Once light broke through the flap of the tent, Ambrose jumped to work after dismissing the various notifications that impeded his vision. Mainly a few notices about his [Physical Fitness] skill increasing to (Novice II). The skill would be put to the test as the day wore on.

The sun was unblocked by the clouds, shedding a warm light on Ambrose and his surroundings. Ambrose felt the heat and was unused to it, the previous day being a bit damp due to rainfall.

Removing some of his heavier warm clothes, Ambrose was left with his undershirt and work pants along with a pair of boots. Leaving his pack and pouches in his tent, Ambrose got to work.

The first thing Ambrose needed to do was start clearing land for the papyrus seeds. A quick look at humanity’s vast library showed Ambrose that papyrus was a difficult plant to grow, and was especially affected by cold environments. Ambrose inwardly groaned at the revelation, realizing he had been stupid to jump into the quest for Nathaniel so easily. Although, he was saved when he inspected the seeds using his skill.

[Northern Papyrus Seed

Rarity: (Common)

Description: A plant found alongside freshwater streams and lakes. Often used to make parchment paper when harvested while fully grown. The northern variant is resistant to cold weather but requires proper care to fully grow.

Growth Time: One month]

Ambrose almost couldn’t believe his luck! While he would need to carefully watch the seeds, even making pots to put the seeds in so they could grow enough to be replanted in the ground, he couldn’t be happier.

Ambrose immediately got to work using [Earth Manipulation] to begin shaping stone pots to plant the seeds in. He was careful to not damage the seeds at all and within a few hours, he had planted the pouch he had bought off of the herb store owner. The only reason it had taken so long was due to his mana capacity being so low and his inexperience with the manipulation skill. Though the skill did increase to (Novice II) due to the skill needed to successfully form the stone pots.

Ambrose also manipulated some water over the dozen pots, making sure not to drown the seeds but giving enough to get them a head start. Ambrose was rewarded when he was done at his [Farming] skill increased to (Novice II). It wasn’t even noon and Ambrose already felt like he had accomplished a lot.

Ambrose did realize that all of it wouldn’t have been as easy if he didn’t have the magical skills. He would have had to find clay before firing the handmade pots, which would have taken hours of tedious work. Days possibly to make the pots that came up to Ambrose’s knees.

Putting the pots full of dirt and seeds where the sunlight would reach them, Ambrose grabbed his ax and got to work on his next task. That was until his stomach began to grumble at him for food.

[You are hungry. -15% Stamina Regeneration, -15% Health Regeneration, -15% Mana Regeneration]

Ambrose might have been okay with his stamina and health taking a hit, but mana was already showing to be too useful of a resource to let any slip by. Grabbing a bit of trail rations and a few [Grapemelon], Ambrose had himself a small breakfast.

The trail rations weren’t much. Bits of dried jerky alongside hard biscuits that Ambrose considered using for the stone foundation of his future log cabin. He washed it all down with water from his canteen as the notification disappeared from his vision and was replaced with one of the complete opposite effects.

Grabbing his ax with reassurance, Ambrose was ready to begin clearing out an acre to start growing some of the northern variant wheat and corn. Ambrose would make some raised beds for the herb seeds he had bought since herbs would need more fine-fingered care.

Walking towards the edge of the lake, Ambrose mentally mapped out where he planned to have everything. Having already staked off the location for his cabin and respective future additions, Ambrose would need a path leading from his cabin towards his eventual fishing docks. Where he would keep a small boat that he would eventually use for fishing.

Ambrose was all about organization. Everything needed to be labeled, planned, stacked, neat, and all of the above. That was why he pulled out a small piece of parchment paper he had purchased from the books store owner to start drawing a rough sketch of what his land would look like.

All the fields of crops would be near the lake since trudging water a hundred yards away from the only source of fresh water would cause him endless pain. The fields would also have to be far away from the lake to allow for a road to be built which surrounded the freshwater source. His other settlers had planned around some sort of paved path that would allow convenient access to everyone to get to places much faster.

Ambrose only had around five acres of land to play around with. With one acre dedicated to his house near the valley mountain, it left four others to use. In addition, it was around five acres from the lake to the edge of the wall. Ambrose eventually decided just to form a straight line from his cabin acre straight to the acre that branched off into the water. The start of his cabin would be in the center back of the acre touching the valley mountain, which would be necessary as a few cabin additions would need to be built inside the stone, such as the cold storage area.

After marking off the area that he would use for the farm fields, about 90% of the acre that wasn’t touching the water, he got to work chopping down the trees. The [Logging] skill proved a well-placed purchase as it took around fifteen minutes to completely chop down the sturdy trees. Pushing the tree down caused the last sliver of wood connecting it to the stump to crack, sending the tree crashing down to the forest floor.

Pulling out the heavy timber metal logging claws, Ambrose dragged the timber back to near his cabin layout, starting a stack where he would put the logs he would use for his cabin. It would take a few days of debarking the logs and also carving them to create a sturdy Lincoln log effect between the walls.

Hours went by as Ambrose cleared out dozens of trees from the land. His (Strength 15) allowed him to move even the heavy timber logs, albeit at some difficulty. It would take another day to clear the acre for the farming fields, but in return, Ambrose would get enough wood to start his cabin. It would require measuring the logs to fit the cabin blueprint that he had purchased the previous day, but it would all be worth it in the end.

After taking a short break, Ambrose finished clearing half of the field, leaving the other half which had been divided by the future path from the cabin to the dock for tomorrow’s work. Ambrose wanted to take a walk around the land and see if there were any paths up the valley mountain and over, but his mind told him that the faster he finished planting his crops and finishing his house the better.

Ambrose hated having to rely on others, and the sooner he could confidently rely on himself for most aspects of his life the better.

Creating two sawhorses out of nails, logs, and rough planks, Ambrose got to work debarking the timber logs. After about five logs and a few frustrating curses, Ambrose’s [Logging] and [Wood Working] both advanced to (Novice II). By the time the notifications were noticed, the sun had started setting across the horizon and Ambrose dragged his weary body to bed. Feasting on another trail ration that left him wanting something more satisfying.

Ambrose was once again woken up by the sun but a flashing notification demanded his attention.

[You are Fatigued. Due to overexerting yourself, mentally and physically, you have gained +3 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence.

-20% total Stamina, -20% total Health, -5 Strength, -3 Constitution]

Ambrose couldn’t decide if he was happy or sad. The [Fatigued] state would last until his body recovered from the previous day’s exertion. Which was why he decided to take it easy physically until he gained his strength once again.

So, Ambrose decided to work on the stone foundation of his log cabin.

Ambrose had studied western log cabins before finding the right look that he wanted. While the log cabin blueprint didn’t include a stone foundation, due to a [Masonry] skill being recommended for laying stone, Ambrose wasn’t bound to the blueprint and it didn’t take long for the roll of parchment paper to bend to Ambrose’s whims. The wooden floorboard foundation disappeared and was replaced by a stacked stone foundation that would be provided by the [Earth Manipulation] spell. Providing a much stabler ground to live upon.

Blueprints were physical papers that could be altered at will, even without a pen or pencil. Activating a blueprint would bring up a ghostly outline into the world which could help with accurately constructing furniture and buildings. Which also let Ambrose get a firsthand look at what the cabin would look like when it was fully constructed.

Ambrose wasn’t going to be living in a crap shed for the rest of his life, so when he wanted a house, he wanted to make it lasting and livable. The cabin that he had planned out wasn’t too small at around fifteen yards by fifteen yards. Or around 2,025 square feet of living space. Ambrose would make a second floor for his own bedroom and personal storage, while the first floor would be a living room and dining area. Ambrose had plans for an eventual kitchen, alchemy lab, cold storage, crafting room, and other miscellaneous spaces, but those would come later when Ambrose took care of the first items off his list. It wasn’t like Ambrose was going to be doing alchemy out in the rain anyway.

With the perfect square outline of the stone foundation, Ambrose got to work raising the stone from within the ground and “melting” it into place. Making sure to keep the rounder stones for pleasing decoration on the outside.

[Earth Manipulation] was proving to be Ambrose’s most valuable skill. The spell allowing him to easily accomplish months of work within hours, saving him pain and tears. Although, he was missing out on the potential attribute gains. Ambrose didn’t mind though.

Half a day passed quickly as Ambrose finished raising the foundation from the ground, fixing up a few times where the spell had created a dangerous stone spike. Smoothing out anomalies, Ambrose grinned at his finished project and the skill level that came with it.

[Earth Manipulation (Novice IV)]

[Spell Name: Earth Manipulation (Novice IV)

Cost: 8 mana per second

Description: Shape the earth within a radius of 7 yards]

Now that the stone foundation was complete, Ambrose began adding further stone additions to the blueprint. Reinforcing the four corners by adding stone pillars which would further trap the finished logs in place. Ambrose also added a small porch in the front left corner of the cabin, where the door would be. The entrance to the cabin would be on the front left corner of the cabin, that way it allowed for better synergy for additions outside and decorations inside.

Ambrose had played a few building games before, and in his opinion, having the door in the middle of everything always made it harder to customize the inside of the building.

The day passed by quickly as Ambrose often rested while further planning the log cabin. He ended up adding a stone fireplace towards the back center of the wall which would hopefully heat up the inside in the frosty winter.

Ambrose happened to shoot down a [Water Pheasant] that was swimming across the shore of the lake. The head-sized bird almost managed to fly away, but Ambrose got a lucky shot in and a level up in his [Archery] skill.

As Ambrose sat down by the fire, eating the roasted meat, he smiled as he felt relaxed and free. He realized that perhaps he had lived more in the last three days than he had his entire life.

The pure life that vibrated through the forest, the air that he felt against his skin every moment, the refreshing taste of the snowmelt lake water.

This was what Ambrose had been missing while living in a broken world. This is what Ambrose would fight to his last breath to protect.