I sit staring the infused wood deeply disappointed. After an hour of frantic work, I go search for Dmitri. After finding him, I discover what I feared was true.

The process of infusion most people are using is faulty. Nobody noticed it up to this moment but now I see the problem. An hour after infusion you lose half of the mana. After 12 hours you are only left with about 10 percent.

The previous times I find strange the very different amounts of mana in each of the logs. Still, I didn’t pay attention to it. This time, however, something clicked in my mind. The dreams of storing mana for later use are all crushed. Perhaps I could store then another way, but this easy avenue is closed. The process I use for the final mana infusion seems like a good method to store mana for longer.

I extract tiny amounts of pure mana from wood and find, after some experimentation, I can cast spells with it. When I finish it I attempt to absorb the smallest sliver of mana and the world goes black.

I awake only a moment later but I can feel the damage I made. I take an internal look with my Aether and mana sense. I see the interrupted and torn channels in my body. I guess these would normally be the way mana flows through me.

The little mana I had in my body must have reacted violently with what I absorbed. Luckily I only try to absorb a tenth of a point of mana. Five or ten points would probably be enough to kill me.

I really should have listened to the instinct I had the previous time, and not have tried to absorb mana. Perhaps there are ways to do so, but for now, I will stick with casting without absorbing.

I open my stats and go over it.

You are suffering from mana backlash: Reduced control of mana for approximately 16 min 50 sec.

You have increased your Blacksmithing skill by +2: Blacksmithing Lv.16

You have increased your Running skill by +1: Running Lv. 31

You have increased your Axe mastery skill to: Axe mastery Lv.2

You have increased your Mana Infusion skill by +3: Mana Infusion Lv.6

You have increased your Carrying skill by +1: Carrying Lv.16

You have increased your Unarmed Combat skill by +1: Unarmed Combat Lv.5

You have increased your Mana Manipulation skill by +4: Mana Manipulation Lv. 19

You have increased your Kinetic Meditation skill by +2: Kinetic Meditation Lv.30

You have improved your Staff mastery skill to: Pole mastery Lv.4

You have increased your Strength by +1

You have increased your Constitution by +1

You have increased your Agility by +1

You have increased your Endurance by +1

You have increased your Perception by +2

You have increased your Willpower by +1

You have gained 3215 Exp. from various sources. [Expand]

These notifications and my habit to accumulate om any at a time is getting ridiculous This should be organized for maximum efficiency. It shouldn’t be a long list of repeated words. I meditate for a few minutes and my internals stabilize.

It has been a while I should take a look at my bok. There are two new pages. These new runes could be very useful. Six new runes, along with better explanations on connecting rune. I look over it and realize these new runes are different from the previous ones. Now I have a third category.

I spend some time meticulously going over everything. After some experimentation, I should be able to create more complex spells. I could probably make it work with a single rune if I throw enough mana at it, but I think there must be significant advantages for constructing an actual spell.

I wait for the debuff to end, and start my experimentation. I try to keep mana costs as low as I possibly can, but I’m out in less than 10 minutes. With a last longing look, I try to commit every single one to memory.

I will need to explore more on this subject.

Looking for Merlin in the training yard is a but. He is asleep in his cot, and I’m don’t want to wake him up. I leave and think about what would be the best use of my time. I think over my stats and decide to attempt to increase them.

At the wall I see things moving at an unbelievable pace. About a hundred people are working. Six hours have passed since the attack. The wall has been repaired in the destroyed spot. The gate is now 6 meters tall and there are reinforcements not only tying the logs together but also at 45 degrees angles bracing the whole structure. I also see a section, 200 meters long already up. They made the new walls significantly taller.

In the place the new walls are up, I see that there is extra bracing and both the old and the new logs are tied together.

I look over it with a critical eye. From an engineering standpoint, the rope is not good enough to make full use of the strength of the logs. With our resources, however, it’s the best we can do.

The saw I helped make earlier looks to be very useful. A pair of guys cut through the wood at an unbelievable pace. I think their pace is faster than someone with a chainsaw. That doesn’t make much sense in my mind, but we are not on Earth and the system changed all the rules.

At the site I find Charlie talking with someone. I wait a moment, and before he has the chance to attend other business I say to him:

“The work seems to be going well. The band-saw seems to be a big help.”

“Yes, it is a god sent. I just hope they don’t break it.”

“They seem to be taking care of it. Regardless, how are things after the attack? Everybody healed up?”

“Yes, there is only one person that still isn’t fully healed, and even then he can walk already.”

“That is good. We were not prepared for this attack. It could have been so much worse.”

“We need to increase training for battle coordination. We should probably organize everyone that knows how to fight and run a couple of drills. The situation could have been really bad. We will also start getting more guards. We should probably also get a horn in case of attack.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Yeah, that would have been more organized and timely than run around yelling, “attack, attack”.”

He laughs and asks:

“Anything in specific you wanted to discuss?”

“Yes. There are two things. I want to start tomorrow to run the forge around the clock. You know what we will need.”

“You can handle all that. I will be sending you 8 people we have selected.”

“Good. I heard about your classes. I want to teach one as well. They need to be willing to donate half their mana to me, so I can use it. That is my only requirement.”

“Ok, I will set it up. When people hear about it, everyone will want to attend. What will you be teaching?”

“I have a few new runes and I started to make sense of them. I will focus mostly on the use of runes and attempting to explore into combinations as my mana allows.”

“Ok, I got to be on my way.”

“One last thing, we will need to set a schedule so everyone infusing mana will do it with me there. The mana dissipates too quickly.”

“I heard about that just now. We really should have paid more attention.”

We say goodbye and part ways.

I head to the wood piling up near the busiest field and start carrying the logs to the wall. Even with my tiredness from the earlier exertions, I push as close to my limit as I can. My pace is faster than most people here. I end up carrying alone what most people are caring in pairs or trios.

Sweat drips from my body and I can feel my muscles burning. I spend the rest of the night almost in trance. This reminds me of the work I did on Pando too much.

----------------------------------------

I wake up when the sun is coming up. Even though I sleep so little, I rested very well. The system seems to make sleep more effective. Most people are already sleeping 5 hours a night. I wonder what are the parameters governing our need for sleep in the system. It could be stats, level, time after integration, and half a dozen other things I haven’t thought of.

A get on with my day and skip the mayor’s speech. I get there right at the end and listen to Charlie starting.

“Our efforts to fortify the wall are going well. If we keep the pace we will be able to finish the 700 meters of walls that are in the most danger. That should finish by tonight.

“After that, we will be reinforcing the walls on the cliff edge. We don’t have plans to make it taller, but we will build towers all around to serve as watchtowers. If we finish early enough, tonight we will be having a celebration. We managed to get a few barrels of beer and wine. There is enough everybody can have half a glass. We meet at the inn’s salon. If we finish it too late we will postpone to tomorrow.”

At that everybody cheer. This is a good way to make sure it finishes today. It’s a brilliant move for multiple reasons. If we kept going at this pace without some rest, everyone would start to burn out.

“There a few things I would like to bring up. One is a discovery from a team of hunters a few hours ago. Only 7 kilometers away we have found a mine, the ore brought back is probably iron. We will be analyzing the ore and the surroundings to see if there are any other metals. This is a very important step in our self-sufficiency.

"We have taken to try test possible alternative defense methods. Yesterday the last ingredient of gunpowder was found and to our surprise, it failed. We have two experienced people, who made gunpowder for historical reenacting. We also have a chemist teacher. We assume it is unlikely the problem would be improper manufacturing. Our best guess is system interference.

"The hour before we were brought here, most electronics a few other pieces of tech stopped working. We don't have anyone in the village who shot a fire weapon after system integration. Even the people who armed themselves didn't test if guns still worked. It's not something we ever thought would change.

"On another news, we found out what happens when you hit level 10. The leveling process stops. At this level, you need to unlock and chose a class. You don't lose any experience if you hunt. Meanwhile, the experience just sits on your stat screen. Nobody has unlocked a class yet. That means we don’t have more information. We hope we will begin to unlock classes in the coming days.

"That was all for today. "

I think about the classes. I wonder if the council messed with it, to screw us over. After a moment I laugh. Of course they did. They will push as much as they can get away with. Maybe the book will cooperate and tell me about it soon. With a thousand things running through my mind I go to work.

At the smithy, first thing in the morning we start to make the metal parts for the ballista. Smith came last night and we talked a little with the smith. He gave us a few options and we ended up going for the ballista. He will make the metal parts and they will ask for the wood parts from the carpenter. We mentioned doing it on our own but he recommended not to.

I think it over and realize it may lower the damage bonus. Or it may not be as reliable. Any mistake might get us killed before we even realize what we did wrong. I pay attention to every action from Mr. Blackwood. He makes 3 sets and for the last one, I'm deep in meditation to blow air in the forge. That heats it up quite a bit and allows for better and stronger items. I'm still trying to figure out the mechanics behind the whole process.

This time, only an hour in and I come back. I see Mr. Blackwood starting the grinding process. I have been wondering why he lets me stay on the mana plate long after he is finished the hammering process. He doesn't need a hotter forge to grind and polish the items into shape. It is probably because of system interference. The exercise is really good for my mana manipulation skill.

We finish the four ballistae in time for lunch. They still lack the wood framework, but even now they look impressive. When everyone leaves for a quick lunch, he forges very basic and quick items. They are the tips for the ballista bolts. We work side by side and make 2 dozen in less than half an hour. They are quick and dirty jobs but are good enough for the ballistae.

The new workers spend a few hours in the afternoon getting used to the rhythm of the smithy. They ask lots of questions and pace about, but as long as they don't get in anybody's way, Mr. Blackwood won't shoo them away. Most people loitering it the shop are invited to come back the next day. He probably just doesn’t want people getting in the way of our work. The new arrivals, even if they are not official workers for him, will be learning to forge. It seems he doesn’t seem to mind them in this case.

The day ends and after our pay and giving most of it back we are left with piles of metal. Before he leaves we hear.

“Now, I’m trusting the forge to you. You all will have to pay for anything you break. Before everyone that was in my smithy were you, now there are new people that I didn't bring in. Depending on what you break, the cost would bankrupt the village."

The others look a bit perplexed, so I volunteer.

“You guys know the thinnest saw on the bench? The one for really fine work. That saw costs 50 gold to replace the Mithril filament."

Hearing that, they all bulge their eyes out. The smith continues:

“Exactly, I know accidents happen but depending on what is broken my hands are tied.” He gives all of us a meaning full look.

Shit, the system trying to screw us over again? After a half-hour and the 8 new workers start to settle in, I leave. We decided on a schedule. Each of us will work half the night every other day. I was the only one not with another person so I would have to guide every on my own but I didn't mind.

I leave and head for my class. I think of the possibilities this opens up. If everything works out, I will greatly speed up my learning speed. At a run, I pass through the city, towards a new chapter in my story.

----------------------------------------

On the other side of the galaxy, a sentient being was alone. The only one his kind on the whole planet. Over two seasons had passed after the arrival of the winds of change. Pando was more aware than ever. With each new trial, he grew in ways he could not properly determine. The practical effects were that he was stronger, grew faster, and could spend longer and longer with his mind aware of things. Things that were far different from the concerns he used to have.

It used to be, he couldn't spend more than a second or two thinking of anything other than the soil, the sun, or the rain. For millennia he only thought of things as they happened. As his moving friend started to interact more with him, he managed to slowly be able to grasp abstract concepts. The system arrival was a giant catalyst.

Now he could grow much faster than ever before. He managed to connect every single tree Nash had planted with his root system. He was trying to increase the speed of his growth. Thin strands of roots even unrolled themselves over the ground to connect the saplings growing. Soon after, he created redundant lines underground. The whole endeavor was worth it because it accelerated his growth.

His trials were also getting harder and harder. When the sun was the highest in the sky the next trial would start. After a few minutes, rabid wolves started to come in. A few of the animals that made Pando their sanctuary tried to take down a few of the packs but were not successful. These wolves, unlike what would be expected, ignored the animals after incapacitating them.

Pando sends a thin stream of vigor to all the animals to make sure they didn't become soil food. It's is best if they keep moving around. Pando tries to fill one of the wolves to bursting with vigor. The wolf just starts to twitch a little. The wolves head straight for the smaller saplings. Biting and even managing to almost break clean off a few, the wolves convulse and died. The wolf filled with vigor lasts for another few seconds. He pulls the sapling with all his strength and manages to rip off the last few strands of fiber.

Triumphant he stands back and weakly howls before dying.

The trials, as time has passed, started getting longer. For hours new packs of three or four wolves show up. With fewer wolves and more spread-out, Pando's inhabitants are more successful. Filled with copious amounts of vigor they fight and the losses are few and far between.

The day ends and a dozen saplings are ruined. Without understanding the mechanics but an expert on it by now, Pando sends a stream of Aether out and the wolves go through an accelerated decomposition process. It takes only days until they are soil food.

Heal. Grow. Defend. Learn.

Heal. Grow. Defend. Learn.