Preparing for Disaster

I've been racking my brain about this ever since I traveled back in time, but I can't think of any way to prevent the mana disaster. It's simply impossible. If that's the case, then what I have to do is simple. I have to at least make sure my family is safe.

If I can't prevent the mana disaster, then I can at least make sure my family isn't caught up in it. For that purpose, I have finally developed my plan. I'm going to carve a large teleportation circle into a huge stone slab that I'll place directly under the floorboards of our house. Then, right before the mana disaster occurs, I'll pump magic into the magic circle remotely to activate it, sending my family to safety.

Sure, they'll still be confused and have no idea what happened, but at least they'll be together. I'm certain Paul can keep them all safe. I'll just have to make sure I send them somewhere relatively close to civilization.

First things first, I needed a discrete place to work. One night after I was certain my parents, Lilia, and Roxy had gone to sleep, I decided to get started. This was going to be an all night affair, so I created a hollow stone in the general size and shape of myself and covered it with my blanket, just in case anyone decided to check up on me.

I quietly opened my window and lowered myself softly to the ground with gravity magic. I then slowly closed the window, also with gravity magic. I started by opening up a square shaped hole in the ground, right adjacent to the house. I made sure to start my work on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms, and also tried to be as quiet as possible.

The hole was about ten feet deep and six feet wide on each side. I made sure to strengthen the side walls to ensure there were no cave ins. At the bottom of the hole, I slowly started opening a path forwards under the house. Once again, I made certain to strengthen the ground above me to my utmost so that it didn't cave in on me.

Once I had carved out enough earth to make a small room under the house, I walked back to the original square hole I had created and sealed the top with a thin layer so nobody could see inside. I made sure to create a couple holes for ventilation and placed a small overhang above them so they could not be seen from above.

I summoned a light spirit afterwards so I could see what I was doing, and then continued slowly carving the room out larger and larger until it covered the entire base of the house. There were four stone pillars made especially dense, one on each corner, to help support the weight of the house.

Once our new basement was finished, I decided to call it a night. I was exhausted; it had to be nearly morning by now, and I hadn't slept a wink. I made my way back to the other side of the house below my window, opened it with magic, and lifted myself back up into my room for some much needed sleep.

The next thing I know, Lilia was trying to wake me, telling me it was time to get up. I told her I didn't feel well and just covered my head back up with my blanket. Shortly afterward, Zenith rushed up to my bedroom to cast detoxification magic on me, hoping to make me feel better. I had never faked an illness before, so they had no reason to doubt me; it kind of made me feel bad for lying about it. I told her I felt better, but was really tired, so they let me skip my morning lessons and sleep in.

I didn't get back to continue working in our new 'basement' for about a week afterward. I was still very young, and pulling that all-nighter really took its toll on me.

When I next started to work on it, I first created a thin, rectangular slab about the size of the base of our house. This would be what I carved the magic circle into using earth magic. I would only spend about an hour a night working on this, one or two days a week. I could work on the magic circle little by little over the next couple of years; there was no need to finish it all in one day.

My fifth birthday was finally right around the corner. It has been about a year and a half since Roxy has started tutoring me, and we've really been enjoying ourselves. Roxy has really become a member of our family during this time, just like Lilia. When Roxy wasn't training me in magic, she would help Zenith in the garden, or help Lilia with the cooking. She would also occasionally help others around Buena Village, or do some shopping when Lilia was busy.

I should also mention that I've finished the teleportation circle during this time. I have it fully carved out in a multi layered thin stone slab which I placed right up against the floorboards under our house. There was another small magic circle adjoined to it which was a receptor of sorts to allow me to activate the teleportation circle remotely. Below them, I filled in the room with earth magic and closed off the entrance to it.

Everyone threw me a huge party for my fifth birthday. Paul gave me my first sword for a birthday gift and gave a long speech about protecting the weak and the importance of swordsmanship. Zenith gave me a botanical encyclopedia. Roxy gave me my first wand. It was a small rod she crafted herself set with a small red magic stone.

To be honest, I knew what gifts I was going to receive, and yet I couldn't help but break into tears. This really meant so much to me, more than they will ever know. I truly loved each person here from the bottom of my heart.

"Wait right here, I'll be right back", I told them as I ran up to my room. I returned shortly afterwards with a small lockbox that I had sealed with magic. I opened it and handed each of them a small figurine.

"I know it's my birthday, but I've been working on these for some time, and I really can't wait to give them to you any longer."

I gave each of them a figurine lookalike of themselves.

Paul's figurine struck a pose with his chin up, a serious look on his face, and his two hands in front of him resting atop the hilt of his sword which was sticking down into the ground.

Lilia's figurine was standing in a pose similar to Paul's only her hands were folded together in front of her waist while she had a gentle smile with her eyes closed. She was wearing her standard maid outfit.

Zenith's had her seated in a chair with a wide smile on face as she was laughing.

Roxy's figurine struck the same pose as the one I had made for Zanoba. Only this one didn't have a removable robe, as I thought that would be inappropriate if I am to give it to Roxy herself. She stood with her arm outstretched holding her staff, wearing her robe and pointed hat.

"How did you make these!?", Roxy exclaimed.

"It's beautiful...", Zenith said.

"Where did you get the paint for them? They don't sell it in the village", Paul remarked.

Lilia just stared at hers in amazement. It looked like tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.

I gave them a big smile, and answered "I made them with earth magic. It was a really fun way to practice."

This made Roxy's eyes go wide. "How is that even possible? The precision of this is unfathomable to have been made with magic."

"No, not really. It just took a lot of patience and practice. Here I'll show you."

I quickly conjured up a small rock to work with and quickly modeled it into a vague shape. I then spent a little time on some small details. In about 5 minutes I'd made a quick figurine of myself. It was nowhere near as detailed as the figurines I'd gifted them, but I explained that it takes a lot more time to get all the fine details just right.

"But these are in color. They look too perfect to have been painted. How did you manage that?"

I then explained to Roxy how I separated the components to make different minerals of different colors. She just listened completely dumfounded.

"There truly is nothing more for me to teach you. You've already far surpassed me as a mage."

"It's only thanks to your teachings that I've come this far, Master!"

Roxy looked a little sad, but then smiled and said "I'll hold your graduation exam tomorrow."

I made sure to spend as much time with Roxy as I could the rest of the day, because I knew that come tomorrow, we would have to part ways for a while.