My tower was a daycare now. It was insane. My children now had dozens of new playmates. I spent a few days building a new dormitory on the property just north of the tower. It was 4 stories and was a long building. The first floor was a dining hall and classroom and Each upper floor had 20 rooms and a large bathroom. Right now every child was focused on learning English. I retreated to my office in the tower. I was going to be back to making coins and building in the near future and wanted a rest. I took a very long hot shower and went to my bed. The room was very clean and the heavy silk sheets were nice. I cast thermal stone on the hearth to get the room heated up. In bed I brought up my sheet in meditation.
Magic Pool: 195, Magic Regen: 14.2 per hour
Spell Design Points: 3
* Ageless, Level 4 (Stone Magic Ability) – like all stone you are ageless, your body ages 1/13th as fast greatly increasing your life expectancy, each level increase slightly slows aging even further
* Shapeshift, Level 5 (Nature Magic Ability) – you can shape change into one beast form healing injuries, each level increase adds another beast form, forms: Black Panther, White Wolf, Bottlenose Dolphin, Eagle; Evolution: Can half or double mass
* Stalwart Immunity, Level 5 (Stone Magic Ability) – you have resistance to disease and infections, each level improves the speed at which you heal from injuries and poisons , Evolution: Rebirth, 7 day cooldown
* Magic Sense, Level 6 (Divination Magic Ability) – you can sense magic and estimate its power, each level improves the range, Evolution: greatly increases range
* Stone Golem, Level 12 (56/100) (Stone Spell – tier 9) – create a golem from 1 cubic yard of stone, each level increase adds density, strength and durability, COST: 5.5 Magic Pool, Evolutions: Reduced Golem Cost, Improved Intelligence
* Soften Stone, Level 11 (76/100) (Stone Spell – tier 3) – turns 2 cubic yard of stone to clay, each level increases affected volume by 1%, COST: .8 Magic per minute, Evolution: Purify Stone, TBD
* Strengthen Stone, Level 12 (78/100) (Stone Spell – tier 3) – improves 1 cubic yard stones resistance to damage, each level improves the volume and the stones strength, COST: 1.1 Magic, Evolution: lighten stone by 20%
* Stone Bullet, Level 9 (7/100) (Stone Spell – tier 0) – temporarily creates a small stone and fires it at a target, each level improves the density and speed of the stone, COST: 0.1 Magic, Evolutions: Control the shape of bullet
* Nature’s Growth, Level 12 (81/100) (Nature Spell – tier 5) – complete 1 year of growth on a single plant in 60 minutes, each level increases the plant’s growth, COST: 1 Magic, Evolutions: Rejuvenate the soil around the roots of the plant, infuse magic to supply the plant for 1 year adds 12 magic cast
* Plant Snare, Level 2 (88/100) (Nature Spell – tier 0) – activate a square yard of plants to entangle an animal within 50 yards, each level increases the area and range, COST: 0.3
* Thermal Stone, Level 13 (2/100) (Stone Spell – tier 3) – raises the temperature of 1 cubic yard of stone 100 degrees for 138 minutes, each level increases the temperature and volume, COST: 0.9 per 109 degrees, Evolutions: Can stack the spell to extend the time of the enchantment, double the effective time
* Light Stone, Level 11 (53/100) (Stone Spell – tier 2) – creates a bright light source (2000 lumens) on 8.1 ounces of stone burning the stone over time 52 years, each level increases affected mass and time, COST: 10, Evolutions: the light can be white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo or violet, brightness can be 50 lumens to 4000 lumens
* Cure Disease, Level 7 (15/100) (Healing Spell – tier 3) – cures one person of disease, each level reduces the casting time, COST: 3 Magic, Evolutions: Area of Effect 5 x 5 yards
* Perfect Recall, Level 4 (60/100) (Mental Spell – tier 1) – recall an image in perfect clarity, COST: 0.2 Magic per image
* Manipulate Stone, Level 4 (98/100) (Stone Spell – tier 7) – control 4 cubic yards of stone, each level increases affected volume by 1%, COST: 1 Magic per minute
I couldn’t believe how far I had come. I was very concerned as the other 11 who had been with me when I had been transported here had been no where to be seen as I traveled the globe. Was I the only one? I would shoulder this burden if needed. Reviewing my spells I saw stone bullet and manipulate stone were close to evolving so I should focus on it. I also had 3 spell points. It was May of 1675 and it was time to complete the Magi Academy.
When I woke and went to breakfast downstairs. It was quiet and I asked the maid where everyone was. The game. Apparently the city was having its championship today for soccer. I asked how the game was developing. The maid said Avalon had 4 league teams, Lancelot had 2 league teams and Camelot and Pendragon had one each. Avalon’s Emerald Knights had won the championship last year. I had also tried to get the sport of rowing going but had very little success apparently. It seemed all the land around the reservoir had been deeded to me.
I went to the Knight Magi academy to see how things were going. We had 25 trainees that were developing, with 5 being women. The swordmasters were not happy with my selection of the gladius as a weapon. They wanted to switch to the Japanese swords. After much discussion I just caved and crafted 100 katanas, 100 wakisashi, and 240 tantos. It took me most of the day even with my better stone spells. The next day I talked with the Chinese hand to hand combat masters. They wanted the armor greatly reduced for better movement. In the end I said they could teach unarmored combat and armored combat. Both the sword and martial masters also wanted the Knights for more time. I looked at their schedule, a student spent 18 hours in the classroom, 16 hours in general conditioning, 6 hours in firearms, 6 hours sword, and 4 hours in hand to hand each week. So 50 hours a week of scheduled time. Most of the classroom was language training and general reading/writing and math. I told the trainers these knights were selected because they were very smart so after their first year they would get an elective course of their own choice. Then I divided their training periods to 3 month blocks with evaluations at the end of each so they could get ranked. I also had to give the candidates some breaks, I added in they had Sundays off except for one two hour class in the morning and they got a week off after each 3 month term. I decided to cut firearms to just 2 hours a week and drop 4 hours conditioning and add 4 hours to sword training and 4 hours to hand to hand combat. The older knight trainers said that firearms were too important in modern warfare. I just said we were training bodyguards not soldiers. Eventually I would create better guns and would revisit the training time split. For the armor I said I would field all ideas on improvement in the future.
I eventually made it to the Magi Academy. One of the woman had developed a new ability. It was meditation and allowed a mage to double their magic pool regen. Now I was a bit upset as I had been mediating for years now to view my sheet. Well the woman who was in her 40s guided me through how she developed the ability. It was more like focusing on absorbing particles, drawing them into yourself. Ability points could grow and I had added magic sense so this new one might come if I practiced. I needed to finish the main tower. It was an imposing task.
It took me a month to add the meditation ability and manipulate rock hit level 5 and gave me another ability stone affinity mastery. I selected double the volume for the manipulate rock spell to speed construction.
* Meditation, Level 1 (Mental Magic Ability) – increase magic recovery by 100%, each level increase slightly increases recovery rate
* Stone Affinity Mastery, Level 1 (Stone Magic Ability) – reduces the cost of stone spells by 20%, each level slightly reduces the cost further
These advancements were huge. I could almost triple the amount of work I could do in a day on the tower now. I also took some time to smooth out the wall surrounding my compound. When I built it originally it was hasty and rough. I had over 5 miles of wall with the lower lake of the dam having a non-wall border. I usually smoothed a 20 yard section every evening before heading to dinner. The wall was increased to 14’, becoming slightly thinner to 14”. It also extended 4’ into the ground.
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I had actually been sleeping alone since I had returned. I was sure why but I was getting a bit frustrated. It took a week of dropping hints before Ella visited my bed. She spilled that I was being punished for leaving for almost an entire year. Oh is that right? I then play wrestled her beneath me. I asked her if she preferred if I just went around taking whatever woman I wanted whenever I wanted. She laughed and said women in my orbit knew I would never force myself on them. I collapsed next to her on the bed and said she won. Then she mounted me and rode me for a very long slow coupling. After we lay there and Ella told me Riona and Noelle wanted a child. I said jokingly I had a bunch and they could pick one out. No, they wanted me to father the child. Why didn’t they ask during the trip. Ella said they tried numerous times to bring it up but I just diverted the subject. I replayed the times it sounded like they were asking about children and yes I had. I asked which of the two wanted the child? That was the problem, Riona wanted the child but she just felt awkward, I was more like her big brother or even father figure. I could see the problem. I told them I could be there while they made love to each other and if they decided to proceed I would be available.
Well the night came when they were ready to conceive and while I watched them they got passionate and eventually invited me to join. I think they were surprised how much they enjoyed sex with a man. It took seven nights before they were both with child but I had been pretty sure on the 3rd night we had succeeded.
It was late June of 1675 when I was harassed again about coins. Amelia showed me the population updates not including the town in California that we established and were using Avalon coins:
Camelot 10600, Pendragon 900, Avalon 5800, Lancelot 1900, Excalibur 800, Galahad 200, Percival 200, Gawain 200, Lionel 100, Geharis 100
Amelia had extended the road west and added two towns while I was gone. We were also getting a huge influx of people. Taxes had been established at 20%, higher than my 10% but that was ok. I was able to get the original constitution with perfect recall. I decided to go with the same three branches. The executive branch had a president who was appointed by the magi council for 5 year terms. Right now I was the only member of the council so Congratulations Amelia – the first female president of the Americas. The legislative branch would have just a senate. The judicial branch would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. The senate would have 30 members to start and elected by the citizens. The senate would have 3 high senators who were elected to a single 15 year term and could only serve 1 term. These senators ran the senate. The other members were elected to 5 year terms. One could only serve the senate for a maximum of 25 years. As soon as you reached that milestone your term ended. The capital building would house the senate and presidential offices. I had plans to build it a half mile south of Avalon’s park. I hated politics but I wanted the citizens to have a say. With elections being once every five years that was good. I hoped we could get organized to have the first election in 5 years. So coins…we had special molds made for 144 coins. With the stone manipulate spell I could fill the molds and the top potion lowered. The helpers could then pop the stone coins out and then I could harden them in batches of 10,000. The 144 mold had different denominations based on projected need. I could now make 2000 coins in an hour with little effort. So every week Amelia wanted 5000 coins minimum, ugh. I am not going to lie, we usually spent the first day of the week making 5760 coins in 3 hours and then having them delivered on the last day of the week.
I was happy in August. The magi academy tower was over 100’ in height. The first four floors were mostly finished and furnished. Classes were being taught inside to the children and I was so happy I wasn’t part of that headache. Carina had actually learned levitate and was always popping up literally. The top of the tower was empty except for me working so we had rekindled our relationship. I had made frequent trips into the city and helped with building. We also needed to plan on the train tracks. Where to put them…keeping the land clear. I talked with Amelia and we got some surveyors to requisition the land. The metal smith still had a long way to from the model I left them but maybe I would make the rails out of hardened stone since my magic had recently improved so much. I had dropped off the science books for printing and there was now a stack of 8 different math and science books, 500 copies of each. I needed teachers for the college so I needed to make a trip soon. We by far had the cleanest city and healthiest city in the world. Since it was going to be a city built on magic I think indoor plumbing was needed. I got six smart men working on it after giving them the limited resources I could summon from my perfect recall skill.
The museum was getting closer to competition and I spent a week helping. I gave it a hardened white roof and exterior and also hardened the windows. It would provide perfect protection from the elements and infiltration. It was huge and I would pull two golems to guard the only entrance when it opened. This first construction of the museum would have 8 galleries for paintings and 8 cultural exhibits. One gallery was just for Rembrandt. I thought for a bit. I found the curator Amelia had hired and asked about famous artists. I wanted some de Vinci works or his sketching’s. I decided my curator would be making a trip with me. He would hunt for art and antiques and I would search for professors for the college.
I spent an entire day making 14,400 coins. Then I dropped them off in the bank and with my curator, a stuffy Frenchman and my six golems we left for Camelot. i walked to Camelot in order to repair the road and bridges. My new advancement in stone magic allowed me to pave large sections after the golems brought stone. I widened one bridge and paved the road through a new town that was growing.
Camelot was once again growing at breakneck pace. My warehouse apartment building had a wall around it but the surrounding buildings were now two and three story. I spent a day raising the wall to 30’ and then reworking the warehouse, courtyard, gate and garden out back. The mayor had piled hundreds of rocks at the breaker for me to extend it. The seawall I had built was enough to protect the city but I did spend four days extending the breaker 25 yards, using all the available stone. While I had worked the steamship had been provisioned and manned. I had three ships in the bay and they had been using coal to make short runs up and down the coast. I found my cabin on the ship had been upgraded with better furniture and I now had a four room suite. I had a large bedroom/study, a large 10 person dining room that had an informal sitting area with three couches, a personal kitchen with pantry and a guest bedroom. I also apparently had two personnel chefs for the trip. I had the 60 pounds of gold coins and casks of cut gems stored in my bedroom.
I was happy to start the trip on September 11th, 1675. I would be making light stones and try to level up my stone bullet this trip along with keeping thermal stones in the boiler. For my evening meals I dined with the captain, first mate and curator. We actually had not decided on a destination. I decided I needed to travel to Paris, London, Amsterdam and Dublin. It would be the quickest run. The curator wanted to go to a few cities in Italy. I was too worried about the church’s power in Italy so we would have to pass on the Mediterranean for now. It took us 5 days to reach Amsterdam and the crash into the dock wasn’t as bad. I started by going to the college and making my pitch. I ran into Antonie van Leeuwenhoek who I found with my perfect recall spell had invented the microscope. During my meeting with him I made a light microscope and lenses that gave a 50, 100, and 200 magnification. It was crude but the man was insanely impressed with my quality of lens I made with magic and the things he could now see. Soon we had a contract and he was going to pack up his family and board my ship. I added six dutch mathematicians including Christiaan Huygens after showing my transcribed calculus books. I added three chemists as well. It was two weeks in port and my curator had used over 80% of the light stones to purchase paintings and other artworks. We left port and moved on to France. The road trip to Paris was in a large cart pulled and carried by 8 Golems. The cart had 4 bench seats and 2 mathematicians and two chemists came with me and the curator. I had been making light stones non-stop since we left Amsterdam. I even repaired two bridges on the 70 mile trip to Paris. I was well received and had to spend my time in the Palace. I spent my fist night curing disease of nobles and royal soldiers. When I told the king I was recruiting teachers for my college. He introduced me to the college’s board in Paris. I ended recruiting seven young minds in chemistry, math and philosophy with the help of the men I brought with me. Their families were headed to the ship with my Dutch recruits and I spent another week waiting on my curator to finish his purchases. He was extremely happy with his haul in Paris and it filled the large cart to overflowing. The dinner that night back on the ship was lively. We had all the scientists squeezed into the dining room. There was a lot of excitement.
On the way to London I went below deck and made 40 more cabins for people as I wanted everyone comfortable. I hoped the trip to London would go well and had the ship bursar plan to furnish the new rooms.