Chest

[New mission!]

[Well, well, well. I didn't expect you to be able to handle that attack. But you brought it on yourself. I guess I have to give more manageable tasks with more time to mortals like you. So, destroy a nearby goblin clan!!! "]

[Reward: will be determined depending on how you complete this task]

[Time to complete: three months]

The Grymuar was straightforward to the young man for the first time.

It wanted to give Aron more time for this relatively tricky task, but it could not give too much time as it suspected that sooner or later, the goblins would attack and destroy weak Silem.

"Three months?"

Aron asked in surprise. He couldn't believe his eyes.

The book had never given him so much time for missions before. The mission was telling him directly what the young knight had to do.

Although he sincerely doubted that this task would be much easier because until now, he did not know what was going on in the previous one.

But now, he had so much more time to complete the mission. He intended to spend the first two months developing Silem and only the third and final month completing the task.

Everything had to be done in order. First, they must take care of food resources and a roof over their heads. Aron refused to sleep in a tent for another three months, so building huts were a must.

As he left, he noticed that the sun was already halfway below the horizon.

When he left the tent, the new inhabitants were talking to the old ones. Bron was telling a story about how he had defended the walls, and one of the brothers slept on the wall.

The space felt small, the tent and horses took up most of the area, and the fire was quite close to the entrance.

Soon enough, everyone saw Aron, and those who had not slept rose to pay respect to him.

"Take it easy," Aron said, then laughed.

Only now did he notice that Moris was standing with a spear outside the entrance. He was observing the hill, which now had fewer trees than when Aron first arrived here.

Aron decided he needed to talk to Moris first.

"My Lord, I can see you are up. There is a beautiful starry night ahead of us," Moris said and bowed slightly to the incoming knight.

"And I can see you took your words seriously. When I was sleeping, something happened?" The young knight asked, and he began to look at the beautiful starry sky.

"No, my lord, we managed to recover five spears, including the one you used yourself. And the boys cut down 10 trees that they had put near the camp. After all, we only found four axes, so the speed with which we cut trees will be pretty limited in the following days."

"I am aware of that. We have no access to any source of tools, and the only place we can get them are goblins, but some of them have bronze tools." Aron replied and turned towards the camp from which Bron was loudly laughing.

"But we have a much more pressing problem than the tools. Tomorrow we have to find something to eat for us," Aron continued. "The horses will survive on the hay, and we have enough oats for a few more days. But we can not eat grass. I would like you to help me with this matter tomorrow."

"As soon as you order, my lord. As for the tools, the goblins have to get them from somewhere. Maybe there is a human settlement in the area, or a goblin clan developed enough to manufacture the tools. The second option would mean a big problem for us."

Aron frowned. The content of the task says that he has to defeat some goblin clan, and there were no signs of human presence in the vicinity either. The young knight assumed a developed clan was a more likely option.

"Be vigilant. We have a lot of work to do in the following days."

Aron talked for another hour with his subjects; they were all in good spirits.

However, fatigue was already taking its toll on everyone. They quickly lay down in the open space to swim away to the dreamlands.

When the young knight returned to the tent, he began to meditate again. After meditating alone, he felt like he never needed to sleep again. His body was rested, and his mind grew calmer. However, after about an hour, he could no longer meditate.

The phenomenon was described as supersaturation in the basic meditation technique. It did not allow young adepts of magic to meditate continuously.

Typically, people with only one rune formed in their minds could spend up to two hours a day meditating. Aron, however, was able to meditate for three hours, which showed the strength of his mind, but this was his limit.

With nothing else to do, he checked the zero circle spellbook. There weren't that many spells in it, and only six of them were usable by a first-level novice.

However, having only one rune, for now, did not discourage Aron from learning a spell available to him. After another hour, he could remember how to use his mana and get results.

The spell he learned was called a magic hand. It allowed mana to be used in its simplest form to manipulate an object from a distance.

This spell did not have great military potential but was helpful in everyday life of a novice. However, even this simple spell required a lot of concentration and was very demanding on the mind.

When Aron could finally move his sword without using his hands, he was very pleased with himself.

In his youth, his aunt allowed him to spend time in the Count's library. For commoners, books were practically unattainable. But even such a poor county as Komes county had a castle library.

Aron's aunt bought many books during her lifetime. Her greatest passions were the legends of magic and wizards, which she instilled in the young Aron.

And now he, like the great magicians in the books he had read, could move objects with his mind alone.

At this point, Aron was so excited and happy that he ignored how long the spell lasted. After a few moments, he could not support it anymore and fell to the ground with a severe headache.

Due to inattention, he had used up all his mana, and now he felt a great void in his head. The effects of total exhaustion were severe, and Aron could barely think. Fortunately, after a few minutes, the pain eased and Aron, not wanting to risk anymore, went to sleep.

In the morning, the young man was awakened by the clatter of axes on the wood.

Shortly after he got up, he girded himself with his sword belt and went outside. His men had been up since dawn and were going about their duties. Gil and two newcomers were cutting trees nearby.

Bil and the other two began to dismantle the defensive structure.

Bron and Morris were nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning, everyone," Aron said.

Everyone began to answer him, pausing for a moment in their work and bowing to the young knight.

At the edge of the hill, Aron saw two men exercising. Bron, with his sword, fought off Moris's spear attacks.

Aron noticed that Bron didn't have the shield he gave him and realized that the shield must have not survived the last skirmish.

Even with his higher aura, Bron could not match the older man's years of experience.

Moris gave the younger warrior no respite. In a few days, as soon as he masters the aura technique, Bron will be no opponent for him.

Seeing this, Aron understood well the words of his instructors from the knight school, who constantly repeated that we cannot defeat every opponent with only aura.

Aron, not wanting to disturb the two warriors, directed his walk towards the lake. Yesterday evening he did not take a bath, and after a hard fight, he was sweaty. On the shore of the lake, before jumping into it, he made sure that it was safe in the area, and only then did he decide to undress and jump into the lake.

The water in the cove was cool and woke the young man quickly. When he got used to the temperature, he decided to go for a swim. The cove was full of bigger and smaller fish that swam away from the young man as he approached them. At one point, however, Aron saw something he did not expect.

Evidently, a wooden object made with some tools protruded from the water between two stones at one of the banks. When he got closer, he saw that it was a wooden box. Judging by the traces, it hadn't been in the lake for more than a few days.

Aron pulled it from between the rocks to the shore with a little effort. It was not too tightly closed but had drawn water, so it weighed a lot. When the chest was lying in front of the young man, he could finally get a good look at it.

The simple chest was clearly the work of human hands.