"I'm going to expand this cave for the town hall. It's going to take a while, so you can leave if you want," I tell my spectators.

Without waiting for a response, I approach the back wall and connect with the stone. There are cracks. A lot of them.

Well, damn. Like I said, this is going to be really slow, especially considering this cave is only about 30 square meters at the base, and it's one of the largest empty ones we have left.

At least this area doesn't have any nearby underground or surface water sources, so I don't have to worry about establishing drainage channels.

Yeah. These are the things an earth mage studies, aside from how to make stakes sprout faster and sharper, or make stone hands and ropes more resistant so enemies can't break them easily.

Actually, the earth control part that involves excavation isn't something most mages are very interested in, but with Ronan putting me to work making bricks... I think at this rate it's going to end up being like my signature spell.

Time passes. I work methodically and, several hours later, I run out of mana.

The truth is, even though I've only used three stone channelings for the excavation and shaping of the room and one more will be enough to finish the complete room, since I spent mana earlier checking if either of the two rooms was appropriate, I now need to meditate.

When I sit in lotus position and close my eyes, only one goblin remains in the cave: Gump. When I open them again, an hour and forty minutes later, he's still there.

I give him an approving nod, which makes him smile, and cast the last stone control.

My eyes are closed, since that's how I best visualize in my mind the terrain around me and what I'm doing with the stone.

When I finish, just before lifting my eyelids, I hear the applause of an excited goblin.

I smile at hearing Gump's amazement and look around. In all directions.

The floor is smooth, the walls too. The vault opens high above in the distant ceiling.

Wow.

Not to toot my own horn, but it turned out really nice. I approach and run my fingers along the wall. It's smooth and polished.

My smile widens.

No wonder it took so long if I did it this well.

"Don't tell the others yet. I still have mana and want to enlarge and reinforce the access tunnel. Or better yet, let's eat, since it's already late, and I'll continue afterward."

The truth is it's much later than I thought. The goblins have already eaten, but they saved me a good bowl full of wild boar and potato stew. And one more for Gump.

"You were so focused working with your magic that the totem ordered us not to bother you," the female who hands me the food tells me.

I sit on a crude wooden stool, grab a spoon made of the same material, and start eating. I'm starving. I just didn't realize it until I smelled the stew.

"And your babies?" I ask, noticing she's not carrying any on her back or chest, tied with cloth.

"Someone's watching them for me so I can prepare dinner."

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"What's your name?" I ask.

I think Ronan knows everyone's names, but I'm pretty bad at memorizing them. Since I'm their leader, the least I can do is make an effort.

Although, considering in a few months those babies will be almost as grown as Gump was when I met him, this is going to be complicated.

Or not.

Don't I have a skill called Scholar?

Since I don't remember it well, I take a quick look at my status slab. Yes:

Scholar, Low Level. Passive. +2 Wis, +20% memorization speed.

So yeah, maybe I can even learn all their names. And when it levels up, which I'm confident won't take too long, maybe even the names of Ronan's bone friends.

...alright, leader?"

Oops, the goblin woman. She's been talking to me and I completely ignored her. Way to go, me…

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get distracted. What were you saying?"

"Don't worry, leader. I'm Bumpa."

I focus on her features to memorize her. I couldn't say her age, but she looks young. She has freckles on her green cheeks and nose. Her hair is dark and curly and looks like it hasn't seen a comb in weeks. Maybe I should've bought them a few. Also, for a goblin, she looks strong. Though with the huge pots she's using, I'm not surprised if she has to lift them full of food.

"Are you the cook?"

"I take turns with my mother. She taught me all her recipes."

I take another bite of the stew, chew and savor it slowly, and after swallowing, I smile at her.

"It's really good, thanks for the food."

Gump, mouth full and not even closed, lets out an affirmative grunt as he nods.

"Thank you, leader, for praising it. Bumpa knows human food has more variety."

Is she saying that because here they just have what they hunt—mainly wild boar, deer, and rabbit—and what they gather from the forest?

"But your stews and roasts are really good. So good I wouldn't mind having this again for dinner."

"For dinner, roasted wild boar," she smiles at me.

So yeah, they must've hunted some recently.

I'm finishing my meal, with some fruit Bumpa gave me, when three more females arrive, carrying several babies.

One of them looks older.

"I'm here to relieve you, Bumpa," she tells her, and when she realizes she's with me, she gets a bit flustered and greets me respectfully.

"Don't worry, are you Bumpa's mother?"

"Yes, Grumpa. But leader, the totem says not to bother you, and here my daughter is doing just that."

"Not at all. What are your names?"

I listen to their names with the serious intention of memorizing them, ask if I can hold a baby, and play with him for a bit. Truth is, he's a bit ugly with all that wrinkled greenish skin and his nearly bald head. But I feel good spending time with them and their young. It's like forgetting about Sigfrid, Sol, and the academy.

I'm on autumn break. I'm going to try to enjoy it.

After a little while, I decide it's time to resume my work and start reinforcing the tunnel. Like before, Gump tags along. He's gotta be really bored. Anyway… night falls before I finish. In fact, I level up the spell a bit before sunset:

Congratulations, your spell Low Stone Control has leveled up. It is now Intermediate Stone Control.

Intermediate Stone Control: You can move, loosen, compact, and shape up to 50 cubic meters of stone. Range: 100 meters.

I see that for now stone control continues taking the volumes and range of the earth control spell which is two levels above it. However, unlike advanced-level earth control, this doesn't let me work with stone at high speed.

Once I've finished the tunnel, Gump applauds again. He's stayed with me all afternoon.

"Looks like we're going to finish the town hall thing tomorrow," I tell him.

Because I'm hungry again and, even though I meditated again, also tired. This time I do eat dinner with all the goblins and keep trying to memorize them. Incredibly, I remember the females from before. Not the babies. For now they're all too similar, so I can't tell them apart.

The pup eats until he's stuffed, which, considering how much of a glutton he is, means quite a bit of meat. The goblin females are delighted to give him the best pieces. I imagine because he's the divine beast of their god. When we finish, the totem tells us stories about his tribe, like typical Earth fairy tales, but I'd say more didactic. Like the one about the goblin who went to pet a wolf cub and the mother appeared, ripped his arm clean off, and then ate it along with her young. Or the young female goblin who approaches a human village out of curiosity and ends up pierced by several arrows with her head hanging from a pike.

All in that style.

Anyway, despite that, I fall asleep early, listening to the crackling of the fire and without nightmares.

The next morning, right after breakfast, I return with Gump to the future town hall room. For now it's just an empty cave. I wonder what it'll take to turn it into one.

Common sense gives me two ways to do it. One, what I imagine Ronan would do: build the pedestal and put in the tables and furniture usually found in a town hall. Two, what a gamer would do: search the system and see if it can be built automatically. Or if it gives me some kind of template.

Obviously, I choose the second.

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