Construction Mage - Chapter 49: First Upgrade

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For Clay, there were only two real options that fit his situation. Geldrune’s Blessing, which focused on increasing the strength and durability of the elemental, was too combat-focused for his liking. He wasn’t a typical Delver aiming for the wealth of the lower layers or an idealist who wanted to conquer the dungeon himself. That meant he preferred the other two options, which had more uses outside of combat.

Both Veldara’s Blessing and Quorineth’s Blessing had their unique advantages that could aid him in both building his home and farming the dungeon. However, one major difference set them apart.

While Veldara’s Blessing enabled him to summon more elementals, it would also worsen a problem he was already having—mana. The summons was a huge mana drain. He could only use them sparingly, even when he was employing the meditation skill. While he would be working toward remedying that with his stat points awaiting allocation, if he chose the option to summon more elementals, it would only set him back to square one. Another summon meant another drain on his mana.

That’s why Clay unhesitatingly chose the third option, Quorineth’s Blessing, after thinking about it briefly. It helped that his battle in the church was fresh in his mind. He had been staying back in a corner, letting his summon do all the work. If his summon could become more independent, instead of needing him to micromanage it, it would free him up.

As he foresaw his future battles against multiple monsters at once, the ability to give out simpler commands was crucial. He wouldn’t have to spend as much of his attention on the golem, decreasing the chance he would get caught off guard.

Even in his quest to rebuild his home, being able to entrust it with more complicated tasks would accelerate his progress even further than‌ having multiple summons in certain cases.

[Quorineth’s Blessing selected. Confirm? (Yes/No)]

[Upgrading skill…]

[Skill upgrade complete.]

Perhaps in the future, when I level up the spell enough again, I can take Veldara’s Blessing.

With his first monumental skill upgrade over, Clay couldn’t wait to take a look at his new status screen. He found that his Summon Elemental(I) skill had tiered up, but the level had been reset.

So it reset to level 1? Anyway, with one big decision done, another twenty await me.

With the desire ‌to test out his upgraded spell right away, Clay quickly moved on to distribute the twenty stat points for leveling up four times.

Realizing the potential in the elemental and its usefulness in construction work, he invested all his stat points into Wisdom. 

Now that he knew his skills could be upgraded at level ten, he was looking forward to the next skill to reach this milestone, which was Meditate. The skill boosted his base regeneration rate, so the more wisdom he had, the more he benefited from it. At the same time, each level in the skill likely increased this bonus by a certain percentage that Clay hadn’t been able to measure, but it was noticeable as it added up.

He believed that he wasn’t far off from enough mana regeneration that he could keep his summon out at all times, which was why he was comfortable throwing all his points into wisdom. The Meditate skill would only get a bigger boost the moment it leveled up twice more.

With all his upgrades spent, he finally relaxed and gave his status screen a look over.

Status:

Name: Clayton Stratton

Age: 30

Class: Earth Mage [Apprentice] - Level 9

Profession: Staffmaker, Alchemist

Resources:

Health - 100%

Stamina - 112/112 [1.6/min]

Mana - 100/100 [8.6/min]

Stats [Mage]:

Stat Points: 20 -> 0

Strength: 15 

Endurance: 16

Agility: 17

Dexterity: 11

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 23 -> 43

Skills:

Spell Manipulation(I): 6

Earth Blast(I): 4

Meditate(I): 8

Summon Elemental(I): 10 (Max) -> Summon Elemental(II): 1

Once he was satisfied, he swiftly exited the white gazebo along with the other Delvers returning from their run. However, instead of joining the various lines to sell their spoils to the vendors, he went off to a secluded corner and chanted.

The feeling of a mysterious sensation running through his body remained the same as the spell took hold. The earth elemental materialized, standing completely still as it waited for orders. Clay circled around his summon, inspecting every inch of it, but found no difference. Then, he finally sent out a command to his supposed upgraded golem.

Come, take my shovel from me and go back to where you were and dig.

Previously, he would have to give out a series of simple commands. The best it could do was run in this direction or that direction. It wouldn’t dodge out of harm’s way without being told to do so, or attack when in range. That was why he let out a refreshing smile when he saw the elemental taking the shovel after striding over to him.

He quickly told his summon to stop just as it sank the shovel into the ground. He’d rather not be seen damaging the area around the dungeon. There were other tests to move on to. Next on the list was the summon’s intelligence.

The description had been vague, only noting that its automation would be increased. To Clay, that didn’t mean intelligence or the ability to think, but he still wanted to confirm. He would want to know sooner rather than later if his elemental could communicate.

Can you tell me how many people are in the gazebo right now?

This time, the summon didn’t react. Clay nodded in understanding as he continued with his tests. He wanted to get a good grasp of its limits before assigning it any important tasks.

Like that, what remained of the day slipped away.

***

The next morning, after consulting with Garrick about the supplies he would need to rebuild the house, he headed straight for his plot of land. He began not by summoning his elemental but by simply casting as many Earth Blasts as he could to stock up on materials. 

While he did so, he tried shaping them as close to a brick as possible, hoping to train his Spell Manipulation skill at the same time. It hadn’t gone up nearly as much as his other spells, so all he could produce were still tough, uneven pieces that could hardly be called rectangular.

The only issue he came up against was that he couldn’t meditate and chant his spells at the same time. However, with how little mana each Earth Blast consumed, it wasn’t a big issue.

Despite the tedious nature of his work, he single-mindedly focused on the task at hand. He didn’t stop even when the sun reached its zenith. It was only when the friendly foreman called out to him that he stopped. He whistled as he marveled at the large stack of materials next to him.

“Is this how it works? Ya made these poorly shaped pieces to be smoothed out later? As long as that doesn’t take too long, the ‌speed at which ya produce these bricks isn’t too shabby at all.”

Working for four straight hours, Clay had managed to produce just over eight hundred pieces. The previous house he built only took approximately four thousand bricks, so he already had almost a quarter of the bricks he needed. 

Still, as proven before, just having bricks didn’t matter. He still needed the all-important mortar to put the place together. That was why Garrick had come.

“Did you manage to get enough for me to use?”

“Yeah, yeah. I expected as much before you talked to me this morning. I had already prepared more for you. Here, it’s the same stuff you had been working with,” Garrick said as he placed down two buckets full of mortar paste, the same kind Clay had worked with during his tenure at his worksite. “I told you to pay more attention when I was making this stuff before. It’s a lifelong skill for any respectable builder.”

“I remember the recipe, but there’s no way I can make it properly without years of experience. I can’t read its consistency like you, so I don’t know if it’s a bad batch, or it needs more water or something.”

“Pay more attention; it should be simple. You just need to get a better feel for it. Here, dip your hand in it and remember this consistency. Add water if it’s sticking to your hand too much, and add sand if it’s not sticking enough. There’s no need to add any more lime powder most of the time. Too expensive to waste anyway with how much they cost.”

“Hmm, show it to me again in a second,” Clay replied before turning around and summoning the elemental. 

He then ordered it to start processing the pieces of jagged Earth Blasts into proper bricks as directed his attention back to Garrick, urging him to continue guiding him.

The foreman patiently went through the demonstration again and silently watched on as Clay started to stack the bricks together to build up the new foundation. 

“Remember to coat it with your ooze membrane before going any higher. You don’t want any water seeping into your foundation, or it’ll all come crumbling down if it ever pours like that again. The mortar also takes a month to set, but you should be able to put weight on it after two or three days. Just don’t let it get wet in the meantime.”

As demanding as Garrick was, Clay couldn’t help but be grateful as the man continued to guide him for an entire hour. Back when he was at the worksite, the man had been too busy to pay so much attention to one worker, so he knew how much of a favor his friend was doing him.

Thankfully, an hour was all it took for Clay to get the hang of it. The mortar had all been properly adjusted and wouldn’t dry out for some time, so Garrick’s presence was no longer mandatory. He sat there on top of what would be his foundation, coating and layering brick after brick, as he was careful not to move from his spot too much lest he break out of his meditative state.

All the points he had spent on wisdom were showing their value as his work continued for the rest of the day.

This routine should work. I’ll have to start going into the dungeon again tomorrow, but it should just slow things down by a few days. Within a month, I should be able to rebuild and finish the toilet for the prince!

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