My three apprentices immediately ran over to the portal, followed by Scholar Wu.

“Hey, wait for me!” I sprinted after them, and they made way for me.

Kharli poked the glowing circle with a finger which passed right through it. “Teacher, let’s gooooooooooooo!”

Lari and Mo ran their fingers on it, too.

“Sure. I’ll go first.” I put my right arm through the portal and waved it around on the other side. I couldn’t feel anything but air. “Patience is a virtue, okay? Don’t enter until I say so. Scholar Wu, I’ll be back.”

I knew from Adventure Incarnate that this was a safe minigame with no combat content, but I still equipped my melee armor and sword before stepping through the circle of light.

What I found on the other side was a large square room stretching twenty feet on each side. Three sides were made of opaque glass, but the wall with the portal on it was made of white wood that was covered in writing. The ceiling and floor were both wooden, too. In the middle of the room was an empty stone platform and beside it was a [Potter’s Wheel] and [Kiln].

Everything was just as I expected based on my memories of the game, except I had somehow forgotten that this place was whimsically designed by the Adventure Incarnate artists who had decorated the walls, floor, and ceiling with eye-wateringly intense pink, blue, green, and yellow neon-colored abstract patterns of magical runes. Even the writing on the wall was made of bright yellow characters outlined in electric blue.

I checked the System which had a new tab front and center with some information on the game and a [Start] button.

[The Divine Sculptor's Arcane Atelier:

The Divine Sculptor's Arcane Atelier is a cooperative game where players work together to create a magnificent Divine Sculpture. Players gather Blessed Clay Shards from various locations on the map, utilizing their skills in Woodcutting, Fishing, Hunting, Foraging, and Mining.

Points, which can be exchanged for exp, are earned based on the number of Blessed Clay Shards deposited at the base.]

The writing on the wall was the same as the System text but with a few tips added, like “Create tools using the Potter’s Wheel and Kiln to speed up collection” and “Only one spawn point is active at any given time.”

Seeing as there was no danger, I took off my armor and put away my weapon. Then, dressed in my regular robes and trousers, I stepped back through the portal. “It’s exactly what I thought it was. Scholar Wu, can you enter?”

She shook her head and showed me how her hand couldn’t pass through the circle of light. “No, it seems I can’t.”

“Too bad. The kids will write up a very complete report on it for you.” I gestured to my apprentices to let them know they should enter. “Scholar Wu, Fengying, Yinuo, we’ll be inside for a while, so you needn’t wait for us.”

They all nodded, and I went back in where I saw that Lari and Kharli were already busily writing and scribbling on their notebooks.

Mo, who was dyslexic, would use the System's text-to-voice function to check their report for errors when they were done. In the meantime, she wandered around the room looking at all the runes. “Teacher, doesn’t this rune look like an eye?”

I went over to where she was pointing at a spot on the floor. “Yes, I guess it does just a little.”

“And this one looks like a nose.” She pointed at two more runes. “This is like an open mouth, so it’s like a face drawn using runes.”

I squinted at it, but I thought her idea was too far-fetched. The runes just looked like random curved lines and dots to me. “Maybe? You should show them to Lari and Kharli.”

She did just that, and I let the kids work while I placed a comfortable chair in a corner. There, I relaxed with a sweetheart cake, a flaky pastry with a sweet filling made of winter melon, almond paste, spices, and the Demon Chef’s secret ingredient. I washed it down with a cup of mushroom coffee, an earthy blend of ground dried mushrooms and coffee beans.

Once they were done, I put the chair back in my inventory and waved the kids over to join me at the southern wall. “Okay, I’m gonna click on the [Start] button. You all know what to do. Any questions before we begin?”

They shook their heads.

“Remember, time is of the essence, but don’t run! You won’t get any exp if you trip and hurt yourself.” With that said, I mentally sent the command to begin, and the glass walls slid open, revealing the game area. I pointed at a glowing tree in the distance.“There!”

The entire place was dark and gloomy, but my eyes gradually adjusted as we walked to the active spawn point. The area was larger than I expected, and the spawn points must be quite a distance from the base and each other since I could only make out their vague shapes in the darkness. Thankfully, the floor, which was made of earth, was smooth and mostly free of rubble though there were a few large and small rocks scattered around here and there. Above us was darkness, but I expected there was an earthen ceiling there since this place felt like it was underground. The air was cool and dry, with a slight scent of water and electricity.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We all gasped when we saw the tree up close. It was a transparent, ghostly-looking oak tree, outlined in golden light, and tiny sparks flew up from the earth around it and then disappeared into its crown.

I tentatively reached forward. My hand passed through its trunk, and I tried to grasp one of the sparks, but it was too fast for me. Then I used both hands to attempt it again. The others followed my lead, and Kharli was the first to succeed.

“I got one!” She triumphantly showed us a small piece of glowing clay in her hand.

“Congratulations,” said Mo without stopping. “Now we only need three more.”

Not to be outdone by my own apprentice, I redoubled my efforts and was rewarded with a System notification.

[You've found a valuable relic! Blessed Clay Shard obtained.]

“Yes! I did it! Two more to go!” I seem to have gotten the knack of it since I quickly gathered the required amount.

[You've found a valuable relic! Blessed Clay Shard obtained.]

[You've found a valuable relic! Blessed Clay Shard obtained.]

“Kharli, give me your clay. I’m going back to the base, guys! Keep working on it.” I took her piece and walked back as fast as I could. At the base, I sat down in front of the [Potter’s Wheel] and mentally clicked on the pile of [Blessed Clay Shards] in my inventory which made the System’s crafting interface pop up. I chose the axe.

My body’s movements were guided by the System. I used my feet to work the pedals and my hands to mold the clay on the wheel until it shimmered and turned into an [Unfired Clay Axe] which I shoved into the [Kiln]. Then I went back and made three more [Unfired Clay Axes] while I waited for the clay to bake.

A few seconds later, I used the System interface to remove the finished [Clay Axe] from the [Kiln] since I was afraid it would be too hot to touch. “Oh wow.”

I put in another unfired clay item and equipped the completed woodcutting axe, marveling at its shiny gold and silver appearance. By the feel of it, the axe was really made of clay, but the exterior had been painted to make it look nicer, which was very strange since paint had not been added during its manufacturing process. I figured it was just the usual System shenanigans.

Once all four axes were finished, I walked to the others as fast as I could and distributed the tools to my apprentices.

“This should help,” I said.

We all used the clay axes to “cut” the tree.

“It’s so much faster now! I’m getting clay every swing.” Kharli was obviously tired since her hands, one holding the axe, and the other barehanded were much slower than before. After a minute or so, she decided to use only one hand, the one with the axe.

“What? I just got two in one swing.” Lari grinned at us. “I did it again!”

“How did you do that?” asked Mo.

“Don’t try swinging faster. Try using more force instead,” he said.

“Nice tip.” I did as he suggested and got two pieces of clay.

Unfortunately, that was when the tree’s golden glow died. Another spawn point to the west lit itself up.

“Let’s see what it is first,” I said.

We walked towards it until Kharli, the one with the keenest eyesight of us four, could make out its shape.

“It’s a big rock!” she said.

“Okay. Kharli, you’re next. Go to the base and make pickaxes.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

She walked briskly back to the base while the rest of us went to the rock. As part of our strategy to maximize clay collection, each of us would take turns to make tools.

Just like the tree, the rock was immaterial and outlined in gold light. Once again, we used our hands to try to collect the golden sparks flying up from the rock’s bottom.

Lari made a face. “This is horribly slow!”

“Think positive. It’s kinda cute here, isn’t it?” I said. “These little sparks look very mystical.”

“Teacher, don’t blame Lari. I also feel impatient. I want more clay! More exp!” said Mo.

“I wonder how much exp we’ll get? What have you decided to spend it on?” I asked the others.

“Mining,” they said at the same time.

It was their lowest stat since there wasn't a nearby Mining site they could use.

“Good choice,” I said.

In Adventure Incarnate, there were three major schools of thought regarding what to spend bonus exp on. One set of players always used the exp on their lowest-level skill, because it was an easy way to level up. The other set of players regarded this as a huge waste since the exp bonus scaled based on the skill’s current level. In other words, the higher the skill’s level, the more exp the player gets.

I explained all this to the kids beforehand. Though I didn’t know the exact exp figures for this game, I gave them the following example: If they used the minigame bonus on a level 1 skill, they could level it up at least once, probably more. However, if they used it on a level 50 skill, they should get five times that amount of exp… but that exp was only one percent of the exp needed to level up.

As for the last set of players, they preferred to use bonus exp on Herblaw, the most expensive skill.

While I was silently mulling this over, Kharli returned with the [Clay Pickaxes].

“That’s more like it!” I exclaimed in delight. “Let’s work hard.”

Since Lari, Kharli, and Mo had low Mining levels, they got very little clay, so they greeted the demise of this spawn point and the rise of a new one with cheers.

The next spot to light up was a small pool of water.

“Yes! I want to Fish!” said Kharli.

“I’ll go make the [Clay Harpoons] since my Fishing level is the lowest,” said Mo.

And so it went. We Fished in the pool with the [Clay Harpoons], Foraged golden apples from an apple tree with [Clay Fruit Pickers], and Hunted golden birds with [Clay Nets].

I was so engrossed in gathering [Blessed Clay Shards] that I almost forgot to check the time. When I did finally remember, there were only ninety seconds left on the clock. “Hurry, we need to go back to the base and deposit the clay!”

We made it just in time. Once we started depositing the clay pieces on the empty stone platform, they glowed and merged together in an amorphous blob of golden light. When the timer got to zero, a magic circle with dozens of complicated runes appeared on the floor of the rooms.

Kharli hurriedly took out her notebook and pencil. “Lari, help me sketch it!”

Alas for them, the magic circle quickly faded, leaving behind the [Divine Sculpture].

Mo screamed and hid behind me. A blushing Kharli covered Lari’s eyes.