014: Big Dreams

In the next morning, Darius began marking the tree which he needed to rebuild and strengthen his village. For inexperienced eyes, it might be difficult to differentiate which one was a healthy tree and which one had the least health conditions or was simply too old yet had stunted growth.

Darius, however, since the forest was akin to his backyard, he knew exactly which tree he needed to cut by simply looking at its trunk.

 While he did so, Darius was designing the new face of his village in his mind.

Undine Village was situated in a coastal region. To the west is Westcliff, a high cliff that separates the village from the outside world. Climbing this cliff was impossible because the weather can change at any time, not to mention the hordes of giant predatory birds that were ready to ambush anything that caught their attention. 

Meanwhile, in the north is a no-man's wilderness that stretches as far as the eye can see. 

On the east side is a vast expanse of ocean, no one knows what lies beyond the horizon.  The only way to go to the outside world was by the sea. Villagers of Undine Village had to sail southwest for hundreds of miles, then turn west to dock at the port city of Alesund.

Darius took these variables into consideration.

'If I want my people to thrive, I need to turn this village into a port city. First, I need to rebuild the village as soon as possible! Build a fortress to protect the villagers, and then, I will build a huge port that could manage hundreds of Drakkar ships at once!'

Darius might have dreamed too big for his current capacity. However, this young man was determined to make his name known to the entire world.

"Alexa!" Called Darius to the Magical AI lady.

[Yes, Master.]

"Can you make me a set of magic curriculum for me to study? I think it's more efficient to schedule my magic training while rebuilding the village in the long run."

[Sure. Please wait a minute…]

[Since you have learnt Arcane Bolt, Basic Healing Spell and Arcane Shield Aura, along with passive mastery as your starting point, I have arranged this supplementary lesson for you to take. Please read it carefully.]

[Basic Elemental Spell]

[Eldr: Create and shoot a blast of infernal ball]

[Wodr: Manifest a small stream of fresh water.]

[Vedr: Summon and govern the wind elemental to heed by your call]

[Jördtun: Manipulate the earth element into your desired object.]

Darius was thrilled upon reading the spells that he was about to learn. Moreover, Alexa was kind enough to localize the spells' names so Darius could imagine them more easily in his native tongue.

[Master these basic elemental magic first. By then, I'll give you the more advanced lesson, no need to rush things. Practice makes perfect.] Alexa added, reminding him to be disciplined in his training.

"Thank you, Alexa!"

'

****

By the time Darius had finished marking the tree that needed to be felled, Bjorn and Skallgard finally caught up with Darius. Their bodies were shaking visibly due to minor hypothermia for spending the night without even a spark of flame

The two warriors hastened their pace upon seeing Darius from a distance.

"Bjorn! Skallgard!" Darius waved at the two.

"Chief! Are you okay?!" Bjorn asked after he dismounted from his horse.

"As you can see, I am completely fine."

Bjorn was bemused and thought. 'How did this young boy survive the night alone?'

"How about the wolf? Did you kill it?"

"There's no need for unnecessary bloodshed. The Snow Wolves' Alpha visited me last night and granted me permission to cut down the trees, in a moderate manner of course, we still need them to maintain the likelihood of this forest."

Bjorn bewildered upon hearing it, he knew that Darius was very fond of the forest and its inhabitants. He would mourn for days for each Wolves that needed to be hunted and killed by him for trespassing the village's vicinity.

However, he had not heard about Darius' ability to converse with the Alpha Snow Wolf that was renowned for its ferocity.

"Err, alright then… Shall we begin?"

"Yes, let's start from the tallest tree at the hill's top and then go down to the slope."

Darius picked the felling axe from the satchel on his horse, perching it on his right shoulder.

Bjorn and Skallgard stood solemnly on the side, humming the hymn for the dead as a token of their gratitude to the forest for providing them with abundant hunting and protection.

Darius, meanwhile, was gathering the Arcane Energy into his body, cladded the axe with a thin layer of energy. He imagined the edge of his axe as sharp as possible. 

Once his axe was charged with energy, he swung it with all his might, and the tree fell in one fell swoop on the third attempt.

The ground shook for a few moments, dropping the piled snow on the tree branches, alerting the once pristine wilderness was about to be governed by mankind.

Bjorn and Skallgard had their jaws almost fall as they witnessed Darius' scrawny arms were able to do such a feat.

"Hm? Is there something that matters?" Darius asked innocently.

"H-how could– I mean no Chief. Skallgard, let's get to work."

The mute archer nodded, he then proceeded to do the assignment.

For hours, the three of them culled the trees. Bjorn and Skallgard were amazed by Darius' strength, even though they were fully grown adults, they couldn't keep up with Darius' pace.

Before long, the sounds of continuous rumble had reached the village. The available men soon left their houses, bringing all kinds of carpentry tools in their leather backpack to help Darius process the logs.

****

Meanwhile, a few hundred kilometers away from Undine Village. The port city of Alesund, the biggest city in the Sverre Region.

Roger Von Gill, the Baron of Sverre, had just finished his round with his three women that he bought from the slave market last night. All women were laid lifelessly.

Suddenly, the door was knocked by his butler.

"Come in!"

"Pardon the intrusion, Sir. I have received a letter from our scouts. Frost Pirates had been defeated by an unknown Mage from Undine Village." Said the middle-aged man with a monocle perched on his left eye.

"Useless rats." Said the Baron. "Send Geoffrey to that village, I will receive no failure!"

"At once, your excellency."