I find a good elevated spot to take a long-overdue look at my book. There are quite a few possibilities of what I could gain from it. My habit of waiting a few days between looking over it may do nothing, but I will likely keep doing it this way.

With anticipation, I flip the pages. After a few moments, I’m rewarded. Something that has been bothering me a little is answered.

Definitive nomenclature for a few things. There isn’t any.

It tells me things are far less standardized than I thought. The runes themselves don't change, but translations for the meaning of each are only roughly accurate.

People use words differently with meanings. From writing to enchanting and from classes of words none of our languages has to singing. People just create their naming schemes.

This will frustrate me to no end. But at least I don’t have to worry about it right this second. We will have wide latitude to set up the nomenclature for much of the system-related fields.

I don’t spend too long and this time again most of what I find is knowledge to further our understanding of magic. I will pass by the guild soon to copy everything. First I have a project that has sat on my mind for a while.

An exciting project that could be a game-changer. Or at least the precursor to one. In the beginning, there will be a lot of low-hanging fruit in our path, but this is already a higher branch, and if it works, we could benefit immensely.

-----------------------

“Stuart, did you make what I asked?”

With enthusiasm in his voice and rubbing his hands in anticipation he speaks:

“Yes, Nash. It wasn't even hard, and if it works it will be a great boom to the village.”

“That is what I’m hoping for. Come on, I will show you.”

After a wave of his hand, I follow him. Inside one of the houses appropriated for the mining and smelting efforts, I see a few of the finished products. Mostly failed castings that would be remelted, along with the tubes, plates, and gauntlets they made for me.

In the middle of the room, there is a big plate of copper.

“Just as you asked. A 1 meter round around 1 finger thick with four holes in the ides and a central hole.”

“It’s perfect.”

“No, not really. But I doubt the small imperfections will bother you. You will be engraving it, and from what I know any changes will be very small.”

With a nod I say:

“You are correct. But all I need is here, so it is perfect.”

“Ok. When will we have our mana battery?”

“Let me work a little on it. I will run some tests first. After that, I will send word for you to make as many of these as possible. How many ingots for this plate?”

“I rounded to 100 ingots. It’s a little thinner than a finger but that should not be a problem.

“No, it’s ok. The only thing we can’t change now is the placement of the holes. They need to be exact matches.”

“No problem. I can’t wait to see the final result. It will be beautiful.”

He is right about that. The result will be beautiful. I take a few smaller bits and bobs of copper and the plate.

---------------------------

I sit in a familiar place close to the village. A stump I sometimes use to engrave. The Mithril-tipped chisel I use lets me work quickly, very quickly. It takes me less than an hour to finish all I was going to do.

Then comes testing. With a much more refined design, the battery I just made won't be able to hold as much mana per ingot as the gauntlets, but it also won’t lose most of the charge in seconds. It is a trade-off. High capacity or long-term storage.

For the gauntlet, the option I chose was better. But this will be a stationary battery. It will power the village as we increase our reliance on machines dependent on mana. For now, there were only a few more specialized places. We needed mana only in places where we lit fires and not even all of them. The kitchens did not have anything powered by mana.

With a battery, we could have a single mana storage system and everybody would just put mana there. You are full, just stop by any place with an input pad and the mana would go to where we needed it. I would be able to use any surplus mana. It would also be very useful for the defense of the city.

With the plate finished I put my hand on it and give it almost my entire pool. The small input enchantments I put on it are working as intended. With only a brush it sucks in my mana easily. After 300 mana I feel the plate is starting to fill. If I’m sensing it correctly, it can absorb one or two hundred mana before filling.

I also engrave the tubes I brought. These are quicky jobs just to get a working system, I’m familiar with. I manage it quickly.

Back at the village, I talk with a few people to start or continue a few of their projects. I find and grab the tubes and strips of copper that carry mana. Some of them were my engraving, but quite a few were from the tests made to find the best possible mana conduit. For these applications the small disadvantages from a few of them were negligible so I didn’t scrap any of them.

I find Arya, the Earth-shaper, and talk with her.

“So, I wanted you to help me with a project. I need mana pipelines running through the village.”

“And you said you were paying?”

“Yep, 1 copper an hour.”

“Come on. Don’t be stingy.” She whinnies.

“I’m not being cheap,” I say defensively. “Too many people in my employ already.”

“But I’m already basically a slave working for the village finishing the road.”

“I don’t have more money,” I say bending the truth a little. “You will get the mana to work for me. If you start from the battery, you can draw little amounts to refill yourself easily. You will be increasing your skill level and getting a couple of coppers without having to even leave the city.”

She sulks a little and says. “You didn’t even say goodby last time. You just send Merlin to figure out how my powers work.” Her shoulders droop a little and she continues: “I wish I hadn’t unlocked this class.”

“Don’t worry, everyone is getting screwed for now. When we start to export more, our village's economy will have more coins. Look now I will pay an extra Pando coin every other day you work at least a couple hours.”

“Pando’s coin? You are talking about the coin people are saying is useless.”

I grimace at the misconception.

“Yeah, but it is far from useless. I’m have only started, but if we do it right, it could be even more valuable than normal coins. For now, I will only sell custom or restricted items for people with them.”

It was a gamble, but I had to get the currency up and running. We didn’t have enough of the system’s coin in circulation, and trying to extract too much of the other villages in trades would backfire fast. Everyone needed the other coin to pay for a few things we could not make yet. And at the end of the month, the system would not accept anything other than its coin.

I pass the carpenter section of the village. Paying 10 coppers I have two people flowing me. Arya and one of our carpenters, a middle-aged woman who worked with her husband as a carpenter for over two decades.

Getting to the smelter, I’m happy to see a big hole and part of the structure I want. I talk with both of them so each will be able to coordinate properly with each other. Though that is not strictly necessary, little of their work will intersect.

“Mariana, you can construct what we talked about in that space. You have already made most of the work, but now you can see exactly what you are working with. The holder for the mana plates I’m making only needs a sturdy base and access so I can expand.”

“Don’t worry, I got it,” she answers. She caries the pieces of wood she brought already cut down to size and places them in a good place for her to work. Setting down her tools, she begins work after only a moment to look at where she would be building.

I carry the heavy inscribed plate close to the smelter and set it down. Arya looks at Mariana as the carpenter begins to work. But looks back at me as I start speaking.

“You can draw mana from this plate for today. Tomorrow she will have finished and the connection will be in place. That way you can draw mana from where you are working.”

“If I understand you correctly, for now, I would only need to connect here to the wood drying rooms and the other place for the tanners. That is like less than 100 meters.”

“You are right. About 70 if my calculations are correct.”

“I can finish it in an hour tops.”

“Ok, if you are that fast for today here, take two coppers.” I take two copper coins from my pocket and give her.

With a laugh, she asks me. “You gonna trust me? Don’t you know people have started to get in fights over, paying for service beforehand and not getting what they were owed?”

With a small laugh, I speak: “I would not be the one to lose the most in the transaction. It’s in your best interest to deal fairly with me.”

I think over the increasing problems in our village. The guild’s council was hesitant to act, and plenty of people were getting in trouble, though any action could make the whole thing worse. Still, I did not lie. Two coppers were little to me. Knowing if she could be trusted was much more valuable.

I prefer to extend a little trust, instead of acting always as if the other people were out to screw you over. I could think of it as an investment.

------------------------

With care, I go over every single line in the smelter. I remember it well, but damage or changes could have been made. With a clear mental picture and everything in place, I start work.

I work much faster than in any of my previous endeavors. Much faster than I had any right to expect. This is one of those things that everything just falls in place.

I do my best to work around the people waiting for the forge to cool down so they can clean it and start another batch of ore. With how fast I work, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The small metal plates gain inscriptions tailored to increase the efficiency of the smelter. It won't be any hotter, but the mana usage will decrease dramatically.

I expect a reduction from 80, to 30 mana per hour, and I'm not disappointed. The result could have only been better if I had planned something like this from the beginning. Neither I nor Merlin thought of planning for something like this.

Though it isn’t too big a problem. The only drawback is the clunky nature of the framework I built. With copper strips intertwining with the 'credit cards', a more fragile system comes into place.

An hour later, I see Stuart arriving and I head over. We should talk more.

"Did you manage to finish the engraving you wanted?

"Yes. You said something about covering it with clay so it will be better protected?"

"If I can. It shouldn't interfere, but I'm not the expert."

"Don't worry. You can do it without fear. Just make sure whoever does the job doesn't bend the copper strips. They need to touch the small plates."

"We could have used rivets, but so far we don't have the proper tools."

I find the statement strange and ask, "Have you thought about the same style of rivets used in airplanes? I mean, I am no aeronautic engineer, but I'm pretty sure those rivets we can do. They are even easier than screws. They are fat and short nails that you hammer smashing the point until both sides are properly fastened."

"Really? We were hacking our brains yesterday. I didn't know there were those. There should be someone with experience using them in the village, let's just hope they aren't lazy."

We part ways as he starts to work with a couple of other people. His inference to the growing problems of our village doesn’t leave my mind. I feel a small knot in my gut. The number of people that don't work is increasing. Luckily so far it was only a small percentage, but it could become a very big problem depending on how things develop. Were the other villages facing this same problem?

To make matters worse, the end of the month was fast approaching. The system's tax was an ever-present concern in the back of many people.

Before continuing my work, I gather a few people to make more firewood. With plenty of mana, I can easily infuse firewood for weeks. The rest of the mana goes on the plate I made. What I want to call a battery cell.

Already a few of them are asking about the next class, and I set it up for the end of the day.

----------------------------------

Later in the day, I start to work again on the mana battery. I bribe the workers so they bring the plates to where I was working as they finish them. The repetitive task gives me insights I didn’t gain up to this moment.

With several very similar plates, the engraving goes faster as I make each of them. The system's skill and my own skill increase, I can make better sense of what is happening as I write in the language of the gods.

A smile lights my face at the funny thought. This is closer to the language of the heart, with the intent being the most important thing.

I laugh at myself for not realizing something. It was nothing extreme, but it did intrigue me. Every single of my inscriptions was not just patterns I ‘print’ in a mechanical way.

The sense I starting to have writing in this language was becoming better. It wasn’t all about the technical aspect, something like art happened in each of the pieces I worked on. I did not think with my head to determine each of the lines. I looked if they looked right as you would do in a drawing. You don't need a degree to feel the lines in a painting are off.

Each of my hammer strikes had the perfect angle and force to create the best engraving possible. Or rather the best for this moment, I would improve.

For the hundredth time since I arrived here, I enter meditation doing something new. My movements are guided by instincts and the system’s help. The result is beautiful. Tiny increments make each of the plates better than the last.

I make each not only better but also faster. These small changes make a big difference. A few millimeters here or there allows you to squeeze every last little bit of performance, out of the material you are working on. I would need more testing to determine what were the limiting factors.

I’m pretty sure that with higher skill levels we could store twice as much mana using copper. Though more than that didn’t sound likely. I was already starting to run into diminishing returns from my skill levels capping.

An impulse to chose a class already hits me, but I force it down. I will need to stay without a class for a little while longer. Nothing that has shown up yet was the right fit. I may love Pando, and some would describe me as a tree hugger. While they were not entirely inaccurate, there was so much more to me. Before Pando, it was rare I look twice at a tree. The only thing in my mind had been technology.

Neither path alone would be enough and even both would still be too limiting. I was probably being conceited not accepting an easy path to connect more with the forest. To become a druid variant, but it did not stop me. The option was right there. Every single person I meet in Pando would ask me to chose this path.

‘It is the right one for you,’ they would say. But I knew that it would not fulfill me. Even as I grew closer to the grove and learned a lot, I still spend much of my money on computers and other electronics. I had a bloody server in my house. A full-fledged 5 kW server rack.

I did not want to become just Pando’s druid, I wanted to be just as great as the grove. Even if it took me all eternity I would achieve it.

I wanted it all. Fear of failure and everyone else’s opinions be dammed.

I let fear and other people rule too much of my life already.

I can only trust two people completely. Myself and Pando.