Deciding on the next steps

After I read that, I almost passed out from the draw of mana leaving my body. The red lights started coalescing into the living room so I followed them. Eventually they stopped near the front door. While Altrea was forming, I checked and noticed that my mana was currently at zero. It was good to know that I won't pass out if I reach zero. I did get close though. 

She started forming from her soul that was green in color, even though I didn't color it myself. Then all of the mana gathered together and got so bright that it was almost blinding. I covered my eyes with my arm and waited for things to dim down. Once they did, I saw her in her full glory. Altrea was standing there with her bow and quiver on her back, eyes closed. She slowly opened them and saw me in my jeans and white shirt. She bowed down on one knee and yelled out.

"Altrea greets the Great Creator! Thank you for granting me your blessing. I will do my best to protect our homeland!" To say I was flabbergasted would be the understatement of the century. I had zero words to properly respond to that. So I did what anyone who didn't want to look like a nervous wreck to others, ignore and move on. 

"Welcome Altrea, allow me to give you a general rundown of our current situation. We are in an apocalyptic world filled with zombies of an unknown variety. Your job is to explore outside the mist wall so I have a general idea of what we may be facing. I do want you to be as safe as possible though, so when you encounter anything that may pose a risk to you, that you can't take out with 100% certainty, I want you to run. I can't have you die." 

Altrea was shedding tears when she finished listening to me, but saluted me regardless.

"Will do Creator! Shall I start right away?" 

"No, I want you to wait for a little while so I can recover some mana, I want to create something else so I can create a map of our surroundings. For now, I want you to practice firing your bow to see if you can gain a skill for it." She saluted me a second time.

"Yes sir! I will complete your order with due haste." Before she ran out the door, I handed her the keys to the cabin so she could get in, then I went to my bedroom. I felt drained, mentally and physically. Not having any mana available has its downsides. I decided to take a nap so I could recover faster.

Altrea

The Creator has given me a mission to complete. I could tell they were tired, however the gifts that I was given were powerful enough to warrant that. My bow was enchanted to repair itself with each kill, and could endlessly shoot arrows as long as there was one arrow within my quiver. That however, wasn't even the true blessing given by him. His blessing was given in the form of what the Creator calls a system. 

The ability to obtain skills that didn't deteriorate and only improve with use was plenty powerful, but the ability to increase my overall capabilities each time I leveled up was immense. I also had access to a tiny hammerspace to store things and had the capability to get additional items from any enemies I killed. I spotted a cactus, not far from the Creator's home. I started small and did target practice from five meters away. 

It took around ten arrows hitting their mark, and around 20 missed arrows before I received a notification that sounded with the voice of my creator and master.

 [Archery Skill Obtained. Current mastery: Novice]

After I obtained the skill, I was able to hit the cactus square in the center every time at my current distance. I moved further away, but my current target fell apart. Considering the amount of arrows within it, I expected it to happen sooner. So I moved to another cactus to continue as the moon fully rose in the sky.

Mark

I woke up and noticed that the sun was rising. I was asleep for longer than I expected. As I walked into the living room, Altrea was sitting on the couch, most likely waiting for me.

"Good morning Altrea"

"Good morning Creator" I decided it was a good time to create something to allow electricity to run through the cabin, and water. I also needed to expand it too, so I sat beside Altrea. I heard her stomach rumble a bit, so I drew some food for her first. I drew some egg fried rice, water, and I noticed that I was able to draw much faster than yesterday. It only took me ten minutes to draw what would normally take 20. The increase in ability rank probably had to do with it.

"Thank you for the wonderful meal Creator!" She did a small bow to me before she started to devour the meal with the fork I drew to go along with it. I also drew a bunch of utensils and stored them away in the kitchen. It only took me a total of two mana. Thankfully, I was back to full before I started drawing the meal. After that I thought about drawing with the intention to extend and improve the cabin, then the cabin drawing appeared again on the originally blank canvas.

At least that means I can improve previous drawings. So the first thing I started drawing was a wiring system that linked to a solar panel that I drew on the roof. I also drew a basement that would have a generator for backup power once fully charged by the solar panel. I also set enchantments for both of these, Specifically, increased efficiency. Then I drew a sewage/filtration system similar to an aqueduct, but on a smaller scale. I also drew a large bathroom attached to my room, one attached to the living room, and created a new bedroom with a bathroom for Altrea. 

I connected the filtration system to an underground river that would additionally filter itself out overtime. I've never drawn so many pipes and wires in my life. Just designing it to make sure it wouldn't mess with the structural integrity of the cabin that will turn into a house was somewhat stressful. I let it go eventually when I decided that I would just let the magic happen. I still stepped outside with Altrea before I used my power on it though. 

I expected the drain on mana for this to be much more, but it cost the same as the initial cost to make the cabin, ten mana. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I was upgrading the initial drawing, rather than creating it anew. The cabin was now a house, and once we stepped inside, there were outlets lining the walls, and lights on the ceiling. I flipped a light switch and noticed that we already had power once they came on. 

The next thing I did was head over to both my closet and Altrea's to fill them with a variety of clothes. Then I filled the bathrooms with soap, shampoo, conditioner, cleaning supplies and toilet paper. Lastly I created a washer and dryer. It left me with three mana once all was said and done, so I took a break and headed to take a shower. Altrea followed my example and did the same. Both of us were sweaty due to the heat of the desert and in her case, the exercise she did to increase her skill in archery.

"Excuse me Creator, may I request instructions on how to utilize the shower?" After a slightly embarrassing time showing Altrea how the shower functioned, and how to utilize the shampoo, I went back to my own bathroom to clean myself.

After I showered, I got dressed in some casual clothes consisting of some sweatpants, a gray t-shirt, gray socks, and the sneakers I came here in. I then took a seat on the couch. It was still extremely hot, so I once again pulled up the brick house drawing so I could draw an ac system. Although this time, I wasn't privy on what an ac looked like, so I just drew the machine that would control it. This made me realize why the previous things were cheaper, because that alone took almost all of the mana I recovered when I showered and I was at one mana. 

The more detailed I drew things, the cheaper they were, at least in the case of technology. I had no idea how it would be for other things. At least we weren't going to overheat from the hot temperatures though. Altrea eventually came out of her room in a black tank-top and black sweatpants. It was a sight to behold, and I struggled to avert my eyes from certain parts. I managed though when I put it at the forefront that I am her creator, that calmed me down enough that what she was wearing didn't bother me. 

I spent some time relaxing on the couch and took another nap. By the time I woke up, The sun was fully in the sky, and I recovered my mana. The next step I took was to draw a computer, with a desk, a comfortable office chair, three monitors, a microphone, a keyboard, and mouse. The reason for this was because I also drew some cameras, an earpiece and a body cam that I linked to the computer. There would be three main functions of the computer itself, one would be for sending and receiving messages. Another would link up with the cameras wirelessly and connect with them regardless of the distance. 

The last one would create a mini-map that would distinguish between ally and enemy. Making certain enemies bigger dots on the map depending on their capabilities. I enchanted the cameras with camouflage capabilities and the ability to recharge with solar power. I also made them 360 cameras. I initially wanted to make drones, but I figured that they would be a bigger drain on my mana since I didn't know what was it that made up the inside of them. 

The moment I finished and used my power, it drained 3/4ths of my mana so I was left with five. I placed the computer setup within the living room and took a seat, while passing the cameras, the earpiece, and body camera to Altrea. She put on her armor and equipped her bow just in case.

"Alright Altrea. Your mission is to put on the earpiece, the body camera, and take these other cameras. Place the cameras around the perimeter just outside of the mist wall, but be careful, and be stealthy. You can send messages to me by speaking through the earpiece and I can do so vice versa with this microphone here. Make sure the cameras are placed at good vantage points and are in places the sun can shine. Any questions?" I felt like I was the headquarters of an organization giving out a spy mission to a special agent.

"No Sir!" She saluted me, before she put all of the cameras away in her inventory, put on the body cam, and wore the earpiece. Once she headed out, I put the footage I was getting from her body cam on the center monitor and waited in anticipation.

Altrea

It was time. I was tasked with a mission of vital importance this time. I needed to scout our surroundings and place these viewing devices known as cameras so we can get constant updates on our surroundings. I'm thankful that I trained before this.

[Skills: {Archery: Intermediate}, {Stealth: Novice}, {Running: Intermediate}]

It wasn't much, but it was the best I could do with the time given. I don't think my stealth could get any higher unless I started actively hiding from some of the zombies. I started heading north first. Once I reached the mist wall, I went through without hesitation. However, I was bewildered by what I saw. There was a swamp on the other side. It didn't make any sense, how could a swamp be right next to a desert like this? 

I didn't have time to have these thoughts, I'm certain that my creator is having similar thoughts. I climbed a nearby tree until I got onto a branch that was getting sufficient sunlight, and placed the first camera of three that would be placed here. I moved along the edge of the mist wall and yet to have found any zombies. It wasn't long before I placed the second camera, then headed a little deeper into the swamp to place the third. 

By the time I placed the third, I spotted a zombified cobra eating a bird. It was huge, I didn't engage since it was a scouting mission, so I just went back through the mist wall, and was graced by the desert once again.

"Altrea, you saw that snake as well, correct?" I heard the creator's voice over the earpiece as he inquired about the cobra.

"Yes Creator. The cobra seemed to be enjoying its meal too much to pay me any attention. Although I believe the pungent smell of the swamp masked my scent for the most part." I heard him sigh, most likely out of relief. It made my heart move a bit that he was worried for me.

"Alright, check out the next area to the west. Hopefully it will be more swamp or desert." I agreed with him and moved along to the next destination.