Some of the women began working with the reed to make primitive baskets. I observed them with a small part of my mind. It's nice being able to do multiple things at the same time. I checked this new ability of mine and discovered that I could be at 4 different places at once without having any problems. If I tried to split my mind any further, there was a serious headache awaiting me.

So I watched the women working while I worked at three places along the wall. I tried to communicate a bit with the other elves but they were very coy and reserved when I made a connection to their minds. I will have to soften them up a bit more with my hard work and a wonderful place to stay at.

At the moment they didn't even have a roof over the heads or walls that could keep the wind at bay. I wouldn't be very talkative either if I had such hardships to endure.

My workspeed went up several times when the elves again poured their mana into me and the mana stone was refilled by the mages. The wall grew to an amazing heigth of 4,5 metres when the sun began to go down behind the horizon and i could now start to grow my vines.

The little plants should hold my wall together and strengthen it from within. I only had 14 seeds of them but i thought that this would be more than enough for my needs.

When everyone sat down for supper I send my mana to the vines and let them do their work. Sure, I had to clarify with my magic where they could grow and where not but that was a lesser problem. And actually the best thing was their low mana usage. The hearth tree nedded more than ten times the amount this little plants needed.

This work took most of the night. 3 am in the morning, I began my next project. The lumberjacks had brought 20 trees back with at least 10 metres lenght and 30 centimeters width.

After I checked if i could take parts of them into my inventory, which by the way worked out splendiousl, I analyzed the wood. Then i tried to create a solid sheet out of it which worked only half perfect. The wood was not very hard and had not much resistance to any blunt force. Perhaps I had to increase my creation skill more? Or I needed some carpentry skill? I didn't know and so I only cut the trees into long beams. At least I would make a good lumber mill with my abilities. The mana expenses were negligible.

After that I made holes in the wall where the beams went into sideways so that the could be pulled to the outer side into obverse lying holes. It wasn't the best way to close a gate but until we had metal and a blacksmith who could make a drawbridge, that was my best alternative for it. I also made some holes at the ends of the beams where bolts could be put through for bracing them against pulling them back.

It wasn't pretty and also not easy to open or close, but it made the place a bit safer for my citizen.

When Kalla awoke the next morning and saw my work, she was very pleased with it. The wall looked like a massive green obstacle and even though the vines seemed to be easy to climb, they were not easy to grab. The enclosed circle now was 60 meter in diameter with an 2,5 meter thick and 4,5 meter high wall around it.

„Now we have a chance at beating these bastards if they try to attack us here. I'm not sure if the gate is practical with opening and closing needing 10 men working hard but at least we can close it. I think, we should work on some houses now, so my people have a roof over their heads. Therefore we will need more wood and also some stone for buildings on the ground.“

She gazed at the hearth tree.

„And you should begin to form some cabins in the hearth tree for us to stay in. If it reaches 20 metres height it should be able to support 4 or 5 of them.“

I only sighed when she said that.

„Ok, but it gets increasing harder to grow it. I have the feeling, that it needs something I can't provide it with.“

Kalla looked at me and smiled.

„That could only mean that the tree is ready to conceive its blessing by the goddess. That is good news and the men and women will be very happy to hear that. We will have to arrange some gifts to the Lady and then prepare a feast. It will light the mood and give them hope for the future. Some of them have lost most of their families to the goblins and lizards.“

She clapped in her hands and got the attension of most of the people around her.

„Marcus just told me that our new hearth tree is ready for its blessing. Alvera will name it and we will have a new place to call home again. Gather food and herbs for the feast and let the craftsmen build a small shrine for our Lady.“

Joy erupted in the crowd but one young elf stood up lifted his arm and after some seconds the crowd became silent again.

„My Lady, I don't want to be the bad guy here but what will our goddess think about a hearth tree inside the influence of a creature of Tiria?“

Kalla looked troubled for a moment and reflected about the answer.

„I think, that Alvera and Tiria will find a way to make it work. Marcus himself said, that Tiria wants to work together with the other gods for the betterment of all inhabitants of this world. So I believe that Alvera will look down on us with benevolence. No, I am sure of it. Marcus will also work hard to grow the hearth tree into the biggest and strongest home any elven clan has ever had.“

Applause and happy shouts filled the air with her announcements and everyone began their work with joy afterwards.

„Nice speech, but next time please don't put so much pressure on me. I will do my best to help you, but the biggest and strongest tree around has to have some competion, right?“

A mischiveous grin danced around her lips and in her bright eyes.

„I believe in you,little one!“