Just after opening the next day, Luka got to work on the park’s newest attraction. Before him, a plot of clear forest stood roughly two hundred and sixty square meters with a long protrusion leading down toward the rest of the park. All things considered, the area wasn’t massive, but it was large enough for the project. On one side, the lake’s rocky shoreline eased into the clearing, on the other, a lush forest of Emberwood trees sat calmly.

After de-rockifying the tall grass and shearing the weeds low, Luka removed his blueprints from his pocket and activated his artifact ring.

Requirements for custom log flume “A”:

9,133kg of hardwood.

5,883kg of metal supports.

12,417kg of dirt.

121kg of stone.

87kg of softened leather.

24kg of hard rubber.

89 water creation glyphs of various degrees of power.

54 strength and durability glyphs of various degrees of power.

Various illusionary glyphs.

1 large log flume blueprint.

Earlier, Luka realized the “perfect” numbers of previous ring-related recipes were simply because they were basic recipes. But since he now activated the ring based on blueprint “A,” the ring produced something far more accurate to what he actually had in mind. Now, would he realistically use nine thousand one hundred and thirty-three kilograms of hardwood? No, Luka didn’t think so.

His blueprints weren’t perfect, he knew. If anything, they were hardly blueprints and more akin to a basic layout sketch. Luka was under no illusion that once he started building, things were going to come together differently.

Another thing of note was the lack of concrete. On Earth, if someone wanted to build a log flume, the first step would be pouring a concrete foundation and supporting pillars. But not in this world. No, in this world, with the use of magic, the hardened properties of concrete could be recreated with common stone and glyphs.

Reshaping rocks was as easy to Luka now as creating the sketches he tinkered with nightly. However, reshaping rocks was nothing, if not a crutch. The real magic, in Luka’s mind, would be the ride itself. If it sucked, then no matter how good he was at shaping rocks, the ride would still suck.

Behind him was Rogue Wave and a small crowd of guests. Since the pirate ship ride marked the entrance to the pirate-themed section of the park, this new log flume ride would likewise be nautical-themed. In fact, the entire area would be—but that was for a different day.

Right now, Luka only had one thing in mind.

With a flare of magic, stacks of materials came to his beck and call. Mayor Tram, every day since opening, had sent someone to Sneerhome to retrieve materials. Like a present on Christmas day, Luka would unwrap the straps holding his prepared hardwood, leather, and metal, sort them like brand new toys, and promise himself to play with them later.

Well, now was the time.

The stones he’d picked from the clearing pressed together, righting all wrongs in their hardened form. Cracks sealed up, imperfections dripped out, bugs and critters fell into the grass, and the stain of dirt washed away as if scrubbed with a rough sponge. Soon, the floating mass of stone was perfectly homogeneous.

In Luka’s mind, buildings always had a full foundation—meaning, the entire square footage of a building had a solid base to sit on. Was this always the case? No, not at all. But for the sake of simplicity, something this big would. Calling it a “standard practice code,” Luka decided that, for every building this size and up in the park, the foundation for it would be a full one.

Many people were going to walk through this building, best to create it right.

Foundations were an interesting concept. How was it possible to build an incredibly heavy structure on soft materials such as dirt, clay, and soil? The answer lay in buried footing and reinforced walls.

Luka created several walls of stone, each shaped like the letter “T.” They were inserted upside down into the ground, compacting the dirt as they went. Several durability, strengthening, and reinforcement glyphs were added to each, and soon, small bumps of stone jutted from the ground.

Next, a sheet of stone covered the grass and dirt, becoming flush with the bumps. With a similar concept as a bed of nails, the sheet of stone would disperse the weight of the structure along the “T” walls. So, unless the ground shifted significantly, the building wouldn’t go anywhere.

I wonder if there are glyphs to harden the ground, Luka asked himself. They might solve some future problems.

“What’re you making, sonny?”

Luka flinched, spinning on his heel and dropping all magically held items. Rocks and metal fell to the ground, sending long cracks through the foundation.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

A few steps away, an obviously drunk dwarven man stood with his son. Both were sipping on a mug of frothy mead, and both had dark gray beards. The bottom of the adult’s beard tucked into his belt, disappearing behind his pants. The son’s, however, was more akin to something Luka could grow. The kid was young, and soon enough, his facial hair would be just as long.

As the materials flopped to rest, the dwarven kid’s face crumbled with guilt. Despite drinking, the kid was not drunk—yet. He could see the damage his father had caused.

The father… not so much. “Well? Ye deaf, ain’t ya?”

Luka pressed his lips into a firm line. “Sir,” he said, as calmly as possible, “I’m going to have to ask you to head off back into the park. It’s not safe around here, with me using my magic.”

“Ye, pa, we sho—”

The father clapped his son on the back. “Neh, sonny, ya feeling alright? I asked ye a simple question.”

“A new ride,” Luka answered, his eyes darting past the duo and finding the crowd. He searched for anyone who could help—namely Franky… or hell, Tram would grab the man by the ear and drag him off.

“What kind er ‘ride?’”

“A log flume.”

The man struggled to keep his eyes open, the booze making his short legs wobble. “Will d’ey be selling beer in dis ‘log flume?’”

Luka took a breath. Until a security team was fully implemented in the park, he supposed he’d have to deal with people like this himself—especially if he was going to walk around the park for everyone to see. He took a second to think about his options. Was there any reason to hide the plans for the upcoming area? Besides maintaining the mystique and creating a park-wide opening event, no, not really.

“It’s going to be a harbor,” Luka said. “And beside the log flume, one of the centerpieces is going to be a great big tavern.”

In fact, the tavern was going to be the log flume. The entrance for the ride would be inside the tavern, especially down through the barrel cellar and out around the back. Everyone would have to walk through the tavern, however, where actual drinks were going to be sold.

The dwarf raised his chin, eyeing the World Walker. “Ye, that seems nice.”

Luka nodded along. “It will be, but I’ve got a long way to go. Mind stepping away and letting me work?”

The son dragged his father away after an apology. Luka knew the feeling. More than once, he’d had to apologize for his father on Earth—being rude to waiters, customer service people, and even neighbors. Such was life, however. You couldn’t complain about the people you loved.

Briefly, Luka thought about his father. The man had died long before Luka did, and well, Luka didn’t think about him after a few years all that often. Birthdays, holidays, the anniversary of the man’s death… but past that, his father wouldn’t have wanted Luka to think about him. The dead, in most cases, should remain dead.

Did that make Luka a hypocrite since he got to live even after his own death? Luka honestly didn’t dwell on the question. He had enough on his plate already and held enough introspection on his first life to fill his second.

He had better things to do, anyway. Case in point: fixing a foundation’s cracks and adding more glyphs across it so that if something heavy was dropped on it again, it wouldn’t crack.

With the foundation of the main tavern complete, Luka switched gears and worked on the surrounding shops and rooms. Essentially, this stretch of the park would be a harbor. On one side, buildings would hold restaurants, gift shops, and vendors, on the other would be a dock leading into the lake. Behind the buildings, the forest would extend untouched.

Until Luka had permission to start removing trees, he would be doing no such thing—less the dryads and Tram came down on him.

Speaking of dryads, a few hours into the park’s expansion, the resident village dryad approached, her fingers licked with colorful paint. Mrs. Leafsong was a peculiar woman. She, for better or worse, was a recluse, opting to live among the trees instead of at her cottage like the other villagers. She was also made of sticks, moss, and leaves.

“I was told to speak to you directly,” she said, her voice smooth like silk.

Luka watched her vocal cords shift in her throat, each a vine wrapped in tiny budding flowers. “Yup, talking and working’s no problem for me. I see you got your paints.”

Mrs. Leafsong held up her fingers. “These are part of my own collection—oil, with natural pigments. The kind you provided for me is… cheap.”

Frowning, Luka laid another stone cylindrical foundation support for the log flume track. They wove through the trees at one point and crossed a shallow section of the lake before arriving back to the loading station foundation.

“If you need better or more paint, let Tram know. I’m not trying to con you out of anything—”

She gestured lazily at him, silencing whatever he was about to say. “The quality of paint does not matter. I may test new techniques with them so that I don’t waste the expensive stuff. But yes—I received your paints.”

Luka nodded slowly, studying the woman. Nicole, who was also a dryad, was much easier to read and relate to. A kid was a kid, regardless of race, it seemed.

“Well then, good.” He held out one of his sketches of what the section of the park he was working on would eventually look like. “This area is going to be called ‘Stormcorsair Harbor.’”

Leafsong scanned the paper. “I assumed those grotesquely large blobs of ink are supposed to be thunderclouds?”

He pursed his lips. “They are… the entire area is going to be under some shifting weather illusions. Rolling clouds, fake rain, terrible thunder and lightning. Hopefully, the overcast theming will add some extra ambiance.”

She hummed, which sounded more like two shucked logs rubbing together. “I can see that. But I have a better idea. Ambiance is rarely dictated solely by weather, but the details are labored in the rest of the artwork. It’s the shadows, or lack thereof, it’s the tone, it’s the frowning faces, the tired buildings, the wet roofs, the windy streets. Dark paint does not necessarily make the painting ‘dark.’”

Luka smiled at her. “Good thing we have a concept artist on retainer. How about I explain my vision of this area and the others and let you get working on some preliminary paintings?”

Mrs. Leafsong hesitated. “I worry about the oversight—I’ve never painted for someone.”

“Don’t be. Paint as you see fit, there are no wrong answers here, only happy little accidents. Who knows, maybe my prattling will only get us so far and your imagination will be the seeds that eventually bloom into the park.”

She studied the World Walker. “Do not think that a few nature-related references are enough for me to like you.”

Luka gave her a strange look. That wasn’t his intention at all, despite her crass tone…

“But,” the dryad continued, “if you can actually sow your promises to this village, then maybe your vision will take root.” She then gave a knowing smile.

The look on Luka’s face didn’t change. “You just make a nature-related joke, right? You could have easily phrased that in a normal way, right?”

Mrs. Leafsong softly chuckled. “Just work hard for my village ilk. We may be in the minority, but some of us still are hesitant about you and this park.”

Luka jutted a thumb at the watching crowd. “Seems to be going well to me.”

“Yes, yes, it does. That minority is shrinking every day.”

“Well, hopefully, after we get you some better paint, one more will join the majority.”

She smiled at that and walked off.