I woke up feeling happy and well rested. I yawned hugely as I moved aside my bed curtain and sat at the edge. My bare feet feeling nice against the soft carpet of my bedroom floor. "Good morning Kanta."

She flashed yellow and warbled in response. 

I went through my morning routine and walked downstairs. "Hmm the flame even keeps the floors nice and warm, I still kind of want to make some house slippers though, and a bathrobe. Those always look so comfortable in Alex's memories. I walked into the den and paused.

It was steadily snowing outside and there was already at least two inches accumulated. "No, no, no, noooooo! I should have had more time! Sigh."

I got bundled up in my warmest clothes and walked outside. I trudged my way to the greenhouse. I got there and was surprised to see that the roof was completely snow free. I touched the glass of the wall and found it to be nice and warm. Like the cold was being completely held at bay, rejected by the warmth within. I sighed in relief and went inside to greet Luna. Afterwards, I walked back home and went back inside. I cast a quick clean spell to remove the snow that had stuck to my shoes and the floor upon my entrance. I then cast Dry to remove any residual dampness. I have memories of Alex trudging snow into his house and having to mop up the mess every time. It must have been really annoying. These small conveniences are really my favorite part of magic.

I made us a quick breakfast and made the offering to Hestia. Freya wanted to go outside... "Seriously Freya! It's really cold and wet out there you know." She looked at me and snorted. She continued to paw at the door, so I gave in and opened it for her. I then walked to my smithy. I cast a quick light spell and walked over and unbricked my new kitchen knife blade. It was room temperature, so I grabbed it out. I used Creation to mix one of the magic stones from the wolves into the wood of the new handle. I then attached the handle, using material manipulation to join the two materials. This was the amazing part of this skill; you can join two separate materials together and make it one. No glue, no seams, amazing right? After I completed the knife, I was going to etch the one enchantment I had into the blade but paused.

This used a better magic stone, maybe I should just use Creation to do it. I might learn a new enchantment that way! I quickly used Creation while focusing on enchanting my new knife with the best possible enchantments. The knife flashed, and I knew it had been successfully enchanted. I grew excited because there were new words etched on the blade. "Analyze."

---

 

Santoku Chef Knife

Quality: Excellent

Enchantments

κόβω - Sharpness

Επισκευή λεπίδων - Blade Repair

Αναπνεύστε μαγεία - Mana Absorption

---

 

I was very happy with it. I grabbed a file and put a small scratch on the blade. I then watched it repair itself before my very eyes. "This means I won't ever have to sharpen the blade right! How magnificent." I ran into my kitchen and got out a nice cutting board and set it on the counter. I then placed the knife on top and stepped back to look. I smiled at the sight, mainly because my house is still very sparse. It's mostly empty, entirely undecorated. It looks like a newly produced house and not one that's lived in. I was a bit excited for this winter because I have plans to decorate it a bit. I had a lot to do, so I better get started.

I ran back to my smithy and decided to try one more of my grade E mana stones to make a new Mithril water faucet for my kitchen sink. I had already made the sink itself out of steel. This time I will make the faucet with two knobs. Well, I will make them knobs, but they won't actually be attached to any pipes. I will make it with a plus and minus button instead and see what happens. My goal is to get new enchantments again. I want to be able to use hot and cold water... I don't know if it will work though... It did work kind of... The water just came out hot alright. Unfortunately, it was close to boiling and I couldn't change it. I will count this as a failure. I will continue to try though. I really want adjustable temperature. 

I spent the entire day testing things and had managed to create another hot water faucet with Temperature Control, a steel floor tile that produces heat constantly by absorbing mana in the air. I finished my newest creation just now, a pair of leather boots. They had writing on the soles. They actually had three enchantments, Comfort, Temperature Control and Βήματα φαντασμάτων - Ghost Steps.

Curious I put them on and activated the enchantment. It was an active enchantment, so I had to supply it my Mana constantly. It took a lot less than Kanta did though so I wouldn't complain. I noticed right away that my footsteps were silent. I walked outside to test further and was shocked to discover I didn't sink into the snow but walked on top of it leaving no footprints. "Okay, that is cool!" Ghost Steps huh, these will make sneaking much easier. I decided to go back inside for lunch. Freya came sprinting out of the woods and was waiting for me at the front door. The only reason I went the outside route is to test my shoes some more.

"Look at you Freya leaving tracks for the enemy to follow right to the front door. See, this is how you do it, notice the clean fresh snow behind me." I said all this while looking as smug as possible. Wow, Freya has figured out how to roll her eyes. I can feel with my empathy though, she is a little jealous. I was going to cook some orc again but decided to try something different. I still remembered my beef jerky after all. I took out some orc meat and merged it into one long solid rectangle. I then repeated the process and did it twice more. I then used creation to turn all three into the highest quality beef I could imagine. I sucked about half my Mana to do this much at once, but at least I didn't black out this time. I used Creation to turn two of the giant slabs of beef into large stacks of Beef jerky with some salt and pepper added in. I took out a wooden barrel and stored the jerky. After testing it to make sure it turned out okay. I had to test about ten pieces as you can never be too safe with these things.

I then got out my beautiful Magi-steel frying pan and sliced off some thick steaks. As I was heating them, I pulled out a second pan and chopped up some potatoes, onions and garlic with my new knife. I caramelized the onions and fried the potatoes in oil. I seasoned and combined them and started frying the steaks. I used some chili peppers and salt to make a dry rub and cooked up about half the rectangle of beef I had made. Freya eats a lot after all. So, Steak and fried potatoes completed. 

I turned around to call Freya, but she was standing right behind me drooling on the floor. Do you want some potatoes Freya? She nodded enthusiastically. I laughed and separated aside some for Lady Hestia. I put the nicest steak and some potatoes and onions on a small, decorated ceramic plate I made especially for her. The plates were even glazed with her symbol on them. I set the plate into the fire and offered it to Hestia. It promptly vanished in a shower of gold sparks. I can't be sure, but it appeared to vanish a little faster this time...

I set Freya's share on the floor and we both ate enthusiastically. I usually just ate some orc or fish sandwiches or salad, but now that I have more time and ingredients, I might experiment a little more. This was ridiculously tasty after all. We finished eating and I patted my stomach and groaned... Freya went and flopped onto her rug in contentment, apparently planning on a food coma. Even now her tail is gently wagging, beating against the rug with soft thumps. I can already tell; this winter will be so much better than the last one.

 

---

---

 

I pulled open the curtain to look out my window and sighed. The snow had piled up past the window again and it looked like I had been buried in an avalanche. There was a small space though between the glass and the snow. It still couldn't touch the building due to the effects of the sacred flames I was guessing. It had been a month since winter started, and it hasn't stopped snowing for a moment. When you looked at the trees, they looked half their true size as the snow had piled up halfway up their trunks.

I had been mainly focused on carving and finishing the trim and baseboards of my house and making some furniture. I made a kitchen table and chairs, moving my rocking chair to one of the guest bedrooms. I made bookshelves and little pillars that held some of my wood sculptures. I filled the house with tiny tables and sculptures trying to make it look nicer. I had even made curtains for all the windows.

As I was looking out the window already, I went ahead and placed all the snow I could see directly into my storage. I then opened it and peeked out. I stored as much snow as I could from here and cleared the area around my front door and house. 

I next got dressed in my winter gear. it wasn't an Eskimo jacket like you would imagine, but a regular leather cloak enchanted with comfort and temperature control. There was also a new enchantment on it. Μεγαλύτερη άμυνα - Greater Defense. I even tried to stab it with all my strength and couldn't pierce it. I was very happy that day. I pulled on my ghost-step boots and looked at Freya. "I am clearing the area again; you want to go with me Freya?"

"Woof" she said and nodded.

I finished getting ready and opened my door, causing a shower of ice to break free. I began to wander around placing all the snow in my storage. "I wonder what I should do with all this snow I have gathered. What do you think Kanta, Freya? Maybe I can figure out how to make golems, then I can make an army of ice giants to protect us.  wouldn't that be n-ice." Freya huffed and Kanta flashed her dull grey. Sigh... what a tough audience. 

I cleared the snow up to my greenhouse and went inside to visit Luna for a bit. The greenhouse was just as warm as ever, standing like a giant shield against the snow and cold. I could see the snow rolling off the roof to the sides, not even sticking to the ceiling. It was a fascinating sight.

My greenhouse was now full of fruit trees and flowers. There was even a stone path leading through all the trees to Lunas tree with a little stone bench sitting by her trunk. I had planted all the flowers to spruce up the place for her and add some color. I grabbed a pear as I walked back towards the door.

I paused by the door and touched a metal plate on the wall. I pushed Mana into it, and it started to rain in the greenhouse. I had figured out that you could use a Mithril wire connected to the point of enchantment to activate the item. I had then made a kind of sprinkler head system and hung it on the roof. But the big plans wouldn't start until spring, I glanced at a leather pouch hanging at my waste.

It had a very special enchantment on it. διευρυμένο διάστημα was wrapped in a spiral around the outside of the pouch. The enchantment is what you are guessing though, Expanded Space! So, I plan to make another greenhouse twice the size of this one, out of pure Mithril and glass, with mana stones in all of the connection points. I will then enchant it. And hopefully, I can make Luna a beautiful garden to live in. I might even add a little pond and creek. Some regular trees. Maybe I can even make it big enough to fit Marianna's massive tree if I can figure out a source for better Mana stones. The cave of Spiders comes to mind...  or maybe I can find something else...

After I watered everything, I continued to walk around storing all the snow. "You know I was joking earlier, but maybe golems are not a crazy idea after all. Well ice ones would be, but stone or metal... It would be nice to have some sentries. I wonder if... " I stopped speaking because I could have sworn, I just heard something. "Did you hear that Freya?"

Freya barked and nodded in affirmation. 

-ellllllp!

Suddenly I sensed something enter my domain and flared my detection magic in that direction. It was coming from the North, from the mountains...

After about five minutes I saw something crazy, there was a tiny old man covered in ice riding a small, localized avalanche. He was skiing on it with two of the largest bare feet I have ever seen. It's like he was skiing but the avalanche was moving with him. "Now that is an interesting application of water and ice magic." Kanta flashed yellow in happy agreement. 

Suddenly Freya had her hackles up, growling menacingly. I sometimes forget she is a large terrifying wolf. There was a burst of mists and suddenly she was a Giant terrifying wolf. She was the size of a bison, her teeth as long as my arm. I had never seen her like this. "Freya it is just a harmless looking little old man, is that really necessary?" She didn't back down at all. Thankfully Melianna's tree and the greenhouse were to the south of the house. Me and Freya had already moved to block the man. 

Please Help Meeeeeee! echoed across the plain. Then I saw it, A massive blue giant was chasing him, and he was apparently er...skiing for his life. I immediately activated Divine Sight. No longer caring if it was rude. This little shit brought a monster right to my front door after all! 

Barbe-Gazi - Snow fairy also known as an Ice Gnome, a helpful and friendly Winter Fae of the Seelie Court. Known to only appear in winter after a large snowfall, has been known to rescue people trapped or lost in the snow and help Shepherds who have lost their flocks. One of the friendliest Fae you will ever meet. 

I quickly dismissed him as a threat for now, trusting my skill implicitly. I switched my gaze to the Blue and brown giant. With Divine Sight I could see much further, and I could tell now that the brown was just pine nettles this thing had gathered and stuck to itself with some kind of sap. It had long thin fingers, each tipped with talons. It looked like a large elderly starving werewolf, was at least fifteen feet tall and was sprinting like a top-class athlete after the little gnome. It had no lips covering its blood-soaked sharp teeth, and there were large sections of its arms and legs that looked as if the flesh had been bitten and eaten. "Does this monster actually eat itself."

Chenoo - A cannibalistic human cursed by the Gods. A man who gave in to the hunger of starvation to kill and eat his own family during the bleak months of winter, causing his heart to freeze into solid ice. Cursed with eternal hunger so powerful this monster will even consume itself, only to regenerate again and again. Beware as it will try to eat any living thing it happens upon.

Epic ranked Monster

I deactivated my Divine Sight and shivered in horror. I remembered Melianna's list of rules and how you would be punished by the Gods for breaking some of them. The Oni was like this as well. Once a man who broke the Divine Mandate of the Gods and was punished by being changed into a creature that reflects his inner monstrosity. The little Fairy was quickly coming towards us, and I quickly decided not to mess around and summoned my ten giant fire balls, but this time shaped them into spears. As soon as the gnome saw that he curved sharply to get out of the way. I created ten air vortices to fire the spears like a massive harpoon gun. The spears flew forth faster than a bullet from a rifle.

They impacted the monster and there was a massive fiery explosion. I didn't even wait to see if it worked and launched another volley. I followed that by spears of stone. I thought about using my white flames but something about using them like that felt really wrong. It was a flame of help not harm, even if they destroyed inherently.

Freya shot a large blast of wind magic to clear the smoke and there was the Chenoo, All the pine nettles had burned off as had a lot of its white fur. It was covered in burns and one of its arms had been blown off its body. It even had a stone spear sticking out of its chest. It had stopped running and stood frozen in place. "Did I get him?" It suddenly proved me wrong and bent down and picked up its own arm, it then began to rip into the flesh with its teeth, eating ravenously. I threw up at the sight, and Freya took the time to launch a massive thunderbolt from the sky. It just tanked the bolt like it didn't even feel it. Its wounds were already healing, proved by the spear that was suddenly ejected from its chest. Its arm too was regenerating inching its way downwards. 

I wiped my mouth and this time I summoned one massive fire ball; I poured as much Mana into it as I could. It was larger than my house. I then compressed it down to one massively compressed spear. I focused on making a spear that could pierce and burn anything. I held that spear in the air and summoned a pile of regular iron ore from my storage. I used Creation to form it into a thin metal spike, even taking time to enchant it while this thing was still distracted. I then placed it in the center of the fire spear using my Earth Magic and it started to glow orange. I fired both of them together with wind magic as fast as I could. It flew true and struck the beast right in the chest where its heart should be. But it looked like it was stopped by something. I stated creating a massive gravity orb and looked at Freya. 

"Freya, can you knock it onto its back and then get out of my way?

She barked and took off running. Glowing dark green with Nature Magic, boosting her strength and speed, she jumped and pushed it with all four feet, and the monster was pushed down on its back facing the sky. She then darted to the side as fast as she could, knowing what the dark purple orb in my hand would do.

I then fired my gravity orb directly at the butt of my still glowing metal spike. It flew and hit the spike and suddenly there was a crushing force that pushed the beast into the ground in a crater, the spear trembled and even deformed a bit but then it suddenly vanished as it finally pierced whatever was stopping it and shot all the way through, digging down deep within the Earth. The ground shook from the impact and I chugged down a High-Grade Mana Potion in case it wasn't over yet. I only drank that for the limited mana regeneration speed increase, I next pulled out one of my Sacred apples and ate it as fast as I could. I felt my Mana refill instantly, as cheat like as usual. Thanks for the help little Luna. 

I waited but the monster was no longer moving. I slowly started walking towards it warily, Freya following right beside me. As we got closer, I noticed that the monster was burning outwards from the hole in its chest. I sighed in relief. "Don't let your guard down girls but I think we did it." Kanta's feather was a dull orange that seemed to glow in anxiety. She chirped in agreement. Freya also didn't shrink down yet and remained in a ready stance, just waiting to pounce and sink in her teeth. The burning hole continued to spread until the monster had completely vanished only leaving the dead body of a human man and a crystal shaped like a tiny mandrake. I just stared blankly at it and said Analyze.

Chenoo Heart: Epic Rank Mana Stone

I place it in my storage still feeling too sickened to be happy about it. I then once again turned my gaze to the little gnome. He was peeking from behind a snowbank his eyes wide. His shaking beard was clanging from icicles, sounding like a windchime.  Freya shrank back down to her normal size with a poof sound. We walked toward the frightened gnome who looked like he was considering running away again. 

"Hello there, I am Remmi, and this is Freya. Would you please explain who you are and why you just brought a giant cannibal monster right to my front door?" 

"Eh, e-everyone just calls me ol' Barb. Much thanks fer saving me life." He squeaked in response. His long white eyebrows were raised, and his moustache quivered in nervousness. His voice was also quite disconcerting as it didn't fit his image at all.

"I wasn't so much bringin it to ya door as I was runnin fer me life." 

"Hmm, well I guess that makes sense. I would appreciate it if you could not tell anyone I am here though. I am hiding here you see, and I have people close to me I must protect."  

"Of course, no worries. Ol' Barb can keep a secret, and ye did just save me life. If I can do anything fer ya in thanks, I'll be happy too. Maybe ya need some supplies?"

I was about to tell him to not worry about it but... "Then... do you think you could get some milk producing livestock like a few goats or cows? I would even be happy with a few chickens as well. I am willing to pay or trade for them."

He started to quiver in excitement, his icicle beard-chimes ringing merrily. "Leave it up ta Ol' Barb! More than one Shepherd owes Ol' Barb a favor or two. I'll get ya what ya need! He then launched himself into the air and started skiing towards the southern forest, his little localized avalanche carrying him at a surprisingly fast speed. 

"Well... That just happened. Do you think he is trustworthy Freya?" Kanta flashed blue in reassurance and Freya nodded. Well, I guess I better build some kind of barn or stable then... I'll just use earth magic for now. I walked to the right side of my house still on the northern side and used Earth Magic to make a largish building. I made it enclosed, with some large double doors like you would see on a barn. I walked inside and built some stables and a coop area in the back just in case. I don't have any hay, but I have corn and oats. I also still have the wheat I grew. I never did anything with it because I was lacking milk and eggs. I made a wooden barrel and filled it with wheat chaff and some oats. I left it there and installed one of my lights on the roof and turned it on. I made a few troughs for water and food in each stable and filled them up. 

After I finished the inside, I walked back outside and over to my wheat field. I used Creation to make some grass seeds and spread them in my currently empty field. I then used Nature magic to quickly grow the grass until it was high enough. One large wind blade and it was all cut. I quickly gathered all the cut grass and took it back to my new miniaturized barn. Well, it looked more like a stone shoebox right now, but it will work until Spring when I can make a better one. I shivered as it was still freezing out and breathed into my hands. Still... I just made a building and grew a field of tall grass in the middle of winter. All in less than thirty minutes. I have become ridiculous... "My common sense has been killed. Maybe I should make another gravestone." I glanced over to the edge of the field and saw my grave to Mr. Pookie. May he rest in peace...

After I walked back to the "barn", I placed the grass scattered in each stall and cast Dry on it. I had to cast it several times, but it got the job done. I then decided to try something that had been on my mind for a while. I created a small stone lantern with small holes on each of its four sided. I then hung it up by the ceiling and cast a tiny pea sized ball of my white Sacred Flames. Amazingly enough, that tiny spec of flame still instantly heated up the entire interior space. How... Whatever, its Magic! is the answer to any question like that I suppose... 

I looked at Freya, "Well I don't know if he will keep his word, but now we have a space to keep the livestock if he does. I sure hope he brings me a way to get milk. I really want to be able to bake, and make bread, and oatmeal, and cheese... That list could go on for a while."

I walked back to my house and went inside. Both of us went and laid on the rug by the fireplace. I snuggled into Freya's side and tried to forget the fact that there was still a dead human body outside. I quickly fell asleep for an afternoon nap... 

Freya was just staring at her new family member. Remmi had gotten strong, that's for sure.  And she is still so young. I will have to train and become stronger. So, I can always be there to support her.