Chapter 63: Small
So much for not making a mess, at least I have two more pickaxes ready to hand over to the Overseer for next month.
Cal tried using equipment other than the pickaxe, but it wasn’t nearly as effective. His field had no necessary work left, so anything he tried there would be purely to experiment with his trance state.
The simple fact that the work was unnecessary made it nearly impossible to enter the trance state. Every action he took was accompanied by a thought about how pointless it was. So, to solve that issue, he decided to expand the size of his field by digging up more of the surface around its boundaries.
The right side of the field was blocked by small hills of rocks and debris, and the bottom bordered the path into the field, so the top was chosen as the side to expand.
Cal let the pickaxe rest on his shoulder as he considered giving up for the day. He felt like he was making zero progress, and the building frustration was making it harder to fall into the trance state with every failed try.
He looked around and took in his surroundings. He had dug up close to half an acre.
If this can’t help me today, another try will do nothing but annoy me further.
Cal went to his storage room and glanced at his interface, noting the two additional pickaxes he had added to his alternates.
[Advanced Pickaxe: Average Quality] Upgrade: 1125/4000 Tasks (Alternate)
- Self-Repair
[Advanced Pickaxe: Average Quality] Upgrade: 678/4000 Tasks (Second alternate)R/ê/Ad lateSt ch/a/pters at nô(v)e(l)bin/.c/o//m Only
- Self-Repair
He put them up on the racks and knew they wouldn’t be touched again. At least he wouldn’t touch them until he needed to hand them over to the Overseer.
Cal left the storage room and stretched. Most of the day had been spent unsuccessfully trying to modify the trance state. He could even use the word ‘wasted,’ but that wouldn’t be entirely correct. He still hadn’t given up and would try again soon. He would keep trying until he genuinely felt like it had no hope.
It was too important of a matter to give up after a minor setback.
He was about to water the overly thirsty crops—as had become his habit every six hours—but he froze when he was halfway to his cultivated land. He pulled up his interface.
[Harvest Guardian] - Summon a golem made of earth and stone to assist you. This golem can help with heavy lifting, protect your fields from intruders, and fight alongside you in battles. Duration of the trait is until destruction. Limited to 1 active golem.
This was a perfect time to test the [Trait]. If he could make a golem that could water the crops at an assigned interval, it would be one tedious task he wouldn’t need to worry about. At least, it would be useful until he had a reliable irrigation system in place.
Cal reached out with an open palm pointing to the ground and activated [Harvest Guardian].
Unable to activate [Harvest Guardian].
Insufficient material in the immediate surroundings.
... Or tried to activate [Harvest Guardian].
He moved to stand next to one of the many piles of rock—which wasn’t his meditation pile of rock—and tried again.
[Harvest Guardian] activated.
Cal sucked in a deep breath when his mana core was emptied out in one massive pull. His mana sank into the pile of rocks before the small area it covered rumbled. The rocks shifted slightly before a few were dislodged and rolled to the base.
He took a large step back. He didn’t want to be in the way of the golem that would soon make its appearance.
Several more rocks shifted and rolled down the pile before it looked like a small sinkhole formed where his mana sank into the pile. The affected rocks melted together as they coalesced to form a small, misshapen blob that pulsed lightly.
This golem is forming without an elemental affinity.
Do you wish to use your essential mana reserves to apply one of your affinities to this golem?
WARNING
... I intended to hide it from the Overseer for as long as I could. So much for that.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you not absorb the earth simulacrum yesterday?” The Overseer added when Cal didn’t respond for a few seconds.
“... That’s true,” Cal nodded slowly. The Overseer might seem like he knows all of his secrets, but that didn’t mean he wanted to reveal everything—
“This wouldn’t happen to be something similar to your lightning attack, would it?”
Cal gave up. “You seem to know more about what I can do than I do myself.”
“Then you just aren’t being observant enough,” the Overseer waved him off. “You are an interesting puzzle, Apprentice Cal. One that I find myself enjoy solving.”
That doesn’t sound great.
“I’m happy to be of service,” Cal said dryly before trying to move the subject to something else. Anything else. “What brings the Overseer all the way here?”
“There might be an issue that you should be aware of. It just so happens that the grandson of an Elder was slightly ruffled during your incident with Tarn. So far, the Initiate is choosing to keep the story to himself as he was told to do so, but I find these types of guild members to be temperamental.”
Cal wasn’t prepared for that. It was the last thing he thought the Overseer would say to his attempt to redirect the topic. “Since you felt the need to come all the way here, can I assume my anonymity could be broken at any time?”
“Traveling anywhere inside the guild’s territory isn’t as difficult as you make it seem, but you’re not wrong.”
Cal frowned as he tried to recall the Initiates who accompanied Tarn. Unfortunately, their faces were blank slates since he barely paid them any attention. The Overseer didn’t let him think of them for long.
“The genuine reason I visited is to discuss the booklet I gave you. Did you have time to look through it?”
He almost felt embarrassed that [Mage] was his choice after he asked the Overseer for all this information. “Thank you for taking the time to personally write out the information in such—”
“You want to choose Mage, don’t you,” the Overseer interrupted with a laugh.
“... Yes.”
“I can’t say I’m disappointed that you aren’t interested in Rune Scribe, but that path definitely isn’t for everyone. Would you like to get this done now?” The Overseer almost looked more eager than Cal himself.
“I thought I needed to wait a month after the Selection for a retry.”
“Usually, yes,” the Overseer confirmed, “but since you’re choosing to keep your presence quiet, using the main activation pillar is foolish. That would broadcast your assignment with how flashy that thing is.”
“Oh.” He didn’t expect to get his second [Class] until a few weeks later. “I’d love to get it done now, but I have a question before we leave.” The Overseer motioned for him to ask. “Is there a storage pouch that’s larger on the inside? I want to carry my tools everywhere, but it’s unwieldily with the number I possess.”
“... I’m not sure why you felt the need to ask that before we left, but yes. The options are endless and come in multiple forms. The more expensive they are, the greater they usually hold in their space.”
... I change my mind. Again. Out of the rewards the Laws of the World gave me, [Pocket Dimension] definitely was the trap.
“Apprentice Cal? Are you alright?” The Overseer stepped closer with a frown.
Cal realized that he had turned pale. Paler than he usually was. He had almost made a massive mistake he would have regretted dearly.
“Sorry, I was thinking of the cost of the storage item,” Cal lied easily.
“Hm, that is indeed out of your reach at the moment. But you should be able to save the twenty guildmarks needed soon enough,” the Overseer was losing his patience. “Shall we leave for your second Selection?”
Cal nodded quickly and followed the Overseer out of the field. He discreetly selected the reward on the way out.
You have chosen [Secondary Title].
You will now be able to go through a secondary Selection without backlash.