Chapter seven A.

I awoke peacefully, falling back into my body. With a loud stretch and groan, I opened my eyes. The soft light of the fire still flickered, and the warm cozy home-like atmosphere of the stone hut began to fade as the presence of Amara left. Light peeked in from the peak of the roof, and I knew it was early morning.

"Well shit, looks like I have some things to get done." I said to the emptiness of the hut.

I stood and created a stone pot to relieve myself in. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the nutritious water contained plenty of fiber as well. With a wave of my hand, I banished it under the earth. I used [clean] on myself and the onesie. I folded and wrapped the steel bear things skin around my shoulders, then hefted the bundle of cloth and bones.

Approaching the door, I made a view window in the door and checked to see if any monsters or beasties were waiting for me to emerge from my slumber. There were none, so I stepped out into the bright early morning light.

I could see where the river that I had been following met the much larger river. To the east, where the pale-yellow sun rose into the sky, was more forest, and just to the west of me was where the rivers met. The large river appeared to be flowing south. "The river is my best chance at finding a town or city. Guess I am just going to have to build a boat."

I walked down to the shore of the river and stood next to a huge tree. The river was massive, and if not for the current of the flowing water, I would have thought it more of a lake.

Deciding it was time to test more of my magic abilities, I picked a few seeds from the ground. I found an acorn from a nearby oak and a willow seed. Infusing them with mana and the spells [rapid growth] and [manipulate plant], I began to work. I would also apply one point from my leveling every so often and sometimes two, but I made sure that I felt utterly recovered before I used my next points.

The work was slow as I had to keep the mana usage under my 11.5 recharge rate. With manipulate plant taking 4.5 mana, that left only 7 mana for the rapid growth spell. Luckily the two-spell synergized, manipulate, allowing for the rapid growth energies to permeate the new growth more efficiently.

I grew out the oak in an unnatural shape. I elongated the trunk and formed the hull of the ship. The wood resisted at first but then formed the keel and hull of the small ship. It was going to be about twenty-five feet long, (7.6 meters). It would be shaped just like the sailboats I had seen on lakes and in bays back on earth. I had the willow braid and twine its way up the oak mast of the ship; until the tall mast stuck up from the center of the boat, with the braided willow-like branches acting like excellent stays. The wires that connect to the top of the mast to the side of the ship. The rudder was made from oak, and with a little bit of metal, I created a perfect tiller. As the boat disconnected itself from the trees that I had grown it from, it leaned over on its right side and dropped softly to the ground.

The boat itself only took about one and a half hours to grow and was now river ready. I don't think I would be taking it on any ocean-going voyages, but I believed it would do nicely for the river. The casting and maintaining of the spells were trivial. All that was needed was to focus on the idea of the ship that I wanted in my mind's eye, along with any detailed part that was currently being grown. Such as with the joining of the keel step and mast, I was able to grow and fuse directly together. Each joint got such attention, like where the willow stays attached to the outer hull. Same with the railing, growing like limbs connecting to each other.

I used a bit of earth magic and created a ripple in the earth that gently set the boat into the water. As the ship settled, I jumped lightly onto the back of the ship. Using my plant magic, I grew some willow branches that I frayed and broke into fibers. Then with the [Yarn spinning] and [Weave] spells, I had the fibers braid themselves into four thicker one-hundred-foot pieces of rope and a half dozen smaller fifty-foot pieces.

With the ropes made, I used [Collect element] to gather iron into the shape of a large scoop anchor. Tying a figure-eight knot, I attached one of the larger ropes to the anchor, tossing it over the side. With the boat secured from floating downriver before I had finished working, I was able to go below decks. Threw out the process, I had been rewarded with a few notifications.

[Rapid growth has reached level 2.]

[Manipulate plant has reached level 2.]

[Yarn spinning has reached level 2.]

[Weave has reached level 2.]

The boat rocked back and forth easily as I made my way down into the cabin on the ship. On the floor, there was an opening where the keel plunged into the water and tapered to the front of the boat.

I used [collect element] in order to gather liquid lead and fill the keel. The rocking of the boat subsided, and it settled into the gentle motions of a ship rocking on the sea, or a river in this case. I covered the keel with the oak wood of the hull and went back to the stern of the ship. I had noticed this time when using the collect spell that some of the lead had been pulled from the water directly and not just the ground. So, I was not surprised by the notification.

[Collect Element has reached level 2.]

I could feel the difference in the spell as its level. The area I was pulling material from had been about one-quarter of a mile in a sphere around me, about .4 kilometers. Now the sphere had expanded to one-half mile, about .8 kilometers. The spell not only pulled the elements from the ground but the water and air as well.

Sitting by the tiller, I mused over what I was going to call this tiny ship. Something ostentatiously extraordinary like the jade dragon or the burning phoenix. No, no, those don't fit. I'm on a quest, ha, ever quest. No, no, a classic, but no. The ship is made from two trees; it's sort of alive. I have it; when the name came to me, a notification appeared as well.

[ As the Creator of this ship, you have chosen to name it; The Ever Grove. Confirm name, yes or no.]

I selected the yes option, and I felt the name settle over the ship like a blanket. With that settled, I pulled the anchor up and stowed it on the bow of the ship. The Ever Grove began to gently drift into the river, taking me on the next leg of my journey.

Drifting down the river was relaxing but not very fast. I needed to make the sails for my sailboat, or I was going to be going nowhere fast. I locked the tiller in place, ensuring I was going to be in the center of the massive river.

I went into the cabin where I had stashed my failed bag of holding and the bones wrapped in the cloth. I unwrapped the bones and set them to the side and took one end of the roll of material back to the stern of my ship. I began working on the sail and was able to make a few new spells in the process.

[You have learned the spell: Cut: Base cost: Error… .1 mana per inch cut (2.5cm), area twenty feet, (6m). Level 1.]

I envisioned the spell as a simple pair of razor-sharp cloth shears. Reminiscent of the ever-forbidden scissors from one's mothers sowing supplies. The spell, though I created it for utility, made its deadly applicability apparent by the graceful and fluid cuts that appeared along the envisioned pattern for the two sails.

Holding the pieces suspended in the air by compressed points of air was easy, though it did not activate a new spell notification. When the pieces I had cut were arranged in the two sail patterns. I used the spell [Fuse] in order to join the pieces together instead of a thread of some kind. The spell was amazing, coming from the perspective of a welder. I was able to fuse any material, not just metals or wood. It would allow for the combining of molecules to bond to each other, creating a seamless integration. I added metal grommets along the edge of the sail where the stringers would run. With the rope I had already made, I laced up the sails and attached the mainsail to the mast and boom. The second sail, the jib, I strung and connected to the forestay.

Now trying to thread the main sheet halyard line and the jib halyard line with nothing but a little air magic was difficult, especially because of the rocking of the boat. The pulleys were made of stainless steel and cost 50 mana each to make. With the lines strung, I was able to raise and lower the mainsail and jib from the comfort of my seat at the stern by the tiller.