It turned out that trying to push fire mana with air mana did not lead to a warm waft of air but a dangerous wave of fire heading swiftly towards his clothes. Fortunately Adam was quick enough to draw up a water shield that put out the fire but didn't help the already wet clothes. Attempt two was more successful by switching the dominant element to air and then adding a smaller stream of fire mana to the air. Adam ran out of mana before his clothes were dry and had to pull on a warm but damp outfit for the return journey to camp.

The trip back took longer than expected as the barriers made on the trip to the river were now blocking the path the vermite had created. Rather than leave the inconvenient ridges of earth Adam used earth mana to flatten them back down. Taking his time so he could build up mana on the way Adam added water mana to his efforts pulling on the water in the earth to leave a harder, denser path than before. Once again his attempts had failed to develop a new spell. He was gaining confidence in using the manas at the same time though.

Part of the complication of the combinations he had tried was timing the mana from his hands and feet to work together. Adam was certain that anyone watching would have been amused by the stamping motion to knock down the barrier followed by a sweeping movement touching near his feet to pull up the water. Perhaps starting with the mana running near each other in channels would be easier? With this in mind Adam concentrated on forming a water shield and fire lance at the same time.

Trying to use both channels in one arm at the same time was harder than he had predicted. The first few attempts led to a weaker fire lance as he favoured the dominant element. He had been fortunate that the first combination he had tried used mana from his left and right hands. Since he couldn't think of a practical use for water and metal he stuck with his current plan to see what would happen. Overcompensating the next couple of attempts led to a small water shield forming instead of the fire lance.

By the time he was back at camp Adam could balance the two manas to form a fire lance that ended up piercing the centre of his water shield. Now it was time to try and increase the power. The hours of the afternoon passed with Adam absorbed in his task, progress hampered by the slower mana regeneration due to his reduced stats. Despite the progress that now meant he could now form a full strength shield with increasing strength fire lance passing through it there had been no new spell. He was drawn out of his state of concentration by a clink on completing the last iteration.

Looking down Adam found a small ring of ice was left after he dropped the water shield, causing the clink. How had fire and water mana formed ice. A moment later Adam had worked it out. Water minus fire had led to ice. As the fire mana was drawn away and through the water it had taken the heat with it and cooled what was left. He rubbed his hands in glee. The system wasn't rewarding him for using spells together, but now he had the theory with a little practice he would develop something new.

Looking down to check his watch Adam suddenly realised the time and got up to return to the mine. He had planned to surprise Ma by bringing Ti and Rai back now that they were done exploring. It wouldn't be a great surprise if he had to explain to her where he was off to first. Making the most of his skills Adam formed a few torches to light the camp for his return and left back the way he had arrived in the morning.

There was a merry mood in camp upon Adam and the mining team's return. After a light meal on waking the vermite had all been set to work by Ma; instructed to return just before midnight for a small feast to celebrate. A haunch of venison was slowly roasting over the fire and three of the newer vermite were sat preparing vegetables and fruit nearby. To distract himself from the tantalising smells Adam was watching all the vermite hard at work.

In the central area the removal of the pigsty had left room for another storage room that was being constructed. He made a quick circuit of the space exploring as he went. The small hut next to his was being used to hang and store the meat that had been hunted by the vermite. Large slabs of stone had been positioned on the floor and at waist height to keep the space cool and clean. Larger joints were hanging from the ceiling on hooks with the only other thing in the room being a small ladder that the vermite must have been using to reach the meat.

He thought his hut was the same as when he had last checked it over; but on closer inspection he noticed a new weapons rack on one wall that could hold his bow, sword, spear and staff. There was also a small bracket for a torch which he took the opportunity to activate his skill and use. The extra light revealed a fresh layer of straw on his bed and blankets folded at the end. His chair and table sat next to the weapons rack and having emptied his bag earlier there was a pile of clothes in one corner ruining the otherwise organised room. Adam made a note to speak to Fa about a set of drawers before moving on.

Next to his hut was the first of the open fronted storerooms. The building materials had been moved out and now there were carefully arranged piles of crafting materials here instead. Small stacks of bone; wood were neatly positioned next to a number of hides and pelts that had not yet been used. A box full of feathers sat up against one wall next to another full of hide scraps. A few of the vermite pushed past Adam as he stood checking on the supplies. One of them was Kai, who took a moment to stop collecting the hide and point to Adam's boots.

"New boots." He said, then pointing up at Adam's chest. "Jerkin too."

Adam nodded in reply. "Yes please Kai, thanks for everything else." He gestured at the rest of his new armour. "Don't waste all the hides on me though." He added

"You big; boar big. Plus you get boar hide. Not others." Replied Kai. "Others get fox, rabbit or deer. They get other clothes." With this in mind Adam realised that a lot of the vermite were now wearing an item or two of clothing. A hat here or a pair of boots there.

"Hey, Kai. Did you make all these clothes?" Adam asked. Amazed that the vermite could make everything for him as well as these items. Kai shook his head.

"No, Kai make some. Others make some. Kai makes better. Only Kai makes for you." The vermite smiled and nodded before moving off to get back to work. This made sense to Adam; like Ma had mentioned to him before. The vermite were able to manage tasks without a profession, but having one made them better at a specific thing.

Adam moved on with his review and found the area after the storeroom was still open to the wall but had two ladders. One on the left and one on the right, both leading up to the ring of planks that allowed the vermite to walk around the top of the wall. He was excited to find that the ladder would take his weight and climbed up to have a look around. Once off the ladder he realised that the area was much better designed for the vermite than him. He could look out over the wall to see the whole camp and surrounding countryside but it only came to his knee and left him feeling quite exposed. Jay was guarding the camp waved from the protected area by the gate which reached his shoulder and would have come up to Adam's waist. The vermite would be quite safe up here with greater height and protection for the archers but it was not meant for someone of his height. He waved back to Jay before sliding back down the ladder.

Adam walked past the vermite building the second storeroom and came to the last improvement of the inner area. To either side of the gate were square wooden towers that had already been strengthened with stone to the level of his waist. One face of the tower opened to the inner area towards the firepit rather than being enclosed. Unfortunately the doorway was only big enough for a vermite but sticking in his head Adam found another ladder leading up to the walkway above. It seemed this was an alternative; more permanent route to the first floor.

As he was leaving what he was now thinking of as his base to enter the rest of the camp Ma came to join him.

"The base looks really good Ma. I'm impressed with the towers and the new outer wall," He hesitated, not sure why he had started talking straight away. "but I'm not sure why you need so many defences here. The worst thing we have encountered at camp is a fox."

"Yes, but now no fox can come in while we sleep." Said Ma. "We are safe in the centre in our warren and behind the gate." She gestured to the gate they were walking through. Then she pointed over to the outer wall and towers. "Any fox that comes through there will be stopped by the guard, so the others can stay safe and concentrate on their work. Now we are safe against the foxes we learn about the owls that are in the area too. They are faster and might be big enough to attack us if they wanted, so we need to protect against them too."

Now that he had left the base he could see vermite moving all around the rest of the camp. They had a relaxed attitude compared to when he had first met them, no longer jumping at the slightest sound or scurrying quickly from one place to the next. He tried to look at camp in the eyes of a vermite and given that only those with a fighting class could gain levels and truly defend themselves against a fox the defences all made sense.

"Ok." He conceded. "The defences are good. It explains why the fields are inside the camp as well. With more archers in the towers you would be safe against an owl as well. Perhaps I should make a couple more?" Ma nodded at this suggestion.

"Jay can see all around from up there."She pointed to the base. "But we haven't let the pups outside unsupervised yet as Kai says he can't watch all directions at the same time. Ghi has been helping but more archers would be better."

Adam and Ma went over to the training area and she waved over two vermite who were practicing with small bows at the archery butt.

"This is Frey and this is Poi." She introduced the two vermite. "They have been trying to get better at using the bow but it seems without your blessing they cannot develop the skills they need." Both lowered their heads and Frey kicked around a little stone rather than look back up at Adam.

"That's ok, if it's to protect the camp I'm happy to help." Adam chuckled at the way the vermite seemed embarrassed to need his help. He used Transfer twice and converted them to followers, selecting the Archer class for both. "What else can I help with Ma?" Adam asked as the two vermite ran off to continue their practice with a new zeal.

"We still have space for more things." Replied Ma. "I like all the goods we are collecting to be brought to be checked and then others can take them back out of the stores. The only problem with this is that everyone then gathers by the firepit to do their work as they feel safer inside. We need somewhere for them to work." She stopped and thought for a while. "Then we will need more stone. We have almost used up all we collected from digging the warren and the fields. Lastly we need a way to move things; the vermite sent out to get wood spend most their time dragging it back to camp rather than cutting. Can you help with this?"

Adam was sure Ma could have sorted most of these issues on her own but enjoyed the next hour or so spending some time with Pa and Pel to design an outdoor crafting area for the vermite with professions. Having done this he and Fa came up with a simple design for a cart that the vermite could pull. Ell excitedly interupted at one point to proudly say that her boar could pull the cart and led to a slight redesign to allow this. He used Creation to provide materials for these projects and then moved on to sit with Lei and help him work out how to use his mana to start to recognise and work with the metals. While he did this Adam worked on a smaller sword suitable for the vermite.

By the time the venison was cooked Adam was actually disappointed that they couldn't carry on with all the enjoyable tasks that he had started. An enjoyable hour spent unwinding around the firepit with everyone was even better though and it was only a stern word from Ma that ended the party after a boisterous Rai almost fell in the fire while showing the two spear wielders Ail and Dee how fighting with a staff was superior.

The night ended with a nervous small vermite being led up to Adam by Lei.

"Go and tell him." Lei said, pushing the vermite towards Adam who looked on bemused.

"What can I help you with?" He asked to the vermite who seemed shocked that Lei was making them do the talking.

"Me want sword." She said, bringing out the sword that Adam had created from behind her back. He saw Lei nodding encouragingly to her from the corner of his eye at the same time.

"You want to make swords, or you want to learn to use it?" Adam asked and was met with a confused look.

He realised quickly that since the vermite was not a follower she struggled to understand him. A new realisation hit him that he hadn't really interacted with the vermite who weren't his followers before. Instead of asking further questions he activated Transfer and linked with the vermite in front of him. He learnt that she was Lei's niece. Her name was Su. On seeing the other vermite growing in strength and fighting she had wanted to join them but being smaller had not wanted to use the spear or staff. Part of her had wanted to ask to be a scout like Ti; she had looked up at her in awe. Something had held her back - her desire to fight at the front and hold a proper weapon. Then she saw the sword and felt a calling. It was a weapon that her smaller form could be beneficial for.

On feeling this through the link Adam made the simple choice and allocated her to the Sword Wielder class. This last task done he headed into his hut, the background chattering of the vermite making him feel at home as he dropped off to sleep.