[System: Daily Search Reset – 0/30 Available]
Caelen woke up to the faint light seeping through his window—if you could even call a square hole in the wall a "window."
He stretched his neck, arched like a cat, and grinned.
"Ahh. nothing like a full reset."
Today seemed like a good day to play around.
Caelen exited and gazed at the untidy, uneven terrain. Then at his hands. Then at the shining ring still on his finger.
"Okay, Earth Magic. let's have some stupid happenings."
He lifted his hand.
A clump of dirt shot out of the ground like a catapult and slapped him in the face.
THWUMP
"Okay. remembered: too much juice."
After cleaning his face, he attempted again.
This time, he carefully imagined the dirt rising, slow and even.
A cube of earth rose gently before him, hovering in place.
"Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"
[Earth Magic Trial: 9 Failures | 1 Success]
For the next few hours, Caelen practiced forming shapes—walls, slopes, and eventually a makeshift staircase. Most of it collapsed immediately, but he was getting the hang of it.
Later, he stood before his own house, looking at the roof.
"… It's ugly."
It was level. As if someone had thrown wood planks at a box and walked away.
"Let's give you a makeover."
He concentrated, employing some earth sculpting and timber in the storage rooms. After sweaty hours and "oops" minutes spent when he almost flattened Zira's new home with crashing dirt, he completed it.
The hut now had a proper pointy roof. Not perfect, but definitely less sad-looking.
Zira even peeked outside and gave him a thumbs up. "It finally doesn't look like a toilet box!"
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Later, while checking his tools, he noticed his copper pickaxe was looking worse for wear.
Splintered handle. Chipped head. It had seen better days.
"Well, crap."
He opened his little inventory box and dug through some ores he'd gathered from the mines a few days prior.
Among the typical trash, he noticed a strange, reflective chunk with the following label:
[??? – Unknown Ore]
"Huh. You've been here the whole time?"
He smelled it. No response.
He licked it. Regret.
"Okay, let's melt you down."
He tossed it into the furnace and cranked up the heat. Minutes passed. The metal slowly melted, shimmering with a strange glow.
[System: Unknown Ore Identified – Mythril]
[Durability: High | Magic Conductivity: Very High]
"MYTHRIL?!"
Caelen's jaw dropped and surprised. "I've been sitting on fantasy supermetal this whole time?!"
The melted Mythril settled into a mold he had prepared earlier. Soon, it cooled into a beautiful, silver-blue ingot.
He held it up to the light.
"Oh, you're gonna be my new favorite thing."
He set the pickaxe mold on the workbench, pouring in the mythril carefully.
Soon enough:
[Item Crafted: Mythril Pickaxe]
[Durability: Excellent | Efficiency: +200%]
He couldn't help grinning.
Zira entered, munching on a dried mushroom. "You look like you just gave birth."
"I basically did."
"To what?"
He held up the shining pickaxe like a trophy. "To greatness."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's just a shiny pickaxe."
"Mythril pickaxe."
"Still just a rock beater."
Caelen dramatically clutched his chest. "That hurt, goblin girl."
Zira rolled her eyes but smiled. "You're lucky you're funny."
That night, Caelen stared at the stars outside the house, twirling the ring on his finger, pickaxe leaning next to him, and dirt slowly floating into new shapes as he practiced his magic.
The ground beneath his feet? Slowly becoming a fortress.
And the village?
Well… it was only two people.
But the roof was no longer flat. So that was progress.