Chapter 285: All About that Life (1/2)

Building the structure itself was pretty straightforward. After all, he only needed a place to store tools and something resembling a table to craft on. As a result, he used Earth Magic to raise a simple rectangular building with two rooms, one for a workspace and the other for storage. Next, he added an open section with a covered roof that would house the forge.

Since the demi-realm currently didn't have any form of precipitation to worry about, he could have technically worked in the open, but found that idea somewhat distasteful. If he was going to spend some time putting together a workshop, he intended to go all the way.

After adding a bit of simple stone furniture, he turned his attention to putting together the forge itself. The process was slower for this part, since he was having some trouble maintaining the image of it in his mind. However, with much trial and error, he was eventually able to cobble together something that both looked, and functioned, as he intended.

Finally, he began making the other specialized tools he'd need, using Earth Magic to produce the raw materials and then shape them in the form he wanted. Despite it being a massive drain on his mana, he nevertheless ended up with a fully kitted smithy after a few hours of dedicated work.

Although he was eager to get it fired up and try it out officially, Mike first went back to the cabin to check on the others. They'd largely left him alone while he was working, and he was starting to get a bit suspicious about the lengthy silence.

William, Tal, and Reber were working in the backyard. By all appearances, their intent had been to start adding fertilizer to the soil, however, they seemed to have derailed at some point, since the butler and the druid were in the middle of a somewhat heated argument.

”Though I may not have the same kind of expertise as you, Sir Reber, I can say with absolute certainty that such a thing is unthinkable. Nay, even to speak of it is near blasphemy.” William was stating emphatically, his usual professionalism overcome by a rash of emotionality.

”How can you say that? There are very few absolutes in this world, but that is one of them. Argue as much as you want, but you know it's true.”

Mike watched them go back and forth in this manner for a few minutes before turning to Tal, who was pointedly ignoring the two as she continued the work they'd largely forgotten. Before he even had a chance to open his mouth, she muttered tersely, ”Don't ask me.”

He paused for a few seconds, but couldn't contain his curiosity. ”You say that, but what are they even talking about at this point?”

Without looking up, she explained in her usual emotionless manner, albeit with a hint of annoyance added into the mix. ”We were discussing the possibility of raising some crops here, and the two of them began suggesting options for what to plant first. At some point the idea of producing alcohol came up and they started disagreeing about whether to grow wheat or barley in order to make beer. William is apparently a fan of the former, while Reber is a die-hard supporter of the latter despite no longer having the ability to drink it.”

At this point the tree man was saying, ”Wheat by itself has no body, no substance. Even the best wheat beers add in some barley to give it some real flavor.”

The butler shook his head, ”I'll admit that barley is an important component of high quality beer, but you can't rely on it alone. To detract from the value of wheat in favor of your chosen grain is foolish in the extreme.”

[I guess everyone has to have their passions…]

”That's...huh. I feel like I don't want to get involved in that.”

”Wise.”

”How's the work going otherwise?”

She sighed and stood up. ”Slowly, even with their argument. The soil here has lacked attention for a very long time. It is dry and sterile, and would not be capable of growing anything if not for Reber's magic. Quite frankly, it may be easier to simply import dirt from outside.”

Mike squatted down and really examined the ground for the first time. Based on what he recalled, he knew that there were several factors that played a role in creating healthy soil.

[Water is a given, but what else was there? I feel like density was important. Like you had to have a certain amount of air, even underground.]

As the beginnings of a plan started forming in his mind, he reached out with his will and tried to get a feel for the ground under him. With his Earth Magic serving as a medium, he could tell that the demi-realm was a perfect sphere, but the soil itself was little more than compacted dust and lacked even the most basic requirements for life. It would need to be completely reformed if he wanted to change that.

[I feel like I can probably use a combination of Water, Earth, and Air magic to change the soil composition into something that would work better, but I feel like something is still missing.]

Glancing over at a bag of fertilizer, he realized what it might be.

[I remember watching a sci-fi movie where the main character was trying to grow crops on Mars. I think he used his own feces as a fertilizer in order to do so, because it contained bacteria that was somehow vital for plant growth. If I take that into consideration, the solution becomes clear. Implementing it might be a bit more difficult, though.]

He walked over to one of the bags of fertilizer and reluctantly pulled out a handful of the pungent material. Sending a bit of Healing magic into the clump, he tried to feel for something alive. At first, it didn't seem like his idea was going to pan out, since he couldn't sense anything from it, and he began to fear that his skill treated microbial life as an enemy due to its propensity to cause illness. However, he finally started to sense the barest flickers of something responding to his mana.

With an effort of will, he tried to invest these flickers with a modicum of his energy. He quickly discovered that if he tried to add too much, the specks of life would disappear, so only by giving the microbes the barest hint of mana was he able to avoid such a fate. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to be doing anything, even when he was successful.