Sam sat there for a moment, hands pressed into the cool grass, catching his breath. His chest still rose and fell heavily from the effort of interacting with the mana node, and his thoughts swirled in a cocktail of disbelief and acceptance.

“Wood, stone, and plant fibers,” he muttered, squinting at the HUD as if to confirm it was still there. It glowed persistently, the text as crisp and unyielding as ever. The expanded boundary around him revealed more of the same suburban landscape; patches of lawn, stray garden ornaments, a cracked driveway, and a stretch of his neighbor’s yard. “Guess I’d better start playing along.”

Pushing himself to his feet, Sam dusted off his jeans and scanned his surroundings. The task seemed simple enough. There was a dead tree leaning awkwardly in the corner of his backyard; one of those things he’d always meant to take care of but never got around to. That would cover wood. The flowerbed by the house had stones tucked neatly along the edge. As for plant fibers, well, he figured pulling up a handful of weeds should do the trick.

“Let’s hope this magic thing doesn’t turn pulling weeds into rocket science,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

Sam approached the dead tree cautiously, unsure what to expect now that magic seemed to permeate everything. It looked as lifeless as ever, its bark dry and brittle, branches twisted like skeletal fingers against the bright sky. He reached out, half-expecting something strange to happen the moment he touched it. Instead, his hand met the rough surface of the bark, as mundane as any other tree he'd encountered.

He gave the trunk a push. It wobbled but didn’t fall.

“All right, lumberjack mode,” he said with a grin, stepping back to kick it over. His boot connected with the trunk, and the dead tree toppled easily, crashing to the ground with a satisfying crack.

The HUD updated.

Wood gathered: 10 units.

Sam blinked. “It’s... counting? That’s actually kind of handy.”

With the main trunk down, he snapped off a few branches, tossing them into a pile near his porch. Each time, the HUD registered the collection, tallying up the total.

The flowerbed was his next stop. He crouched and pried up one of the decorative stones, feeling its weight in his hands. The moment he lifted it, the HUD chimed.

Stone gathered: 1 unit.

“Okay, that was easy enough,” Sam said, adding a few more to his inventory.

The HUD displayed his progress: Stone: 5/10.

He glanced around, spotting a chunk of broken concrete near the driveway. It seemed like the sort of thing the system would accept. Sure enough, when he lugged it over to the pile, the HUD updated again.

Stone gathered: 10/10.

Plant fibers, it turned out, were the trickiest. Sam plucked handfuls of weeds from the edge of the lawn, but the HUD didn’t register his efforts at first. Frustration bubbled up as he stared at the tangled mess in his hands.

“What, am I doing it wrong?” he asked the air, his voice tinged with irritation.

The HUD offered a new tip.

Tip: Use mana to extract usable fibers.

Sam groaned. “Of course. Because nothing can just be simple.”

He dropped the weeds onto the ground and knelt beside them, concentrating on the faint hum of mana around him. He closed his eyes, trying to guide the energy into his hands. When he touched the weeds again, a strange warmth spread through his fingertips. The plants seemed to dissolve, leaving behind silky threads of fibrous material.

The HUD chimed.

Plant fibers gathered: 5 units.

Sam repeated the process a few more times, refining his control. By the time he finished, his mana bar was nearly empty again, but the objective was complete.

With all the materials gathered, the HUD updated with new instructions.

Objective complete: Resources gathered.

Next Objective: Craft a Basic Tool.

Tip: Tools enhance resource collection and efficiency. Start with a crafting station.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck. “A crafting station? What do I look like, a carpenter?”

The HUD didn’t dignify his complaint with a response. Instead, it displayed a schematic: a simple table made from wood and stone. The materials required were modest; 5 units of wood and 2 units of stone.

“Fine,” Sam said, shrugging. He gathered the needed resources from his piles and followed the schematic as best he could. Using a flat patch of ground, he laid out the wood and stone, focusing his mana on the arrangement.

At first, nothing happened. Then, with a faint pulse, the materials shimmered and snapped into place, assembling themselves into a sturdy, makeshift workbench. Sam stepped back, blinking.

“That was... weird. Cool, but weird.”

The HUD updated again.

Crafting Station created.

Next Objective: Craft a Basic Tool (Recommended: Stone Axe).

Sam leaned over the workbench, accessing a menu that appeared when he placed his hands on it. The interface was intuitive, displaying several options. He selected the stone axe, which required 3 units of wood, 2 units of stone, and 1 unit of plant fibers. The moment he confirmed the selection, the materials vanished from his inventory, and the axe materialized on the bench.

He picked it up, testing its weight. The handle was smooth but solid, the stone blade sharp enough to cut through the dead tree without much effort.

Stone Axe crafted.

New functionality unlocked: Enhanced resource gathering.

Sam swung the axe experimentally. It felt right in his hands, like an extension of his arm. “Alright, now we’re getting somewhere.”

With his new tool in hand, Sam turned his attention to the expanded boundary. The shimmering edge of his zone seemed less imposing now, and the idea of exploring beyond it was tantalizing. But as he approached, the HUD interrupted.

Zone expansion required to proceed. Interact with additional Mana Nodes.

Warning: Unclaimed zones may contain environmental anomalies. Proceed with caution.

Sam sighed. “Figures. Guess I’ll need to track down another one of those glowing balls.”

For now, though, he decided to focus on making his expanded territory more livable.