The branch in William’s hand crackled with magic as he held it up for inspection. I wasn't inclined to disagree with him very often, mostly because with his [Wisdom] skill he almost always gave me solid suggestions, but this time I took my time replying to him. After a few moments he looked up from the branch and toward me.

“Don’t give me that look. Selling it is a viable option. You do know what an auction is, right?” He asked.

His cheeky smile let me know that he was joking.

“I'm just wondering what I can get from it. I know gold coins are great, but I don't think they’ll be better for me than potentially attuning to a new element.” I said.

"Gold coins are great, you'll never hear me say otherwise, but that's not quite what I meant.” William shook his head. “There are auctions that allow you to accept trades. If you want an item and have something the owner wants, just offer to trade. Or better yet, put the item for auction and then put a list of what items you’ll accept in the bidding. That way people might bump up the price so high that you get more than you were expecting.”

Then his eyes twinkled.

“Actually, you might not even need to put one element up for trade. Put up a trade for all six attunements, and whoever offers exactly what you want you just make the branch attune to their desired element. That way you don't limit yourself to only reaching the bidders of one plant.”

His words were solid, and his argument too, but I expected nothing less from William. It was a good option to take if I wanted to. There was just one problem.

“I’d have to use part of my Time every day to keep it stable. The longer it stays unattuned the more Time I give up.” I said.

It was possible for me to simply pick one of the attunements and be done with it, but I wanted to do things properly.

“What do you normally use your Time for?” William asked. “In this case the trade might be worth it even if we have to take some time to decide which element will give you the most value.”

“So far I've been using it to activate my Mark every night that I can, but if I’m being honest, I don't know if the extra mana is worth it.” I said.

It was something that I'd been considering lately. The time magic was useful, but I was gathering mana in hopes of maximising every stat I could to avoid dying during my ascension. If I could be using it on other more lucrative projects, then I would. Obviously, I couldn't sell the Time. Gerial would kill me, or at least be devastated. But if using it on the branch was an option then I was willing to do so.

“Your words hurt me. I just want you to know that. I am hurt.” William said. “I'm not even going to talk about the priceless Time magic you're using, but extra mana is something that people kill for.

“Three hundred and fifty mana could be the difference between being able to cast enough spells to work for a living or get a promotion. If a person finds themselves in trouble, then that mana could fuel the spell that saves their life. Or heck, maybe it's why your girlfriend dates you. I've heard of mana diggers before.”

“Those options all sound really depressing.” I said.

“To you, the guy with infinite mana.” William dismissed my words with a wave of his hand. “More importantly, you've got the option to get something you really need. Not just an item to fulfil a passing fancy, but something that can help you travel down a genuine life changing path.”

I sat back and took in his words. To my side I could see Gold leaning in eagerly. His ears picked up every single mention of riches and opportunity, and even Agni was listening intently.

“An ice attuned plant would help you more than any of these elements. Or maybe even a full set of materials that can be used to create a metal cultivation room.” William said.

I stared at him and considered his words. The only reason I hadn’t thought of doing that kind of trade was that it seems so ridiculous. Ice attune plans could be used to create an entire household of magicians with a mid-tier element. If it was so easy to acquire one, everyone would do it.

Thinking that I could trade for one with this branch was sheer arrogance. Or so I'd thought.

"You really think I can get something like that for this branch?" I asked.

“Let's say you picked the most valuable element, lightning. Do you know how hard it is to find a lightning attuned plant? For one thing they have to be born where lightning mana is naturally dense. For another, lightning mana tends to kill any and all life that approaches it.” He said. “It's harder to find a lightning magician than any other basic element, not just because the element is harder to attune to but also because it's so rare to find it in a stable state.”

William raised the branch to his eyes and watched the sparks of lightning crackling between the leaves.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody out there offered to trade you an ice attunement plant. Or even enough materials to form your own metal cultivation room. Maybe both together.” He said. “And I'm only using those as examples, the actual list of items I can help you is much larger. Symbols, regents, blueprints, magic aids. The point is that you have to think about what you could get, not just what you have in front of you.”

“That's easier said than done when I have no idea what I could get.” I said.

William placed the branch down and I took it back into my inventory. We sat there in silence for a few moments as I took in his words. It was nice to talk to William about these things, he always thought with the bigger picture in mind.

He stood up a moment later and I could see him fighting back a yawn.

"I'll get you a list.” He said. “You should get some sleep. Fighting a tree is no joke.”

"It was a mighty opponent.” I said.

William made his way to the door, and I found myself wondering about my options. He'd given me a lot to think about today. It was only when we stopped at the entrance, and he turned back to look at me that I saw a sparkle in his eyes.

"By the way, I've compounded a new list of questions about, well, about you know where.” William said. “I'll be honest, I haven’t been able to stop adding to the list for a week.”

“Really? I'm happy to answer them.” I said. “You aren't the only one with questions, Roxxy still hasn't run out either.”

I knew he was talking about Earth. Roxxy was just naturally curious, but in William’s case it was like he was trying to write an academic paper. Any and all information was absorbed, no matter how worthless it sounded. He was like me when I first arrived in this world except in reverse. He snuck a glance at Agni who preened as she chirped in conversation with Gold.

“Nevermind, I'll ask them next time.” He said.

A few minutes later I'd gone to bed, the curtains closed and the endless light of the holy land out of sight and out of mind. Gold and Agni were chirping in conversation, but that quickly turned into background noise. But I had a problem.

I couldn't sleep.

Thoughts and adrenaline coursed through my mind and body like a chorus of muscle-bound apes. I’d fought a tree. It didn't sound very exciting, but as I fell asleep the memory of the battle was burned into my mind. Lightning had struck at me, and I'd flown into the centre of a living storm. And I'd even gotten a branch for my troubles.

I didn't even try to unravel the mystery of the branch. The entire situation would require further investigation if I ever wanted to get to the bottom of it.

“Yeah, okay, I'm not sleeping just yet.” I said.

Gold and Agni stop chirping as I spoke, both of them turning to look at me. Gold clacked his beak together and I got the general gist of what he was implying.

What will. You do?

“Something caught my attention today. Other than the giant magic tree.” I said. “[Stone Grasp].”

A large stone hand appeared in the middle of the bedroom and the birds stared at it in confusion. It was the size of my torso, and its fingers were extremely clunky.

No matter how I looked at it, this was a spell designed for battle. The hand could squeeze the life out of an enemy or make my opponents give up by dragging them into the air and dropping them. But this time I didn't have an opponent for it to grab.

Instead, I went to the kitchen and took out a cup, placing it on the bedroom floor.

“Could you hold that cup?” I asked.

The stone hand turned toward me as though it was confused. A moment later it flew over to the cup and with a clumsy swipe it tried to grab the object. It failed.

The stone hand knocked the cup over, and if it had been filled it would've spilled liquid everywhere. My spell didn't give up there. Five times it tried to grip the cup in its giant fingers and four times it failed. On the fifth it held up the cup triumphantly and then promptly disappeared as its task was completed.

The cup broke from the fall.

Gold chirped with laughter, and I shot him a smile.

“I can't improve unless I'm willing to break a few cups.” I said. "Let's try that again.”

This time I created my own cup so that I didn't end up breaking all of the ones that the hotel had put in the room. Once upon a time my [Earth Creation] had been clumsy, but now I could summon a basic cup or plate without issues. I could even make it look fancy and smooth out the rough edges with my [Earth Manipulation].

It was soothing to know that I’d always have cutlery and dishes wherever I went.

“[Stone Grasp].” I said.

This time I tried to imagine a slender hand appearing. Not a clunky giant designed for war, but a flexible limb that could be used for tasks.

A smaller hand appeared in front of me, its shape and size much closer to my imagination than I'd expected from a first try. It was likely because of the practice I’d had with my [Earth Creation] skill, but the five fingers were now thin and long, and the size of the spell was only as big as my head.

“Could you grab that cup and bring it to me, please?” I asked.

The hand gave me a hand equivalent of a nod and I found myself nodding back. I didn't have to be polite to my spells, but I didn't want to insult the magic behind them. It was a strange habit I'd likely brought back from Earth. Back when I was younger when I used to bump into furniture, I'd apologise to it.

This time the stone hand only took three tries to lift the cup and instead of disappearing it brought it right to me. And it pressed the cup against my head. The moment the cup touched my temple, the stone hand disappeared. I watched helplessly as the cup fell to the floor.

The floor broke.

Agni and Gold’s amused chirps filled my ears.

“I see where I went wrong.” I said.

Then a blue box filled my vision.

[Stone Grasp (II) has reached level 6.]

"Never mind, I'm a genius.” I raised my hand triumphantly in the air. "I think that's the fastest I've ever leveled up in a skill except for [Earth Creation] when I was a baby.”

Gold nodded his head. The puffer having been there since the beginning. Agni was a little more confused, but she happily chirped her congratulations.

More happy. Than receive branch.

“I think it's just a different type of happiness.” I said. “I earned the branch, but the significance of it just hasn't hit me yet. The skill’s level up is immediate feedback that my test worked.”

With a wave of my hand, I brought out a book from my inventory and scribbled down a few notes. The spell. What I’d done with it. And what my thoughts were. It was one thing to figure out a new use for a spell, it was another to have level up so quickly.

The only conclusion I could make was that the spell’s level was trying to catch up to the high level of ability I was displaying. Not just in controlling the stone, but in creating it. The slender hand I’d formed had mostly been a result of my [Earth Creation] practice, but it was still a more skilled application of the [Stone Grasp] skill than I should be capable of.

It was the only reason I could think of for the quick level up. Or I could be making up completely false reasons for the level up with terrible logic. Either way I felt ecstatic.

“[Stone Grasp].” I said.

A slender hand appeared, and I grabbed the cup again. I didn't change the words I used. Instead, I changed the image of what I wanted it to do in my mind. Magic was more visual than verbal. If my mind pictured the stone hand placing the cup in my hand, then I was hoping it would do so.

It took two attempts for the stone hand to grasp the cup. And then it dropped it straight into my hand and disappeared.

My test was a success.

Theoretically, this meant that I could replace a few tasks with my spells. Maybe more than a few depending on how much they could do.

Could I make them write an essay for me?

"I hope this doesn't make me incredibly lazy.” I said.

Gold chirped happily and I turned my head to listen to him.

Join me. Already lazy. Fun.

I chuckled and turned toward the bed. Testing spells was fun, but I needed sleep. I also wanted to save my mana for any encounters I had in the holy land.

Hopefully the guards would be able to provide me with more mana concoctions soon. Otherwise, I had to wait days for my mana to recharge.

“Night guys, let's hope tomorrow is a relaxing day.” I said. “But still filled with treasure.”

Gold and Agni chirped their agreement, but I didn't hear them.

I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.