[Earth Wall] [Earth Wall] [Earth Wall] [Earth Wall] [Earth Wall] [Earth Wall] [Earth Wall] [Earth Wall]

This should be fine for the wall. The only problem is that most of my mana is spent thanks to that little exercise.

My sweet volcanic home is indeed nice. The crater is perfect to build a suitable workshop and a comfortable home, with some space leftover to plant a little vegetable and/or herb garden. However, that only applies to the crater.

The overall coverage of the foot of my volcano is large, so very large that my morning jogging can be done around it.

I already moved the materials inside and walled up to prevent people from wandering in. It's time to start building.

"...w-wha? What was that?"
"...A wall? When did we have a wall there?"

The neighbors already know of the wall now. This is protection for the young ones, so they can't wander into my construction zone. Adults, this should be a warning for you that this area is being warded off.

"...Is this the thing the chief told us about?"
"...As expected of a graduate from an academy!"
"...Do you want to see what kind of construction he is doing? I'm sure it's going to be amazing too!"
"...Don't bother the new resident. That wall is to protect the kids from going into the construction area! He put it up to prevent accidents. Don't add to the problem."

It's good that you know. Now, let's start the construction.

Usually, it would be best to start building from the bottom-up. You need to put in the foundations first after all. However, I am working with a volcano here. If I just started poking holes into the base then it would be the same as tapping a wooden keg, and I would guarantee that I won't like what would flow out of it.

I also don't want to change much of the volcano. I'm not going to build a framework around it and just cover it with soil. It would feel like I'm making a baking soda volcano with that. I don't want to remove the natural formation of the volcano, and that would also take too much time and effort.

I'll just create an overflow hole, like those on a sink, and direct the excess lava somewhere away from the volcano and the village. This would keep the pressure inside the volcano in a level where it won't erupt, and I can keep the magma level at a certain height to still be able to use it as a security measure.

To the southeast is the village, direct south is near the path connecting this village to the rest of the world. In the southwestern all the way to the northwestern side are only some volcanoes. However, that side is the rest of the continent. There is a low chance that it would just expand the lava covered lands.

At first it seems a good idea to make the home of some renown hermit be dangerous and ominous looking. It adds to the atmosphere of the 'only the truly motivated will reach the promised goal' kind of thing. The downside is that it would impact the rest of the village and no one would want to visit this place until I built up renown that reaches the whole dwarf continent.

I guess the only option is to direct the lava flow further northeast. This place is the village that is farthest northeast in the dwarf continent. It's supposed to be cold and somewhat wintry here but thanks to the volcano, it's very warm.

Further up here is the sea. The cold sea where no one gets near because of the chance that some passing sea monster would pop up and gobble you up.

The distance from here to the sea isn't exactly what you call near but people from the dwarf continent hate the sea. I read in history books that the dwarf continent used to produce the most advanced ships in this world but that is as far as the story goes. I'm guessing they kept trying to make ships strong enough to cross the sea monster infested ocean but every time it ended in failure. They got crushed by that reality, so they threw away that story and never looked back.

That is why I am sure no one would ever travel through that way. At first I wanted the lava to just overflow at the side of the volcano but it would build up over time, so that was a bad plan. I need to make a pipe that leads northeast outside the volcano zone. If I direct it there, then the chance that the nearby volcano blocking my exit pipe would disappear.

I live in a volcanic area, so eruptions would happen from time to time. The lava flow would harden when it cools down, so I don't want it to cool down and harden at the exit of my pipe. However, I could use those hardened lava to cover up the pipe.

Although I have a material that could withstand that level of heat, letting it be cooked inside and out would still be bad. That is why if it's covered with hardened lava then it would act as a barrier the next time some volcano erupts.

The only problem would be on how to clear out the pipe if it's clogged. I guess I can make the pile extra large, so it won't get clogged for a long time but that is not exactly a solution. I'll have to find a solution to that some other time.

Let's get to building this!

First, before I start poking a hole into my volcano, I need to lay out the pipes heading toward my lava dumping site. This would be tricky since I need to go beyond my wall. I can't believe tearing down my wall is the first thing I need to do in my home construction. I wished I planned this out a bit more.

No one should wander around this side, right? This side of my volcano is heading towards more volcanoes, so even the most mischievous kid won't let their curiosity get ahead of themselves and wander into this lava splash zone.

I need to save mana, so I need to do this the old fashioned way, with a hammer!

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Pound* *Pound* *Pound*

There! Nice and flat. Hmm, Actually something sloping and rounded off might be better.

*Pound* *Pound* *Pound*

I need to do this the whole way as I'm laying out the pipe. I never imagined I would need to do this. I hope I have enough material to do this. I did buy extra but depending on how far the other side of this volcano zone is, I might end up eating away at my spare materials.

My first shopping trip might have to be a secret visit to the capital. If you are buying tons of building materials and they keep disappearing into an item bag, someone is bound to think I am rich. A rich person walking through the streets without a guard is an easy target for bandits and ruffians. I don't want that coming back to surprise me after all. It's better to be safe and hide my identity. Also, it's troublesome to rent mercenaries to provide cover for my storage ability all over again.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

My mana should be refilled soon but until then I have to form the shape by hand. It's tough to shape fire resistant metal like this without using my skills. However, it's not like I can sleep until I can start working again. That would take me too much time. I don't want the villagers getting impatient because they haven't seen the new resident after claiming to build a home on top of a volcano.

I don't want them barging in here with good intentions like that. It would be troublesome to explain how I'm doing my construction after all. I don't even want to hear how they want to help me finish building since it's dangerous to do it alone.

*Bang* *Dump* *Bang*

This is taking some time but I think I am close to clearing the volcano zone. The volcanoes around me are getting fewer.

*Bang* *Bang* *Clang* *Clang*

Around here should be fine, right? I'm still near the volcano zone but this would work out well. I just have to tweak the nearby terrain a bit to make it favourable for me.

*Dig* *Dig* *Dig* *Dig* *Dig*

I'll dig a path from the nearby volcano and path it towards my pipe. However, I'll path it so the flow would only brush at the side of the pipe while the dumping site is somewhere back to the volcano zone. This will cover my pipe without my pipe sharing it's drain exit with the nearby volcano.

And, done!! This should be enough for my overflow magma drain. It's time to connect the pipe into my volcano.

After that, I can start working on the foundation. There are a lot of things I need to do and it's already night time.

I can still work but I don't want to disturb the neighbors. I'll try to work harder from tomorrow onwards.