The next morning after waking up, I decided to send the Dragonfly up through the canopy to check out what the weather was going to do today. I decided to do this to check on the weather since it had seen some ugly looking clouds on the horizon while it had been flying over the forest last night.

While it was weaving its way up through the branches, I got some of the meat out of the pool and started to cook it on the barbecue. It was still impressive to me whenever it flew past a branch with barely an inch of clearance. As it did this, I took a moment to ride along inside the Dragonfly’s mind for a few moments and enjoy the roller coaster-like feeling.

However, when the Dragonfly broke through the canopy and turned in the direction that he’d seen the clouds in my good mood disappeared.

“Well crap,” I muttered as I turned the meat over. The clouds that I’d noticed the other night only looked like they were a couple of hours away at most and it looked like it was already raining heavily where they were right now. “Looks like I’m going to have to get my workshop at least mostly done because there’s no way that I’m going to go out in a tropical storm.”

Quickly gulping my breakfast down, I sent both the Gel and the Dragonfly out to scout the surrounding area while the Scorpion and I got to work on finishing my workshop. Since Tane was asleep right now I knew that there would probably be a bunch of undesirable creatures trying to enter the area so making sure I knew what was going on would be important.

The Scorpion went around collecting things like a large piece of wood that I would turn into a work bench and stool to work on while I built the frame of my workshop with the same combination of my Stone Spike spell and Nature Shaping that I had used the other day. It really was impressive how quickly a building could take shape when magic was involved and it barely too me half an hour before I was ready to start putting the roof on my workshop. Since was in a bit of a hurry I decided not to try and make it so that I could open the roof up for now. Thankfully, it wasn’t like it was going to be difficult to change it thanks to my magical abilities.

A few minutes later I was standing in front of the completed workshop with a smile on my face.

“Not bad at all,” I muttered as I looked upwards. From the looks of things, I still had some time before the storm arrived so I decided that now would be the time to try and finish off the statue of General Tarko that I had practically forgotten about after running into a roadblock in getting the old warrior’s face right.

The unfortunate thing about Nature Shaping was despite its incredible utility for most things it was sadly unsuitable for detail work. Or at least it was when I used it the usual way, but I hoped that I would be able to apply what I had learned from Enchanting to my Nature Shaping Skill. Concentrating I imagined a tiny scalpel of energy coming out from my finger and smiled when I felt the familiar feeling of Mana draining from my body very slowly. Placing this tinny blade of Mana up to the statue I also activated my Nature Shaping Skill. Sure enough, the magics responded to my intent and for the first time I really felt like I was going to be able to get this right as Tarko’s face started to appear in the stone as I worked.

When I was done the same defiant and self-satisfied expression that I remembered seeing on the venerable General’s face when he died stared back at me from the stone face of the statue. I knew it still wasn’t perfect, but it had been several days since I’d had the dream and the statue was definitely recognisable as General Tarko even if it wasn’t completely accurate which was leagues better than it had been before.

Now that I was happy with the face I started working on the details of the rest of the statue. This new technique allowed me to vastly improve the quality of the detail work that I had done my best with earlier and about half an hour later I stepped back and admired the finished statue. Tarko looked almost exactly how he had moments before the massive war machine had vaporised him. Defiant pride simply radiated from the statue and I felt something within me respond in kind.

Suddenly the statue flashed with light and I cursed loudly as I covered my eyes to protect them. A second later the light faded, and I peeked out between the gaps in my fingers to see a blue notification window floating in front of me.

“What the hell?” I muttered as my hands dropped away from my face and I read the notification with a dumbstruck look on my face.

Memorial Created!

A Memorial is a structure that represents the will of a whole people.

Memorial of the Defiant General has been created.

This statue was created by an amateur crafter as a show of respect for a man he had never met showed as he faced down a foe that he had no hope of defeating. The System has recognised this effort by turning the statue into a Memorial.

Those who view this statue gain a 10% increase to their Willpower for 24 hours.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “That’s definitely new.”

A quick check told me that my Willpower had been increased to 100 which had increased my MP regen to 57.8 and my Control Points by 3 for the next 24 hours. The only thing that was really useful to me about that was the MP regen since I really didn’t want to know what would happen to something that I summoned if my Control Points dropped below the required amount. Still, it was really interesting to know that you could create things like this and have them provide some sort of Buff.

Just then I felt a drop of moisture strike the top of my head followed by another and another.

With a sigh I turned to head back to my workshop as the spits of water turned into light rain. As I got closer to the makeshift building the rain continued to get heavier and I broke into a jog as a veritable sheet of water fell from the heavens and soaked me completely.

By the time I got back to the workshop I was soaked to the bone and more than a little bit irritated. With a sigh I sat down on the smaller piece of wood that I was planning on turning into a stool and grimaced at the squelching sound of my wet clothes. Concentrating I waved my hand over my clothes and drew the water out of them with a modified version of my condensation spell which naturally filled the entire workshop with mist so I followed this up with a Gust that blasted all of the excess water out of the doorway which I promptly closed.

Now that I was dry, I decided to spend some time sorting out the stool and workbench for my workshop. It was actually quite nice to just be making things like this after spending the past week and a bit working hard just to survive and sitting down on the now much comfier stool was even nicer once it was done.

Now that I was more comfortable, I realised that the Dragonfly had been forced to take cover from the rain which had been powerful enough that it had been worried about damaging its wings so I decided to send the Scorpion over to it because I knew that without the mobility given to it by its ability to fly it would be in danger if even the weakest predator in the forest decided that it was prey. The Scorpion sent a vague impression of irritation back through our link but followed my orders. This irritation didn’t stem from any desire to avoid getting wet but from the fact that the rain was obscuring its vision which left it more vulnerable and made it harder to spot prey which was one of the Minion’s main drives eve with me controlling it

On the other hand, the Gel was perfectly happy rolling along the forest floor despite the heavy downpour which surprisingly didn’t really seem to affect its ability to sense its surroundings all that much. In fact, if anything it seemed to be enjoying itself which was a little bit odd as far as I was concerned. Then again, the Gel was an evolved form of an Amoeba which were mostly found in bodies of water, so I supposed that it made sense.

Shrugging I decided that now would be a good time to stop and check my Skills before doing anything else since I had decided to postpone it last night. The first thing that I looked at was the new Skill that I had apparently unlocked since this morning which I assumed had something to do with the technique that I had sued to finish the statue of Tarko and sure enough I was correct.

Magic Sculpting (Rare) Unlocked!

Allows you to use your magic to create magical tools that can be used to sculpt great works of art. Increases the likelihood that your sculpture will become a Memorial. Cost 50 MP/min. (Stacks with other Skills being used if applicable)

Growth Rate increased by 1 Perception, 1 Coordination and 1 Wisdom

Aspect Points increased by 3 for unlocking Sculpting

“Yikes,” I muttered under my breath. “That stacking cost makes this a pretty hard Skill to use. In fact, I’m surprised that I didn’t run out of MP earlier. Still, the increases to my Growth Rate are pretty useful.”

Skills increased!

Labourer increased to Lvl 9

Swarm Control increased to Lvl 15

Growth Rate increased by 1 Willpower

Nature Shaping increased to Lvl 13

Calm Mind increased to Lvl 13

Mana Manipulation increased to Lvl 21

Rock Spear increased to Lvl 3

Nature Construction increased to Lvl 3

Magic Sculpting increased to Lvl 2

Available Aspect points increased by 13

“Well, I suppose that it’s not a bad haul for about a day’s worth of crafting,” I murmured thoughtfully. I was a little bit disappointed that my Create Giant Dragonfly Skill still hadn’t Levelled Up, but I wasn’t too worried about it for now. “Alright then let’s pop these points into my Aspect of the Mutant.”

With smooth movements I placed the 16 points into my Aspect of the Mutant and braced myself as I confirmed my decision.

Sure enough, my inner world replaced the normal one and I looked around interestedly at the weird and wonderful place that it had become. I could see a herd of massive beetles that looked like they were grazing in a nearby field and familiar looking Dragonflies and other smaller flying insects flitting about overhead.

In fact, other than the fact that the only things that he could see were insects I wouldn’t have been surprised to see much the same scenery back on Earth or even here on Edra and I breathed the fresh air in deeply just in time to spot something massive moving I the woods that sent a chill running down my back that only multiplied when one of the beetles noticed it and unleashed a buzzing sound.

Upon hearing this sound, the other beetles took to the air and flew away leaving me staring after them open mouthed. I knew that whatever the thing in the forest was it couldn’t harm me here so it was more impressive to me that such large and heavy looking bugs could fly as well as these ones.

My inner word suddenly faded away leaving me gaping stupidly at the notification screen in front of me.

Aspect of the Mutant has reached 42/50!

Mutants can either be very noticeably different from other members of their species or barely different at all. Some of them are even completely unviable and die before they are born but every now and again something truly special comes along.

+ 2 Unassigned Stat Points!

Aspect of Evolution (World of the Swarm) has reached Lvl 292!

The World of the Swarm is a wonderous place just like any other world that contains life. Enormous insect and arachnids live in place of more familiar creatures, but they all fill similar niches in their ecosystem.

Growth Rate increased by 1 Constitution and 2 Toughness!

“Eh, not the greatest haul of Stats,” I shrugged. “But I’m not going to turn up my nose at any of them. Alright what am I going to do with these Stat Points?”

I opened my Stat Screen and pondered my options for a few seconds. In the end I decided to put one each into Coordination and Vitality since they were starting to lag behind a little bit and looked over my Stats one last time.

Status

Level 5

Exp: 11%

HP: 311/393

MP: 411/1001

HP Regen: 31.4 per minute (+1)

MP Regen: 56.9 per minute

SP: 304/304

Essence: 61

SP Regen: 31.1 per minute

Control Points: 74.7 (14.7)

Str: 45 (+14/Lvl)

Agi: 63 (+15/Lvl)

Con: 58 (+ 8/Lvl)

End: 51 (+10/Lvl)

Tou: 59 (+12/Lvl)

Int: 123 (+42/Lvl)

Coor: 46 (+9/Lvl)

Vit: 46 (+8/Lvl)

Wis: 80 (+28/Lvl)

Will: 91 (+41/Lvl)

Per: 69 (+28/Lvl)

Cha: 38 (+11/Lvl)

Additional Growth Rate: +24 Unassigned Stat Points/Lvl. +40 MP/Lvl. MP regen increased by 1.4/min per Lvl +5 Control Points/Lvl.

Unassigned Stat Points: 0

“All right then,” I said as I closed the screen. “What the hell am I going to do now?”

Thankfully, I had also gotten the Scorpion to collect some materials that I could use for Crafting, so it wasn’t like I had absolutely nothing to do. The first thing that I decided to do was make some more kunai that I could use for throwing and a larger replacement for the main kunai that I had been using. When I was done, I had eight smaller kunai and one larger kunai that all resembled feathers and the item descriptions reflected this nature.

Shaped Stone Kunai of the Falcon

Weapon damage: 8- 11

Durability: 13/13

This oversized kunai has been shaped by an amateur Crafter using a combination of Nature Shaping and Enchanting that has made it far stronger than a normal Enchanted weapon.

+2 Coordination when this weapon is held.

Shaped Throwing Kunai of the Hawk

Weapon damage: 7- 9

Durability: 10/10

This small kunai was made by an amateur Crafter using a combination of Mature Shaping and Enchanting making it far stronger than a normal Enchanted weapon.

+20% accuracy when thrown.

“Not bad at all,” I muttered as flipped one of the smaller kunai over in my hands. I probably wasn’t going to use them often or at least not as traditional throwing weapons since I had a massive amount of Mana now, but I had some ideas for spells that would temporarily add various effects to these weapons that would hopefully cost less MP than just casting a direct spell with the same or similar effect.

The larger Kunai was also quite impressive, and I resolved to continue to improve my weaponry and armour consistently. Next, I decided to try and make something that would improve the power of my magic. The only question was what was I going to make?

At the moment my options were pretty limited, but I decided to sort through the small collection of bones that I had kept from some of the monsters that I had been dissecting over the past couple of days.

Using Nature Shaping on bones felt quite different to Shaping wood or stone. I could swear that I could feel some sort of power inside the bone that felt like it was guiding what I was making and soon the bones had formed into the shape of the skull of the catlike creature that had attempted to ambush my minions the other day. Except of course that the skull was much smaller, approximately the size of my fist instead of larger than my own head. I was planning on making this into a pendant when I had some time to make something into thread but for now, I decided to have a look at the item description.

Shaped Stalker Bone Talisman (Incomplete)

Increases Magical Power by 10% (When completed)

Durability: 5/5

This unfinished small bone talisman was made by an amateur Crafter using a combination of Mature Shaping and Enchanting and can be used to increase the power of spells.

+10% chance to avoid being noticed.

“Wow,” I said as I examined the talisman with interest. I honestly hadn’t expected that making something like this out of bone was going to add a secondary effect like this, but it was really interesting to see. “Maybe I should try and add bone to some of my other equipment as well.”

I spent most of the rest of the day upgrading my gear. This was one of the best things about Nature Shaping. You could always shape the same thing again it you didn’t like the way it turned out and improve it. It was harder to do with Enchanted items and in fact I was pretty sure that the Enchantment didn’t survive the experience but in the end that didn’t matter since I was better at Enchanting than I had been when I had first made them.

When I was done, I examined my upgraded armour with a pleased look on my face.

Shaped Wooden Vest of the Beetle

Defence: 10 +5

Durability: 15/15

This upgraded vest was made by an amateur Crafter using a combination of Nature Shaping and Enchantment and as such provides significantly more defence than its predecessor.

Shaped Wooden Bracer of the Beetle

Defence: 5 +3

Durability: 10/10

This upgraded bracer was made by an amateur Crafter using a combination of Nature Shaping and Enchantment and as such provides significantly more defence than its predecessor.

Shaped Wooden Bracer of the River

Defence: 5

Durability: 10/10

This upgraded bracer was made by an amateur Crafter using a combination of Nature Shaping and Enchantment and as such increases the wearer’s MP regen more than its predecessor.

Increases your MP regen by 2/min.

Not only was the protection provided by the armour significantly improved. I had decided not to make it easier to take the pieces of armour off, so it was mildly surprising to me that this wasn’t mentioned in the item description but in the end, I guess that it wasn’t really that much of a design flaw and had only been mentioned because of how poorly made the original item had been.

I had also changed the design slightly to reflect the changes to my internal world. Hopefully doing this would allow me to learn a Skill from my inner world that would increase the power of my crafted items even more. I thought about making a helmet for a few moments but in the end, I wasn’t confident that I would be able to make a helmet that wouldn’t obscure my vision or movement. Thankfully, I had a feeling that my new Exoskeleton Skill would allow me to protect my head much easier than making a specific piece of armour.

“Well, I think that’s enough for the day,” I sighed to myself as I got up off the stool. “Time for dinner.”