The next day, Ambrose got back to work clearing out the trees and adding carved logs to the walls of his cabin. With the [Fatigued] debuff gone to the wind, Ambrose went back to his exhausting work. Though, his physical fitness did help out.

[Physical Fitness (Novice IV)]

The skill had a passive buff that made every physical action easier and less exhaustive. It also seemed to have an effect on how much strength Ambrose could exert since the logs had started to become easier to handle.

After shaping the stone of the pillars and foundation of the log cabin, Ambrose started placing down the logs of the four sides. He hadn’t messed with the first logs, such as carving them to fit in place. Instead, he had simply molded the earth once more with his spell before placing the logs down. Each one fit snug into the foundation and pillars, and due to the size of the length of the trees, Ambrose had only needed to use four. One per side.

The next set of logs would have to be carved, as it was necessary for the cylinder-shaped wood to be able to mesh together well with the log underneath. It would require more work but would pay off as it would provide better insulation and leave no seams for air to flow through.

Ambrose took a quick break to water his papyrus plants before getting back to work on his cabin. Once he got halfway done on the walls, he realized that he would need more wood. So, Ambrose got back to chopping down the [Heavy Timber Pine], clearing out the land for his farm in the process.

Ambrose finally got done with the rest of the acre dedicated to his large crop field farming, and also leveled up his [Logging] skill to (Novice IV). Each tree got easier to harvest, and soon it only took him ten minutes to completely timber a tree. By noon, Ambrose had a pile of logs waiting to be debarked and used.

But first, Ambrose wanted to try something.

The sooner Ambrose got started planting his crops meant the sooner that they would be grown. This was why Ambrose decided to wait on finishing his cabin in the meantime while he went to work readying the fields for planting.

At first, Ambrose had worried about the tree stumps left behind from his logging adventure. The heavy-duty roots had fully entrenched themselves into the rocky ground and made pulling them up an almost impossible task. But luckily, magic always made the impossible possible.

Through the use of his [Earth Manipulation] spell, Ambrose went to work getting rid of the stones and rocks in the ground and leaving the earth loose. Ambrose had imagined a form of blender going through the dirt as the once packed ground became as shiftable as sand. It of course kept its shape as it was necessary for the plants to have stability, but it had definitely taken a load of Ambrose’s shoulders when he realized he wouldn’t have to till the land by hand.

As for the stones, Ambrose manipulated the hard substances over to where he planned to start his path from his cabin to his future fishing dock. Leaving a large pile of rubble and boulders off to the side, ready to be shaped into stone bricks and pavement when the time was right.

As Ambrose went around the field, he pulled out the now unburdened roots with his Norse strength and placed them in another pile. He planned to either use the wood for carving items for his house or firewood for the winter.

But at the end of the day, Ambrose had finally cleared the crop field of all weeds, rocks, and trees. Leaving only the loose dirt which was ready for planting.

Since the acre was divided by the road, Ambrose had decided to only plant two types of crops at this time. Which were the wheat and corn seeds.

When planting the wheat he had first manipulated the earth to allow around one inch of space to appear before spreading out handfuls of the seed over a wide area. He continued to do this to his acre plot of farming land until the area was completely planted.

The bare area looked out of place amongst the mass of trees that marked the boundary of his land claim, but Ambrose didn’t mind. It wouldn’t be long before he would be harvesting his first crops and selling them back to either his own settlement or Bjora Village. Though he would need some sort of mount to get there and back in a timely manner, plus his small backpack would not be enough to transport all of his eventual grain. But that was a problem for later.

[Northern Wheat Seed

Description: A small seed that will eventually grow into a northern variant of wheat. The same as regular wheat except more resistant to cold weather.

Growth Time: One week]

It seemed like Ambrose wouldn’t have to wait half a year for his first bounty to pop up, not counting the papyrus seeds that were already sprouting after careful handling. It would still take around three more weeks for the paper seeds to fully mature, so he would have a few grain harvests by then.

“[Inspect],” Ambrose gazed at the papyrus seeds and wheat seeds in the ground.

[Northern Papyrus Plant

Area Size: Small

Growth Rate: Seedling

Soil Quality: (Uncommon)

Water Content: (Common)

Condition: (Uncommon)]

[Northern Wheat Plant

Stolen story; please report.

Area Size: Medium

Growth Rate: Seeded

Soil Quality: (Uncommon)

Water Content: (Common)

Condition: (Uncommon)]

Ambrose would have to either fertilize his crops or get a spell of some sort to enrich the soil with more nutrients for his crops. But for now, it was acceptable.

Ambrose did the same with the other field crop for the corn. Making sure to heavily water both fields before going back to building his cabin.

A few days passed as Ambrose worked tirelessly on his house. Until finally Ambrose slid the debarked log into its final place, the carved wood melding with the one underneath and the wedge that he had built to lock them together.

It had taken a few hours of hard work, but Ambrose had finally accomplished the four walls of the first floor for his log cabin. After another hour of melding stone together at the four corners, it would take a beast of enormous proportions to smash down his house. Ambrose couldn’t help but him an enormous grin of his own as he let himself admire his work. The white flesh of the logs reflected the day's light back towards him, shining if ever so lowly. The mismatched stonework brought more appeal to the cabin too.

On the left side of the house, a stone porch that was connected to the ground by stone steps allowed easy access to the door which was made out of smooth wooden planks. It had taken a while but Ambrose had developed a way to use his [Earth Manipulation] to cut cleanly through the logs. It involved most of his mana reserves and him standing completely still to focus on it, but the end result was wood that wouldn’t splinter.

A door frame made out of reinforced stone made sure that the door would always fit snugly into its place as it swung on metal hinges that he had purchased from the general store almost a week ago.

There were no windows on the cabin, as glass was hard to find even in Bjora. Ambrose would have to wait until either the merchant ships came once every year or someone in his own settlement managed to find a way to make them.

As Ambrose opened the door and walked into the room, he smiled as he allowed himself to take off his shoes. The stone entryway branched out into a square formation for just a few couple feet, which made sure Ambrose didn’t track any mud or such onto the wooden plank floor. Ambrose had declined from keeping the entire floor out of stone since he would need a material that retained heat in winter. Wooden floors proved to be the better solution.

Taking off his shoes and placing them on the stone rack that he had melded into the floor, Ambrose allowed himself to sit down in front of the fireplace. The stone brick construct didn’t have anything in it at the moment but it did have a small wooden chair that Ambrose had roughly constructed in front of it. Which had increased his skill level a few times. The past days of work had almost completely changed his skills.

Overall Ambrose’s status sheet now looked like this.

[Name: Ambrose Jay

Race: Norse

Mana: 110

Level: 1

XP: 57

XP Needed To Level: 100

Attributes:

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 11

Dexterity: 11

Strength: 22

Constitution: 16

Unspent Stat Points: 0

Skills:

[Farming (Novice II)]

[Taming (Novice I)]

[Alchemy (Novice I)]

[Cold Resistance (Apprentice I)]

[Wilderness Survival (Apprentice II)]

[Cooking (Novice II)]

[Herbology (Novice III)]

[Physical Fitness (Novice IV)]

[Identification (Novice III)]

[Archery (Novice III)]

[Bowcraft (Novice I)]

[Leatherworking (Novice I)]

[Herb Growing (Novice I)]

[Wood Working (Novice III)]

[Construction (Novice IV)]

[Logging (Novice IV)]

[Barter (Novice I)]

Spells:

[Earth Manipulation (Apprentice II)]

[Water Manipulation (Novice III)]

Unspent Skill Points: 0]

Most of the skills had simply leveled up over time as he used them. While [Earth Manipulation] advanced to (Apprentice I) once he figured out how to create spinning saws out of manipulated stone. The saw blade allowed Ambrose to create the smooth wooden planks that he was using for his door and floorboards.

His attributes had also increased dramatically, with strength being the most obvious, followed by intelligence. The constant stretching of his physical and mental limits had increased both attributes by a leap. Now, Ambrose didn’t have to worry about not being able to lift the logs for his cabin. Often it was too easy to debark them quickly before carving and stacking them one after the other.

His body had started to reflect his status sheet more each day. The muscle size and density left him with large proportions all over his body, his skin had a healthy light tan from the sun’s constant exposure, and his eyes flashed with a little bit more light in them.

He still had the common pale skin that was found on every Norseman, but it just had the tiniest bit of a shade darker. His hair was still tied into a ponytail since once he let it down it tended to distract him by blowing at all times in the wind. Ambrose loathed cutting it, since he hadn’t had hair in the Underground, and he cherished everything about his new body.

After taking a short break, Ambrose finished placing the wood needed for the second floor and crafted some stairs that led up to it. The split logs had been trimmed to fit the inside of the house, only jutting outwards a tiny bit from where they had been wedged into the wall. Further support in the form of complete logs held up the staggered planks.

Ambrose would have made a stone staircase, but his inner architect persuaded him to go the extra step and keep the insides made of wood. The wooden interior would also help contain heat better instead of the shifted stone.

The rest of the day was spent stacking more logs alongside the upper wall and then adding roof frames to start making the necessary planks and shingles. Wooden shingles would eventually rot over time, so Ambrose decided to make the shingles out of reinforced stone as that would create better protection against rain and snow.

It wasn’t until the tenth day in Eden had finally passed that Ambrose gazed at his finished house.

The cabin was solid, made of the [Heavy Timber Pine] that was so common on the Norsege Isles. Its thick trunks would block out all rain and cold from the outside, leaving the interior warm and cozy. A porch and steps led up to the wooden door while the inside was sparsely decorated with furniture. A single table and chair next to a fireplace provided little in ways of simple comforts, but that would change in time.

A set of stairs off to the side brought Ambrose up to his bedroom. A cot that could fit his bulky frame rested in the corner of the room, while another desk and table were on the opposite end. A small nightstand with a candle lit upon it let out small flickers of light in the shady room. Until Ambrose found glass, his cabin would have no windows.

His bed was filled with varying bits of pelt and sheets. Ambrose had been lucky that a member of the settlement had ventured back towards the end of the lake, where Ambrose lived, looking for more game. Ambrose had bought a few of the pelts off his body for a couple silver.

Ambrose had then debated on whether to head towards the settlement for a visit, but he convinced himself that he had more work to do on his house and land before he would feel comfortable leaving it.

Ambrose had also created a small storage shed a few yards from his house which contained all his farming equipment and tools. He also left a few of the more miscellaneous items in stone containers to keep out the rot and dampness.

Taking a step back from his house, Ambrose admired it for what it was.

[Stone and Log House

Rarity: (Uncommon)

Owner: Ambrose Jay

Description: A finely constructed wooden house made by the amateur known as Ambrose Jay. The house will keep out the rain and cold but lacks basic amenities. Through proficient use in [Earth Manipulation] the house is sturdy and has a stable foundation]

The same thing was said about the storage shed, except it was of (Common) rarity. Ambrose was surprised by the rarity of the buildings since his [Construction] had only just reached (Apprentice) when he finished constructing his house. It had also jumped a few levels which had gladened Ambrose even further. Other skills like [Physical Fitness] and [Woodworking] also breached through the (Apprentice) rank due to the endurance and skill needed to completely construct a log house by oneself.

Ambrose finished his day off on his soft pelt-covered bed and dreamed of abundant crops.