Fields of grass extended as far as the eye could see. Hills poked out here and there like pimples on a teenager.

So empty, Dallion thought.

Turning in the direction of the sun, he could see a sea in the far distance. There wasn’t a single whiff of salt in the air.

“That’s how domains usually start out,” Vihrogon emerged in his dryad form. “A blank canvas for you to fill, one way or another.”

“Forging a province never is easy,” Dallion whispered, remembering what his grandfather had said in a dream.

“Sure it is.” The dryad put his arm round Dallion’s shoulders. “It’s the managing that’s difficult.”

“Managing?”

“Eventually, you’ll be in command of thousands. Keeping them content while not messing things up is always tricky. Why do you think people rely on limiting echoes so much?”

That was an interesting question. Some used physical force to control their subjects, others relied on money and luxuries, but most resorted to mental means. Dallion had an advantage there: he had music skills with which to nudge people in the direction he wanted. From what he could tell, that was a significant factor of House Elazni keeping its influence within the empire. Their rivals, in turn, relied on money to achieve the same. Try as he might, Dallion couldn’t think of any notable family that used force. The capital was full of them, of course; in fact, they composed ninety percent of the nobles, if not more. Yet, all of them were nothing but pawns for the softer houses, playing to their tunes.

“Let’s start with the simple part,” Dallion said.

Ten feet away, stone walls emerged from the ground, forming a square enclosure. As they rose, holes emerged, growing into openings that would hold doors and windows. A new layer shot out perpendicular from the walls, forming a floor and ceiling, as the rest kept going up.

It was like concrete being poured, just without the actual concrete. Dallion had never had any interest in construction, but had a basic idea how things were supposed to work—or close to it—from middle school and online videos. Floor by floor, the structure kept rising until abruptly stopping at the fifth floor.

“Wow.” Vihrogon moved his hand off Dallion’s shoulder, taking a few steps towards the building. “That’s the worst house I’ve seen ever.”

“I’m still training,” Dallion grumbled. “And it’s not finished. I haven’t added decorations yet.”

“I don’t think the Moons can make that many decorations to cover up that catastrophe.”

“So, I need a better architectural plan.” The issue was that Dallion had used his scholar skills for the purpose. Without them, the dimensions and stability of the structure would have been messed up.

“That’s not the issue. You’re trying to combine two approaches, taking the worst parts of each.”

“I’m only human, not a dryad like you.”

“Your problem has nothing to do with racial abilities. Give me control.”

With a sigh, Dallion gestured to the dryad to go on with it.

The outlines of a structure appeared a hundred feet from the existing creation. They weren’t made of stone or wood, or even any other material. It all was a blueprint made of magic threads, but it wasn’t a spell. Academy spellcraft was called the skill of exceptions, but what it did was in effect force the threads of the world to do whatever they were instructed. That’s why mages had to learn so many rules and instructions.

Natural magic, in contrast, “asked” them to achieve the result the person wanted. It could be said to be collaborative, but that would imply sentience.

“Building from within your realm only requires logic and imagination,” the dryad said as the magic threads spread, making more complex and elaborate designs. “You think of what you want, then release it for reality to complete. Building in the real world is the opposite: you physically create what you want and have the idea become mirrored within the realm. What you just did was try to build the parts without thinking about what you want.”

The blueprint was all but ready now—similar to Dallion’s mansion in the imperial capital, though larger.

“This is what I want to achieve. I’m not worried how it will be. Here, all I have to do is create a perfect mental image and—” He snapped his fingers.

Purple dust exploded from the structure, as if it were shedding millions of pixels. When they faded away, the structure was there, perfect and complete, putting Dallion’s monstrosity to shame.

“Of course, nothing’s stopping you from using your…” Vihrogon glanced at the incomplete stone shell. “… method.”

“Fine, fine. I get the point.”

The stone building was pulled back into the ground. A moment later, so was the dryad’s mansion. If Dallion was to learn how to do things, he had to do so by himself.

“Just imagine,” he said, more to himself than the dryad.

DOMAIN FORGING SKILLS ACTIVATED

Follow the blueprint markers for best efficiency.

Dozens of structure outlines emerged, all stacked one over the other. An ordinary person would have found it impossible to make them out, but for Dallion they were clear, as if they had been placed one next to the other.

All the buildings he had been to—not only since he’d entered this world, but even going far back as his childhood on Earth—were there. Some were incomplete, some were segments of larger structures, but enough for Dallion to get a good idea of what he wanted.

“Well, that’s new,” the dryad said.

“Domain forging skills?” he asked, turning to Vihrogon.

“Must be you reaching the skill cap. I’m only able to build things I have in the past.”

Intriguing. If Dallion wanted to be lazy about it, he could simply copy structures he was familiar with and be done with it.

Curious, he focused on the blueprint of the original Icepicker guild. All other blueprints faded away, like discarded combat splitting instances. A moment later, the structure came into being, solidifying just as the dryad mansion had.

BUILDING CREATED - GUILDHALL

DAL THE BUILDER

(+2 Mind, +2 Perception)

You’ve created your first building. Everyone gets one of these, so don’t get cocky.

Two blue rectangles emerged.

GUILDHALL (Level 3)

Domain: SANDSTORM

Guardian: BLADE SPIDER

Dimensions: 60x80x60 feet

Wall width: 0.6 feet

Floors: 4+1

Rooms: 62

Doors: 48

Windows: 35

Secret Areas: NONE

A white rectangle followed, appearing just above.

This was the most detail Dallion had seen regarding structures. Normally, he’d only get a brief description. The guardian was the thing with the stats, given that they were the soul of the area or item. Having the power to create things on such a scale clearly was different.

I really have reached a different level, he thought.

Feeling nostalgic, dear boy? Adzorg asked. Not that I have anything against the choice. It’s a building worth having. It can’t be your main building, though.

“It isn’t,” Dallion replied. “But it’s close.”

Casting a flight spell, Dallion rose into the air to get a better view of his domain. His aether sight helped him see the border between the realm proper and the false infinity that surrounded it. The effort caused slight pain in his temples—a sensation he hadn’t experienced in quite a while.

The first structures he built were eight guard forts, positioned at equal distances along the wall. Even if they’d be empty for a while, Dallion preferred to lock the space so as not to have to restructure things later. While mostly the same, a few unique characteristics were added just for the sake of identification.

When it came to the river, the fort had a dock added nearby as well. The wall there was removed entirely, for aesthetic reasons.

After waiting for a few minutes to confirm that he wouldn’t get an achievement for the first ten buildings, Dallion proceeded to build a well with a fountain and a “Village Chief’s Mansion” mansion with running water. Come to think of it, that was something that he’d have to add to the existing buildings as well. As easy as it was to construct buildings he was familiar with, their amenities left a bit to be desired.

“What do you think, Harp?” Dallion asked. “Getting somewhere, or not quite?”

The nymph didn’t reply. Her thoughts were still on the war taking place on the other side of the empire.

Dallion wanted to find a way to console her, but it wasn’t easy knowing that one of the contenders for potential Moonhood was a nymph as well. While in the future, he’d still need to cross that bridge at some point—it was inevitable that once he’d established himself within the empire, he’d have to fight Harp’s kind on a massive scale.

“You’ll need an arena,” Vihrogon said, shifting the topic. “What’s the Hero of Nerosal without an arena?”

“No one remembers that,” Dallion shook his head.

“If you want to succeed, you better start thinking of ways to remind them. You’re a count, but also the Hero of Nerosal, battlemage of the Academy, and a full hunter. Titles hold power—the more substance behind them, the better.”

And favored of the Green Moon, Dallion added mentally.

Concentrating, he tried to imagine an awakening altar, but the blueprint refused to appear. None of the ones Dallion’s had visited emerged, not even the deserted five-level one near Dherma village.

“How do I build awakening shrines?” Dallion asked.

The dryad whistled. “That’s a big one. I have no idea. Never had one in my domain. Of course, I didn’t spend too much time running my village. It became boring fast, so I gave it to a relative.”

Dallion could sense there was more to the story, but chose not to pry.

“The Order might know,” Vihrogon continued. “Weren’t you told that they’d help you build up your domain?”

“I doubt that’s what they meant.” And even if it was, Dallion had mixed feelings on letting the Order establish a presence in his domain. They weren’t the type of organization that let something go once they had it.

Even so, Dallion created the blueprint of a Green Moon statue, positioning it at the entrance in the outer wall. He didn’t entertain the thought of adding a coliseum, but added a hunter inn; more specifically, he recreated Diroh’s hunter inn as he initially remembered it. Although not sure how she’d react, he was going to need skilled people for his settlement, and hunters were better than most. Many of the hunter dens had been destroyed or abandoned because of the war and the demands of local nobles, causing them to choose the wilderness. A safe place to rest without having to worry about politics was just the thing they needed.

Descending back to the ground, Dallion looked at what he’d created. Logically, there was no reason for him to be tired. He hadn’t done any physical work or even cast massive spells. Yet, the effort had drained him. His eyes and head were thumping in pain and even healing magic had little effect.

“Better stop here and take a rest,” Vihrogon said. “You can continue later.”

“Right.”

Dallion took one look at his realm. From inside, it looked like a structure scattered throughout the world. Even neighboring forts were so far from one another that they were no longer visible. In the real world, the distance was going to be a lot smaller. The question was whether the structures themselves would be. It was time to find out.

Taking a deep breath, Dallion left his realm. Reality shifted, then settled.

The campfire was still burning, cooking the branchhare meat under Ruby’s diligent supervision. Several buildings were present, scattered throughout the area, though well within view. Less impressive than they’d been in the area realm, they still rose up majestically, in defiance of the wilderness that surrounded them.

Anyone entering your realm will see them as mountains, Vihrogon said.

“How can you be sure?” Dallion asked.

Because I’m looking at them. They are the vision you want to present to the world, and you’re starting to think big.