After making sure with just a slight sleight of words that no of the soldiers would bother helping with the creation of the boat, I took the liberty to pick some of the less wounded prisoners into what was going to be my building crew.
With the time flowing relentlessly, majority of the soldiers went back to their camp and started packing stuff with the intention of either going home or following the escaping enemies, leaving me with only four soldiers of escort, tasked with making sure I wouldn't escape with the prisoners.
Just this alone showed how little value did they put for those people, both prisoners and soldiers alike. They already knew that no one in their camp was even close to being capable of hurting me, which implied that I had some offensive means beyond their ability to contain as well! Yet despite that, they still left me to my own devices!
Not sure if I should take it as stupidity or a sign of good faith, I decided it would be better to not make the soldiers stand on their toes. After taking just a moment to explain the concept behind the boat and drawing some silly images on the sand of the beach, I took my leave back to the forest. Since I had now a way to get out of this place, it was important to secure some herbs and look for ores!
Just like everywhere else, it was the density of the mana that decided how rich one place would be. Obviously, if there was no ores in the first place in the ground, not even the most insane amounts of energy could lead to the formation of some more formidable metals, leaving me with just mana crystals if that was the case.
Thankfully, as I looked at the archipelago and added the nearby islands that soldiers told me about to a makeshift map in my head, I realised that either this place was formed by some kind of cataclysm or all of those islands were actually fruits of an enormous volcano eruption way in the past!
Taking my own island as an example, it was far too small to form naturally by itself, yet the total sum of all the islands in the area was just not enough to warrant the occurrence of Japan-like situation, where it was the tectonic plates responsible for creating such a relatively small and volatile land.
While I had to take into the account the possibility that the geological processes that formed not only this particular land but also the entire world differed from the ones I knew from earth from the times I was stupid enough to believe that I was capable of making a funny game based on the maps I learned to draw.
With all of that in mind, I didn't want to give up hope of finding some precious ores that would finally let me create something worthy of my abilities, or at least, allowing me to experience a bit around the concept of the entropy and containing it somehow in tools.
Regretfully, I didn't really have the time to dig into the ground or even scan it properly with my energy vision, as barely after I managed to pluck some promising looking herbs, one of the soldiers tasked with securing the building site approached me.
"Sir, we did everything you asked us to do, so could you please come with me?"
Looking at the changes on his face, I could only guess that he didn't expect to find me with my heads covered in dirt as I plucked some weeds with an elated smile on my lips!
"Sure, give me just a moment!"
There was no way I would just grab the plant and throw it into my bag!
I wanted to plant those herbs back in my private garden and grow them in my own discretion, not just obtain some valuable plants for a single-use!
Taking out a small piece of cloth, I made sure to dig up quite a bit of earth alongside with the roots of the herb before putting it all back into the cloth and forming a ball of earth with plant protruding from the small package.
"Okay then, lead the way."
Seeing that I was finally done, the soldier tried to hide his rolling eyes, but he was far too weak to play this game with me!
Not like it mattered anyway.
As soon as I got back to the beach, I saw the boat slowly taking up the shape. With the baselines already done and locked with some simple, iron nails, all that was left was to cover the entire bottom part in a proper way.
It took me only a while to explain how to do the clipping. In the end, it was as simple as lying two planks on top of each other, then moving the one at the bottom all the way down, to leave only a narrow line where the planks touched. As soon as it was done, a few nails was all one needed to connect the planks, and repeat the entire process with the next batch!
Since I didn't possess a proper knowledge how to do it, nor those people were crafty enough to cut something like that, instead of going with a boat with a flat backside, it turned out like a three dimensional V, with pointy endings raised above the centre of the weight.
With four meters of length to it, I didn't need to worry about space to keep all my haul and could even easily accommodate several people during my transfer journey to the island!
Seeing that the boat was slowly nearing the last phase of the construction, I asked one of the soldiers to lead me to the officer I talked with before.
Just like I thought, just a few simple pointers from me was enough to buy the life of those three prisoners that worked with my boat. What would be strange in any normal situation, turned into an entirely different matter after I proved the worth of my teachings with my own strength!
To be honest, I wasn't completely sure about leaving this island so soon. There was no threat for me here, maybe with the exception of the currently absent overlord.
The officer who did I share some of my knowledge with even went as far as inviting me to their court, so I could get acquainted with their real leader as soon as he gets back, but I somehow managed to excuse myself with the curiosity forcing me to explore the strange island.
While there was a strange smirk on Leicar's face whenever I spoke about the barren Island I wanted to visit, he didn't dig any deeper into the topic.
Using his gratitude a bit to obtain some freshwater and food, I was all ready to go back! I needed to know what kind of effects would the people have in my small world!
But even the fact that I bought their freedom didn't mean I was done on this island just yet! While I had nothing to do with the refugees, the warriors that I decided to take with me to the island, would experience the wonders of my tower. There was simply no way for me to let them ever go back and share the news with anyone!
That's why I had to make sure they would stay loyal!