Rolla had never been much of a town, economically speaking. Sure, all of the basics were present. You had a few bakers, a few butchers, and the like. But for anything more than that, you’d have to go to Reito, which was seen as the Eastern capital of the entire country.

In this situation, however, I would have to work with what I had. As I was strolling through Rolla’s main street, the town hall to my right, and the local adventurers guild to my left, I wondered where I would be able to find a peace-making gift for Emeri. She had only grown quieter after my mother’s incessant assault. Evidently, my family’s behaviour was doing nothing to calm the grudge she was no doubt nursing. Having experienced some taunting during the tournament myself, I understood how infuriating it could be.

That brought me back to the issue of a present. There weren’t any large stores or specialised shops in Roa. We had a single shop that sold jewelry, but those were over-the-counter pieces. That could be seen as an insult…

Emeri seemed to enjoy sweet foods, but there was nothing I could give her that she couldn’t get from my parents for free. I had exhausted just about every option, when, suddenly an idea came to mind. While expensive gifts were a great way to play it safe, when those weren’t available, you were best off choosing something thoughtful instead. That led me to think… how could I get my hands on something thoughtful? Maybe something that resembled what I appreciated about her? I didn’t know my traveling companion all that well yet, but there certainly were a few things that sprang to mind.

What had drawn my attention to her at first had been the way she looked when she fought. Those elegant, yet deadly moves still gave me shivers, thinking back on it. How could I… Right! That might work! Not a moment later, I was racing off down the street, to the outskirts of Rolla.

A few minutes later, I arrived outside a small wooden shack at the edge of the forest. Grey plumes of smoke drifted lazily out of the top of the chimney, and the smell of freshly roasted duck wafted into my nostrils. I always did like duck. After a momentary pause to take in the smell, I knocked on the door. Hesitantly, the cabin’s occupant opened up, a wide smile appearing on the old man’s face when he noticed it was me who had knocked.

“Art, ya’ little twerp! It’s been ages! Yer’ not ‘ere for another log, are ya?” he asked with hake suspicion. Karmon was one of the town’s old loggers, though he was retired now. His son had taken over his craft a few years ago, since Karmon had gotten too old to be out in the forests. Instead, he made small wooden figurines that usually served as toys for the kids in town.

“No, I’m not here for a log, old fart. Those types of training wouldn’t work on me anymore, anyway. I awakened a while back, remember?” I joked.

“Vaguely, vaguely. Memory’s been failing me lately… Not too much longa’ and I’ll forget the look a’ me’ sons face!” he said seriously.

“I’m… sorry to hear that.” I replied awkwardly, not sure how to handle this so suddenly. Instead of seeming sad, however, Karmon just started to laugh!

“I can’t wait, I tell ya’! As if I’d want to remember ‘is ugly mug! Anyway, how can I help ya’? You’ve never been tha’ type ta’ visit for a chat…” he said accusingly, his eyes squinted.

“Well, you’re right. I need your help. I want to get a gift for a companion of mine, but I couldn’t find anything useful in Rolla. I’d like you to make a small figurine of her, if possible.”

One of his brows rose and a small smile appeared on his face.

“This ‘companion’ of yours wouldn’t happen to be a pretty young gall’, would she?” he asked mirthfully.

“No, no. It’s not like that. I just want to show my appreciation for her, is all. I felt it would be a thoughtful gift.” I replied, shaking my head.

At this, Karmon’s smile only widened, while he nodded knowingly.

“Right, right. A gift to show your appreciation, huh… I can do that. But it’ll cost ya’. I know you’re rolling in gold these days, so I’ll be charging you out the ear, ya’ hear?” he said, obviously proud of his little rhyme.

I nodded in reply.

“Well? What’s she look like?” Karmon asked.

Suddenly I felt a little embarrassed. How was I supposed to tell him what she looked like? I hadn’t even considered the necessity

“Oh! Right! Maybe this’ll work…” I mumbled, raising my hand with my palm angled toward the sky.

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I closed my eyes and concentrated on the dark mana that flowed through me, sending it coursing through my veins at increasing speeds. I absorbed more than my body could handle, before I felt the excess bleed out of me into the real world, where I felt it manifest in a different way. Before, the mana had felt like water. Now that the mana had overloaded and left my body, however, its consistency more closely resembled that of oil instead. Despite this, I was determined to carry on.

I grabbed hold of the overloaded mana with my [Crawling road] skill, the upgraded version of [Overload aura], and gathered it above my palm, where I knew, even with my eyes closed, that it would become visible to Karmon. Slowly, I twisted the mana into a human shape. The mana acted erratically and tried to escape the restrictions I had placed upon it, momentarily causing me to wince, but I held on. Slowly, the shape of Emeri mid-battle started to form. A crude image of her thrusting her spear with all her might appeared, and I wasn’t done yet. Carefully, I added detail. My memory wasn’t spotless, but the increased wisdom and intelligence was helping me get the details of her armor, equipment, and flowing hair right. Eventually, I felt satisfied and opened my eyes. Sure enough, a small black humanoid figure was floating above my palm, thrusting her spear at an imaginary opponent. Every detail was accurate, from the crease in her cloth garments hidden under her armor, to the way her face was twisted in concentration. Everything except for the colours had been replicated.

If Karmon had been impressed by my display of mana control, over overloaded mana no less, he didn’t show it, because he was too busy inspecting the little figure I had created. He was examining it from every angle with an almost clinical look on his face, while I tried my hardest to maintain control over the ever-chaotic tendencies of my preferred mana type.

After a few minutes, Karmon suddenly turned around and ran to the back of the cabin, where he took a small round log from a pile before grabbing a carving knife and beginning his work. Taking that as my cue to leave, I left him to his efforts and headed back home.

A few minutes later, before I had gotten back to the center of town, I remembered something. A retired tier 5 veteran was watching over my family from behind the scenes, and now that the situation had changed a little bit, I was left wondering if his protection was still enough to keep my family safe.

With this nagging doubt, I headed deeper into the forest, before starting to call out randomly. Soon enough, a woman covered in black clothing appeared, leaning against a tree.

“You called, youn’un?” she said casually. At least she wasn’t as uptight as the last guy…

“Can I meet with your leader? I want to talk about the recent developments.” I replied. Without answering, her form shimmered and disappeared. About a minute later, an older fellow wearing an old red coat, that now bordered on brown rather than red, walked out of the tree line. My weak mana sense told me more clearly than anything else that he had reached tier 5.

“I’m here now. Whaddaya’ want, kid?” he asked lazily.

“You’ve been informed about the unknown threat?” I asked more seriously.

“Informed?! You don’t know the half of it! I’ve been up day an’ night settin’ up new formations around your house and Rolla as a whole! Your uncle’s been working me like a slave!” he replied furiously.

“Slavery is illegal in Roa.” I answered monotonously, to which the old veteran only huffed. I sighed. “Just keep them safe, please… I don’t know what I would do without them…” I asked sincerely.

The older man looked at me curiously, before nodding. “You would live.” He replied quietly. “Not at first, but eventually.”

I snorted. “I’d rather not have to find out at all, if possible.”

The older man nodded once more, before walking off into the forest. Moments later, his mana signature disappeared as well.

Satisfied, I sat down near a tree and started to meditate. My parents would be fine, I was sure. I had to be sure…

Once in my mindscape, I got to work repairing a small part of my shed. It was tough, though. Unlike the fence, no mindsets were helping me keep the planks attached. Any nails I hammered in would quickly rust the moment I took my eyes off of them… After a while, I decided to focus on something else first. Clearly, the shed represented the core part of my being, which changed and adapted far less easily than everything else out here.

I had started to notice that all future repairs would require materials. Nails and rope just appeared near me whenever I wished, but wood and stone did not. I would have to source it from my little forest, but there was only so much wood I could harvest before my mental space became damaged. That meant that there was only one thing for it. I would have to take care of my trees, along with my other plants, first. By slowly growing the forest, I could work on the rest of my mental space bit by bit, without lacking resources.

To that end, I realised that my trees weren’t that green. They were lacking water, of which I had little in here. Furthermore, I had no way of making more appear, as far as I knew… How did people get water in places where there was none? …Right! A well!

We had one in our old village, though it only pulled up stinking, grimy water. In here, though, making a well should be a piece of cake; though it would take a while. To start with, I would have to dig a hole until I struck a source.

To the side of the forest, where it cut off and turned into a dry expanse, I found a spot like any other, and started to dig. I had no tools, so I was using my hands at first. Quickly noticing that this would take a while, I made a wooden shovel and recommenced. Three mental hours a broken shovel later, I had dug a hole a few meters deep. Even that was only because of my stats, some of which persisted in my mental space. Sighing, I decided that this would be a long-term project, and that I would continue later on.

I opened my eyes in the real world and returned to Karmon the logger, who had finished the piece as if in a trance. In just a few hours, he had made a detailed representation of what I had shown him, down to the littlest details. I received it with care and paid him 50 gold coins for his work. He attempted to refuse this sum at first, since it was a life-changing amount to typical townsfolk, but eventually acquiesced. This piece was a master-work, after all. Now, I could only hope Emeri would appreciate my gift. Otherwise, this would all have been for nothing…