Chapter 7.

 

    I awoke peacefully, falling back into my body. With a loud stretch and groan, I opened my eyes. The soft light of the fire still flickered, and the warm cozy home-like atmosphere of the stone hut began to fade as the presence of Amara left. Light peeked in from the peak of the roof, and I knew it was early morning. 

 

    "Well shit, looks like I have some things to get done," I said to the emptiness of the hut.

 

    I stood and created a stone pot to relieve myself in. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the nutritious water contained plenty of fiber as well. With a wave of my hand, I banished it under the earth. I used [clean] on myself and the onesie. I folded and wrapped the steel bear things skin around my shoulders, then hefted the bundle of cloth and bones. 

 

    Approaching the door, I made a view window in the door and checked to see if any monsters or beasties were waiting for me to emerge from my slumber. There were none, so I stepped out into the bright early morning light.

 

    I could see where the river that I had been following met the much larger river. To the east, where the pale-yellow sun rose into the sky, was more forest, and just to the west of me was where the rivers met. The large river appeared to be flowing south. "The river is my best chance at finding a town or city. Guess I am just going to have to build a boat."

 

    I walked down to the shore of the river and stood next to a huge tree. The river was massive, and if not for the current of the flowing water, I would have thought it more of a lake. 

    

Deciding it was time to test more of my magic abilities, I picked a few seeds from the ground. I found an acorn from a nearby oak and a willow seed. Infusing them with mana and the spells [rapid growth] and [manipulate plant], I began to work. I would also apply one point from my leveling every so often and sometimes two, but I made sure that I felt utterly recovered before I used my following points.

 

The work was slow as I had to keep the mana usage under my 11.5 recharge rate. With manipulate plant taking 4.5 mana, that left only 7 mana for the rapid growth spell. Luckily the two-spell synergized, manipulate, allowing for the fast growth energies to permeate the new growth more efficiently. 

 

    I grew out the oak in an unnatural shape. I elongated the trunk and formed the hull of the ship. The wood resisted at first but then formed the keel and hull of the small boat. It was going to be about twenty-five feet long (7.6 meters). It would be shaped just like the sailboats I had seen on lakes and in bays back on earth. I had the willow braid and twine it's way up the oak mast of the ship; until the tall mast stuck up from the center of the boat, with the braided willow-like branches acting like excellent stays. The wires connect to the top of the mast to the side of the ship. The rudder was made from oak, and with a little bit of metal, I created a perfect tiller. As the boat disconnected itself from the trees that I had grown it from, it leaned over on its right side and dropped softly to the ground. 

 

    The boat itself only took about one and a half hours to grow and was now river ready. I don't think I would be taking it on any ocean-going voyages, but I believed it would do nicely for the river. The casting and maintaining of the spells were trivial. All that was needed was to focus on the idea of the ship that I wanted in my mind's eye, along with any detailed part that was currently being grown. Such as with the joining of the keel step and mast, I was able to grow and fuse directly together. Each joint got such attention, like where the willow stays attached to the outer hull. Same with the railing, growing like limbs connecting to each other. 

 

    I used a bit of earth magic and created a ripple in the earth that gently set the boat into the water. As the ship settled, I jumped lightly onto the back of the vessel. Using my plant magic, I grew some willow branches that I frayed and broke into fibers. Then with the [Yarn spinning] and [Weave] spells, I had the threads braid themselves into four thicker one-hundred-foot pieces of rope and a half dozen smaller fifty-foot pieces. 

 

    With the ropes made, I used [Collect element] to gather iron into the shape of a large scoop anchor. Tying a figure-eight knot, I attached one of the larger ropes to the anchor, tossing it over the side. With the boat secured from floating downriver before I had finished working, I was able to go below decks. Threw out the process; I had been rewarded with a few notifications. 

 

[Rapid growth has reached level 2.] 

[Manipulate plant has reached level 2.]

[Yarn spinning has reached level 2.] 

[Weave has reached level 2.]

 

The boat rocked back and forth effortlessly as I made my way down into the cabin on the ship. On the floor, there was an opening where the keel plunged into the water and tapered to the front of the boat. 

 

    I used [collect element] in order to gather liquid lead and fill the keel. The rocking of the boat subsided, and it settled into the gentle motions of a ship rocking on the sea, or a river in this case. I covered the keel with the oak wood of the hull and went back to the stern of the ship. I had noticed this time when using the collect spell that some of the lead had been pulled from the water directly and not just the ground. So, I was not surprised by the notification.

 

    [Collect Element has reached level 2.] 

 

    I could feel the difference in the spell as its level. The area I was pulling material from had been about one-quarter of a mile in a sphere around me, about .4 kilometers. Now the globe had expanded to one-half mile, about .8 kilometers. The spell not only pulled the elements from the ground but the water and air as well.

 

    Sitting by the tiller, I mused over what I was going to call this tiny ship. Something ostentatiously extraordinary like the jade dragon or the burning phoenix. No, no, those don't fit. I'm on a quest, ha, ever quest. No, no, a classic, but no. The ship is made from two trees; it's sort of alive. I have it; when the name came to me, a notification appeared as well.

 

    [ As the Creator of this ship, you have chosen to name it; The Ever Grove. Confirm name, yes or no.] 

 

    I selected the yes option, and I felt the name settle over the ship like a blanket. With that settled, I pulled the anchor up and stowed it on the bow of the ship. The Ever Grove began to gently drift into the river, taking me on the next leg of my journey. 

    

    Drifting down the river was relaxing but not very fast. I needed to make the sails for my sailboat, or I was going to be going nowhere fast. I locked the tiller in place, ensuring I was going to be in the center of the massive river. 

 

    I went into the cabin where I had stashed my failed bag of holding and the bones wrapped in the cloth. I unwrapped the bones and set them to the side, and took one end of the roll of material back to the stern of my ship. I began working on the sail and was able to make a few new spells in the process.

 

    [You have learned the spell: Cut: Base cost: Error… .1 mana per inch cut (2.5cm), area twenty feet, (6m). Level 1.] 

 

    I envisioned the spell as a simple pair of razor-sharp cloth shears. Reminiscent of the ever-forbidden scissors from one's mother's sewing supplies. The spell, though I created it for utility, made its deadly applicability apparent by the graceful and fluid cuts that appeared along with the envisioned pattern for the two sails. 

 

    Holding the pieces suspended in the air by compressed points of air was easy, though it did not activate a new spell notification. When the pieces I had cut were arranged in the two sail patterns. I used the spell [Fuse] in order to join the pieces together instead of a thread of some kind. The spell was impressive, coming from the perspective of a welder. I was able to fuse any material, not just metals or wood. It would allow for the combining of molecules to bond to each other, creating a seamless integration. I added metal grommets along the edge of the sail where the stringers would run. With the rope I had already made, I laced up the sails and attached the mainsail to the mast and boom. The second sail, the jib, I strung and connected to the forestay.

 

Now trying to thread the main sheet halyard line and the jib halyard line with nothing but a bit of air magic was difficult, mainly because of the rocking of the boat. The pulleys were made of stainless steel and cost 50 mana each to complete. With the lines strung, I was able to raise and lower the mainsail and jib from the comfort of my seat at the stern by the tiller. 

 

As I tied the halyard lines to the steel cleats, the wind caught the sails, and The Ever Grove was off. The light billowing white cloth-making for an iconic sailing image if someone could see me from the shore.

 

    There was a gentle breeze that blew from the stern, and the speed went from 5 knots to easily 10. I shaped some comfortable benches in the back near the tiller and sat and began to guide the boat down the river.

 

    After testing the sales and stability of the boat, I was pleased with the easy and smooth ride. "Now I'm just going to have to make some defenses, so no tentacle things jump out of the water to snatch me," I said. 

 

    This left me with the problem of enchanting. I still had the knowledge of how to create enchantments; they were relatively simple. The issue came in powering them. Creating enchantments that ran off the ambient mana was possible though the mana density could fluctuate wildly. The problem with this was if the enchantment did not get the constant amount of power it needed, it would destabilize. Even if the enchantment was carved into an object. The activation mana would destabilize, and the effect would go dormant until activated again; this could happen as many as thirty to forty times a day, I theorized. What I needed was a mana crystal of some type, but unfortunately, I was unable to pull any from the earth. I thought they were there; I could feel pockets of concentrated mana, but I was unable to collect it with the spell I had. This left me with little choice, and I would just have to make do for now.

 

    I did make one enchantment that I would be able to power directly with my mana. In order to make the enchantments, I had to know a few basic things about enchanting. Luckily while mainlining knowledge directly from the sea of chaos, enchanting was a process that came along with Arcane mana manipulation. 

 

    Enchantments were insubstantial magical constructs that were embedded in, cloaked over, or attached to things. They differed from spells in that the effects they were intended to have lasted much longer. Enchantments were not required to be carved or etched into an object but doing so provided more permanence to the intended enchantment. Much like railway tracks guided trains, carved enchantments provided a guide for mana. 

 

The basic rules of creating these magical railway lines were numerous but could be summed up. The symbols, glyphs, sigils, and language of the carvings, etchings, or casting had to mean something to the enchanter. The system had to recognize the validity of the meaning and the enchantment's viability. Much like with the naming of my ship, once I knew the name, the system stepped in and made it so anyone who analyzed the boat would see the chosen name. Much the same thing happened with an enchantment. Those personalized meanings became more widespread over time, as with a master teaching an apprentice. The apprentice will learn the master's symbols, and their meanings will become his over time. The system will then recognize those symbols. However, personal runes and other symbols may be used and recognized by the system, even effects that have other signs attached to them. The additional crucial detail is all the scripting, and every part of the enchantment must be connected to an inlet and outlet for the mana. Without these, the enchantment can never be started, and the effect cannot be projected. The last thing was every enchantment had a certain amount of mana needed to activate it and then to keep it running. While a lack of mana will shut an enchantment off, overloading an enchantment might make an overpowering effect in the short term, but the enchantment will burn out quickly.

 

    I chose a few basic symbols and decided if I needed scripting, I would just use cursive. Who said learning it would be a waste of time? Now it was the foundation of my magical enchanting? The mana inlet looked like multiple lines running into a more significant line. The effect I wanted was simple; I sensed the water on each side of the boat until the land was sensed, then kept the ship at, equal distance from the detected ground. This had the effect of keeping the boat in the center of the river. The symbols I chose were the earth alchemy symbol for water and earth; then, the scripting in cursive was added to create the effect using the center of the ship as the mid-point and defining the horizontal as the X-axis as one does in math. The outlet of the enchantment looked like a half-circle or sloppy crescent moon. 

 

I carved the enchantment onto the tiller, and when I added a flow of my mana to it, I received a notification.  

 

[ You have learned the skill: Enchanting: Novice, create basic enchantments, initial cost and sustaining cost greatly increased.]

 

[ You have created an Enchantment: Center of the waterway: this enchantment when placed on the steering device of a water vessel will keep the vessel equidistant from land. The initial cost of activation is 250 mana, the sustaining cost is 30 mana per minute.] 

 

    As the sailboat quickly moved down the river, I let the enchantment pull on my mana. The ship veered slightly, then, after a few moments, corrected itself. I was heading down the center of the massive river. I decided it was time to do a little interior decorating. I was also going to have to create some necessities to provide a little comfort.

 

    The first thing I did was create a brass door that snugly fit into the opening that led down into the cabin of the boat. The cabin was just taller than my head at about 6 foot six (2 meters). I began to work the interior with wood and metal, creating a table and benches along the port side. Towards the bow of the boat, I created a sectioned-off bathroom with a toilet and sink. Behind the benches along the port side, I created a small galley. Along the starboard side of the boat, I created a wooden bed frame where I laid out the hide from the steel bear. It was not the most comfortable mattress, but surprisingly the toughness of the steel fur provided a good amount of spring on the leather side of the hide.

 

    In the brass door, I created a circular port window and covered the inside of it with thick crystal making a window. I created four such port portholes along each side of the boat. This allowed for some much-needed sunlight into the cabin. It had less of a cave feel; it now had more of a cozy log cabin feel; I then went back to the stern of the boat and lounged on the bench next to the tiller.

 

    As I relaxed in my now comfortable onesie, I watched the scenery pass by. Trees and inlets on the far shores became a calming blue. 

 

I spent the rest of the day creating as much gold and silver as I could. As the metals formed, I would drop them one at a time into my bag. I figured that when I finally did get to civilization, I would be able to exchange the metals for standard currency. I was able to collect twenty-five pounds (11.3kg) of silver and ten pounds (4.5kg) of gold as I sailed. I tried to shape it like I think nuggets looked like, so hopefully, I could trade it.

 

I as well tried to collect rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. The gems, however, did not turn into a liquid and flow to me like the metals. It was more like they were wrenched in their entirety from their location. Each stone depending on its size, to a single sizable chunk of mana. I was surprised that I could find all four of the rocks in the river bottom, but my collecting spell had a spherical area of a mile (1.6Km). That meant I could reach a depth of 2600 feet (795M), and the water was only a few hundred feet deep. I was essentially dredging the bottom of the river for gold, silver, and precious stones. I only found three rubies, two emeralds, four sapphires, and 130 diamonds; diamonds are one of the most common gems.  

 

As night fell, I figured I had enough precious metals and stones. I then took down the sails allowing for the current of the river to carry me along. I was surprised I had not seen another ship yet.

 

    During the day, I had also finished distributing all the points I had received from leveling. Well, the attribute points, at least, I still was going to have to wait and see about buying abilities, skills, and spells.