The First Lich Lord
Chapter 23

“Ezekiel, how is your cabin coming?” Rhea asked when she saw me in town.

It had been several weeks now, I made frequent visits to town when I needed something or just wanted some company. “It’s going well—slow, but well. Got the first few layers of logs down now. Hopefully I’ll have the walls completed within a couple weeks.”

“That is wonderful to hear. What brings you to town on this fine day?” Rhea asked.

“I need some planks from Derek,” I explained. “I plan to get the actual dock built, but I can’t do that with rough logs. I guess I could cut them myself, but that’s more work than I want to do.”

“I heard you helped out the Worthens,” Rhea said. “They’re very appreciative of it.”

“It was nothing,” I assured her. “That beast would’ve been a problem for me as well.” A cave bear had wandered down into my neighbor’s valley, and I had slayed it for them.

“Nonetheless, they are very thankful. And, I have a task for you before you leave.”

“What is it?” I asked. Every time I came to town, Rhea had a job for me. I didn’t always like them, but helping Olattee out seemed like a path that might help me redeem myself.

“I received a request from a nearby city’s temple for flame blade,” Rhea said. “I would like you to gather me some. If I remember correctly, it grows in the valley where you’re building.”

I internally groaned at her request—though it wasn’t exactly a request. While Rhea was nice, she had an authoritative streak. Several jobs she offered came off as a requests, but weren’t. In some ways it felt like when your mom ‘asked’ you to clean your room. She meant well, and ultimately the things she had me do either helped the community or Olattee, so I normally didn’t mind. But I hated herb gathering quests.

“I’ll do it,” I grumbled. “Next time I come to town, I’ll have your herbs.”

Leaving Rhea at the temple, I headed for Derek’s shop. He saw me coming and greeted me at the door. “I have your planks ready.”

“Good,” I muttered. “It’ll be nice to have an actual dock.”

“Is something wrong?” Derek asked.

“Rhea just gave me a job I couldn’t say no to; wants me to pick plants for a temple in a nearby city,” I said sourly.

“That’s not so bad. Hasn’t she had you clearing out monster dens?” Derek raised an eyebrow at me. “I’d say picking some plants would be easier.”

“Easier maybe, but boring as all hell.” I pulled out the money for the planks and handed it to him.

“It’s for a good cause, don’t let it get you down.” Derek waved for me to follow him and we moved around to the back of his shop. Two heavy planks, each almost a half meter wide. He’d cut them out of a massive tree I’d floated across the lake, curing the wood rather quickly in his facilities using a magical kiln. “You’re going to need to make sure you pull your dock down in the winter before the lake freezes, otherwise the ice will rip it apart.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I stepped over to the planks and picked up one end. It lifted easily, my superhuman strength showing its uses once more.

“I’ll help you get these to the lake,” Derek said as he picked up the other end. “I’m assuming you plan to float them up?”

“Yeah, easier than carrying these the whole way.”

The two of us managed to get the planks through the town and out on to the small dock the town maintained. We slipped them into the water, securing one end with a rope to the canoe I was still borrowing. Satisfied they weren’t going anywhere, I began to work my way back up the lake. Pulling the planks made the journey harder, but I still made steady progress and it was indeed much easier than trying to carry them along the winding path. The sun had all but set by the time I returned home and dragged the planks up to shore.

The next morning, I drove a pair of heavy logs into the gravelly soil at the bottom of the lake ten meters out from shore. Then the planks were secured together with several crossbeams on the other side, using straight, smaller logs I’d cut from the area. That done, I secured the combined planks to the two posts waiting in the water. The dock wasn’t anything spectacular, but with the speed the water dropped off, it gave me a good place to tie up my canoe and land materials.

Constructing the dock took most of the afternoon, and I decided to use the rest of the day to complete Rhea’s quest to gather herbs. The description of the plants was quite detailed, and it was one I recognized. It wasn’t at the end of the valley where I was building, but I’d seen some growing farther up the valley. Blade-staff in hand, I headed in that direction.

As I had grown in levels, so too did my weapon. It proved an interesting phenomenon. When I’d received it before, I was already quite powerful and so was the weapon. We’d started from scratch together this time around, and the weapon undoubtably had just as much growth potential as I did. One of the first upgrades I’d taken was one I hadn’t bothered with before—an automatic sheathing effect. At will, I summoned or dismissed a sheath over the long blade. The sheath was designed to blend in with the rest of the staff, and when in place, it was hard to tell it was a weapon.

Passing where a second stream joined my own, which was near the cave my phylactery was stored, I continued up to the main valley. I’d only noticed the plant before because of its uniqueness, but seeing as I had no use for it, they went ignored. In some ways it reminded me of a pineapple plant. Its leaves were thick, strong, and sharp. In the middle, a stock rose up, growing anywhere from a dozen centimeters tall to over a meter.

At the top of the stock was a flower that greatly resembled a flame. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was actually several hundred smaller flowers bunched into a cone shape. The bottom was dark red and got progressively brighter to the tip, which was a vibrant yellow. Several of the flowers looked about ready to die off. The beautiful petals were falling away to reveal seedpods. Thankfully my quest wasn’t calling for the flowers, they needed the stalks of the flowers.

If these plants were valuable enough for a temple in another city to send a request for them, I decided I should find a way to cultivate them, it could become quite the business.

Harvesting the required herbs made me thankful of my skeletal nature, as the sharp leaves tore at my clothes. I tried to focus on harvesting the plants with ripe seeds, and leave behind the flowers just beginning their lifecycle.

It occurred to me the plants grew on a hillside that got full sun. This area was also barren of trees. I made note of that. They would need the right growing conditions if I were to turn it into a crop.

When I had enough, I headed home, not arriving until well after dark. I bundled up the stalks and set them aside. The seeds I laid out so they could dry and be planted later.

The next day I returned to work on my cabin. The walls were coming up quickly. The slowest part was cutting out a groove in the bottom of each log so they nested together as I stacked them. Already the cabin walls were taller than me, and I was happy to build makeshift scaffolding to continue my work. The main building was going to have a second floor, and required a lot more work. Considering I was planning on being here for a long time, it seemed like a good idea.

The next month passed quickly. I learned that the fiery flowers, flame blades, were valuable because nobody had figured out how to grow them. My guess was that they tried to grow them in regular agricultural settings. I doubted that would work. From what Rhea told me, they sounded like huckleberries from back on Earth, which required specific conditions to grow and had resisted all attempts to grow them commercially.

I decided that once the plants were done growing this year, I would work on their hillside and develop it into a kind of farm. I wagered they would grow quite happily in a known environment over one that was crafted. Plus, it wasn’t too far from my cabin.

Construction of my new home was near completion by summer’s end. Planks from Derek for the floor on both levels would finish out the inside.

A lucky find of a nearby clay deposit, along with stones, gave the space much needed warmth via a fireplace and chimney. That had taken up the most time, but I was thankful for it. My neighbors, the Worthens, agreed to help with the roof thatch to keep it well insulated for winter. So layers of clay made sure that the wood and thatching around the chimney wouldn’t be at risk of burning.

On the first night I was able to build a proper fire in my cabin’s fireplace, a solid roof over me, I found myself mesmerized by the flames. Building the cabin had been surprisingly therapeutic.

And though I should probably be more stressed out about being in this world, building the cabin allowed me to own part of it. The damage to my mindscape was also affecting my viewpoints and emotions, so it was hard to tell if I was actually coping.

With the crackle of a warm fire at my front, I started slipping into a deep meditative trance, and decided now was a good time to visit my mindscape.

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