Good morning! The sun hasn't risen yet but I hear activity down in the village. To be more precise, I hear the sounds of people greeting each other a good morning.

"...Oi!!! You're up early today!!! It's rare to see you up this early in the morning!"
"...Don't shout so loud! I'm sleep deprived here! I'm not 'up this early', I just returned back from a job! Damn client kept haggling until the end!"

Those must either be the carpenters or the farmers. If they can shout like that at this time then it is probably alright for me to continue building my volcano.

Now that I finished building my lava drain pipe, I can start to reinforce the volcano. I did say that I didn't want to change the natural formation of the volcano but I need to secure my foundation, so I thought of a suitable compromise with my problem.

If I can't change the natural shape of the volcano, I just have to insert the support underneath the ground. No one would dig into a volcano after all, so I don't have to worry about them finding out that I reinforced the volcano by implanting metal bones underneath the surface.

The only problem is the durability. Since the metal will be in constant contact with molten magma, it would eventually be corroded with the heat and mana. The solution I can use to patch this up is by leaving a layer of soil between the magma and the metal.

In other words, I will be slipping the metal in between the volcano body. It's like sandwiching the cheese metal into the volcano rock bread!!

If possible, I want to add a more solid earth to blanket the whole volcano but I will make do with just the stairway to the crater and the actual crater itself. Actually, The crater would be solid metal covered with lava soil that is supported by the framework I am currently making but no one will know that it's a huge trap door I made, until the last moment.

Now that I am transplanting a metal framework into the volcano, I need to buy some materials again to make sure I have the necessary spare materials in case something happens. However, that isn't that much of a pressing issue. As long as I still have enough materials to build my workshop and house then I can hold off buying more materials anytime soon.

Anyway, now that I have mana, I can do this framework building in a much easier fashion.

First, I will have to manually dig into the volcano and as I am tunneling into it, I will take out the extremely heat resistant metal that I bought and shape it into solid pipes, about a couple of feet thick. I will use [Shaping] to form the shape and [Welding] to connect it with the next pipe.

I will essentially be digging into the volcano and sealing the tunnel I created as I move forward. I'll have to resurface every so often to take a breath but considering my stamina, I won't have to do it so frequently.

Now, before I think up another method that might force me to use up my materials more, let's finish building the volcano framework.

Dig! Dig! Dig! I hope I'm heading in the right direction! I'll keep digging and filling the space with my building material!

Where do I shovel the dirt to? Of course to my storage! I'll pack some of them into the gaps when I put the metal framework but I don't have any plans on what to do with the rest.

Two hours in and I am still digging. I long to see the sun as the dark tunnels are slowly claiming my soul. When was the last time I felt the warmth of the sun, the soothing breeze of the wind, and the sound of the world being alive.

Joking aside, I think it's time for me to take a breather.

*Dig* *Dig* *Dig*

*Inhale* *Exhale*

Fresh air that smells like dirt. It couldn't be helped since I'm still in the ground and freshly dug soil always smells strong.

I'm not sure exactly where I am right now but I feel that I finished building a quarter of the framework for the volcano. However, I'm starting to build this framework from the ground up. The base of the volcano is always the largest, so I am basically halfway there.

Very well, let's continue this so I can finish.

I'm finally done!! It got dicey in some parts where I almost hit magma but I'm thankful that I conserve my mana as much as possible. That was a huge scare since I'm not exactly sure if I can survive that. I mean, I am sure I would be dead if I fall but with my resistances, I think I could somewhat survive as long as I don't stay in contact with it for a long time. I might have serious burns but as long as it's only as far as a flesh wound, I can heal that out.

Anyway, I'm done and I won't have to deal with that again until I check them again for maintenance, which will take place maybe a decade from now.

I'll use normal rock for the stairs, as I don't want anybody trying to dig it up for a profit and inadvertently discovering the metal framework underneath. I'll need to put in handrails though, for protection.

Now I need to build the crater.

This would be the place where I live, work and meet customers, so it not only needs to be very functional for me, it also needs to be inviting and pleasing to the customers' eyes. I will of course make the crater be made solidly out of thick heat resistant metal that I specifically purchased for it.

Heat rises up so now only do I need to have a vent there, I also need to have a cooling chamber. I don't know how to actually make a cooling chamber but what I am thinking is to put an empty room just below the crater and make hidden vents to make air pass through thereby cooling the room. I'll have an exhaust vent, for the heat rising up the volcano, and pass it through my workshop chimney. This will help in heating up my workshop to a certain level and make me use less mana in forging.

I could also make it into a basement but I don't have that many items I need to store there. Ideally, I would be making flowing water pass through that room but I don't really have access to it.

The only source of water I have is the water tower that I have to manually fill with water using my magic but my mana isn't at the state where I can fill up the tower and still have enough leftover to continue my forging.

Now that I think about it, where should I put my water tower? I guess it doesn't really matter that much since I have the whole volcano all to myself. I'll just put it somewhere close to the house to make it easier to do the plumbing.

The workshop would be in the centre and the first thing people see, just as I planned. The house would be connected just behind it. I don't really have a need for a second floor but if I am using the water tower as the source of my indoor plumbing, I would need to rely on gravity for water pressure.

It would be easier to hide the pipes if I connect them to the second floor and let it fall down on a slope to the kitchen, washroom, and wherever I need the water. I guess only my room and a small relax spot would be placed upstairs. Everything else can be downstairs.

The next thing I need to think about is the decorations for the place. A small vegetable garden, whatever I can plant that can survive in this place, at the back some plants or trees that I can use as material for forging could be planted in front. It won't make for a colourful entrance but it would make for a very functional and professional blacksmith look.

Now that I have that figured out, it's time for me to build it all and see what it really looks like.

I will of course be covering the metallic ground with the dirt I dug up but I wonder if three feet of dirt should be enough to keep other people from discovering that there is a metal foundation underneath. I doubt someone would dig up a crater of the volcano, even if my volcano is a small one, just to satisfy their curiosity of what is underneath. That should be fine.

After this then I should be done with everything I need to do outside. It should finish up in another day or so. However, I also need to put in all my furniture, line the pipes, and finish working on the introductory gifts.

Now that I pointed it out, I should finish everything in less than a week. This is fine, I can finish everything before the 'hype' of me moving in dies down.

This is my first step into creating my legends, so I need to make the best start possible.