careful whenever it shifted as to not disturb the holy place.

"You may be getting a new friend to play with soon." A young girl's voice from the altar says stirring the dragon from its deep slumber

"Ah so that's what woke me up the other night." The beak of the beast replies mimicking the common language perfectly. "But you suppose he will come here?"

"Likely, he's a boy whose heart is yearning for adventure, at least that's the 'intent' I received from the pulse." The girl says in a singsongy voice

"Humph; you could tell 'intent' from that explosion of mana?"

"Well not me of course but the plants and animals in the barrier within the bay sensed some trace of 'intent'."

The beast shifts its body uncomfortably then shut its eyes once again. "Well lemme know when he gets here. I'll show him a good time."

"Oh! Perhaps he will be able to keep me company better than you." The girl murmured just loud enough for the winged beast to hear her.

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I decided to search on my own. Not because I think I'm some all powerful killing machine or anything. More actually for reason of testing the range of 'intent'. As well as to give Claire some extra time to train with professor mage.   

Mana vision still hasn't been perfected, I could grasp the concept and achieve it to some level but maintaining it while moving at all was impossible, even just moving my head would break my concentration. It was really hard.

So I was now walking up river to scope out the next town. Colgate's village chief claimed that the next town up river had been abandoned after the demon attack.

It seems most of the citizens in the bay were terrified. If ever another beast like Cal attacked they would be wiped out. Most ventured to either Havas, or a safer city like Godrick, which had the convenience of a road.  

Some things still confused me about the Cal situation. How had he been originally killed? I understood that it was the faeries who turned him into the demon but how had he died? And what about him made him turn into a demon? What was that certain situation that Joye had talked about? It was surely a situation that I needed to avoid at all costs.

I find the abandoned village about an hour and a half up river. I sent a test message to Claire but receive nothing in return, I guess I'm outside its range then.

It's around noon so I stuck a hook in the river and pulled up a few fish for lunch. I roasted them more carefully this time and then began to think of another strange occurrence.

The weather here, why had it gotten so much colder?

It was hot when were were tramping through the jungle the first few days, but when we finally reached Colgate, the weather there was more pleasant. However the deeper I went into the bay of mountains the chillier it seems to be getting. Even the trees here were completely bare of leaves. As I examine my surroundings while chewing on the herb crusted fish I also notice a major lack of small plants, only trees and small patches of brown grass could be seen. I wonder for a moment if possibly fall had already come but that doesn't seem likely.

These trees weren't in the process of changing season, they are completely in the hibernation phase awaiting winter.

I decide to continue up the river past the abandoned village to investigate this phenomenon better. If my theory was correct I should find what I'm looking for in a few hours more walking.

Walking through the empty forest I couldn't help but notice my pace had increased significantly since I didn't have to deal with brush under foot. It was handy, but it couldn't be healthy for the forest. It seems there aren't even any dead leaves on the ground. Just bare dirt that got whipped up by the wind from time to time.

If it weren't for these trees than Colgate would likely get hit by dust storms from all this erodible earth. I must protect this forest to prevent a dust bowl.

I finally found what I was looking for just before nightfall. It looked like someone had just come along and drawn a line in the dirt. On the other side of that perfect line sat several inches of snow that grew thicker the further up river I went. I even noticed the river had been frozen in a line.

It was beyond me and earth-me's understanding. But we did understand one thing, this place is locked in the season of winter, while the area I was in before had been locked in the season of fall.

It also explained the temperature earlier on the trip. That must have been spring and summer we were passing through without noticing, only these more dramatic and impossible changes were easily noticed.

I had to ask to village chief and Claire about this phenomena. I decide to turn around for now and try to get back to Colgate before morning, I was a good four hours away so it shouldn't be too much issue. I really wish my intent would have worked at this type of range but I assume since I got no reply earlier it must not be possible over a few miles.

I was a good distance into the fall locked area when I heard the faintest hesitant cough.

I was unsure weather it was human or animal at first so I stood alert and thought of drawing my blade. It remained quiet so I just remained standing, glancing at the tall trees around me.

"Eh… Uh, excuse me." A voice announces sheepishly.

I turned all around but saw nothing, sensed nothing. I attempted a standing still Mana vision but saw nothing, other than the bright images of the mana filled trees around me I was alone.

I had used this to investigate the bare trees earlier, they seemed unusually full of mana but I assumed it was due to the strange fall lock they were under.

"You there; Um, person, who's intent included a desire to protect this place, was that intent true? Or I mean… if not sorry I mean I know I'm inconveniencing you just by talking to you… " The tree said once again with a dejected tone slipping in near the end.

"Ents?"

"Ah you are aware of our species, that is… astounding."  The tree shakily says, its arms swaying softly in the breeze. "We are a young species so even the humans in the nearby village aren't aware of our existence."

That's somewhat weird, I always figured Ents were to be an ancient race, but that apparently wasn't the case here.

From his explanation his people, who were actually nervously keeping quiet all around me, had been born to this area around one hundred and eighty years ago. Some time after that all of their leaves fell out and they became somewhat shy, even keeping quiet between their neighbors.

These trees are embarrassed.

That has got to be the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Or so I thought but when I hear their story of nearby villagers coming to chop them down I couldn't help but become furious. Sure it was somewhat the Ent's fault for not speaking up for themselves. But who ever the villagers were, they needed to be told that they shouldn't harvest lumber in this area.

This is  a dilemma for me. Do I go back to Colgate to ask about the season-locks? Or investigate the winter village that had been harvesting wood from these poor Ents?