B5 C30: Operation Verin Surprise

Construction has reached level 17!

“Aaand, we’re done!” Placing the final bit of exterior wood paneling, I let the system take over, signaling that I was finished.

You have constructed an Interior Garden!

…

As per usual, a slew of notifications appeared, detailing the exact bonuses and effects of the room, but I was less interested in the garden itself and more interested in what it represented. When I’d said we were done, that hadn’t just applied to the garden.

At last, we were well and truly finished. The entire house was built, and my mad construction spree had finally come to an end.

Wanting to be here for the momentous occasion, Verin had pushed herself to come outside. Already, she bore a grimace from the ambient mana pushing its way into her body, but if she wanted to be here, I wasn’t going to mother her.

“An exceptional job, Lady Tess. I still cannot fathom how you managed this all so quickly. And now that the construction is over, I am excited to move my bedding from the cabin and into my new room.” Though she was free with her praise, Verin continued to stare at our new home, squinting her eyes. “Although, on second glance, does something seem strange to you? It almost feels as if the exterior dimensions do not quite match the interior-”

Gah. I forgot her class gave her Perception. “Must be your imagination!” Grabbing her by the shoulders before she could say anything else, I started to gently nudge Verin towards the door. “Come on, let’s get inside for the grand tour. Not that you haven’t seen everything already, but that’s not the point.”

Deception has reached level 9!

I’d worked very hard to hide a surprise for Verin without her noticing, but I still had a few weeks before it would be ready. If she figured it out this quickly, it would ruin everything.

The noble squawked out a protest as I corralled her inside, but the moment we shut the door behind us, she sagged in relief from the surrounding frost mana, any remaining protests dying on her tongue.

“All right. Garden first.” Courtesy of its recent completion, it was the only room that neither of us had been in yet, at least not in its finished state. As we entered the room, or notifications piped up again, alerting us to the space’s construction bonuses.

Interior Garden

+2 to Gardening

Slightly enriches all soil within the room.

As to be expected, the perks weren’t too powerful, my Architecture only lying at a measly level five. Still, that did nothing to detract from the ambiance, which I thought I’d done a solid job with. Despite the fact that our plants didn’t need sunlight, I’d gone big with the windows here, trying to make the room feel as outside as possible. Along the walls, anywhere there wasn’t a window, I’d built shelving units, home to dozens of stone pots.

Larger than most of our other rooms, the garden had enough space to house every plant I thought could handle our house’s thick frost mana. Unfortunately, that precluded most of the plants we’d grabbed from the fire, dark, and air regions, but the forest and jungle herbs were still fair game.

In addition to all the potted plants, the floor was built in a grid pattern, with areas fenced off by small bricks. Half the room’s plants lay within these areas, planted directly in the earth, while the others enjoyed their pots.

Bending down to a patch of herbs that lacked any medicinal qualities, I plucked a few leaves off here and there. “This might actually be more fun for you now that you know how to cook. A quick trip to the garden, and you can grab whatever you need for your meal.”

Wandering off to a different section, Verin sniffed a few of our more aromatic offerings. “Indeed. I may attempt to delve back into tea, as well. I suspect I could spend quite some time crafting the perfect blend with what we have here.”

Even that was a big change in recent days. Not wanting to light an entire campfire everytime she wanted to heat up some tea, the noble had rarely bothered. Now, with our stovetop and all her recent cooking, the noble was far more amenable to taking on such simple tasks.

With both of us having been in all the other rooms, the rest of the tour was a touch less exciting for us, though it was still nice to see the weak bonuses I’d managed to squeeze out of the system.

Forge

+1 to Smithing

Increases the durability of your forge, allowing it to withstand higher temperatures.

Joined to the rest of the building by a short stone tunnel, my smithy was everything I’d hoped it would be. Aside from the forge itself, I’d done my best to make a crude anvil as well. Courtesy of Arcane Armament and my Forge Fingers, I didn’t need much in the way of tools, so I’d used most of the remaining space to offload some of my Arcane Storage capacity. All the metal I’d mined or looted sat in a corner, some in ingot form while some was raw ore. To the side, coal and other fuel for the furnace sat, ready to be loaded in.

Generic Workshop

+1 to Woodcarving

+1 to Alchemy

In the same vein as the forge, I also wanted Verin to be able to find me whenever I was crafting. The room itself was incredibly basic, mostly just a bunch of tables and an empty area where I could stick my cauldron when it wasn’t in the kitchen. Still, that was all I really needed. For the most part, gone were my days of retreating to my mountain cave whenever I had a project to work on.

Bedroom

Grants minor stamina recovery boost while resting inside.

“A large step up, I would say. I am eager to relocate here now that the construction is finished.” Verin paced about her new room, running her fingers across the furniture I’d built.

It was one of the worst bonuses I’d gotten from Architecture, but the space was an undeniable upgrade nonetheless. Not only were the bedrooms more spacious and decked out than the previous, but the wood-paneled walls were also a big step up from the rustic log vibe.

All three of us had our own rooms, although I’d put most of my effort into Verin’s for now. I made sure to build her as fancy of a desk and chair as I could, and there was now a tiny coffee table by the window, too.

At the very least, the next time someone passed out or went into a coma, the rest of us would have somewhere nice to sit.

From there, we swept through the common area, the baths, and the dining room. Much like the bedrooms, the first two had no notable skill bonuses, although I had been able to grab a +2 to Digestion for the dining room.

And that was pretty much it! I was a full-blown homeowner now. Maybe if we ended up being trapped here for another few centuries, I could enter the real-estate business once the emperor’s kids showed up.

Of course, there was one last room we hadn’t visited, but that was by design.

There was still quite a lot to do before I was ready to reveal my surprise to Verin. With much more free time on my hands now, I threw myself into the remaining prep work. For the next few weeks, I had my work cut out for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fully decked out in my plate armor, I slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. Heavy Step dragged me ever downwards as Internal Breeze filled my lungs with breathable air.

Soon, I knew the waters would run foul and murky as I cut through the aggressive marine life waiting below. In the calm before the storm, however, I couldn’t help but marvel at the coral reef laid out beneath me. Though parts of it were garish, filled with angry neon hues haphazardly slapped together, much of it was more subdued, with mellow pastels blending into one another. Underlying the entire view was the subtle undercurrent of mana, thrumming with energy as it released an ethereal glow.

When my surprise for Verin was finished, I’d have to figure out a way to take her here. Maybe in her glacier once she was better?

Alas, my slow descent finally came to an end, and the time to appreciate the view was over. Summoning a blade to my hand, I activated Vitality Sight along with Heat Sight, effortlessly picking out the many camouflaged squids. As I rushed towards the nearest of them, they all seemed to realize that the jig was up, and the previously calm waters erupted into chaos.

For once, the main purpose of my trip today was not to restock our kitchen supplies, though that would be an unintended bonus. Doing my best to keep the squids as intact as possible, I swept through the sea, dispatching my tentacled foes with ease.

Swords has reached level 8!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chaining spatial steps together, I climbed up the mountain, flickering in and out of existence with each teleportation. Quickly spotting my prey, I redirected myself. A solid five gryphons lazed about on a nearby overhang, not a single one of them spotting me. Eager to finish this up quickly, I teleported right into the middle of them.

Before they could even register my presence, I decided to be kind, announcing my intentions. “All right. I technically only need one of you for this, so if there’s a volunteer, the rest of you can go.”

Five feathery heads jerked towards me as I began to speak, all of them too shocked to process the interloper in their midst.

Inevitably, that surprise wore off.

As one, all five rushed towards me with a chorus of angry squawks, their sharp talons at the ready.

With a sigh, I summoned my hammer.

“Your loss, but that’s fine, too, I guess.”

Heavy Armor has reached level 16!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are in a resource room!

Back in the caves beneath the mountain, I navigated through the subterranean chambers until I reached the stone quarry. It was exactly the sort of place that couldn’t have existed naturally, with all manners of different rocks and minerals lying side by side with no rhyme or reason. In the preceding weeks, I’d been here often, mostly for building supplies like our kitchen countertops.

Before that, I’d mostly come here for materials I could build my forge, molds, and crucibles with. I’d had a few false starts, as apparently quite a number of rocks melted well before most metals. Through trial and error, though, I’d eventually stumbled upon a mineral with a decently high melting point.

Which would be great, if I could find it… I didn’t need any more for smithing, but that wasn’t the only thing it was good for. Hitting every stretch of the wall with God’s Eye, I did my best to differentiate between the hundreds of different shades of blacks and grays I was seeing.

Slate

Schist

Gneiss

Marble

Gr-

There.

It would take a bit of playing around to use it as I was hoping to, but out of everything I’d gathered so far, I had the highest hopes here.

Mining has reached level 18!

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Over the course of the next few weeks, my hectic scavenger hunt took me across all four of the starter biomes. I would have gone further, too, if it wouldn’t have taken so long. Sadly, Tal’Ket’s summoning disk was still with Cal, and for all that my new Portal spell sped up my travels, it still took too much mana to cast with any regularity.

On the up side, many of my tasks were fairly easy. Harkening back to the days before we’d started eating dungeon monsters, I raced through the forest to catch rabbits and other small game. Needing a few less standard ingredients, I told my usual stories to Arbor, and I did my best to explain what I needed him to grow.

At other times, things grew a touch more involved, either in terms of difficulty or effort. On the difficulty side, I found myself engaged in a good deal of alchemy, though the skill didn’t deem any of my concoctions worthy of another level. On the effort side, there was more woodworking and even a bit of glass making. Nothing mind boggling, but good craftsmanship took time. It didn’t help that I constantly had to stop whenever I heard Verin approaching, but with Arcane Storage, it was simple work to hide everything before she could see.

In the end, there was only truly one aspect of my grand that was both difficult and effortful. Unfortunately, it was also the most important one.

It was a project that had been floating around in my head for a while, half for Verin and half for me. I’d expected it to be tricky to pull off, not so much because I didn’t have the materials I needed, but mostly because I didn’t have the know-how. Lacking the internet, I was forced to rely on common knowledge and whatever scraps of memories God’s Mind could serve up.

About a hundred times, I considered giving up, and about a thousand times, I failed miserably. If there was anything I had in abundance right now, though, it was time.

And then, one day, it happened. For the umpteenth time, I tried creating something that felt like it should be incredibly easy to make. Impatient, I hit my creation with a few Dry spells to speed the process up.

The end result? Not stellar. Truly, I would have to try a bit harder.

But that wasn’t the important part. Because, at last, the system chimed in.

You have learned a new skill…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only a week later, it was done. Every step of Operation: Verin Surprise was now finished, save for one. Navigating through the house, I made my way to Verin’s room in short order.

Ready to spring my surprise, I gently rapped on her door.

I hope she likes it.