January 15, 2019, Roughly 8 in the morning.

As I gaze down into the hole, I make out several jars and bottles lining a shelf along one side. Most of the earthen wall that was above the shelf has collapsed but most of it seems undamaged. Drawing the earth away, into my new "dirt goes here” pile. Then I set several stone blocks into place, creating crude steps that I use to step into the pit. I think it used to be a cellar. I leave the bottles and jars alone for the moment, as there’s another object that catches my interest.

It must have been unburied when I spotted the dirt out. Wedged between several bottles is a tool that almost seems like it might have been a shovel. It’s missing its handle, but the head is still intact. Picking it up I realize it’s about thirty cm to a side but only two millimetres thick. I'm not sure what it's made of, but I'm guessing it must be steel or iron, though I don't see any rust.

My first thought is that I might be able to make something useful out of this once I’m able to learn metal manipulation. I already know that it doesn’t respond to Earth manipulation since it's still here after I excavated the area. Climbing out of the hole I move into the church where I can experiment without having to watch my back continuously.

I barely look as I seal the entrance behind me. Instead, I’m inspecting the flat piece of metal carefully. If the previous owners left any markings on it, I’d like to find them before I accidentally destroy them. My careful inspection is for naught, however. There isn’t so much as a scratch to mar the object’s surface.

Shrugging I start cycling my mana in my fingers as I run them along the shovelhead. It’s neither fluidic nor rigid. By themselves, most metals are malleable. They're also conductive allowing heat and electricity to flow through them. Then there's the weight of metals. Not just their physical weight either, but historical too. The harnessing of metals is one of the most distinctive marks of our civilization besides fire and agriculture. We literally have ages named after bronze, iron and gold. Even the system is using metals for grading.

Drawing my mana forth I'm able to shape the thin sheet in my hand. It takes more time, plus I need to work smaller sections to not drain my mana, but the degree of control compared to any other mana type is phenomenal. I'm able to run my hand over the surface leaving small indents, basically drawing on the metal surface as I go. I keep playing with the sheet of metal until I eventually remember I need to be productive. With that thought, I create a knife from the sheet then fold the rest together for later. With that done I do a quick once over of my notifications. It takes me a second to remember I haven't checked my notifications since before I went to bed the night before.

"Skills increased:

Mana Manipulation (41 to 43) Fire Manipulation (14 to 16) Water Manipulation (20 to 21) Wind Manipulation (15 to 16) Stone Manipulation (18 to 25) Stone Shaping (15 to 17) Earth Manipulation (4 to 11) Cleaning (34 to 38)

"Skill unlocked: Metal Manipulation (1 to 4)"

"Skill unlocked: Crafting - Metal Shaping (1 to 2)

"Quest received: Metal in the Making. Learn the basics of creating metal tools. Requirements: Create 1/5 tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 2/25. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Time: 3/3 days remaining."

Deciding it won't take me long to make progress on the quest I make two more knives, a fork and a spoon. Checking my progress, I see that I'm at 3/5 tools while my metal shaping is up to 5/25. It seems like they need to be distinct types of tools. Wracking my brain for a second, I grin as I make one of the knives into a small gardening spade. The last one I make into a spearhead, which the system doesn't count as a tool.

I still have half the metal left from the sheet though, so I look at it as I think of other tools I could use. Glancing down, I see the tattered sleeve of my onesie flapping about. Oh. Ohhhhh. Reaching for the metal plate I create several needles. Now all I need is some string, then I can start patching up my poor onesie.

My collection of needles is sufficient to count as a tool, turning the progress over to 5/5 while also raising my metal shaping to 17. Now I just need to raise my metal shaping skill another eight points. Considering the whole process has only taken me a couple minutes so far, I feel it's probably worth completing such an easy quest. Then I can get the integration points right away.

My needles are already exactly what I need so I start with upgrading my utensils. Taking each in hand, I start by refining them. I give my knife a finer edge, my fork smoother prongs and my spoon a rounded edge. Then I shape my name into the underside of each one, proudly claiming them as mine. Which leads to me adding swirling designs to the top of each handle. Looking at my tools and utensils, I realize I need storage for them.

Taking some stone, I quickly create a rack for my utensils and a small box for my needles. Storing everything, I turn back to my remaining piece of metal. I split several small pieces off which I use to pin the leg of my onesie together, eliminating most of the draft that's been blowing through. I'm left at metal shaping 24/25 so I should only need to create one more object.

The last object I create is a simple cup. Like my utensils, I take a moment to engrave my name in the base then add swirling patterns running up the sides. With that complete, I happily read my notifications.

"Skills increased:

Mana Manipulation (44 to 45) Metal Manipulation (5 to 26) Metal Shaping (3 to 26)

"Quest objective completed: Metal in the Making. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points."

"Quest updated: Metal in the Making. Description: Create tools that will stand up to abuse. Requirements: Create 0/5 iron grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 26/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 30/30 days remaining."

Okay, so the crafting quest is a chain quest. That's pretty cool. It took me an hour to complete but it was definitely worth it. I might need to work on the stone shaping too. Hopefully working on my tower will help. Setting my tools down in their new containers, which I leave near my smokehouse turned meat storage, I return my attention to investigating the cellar with its unidentified contents.

My ability to cut stone blocks has grown to the point where it only takes me a minute to recreate an opening large enough to step through. At this rate, I might be able to open and close some walls as if they were doors in a couple days. Stepping outside I glance at the large pile of dirt I left sitting to the side before peering down at the jars. As I'm limping forward, I'm struck by an idea. Pausing in place, I put a large portion of dirt inside the church for later experiments, then continue into the cellar. Pretty sure I can use earth in crafting too. Maybe some windows.

I'm able to feel the bottles with earth manipulation but I can't lift them. As I touch one of the bottles, I'm able to tell that about 80% of the contents is water, but the rest is unknown. Since it's in a cellar I'm kind of hoping that the bottles contain wine or something similar. Then once I've found the others when we're all back together we can toast to our unlikely success.

Directing my water mana carefully, I lift the bottles from the shelf then set them inside on my pile of dirt. Once I have all the bottles collected, I realize I can't leave them sitting there. I decide to create a stone rack to rest them on instead. It only takes me a couple minutes, but it's the fanciest thing I've created with stone. Apparently, it's enough to complete the first stage of my stone shaping quest.

"Skills increased:

Mana Manipulation (46 to 48) Stone Manipulation (26 to 30) Stone Shaping (18 to 25)"

"Quest objective completed: If you build it, they won't come. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points.

"Quest updated: If you build it, they won't come. Requirements: Build 0/1 iron grade structure using Stone Manipulation, raise Stone Shaping skill 25/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 30/30 days remaining."

Sweet. Nice wine rack plus a quest completion. I wonder what it means by iron grade structure though. Is it saying I can make my structures even stronger than stone? Reading back, I see that it mentioned iron grade metal tools too. Yet another item on my list of things to investigate.

I mentally designate and confirm all six points to perception without opening my status, returning directly to work. There's nothing else of interest in the building, but I'm considering taking apart the rest of the village now. Not very seriously, but who knows what else might be buried here. I'm about to fill the pit back in when I realize leaving it as an obstruction might be more useful.

With a small house worth of stone built up, it's time for me to start working on my tower. But first I need to get all my stone to the roof. I'd rather not climb up and down the ladder continually. Instead, I create a narrow stone staircase along the outside of the former church. Then I create a flat spot at the top where I can stack my materials. Moving the stone is a slow but steady process since I'm trying to avoid making multiple trips. Once I've moved my materials to the roof, I go back to reclaim the staircase.

Just because I'm trying to avoid multiple trips, doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy for things to sneak up on me.

With my materials in place and my stairs reclaimed, I reach down into the roof with my stone manipulation, slowly reinforcing the west end of the building. With the stairs already at this end, there are more walls to hold my tower in place, so it doesn't take much before I'm satisfied. Then I start building the tower. It doesn't need to be much taller to see over most of the nearby trees, heck I can almost see over them just standing on the peak. But I want to be able to see it from a distance.

As I float the blocks into place, I think about how much work it would be to do this without magic. Not just setting them in place, but the ability to meld them together into a monolithic structure? I'd never be able to do it.

I keep working until I have a tower that stretches another ten meters above the peak of the church. Climbing the inside is remarkably easy as I've covered the interior with hand and footholds. I chose not to go with a ladder, but I still have a pole. I decided to split the tower into two halves so I can take the pole down five meters at a time. It's safer that way. The entire time I've been building it, I've stayed below the rising walls. Which keeps me away from anything that might come along and snatch me up. Once I've worked a domed roof over the top I finally gaze out over the world.

The standing stones to the south are immediately visible, but I also think I'm able to make out Josh's little fort near the beach to the east. Doing a careful survey of the skies, I don't see any sign of the dragon. Breathing a little easier, I look to the north where I see that the river is only a half a kilometre away. It's nearly as close as the standing stones. If I remember correctly, the river leads all the way to the mountains in the west. There were a few minor tributaries, but I could follow it there. More importantly, I can follow it back to the church.

Looking towards the beach, I estimate the distance to be about four kilometres. It took us an hour at a comfortable speed, to make it to the village. Using that as a guide I try to determine how far I could travel in a day. If I went all out for fifteen hours, I could probably make it halfway to the mountains rising in the distance. I never would've been able to make a journey like that before this system, but with my body draining stamina instead of my energy, I can keep going for a lot longer than I could before. Combine that with a good night's rest completely restoring everything then I should be able to make decent progress.

Unfortunately, the mountains are only where I suspect the others have gone. Because I'm assuming the dragon took them. And I'm assuming that's where I saw the dragon flying. Instead of assumptions, I have an idea that might let me know.

Opening my interface, I go to my party status. They're all greyed out, but the fact that they're still in my party gives me hope. If they died, they probably wouldn't be in my party anymore.

With this vague thought in mind, I start feeling around the edge of Josh's status using my facet. Just like following my health led me to the interface layer, I'm hoping that I can follow his status back to him. I've been examining his status for over a minute when I finally feel a pulse reach me.

It's weak so I'm not able to determine the direction but it's the lead I'm hoping for. I patiently wait another minute then two for another pulse. I'm starting to get worried when after nearly three minutes I finally feel another pulse arrive. I'm still not able to narrow down the direction. Waiting for the next pulse I count up to 176 when it arrives. This time I'm ready for it so I send facet into the connection, hoping to get their direction.

For a second I go blind. It feels like my wrists are burning and I have a major headache, but then the sensations disappear as quickly as they came. When my vision returns, I see Josh's status flicker for a moment before returning to grey.

At that moment I saw that he still had plenty of health and stamina, but his mana and focus were both negative. I didn't realize you could have negative mana. Looking down at my wounds it occurs to me that it's probably similar to running out of health.

At least he's alive. And I know his direction. The pulse came from the west almost directly along the river. Checking my facet, I'm floored when I realize that pulse cost me eleven focus and 43 facet. I'm only going to be able to repeat the pulse a little more than once every hour.

I was planning to check on Beth right away, but it appears I don't have the facet. Looking out to the west, I see a spot where the river bends. If I'm going to head out today, that's where I want to reach. I only have a few more simple experiments I want to try before I'll be ready to set out.

Climbing down through the stone hatch in the roof, I collect the last of my unused metal.

Shaping it into a thin sheet, I wrap it around my ankle creating a brace. Standing up I test it. It takes several redesigns, but I find a balance that lets me move at a reasonable clip without jostling my ankle too badly. I make a couple more adjustments for aesthetics purposes before I'm satisfied.

The final design resembles a metal boot. Inside I added packed earth to soften each step. Thanks to my manipulation skills I'm able to walk without it taking a significant amount of energy, though it does take some getting used to.

With my first experiment a success I move onto revising lightning torrent. The inability to stay standing whenever I cast this spell is a major weakness. If I'd made my spell correctly my companions might still be here beside me.

I can't do anything about that, but I can try to fix my spell. I call the rune structure to mind but don't feed it mana. As I'm inspecting it, I see the two thrust outputs. The way I have them set they're pointed straight at me. With a slight adjustment, I point them out to the sides. The moment I'm ready to cast, I wince. If this doesn't work, I'm going to send myself flying again.

Moving out of the church I go down next to my dirt pile. If I'm sent flying, I'd rather land there. With my backup in place, I start casting. The spell is a complete success. It goes flying across the village slamming into the tree I chose as my target. The tree lights on fire before falling back into the nearby forest. The thrust was successfully directed to my sides. It scorched the earth just to the front of me and I felt a tingle in the air, but it left me unharmed.

I don't take time to revel in my success though. I'm already limping across the clearing, dousing the burning tree before I light the whole damn forest on fire. Running across the clearing highlights that my ankle is still sore, but my design is working. I'm guessing that being able to run, even for short periods, is going to be important.

"Skill reassessed: Engineering (1 to 21)

"Skills increased:

Mana Manipulation (49 to 52) Water Manipulation (22) Lightning Manipulation (19 to 20) Stone Manipulation (31 to 42) Stone Shaping (26 to 32) Earth Manipulation (12) Metal Manipulation (27 to 29) Metal Shaping (27 to 28) Engineering (22 to 24) Spatial Manipulation (8) Temporal Manipulation (6)

"Lightning torrent modified, would you like to update your preferred spell?"

"Oh, hell yes," I say to the air.

With my first two experiments a success, it's time for my third and last before I head out. The last idea occurred to me when I had to use two manipulation skills to control the smoke. First, I summon my orb of fire setting it spinning. Then I summon an orb of water matching my fire orbs orbit. Slowly I bring them together. When they make contact, they explode in a cloud of steam. Using both my water and fire manipulation, I'm able to direct the steam providing myself with an obscuring cloud. One that doesn't smell like smoke. Spinning it out around me I watch as I let it float into the sky where I'm distracted when I see the green and blue planet peeking over the northern edge of the village.

"Sab, I wish you could see this." I sigh, looking to the sky. Glumly, I check my notifications.

Moving back inside I pack my meagre possessions including what should be a few days' worth of dried meat in a couple stone blocks. With my preparations complete, I call Smoulder then we start out towards the west.

….

I make it three steps before I remember I need to stop by the standing stones first. Turning in place, I start heading south. Hopefully this "starter item" is useful.

"I'm coming, Josh." I say as I limp out of the clearing.