Chapter 29: Reshaping the Terrain with Earth Magic! Another Skill!
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Kaiden had a hunch that this was what the fourth quest was asking of him. "Use earth magic to do something beneficial for the territory"… removing obstacles using earth magic counted as beneficial, didn't it?
He didn't think about it too much. In any case, he would only lose some mana points — and when they ran out, they would recover gradually over half an hour or so. In return, the workshop row would become neat and orderly again, and a new plot would open up for future construction.
Without further delay, Kaiden extended his hand forward, toward the troublesome hill that was occupying a considerable amount of space. He didn't target all of it at once — it was too large to flatten in a single effort at his current level. Instead, he focused his thoughts and took control of only a specific section.
He felt the mana flowing from his body into the earth of the section he had chosen, as though it were an extension of his will. He chose the simpler option: burying this section and distributing its mass into the empty space beneath the ground.
The scene turned magical once again.
A large piece of the hill before him began slowly sinking, as though an invisible giant hand were pressing down on it from above. The ground trembled slightly beneath his feet. The rocks and soil compressed, cracked, then leveled out. Within only a matter of seconds, that entire section had been smoothed flush with the surrounding ground — as though it had never existed.
Kaiden glanced at his mana bar. "I still have plenty," he murmured with relief. Then he moved immediately to the next large section.
Just like the first, it was leveled quickly. The mana flowed smoothly, and the earth responded to his will like soft clay. Only half the hill remained. Kaiden divided it mentally into two parts, chose one of them, and began flattening it. The earth was behaving precisely according to his will through the Earth Manipulation skill — the process felt anything but complicated to him. It felt natural, as though he had been born to do this. The sensation was thrilling and addictive.
The last section remained. His mana bar had dropped considerably. Kaiden quickly made use of what he had left. The final piece — which now looked strangely isolated and out of place — began shaking violently, as though caught in an earthquake. It cracked, then started sinking gradually, more slowly than the sections before it. The mana was running dry. Kaiden gritted his teeth and focused harder. The earth kept sinking… until it leveled completely with its surroundings.
He had barely managed to finish it. His mana bar had reached zero.
The ground before him was now completely flat and clear, as though the hill had never existed. In his previous world, this would have required three excavators working for an entire day. Here… it had taken Kaiden roughly half a minute.
But Kaiden had no time in that moment to feel proud.
Suddenly, he felt a violent headache throbbing in his skull. A sharp, sudden pain — as though something were pressing on his brain from the inside. He staggered in place. The world around him seemed to close in. When the mana ran dry, his body had suffered a severe backlash.
Fortunately, at that very moment, the sounds of system notifications rang out — to him they sounded like festival bells.
[System Alert: You have used magic to remove a hill obstructing buildings in your territory. Evaluating benefit… Evaluation complete: You have gained Experience +245, Terrain Modification Skill (Rare).]
[Quest "Optimal Use of Earth Magic!" Completed! Reward dispatched: +2 levels in your class.]
With two consecutive level-ups and an additional 20 points added to his Intelligence trait, his mana pool increased by 200 points immediately. Kaiden felt a wave of cool energy flowing through his mind, and the headache vanished as suddenly as it had come.
Kaiden sat down on the ground, exhausted, and drew a deep breath. His body was drained. He hadn't expected to suffer such a violent backlash. No one had warned him about this. He suddenly felt a warm trickle running from his nose. He reached up and wiped it, then looked at his fingers — they were stained with blood.
"This must be a warning to me… not to exceed my limits again," he murmured in a tired voice. Fortunately, completing the quest and gaining the level-up had eased the backlash he had suffered. Otherwise — who knew how long he would have remained in that state.
Then he suddenly remembered something else. But it sounds like I heard two notifications, not just one. What was the first one again?
With that thought, Kaiden slowly stood up. He dusted off his new black clothing, wiped his nose with the back of his hand, and looked at the notification contents once more with careful focus.
His eyes went wide and he froze in place — and he couldn't help but let out a curse.
"Holy hell! I can gain experience this way too?! On top of that, I acquired a rare skill?!" he exclaimed loudly, his voice filled with equal parts shock and joy.
He had only been carrying out the quest. Who could have known that this simple act would lead him to an entirely new path of gaining experience?
Kaiden opened the description of the acquired skill eagerly:
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Skill Name: Terrain Modification
Rarity: Rare
Description: A skill that allows the user to freely modify the surrounding terrain through thought alone.
Note: Mana consumption depends on the size of the terrain change being targeted.
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He could do something similar with the Epic "Earth Manipulation" skill. But compared to it, "Terrain Modification" was far smoother within its own domain and considerably less costly in mana. However, it was limited in application: he could level ground, raise it, or dig trenches — but he could not, for instance, launch a sudden earth spike or construct a complex stone wall. For those uses, he still needed the Epic skill.
Kaiden smiled. Possessing both skills together was ideal — one for building and development, the other for combat and destruction.
He looked around. The territory's residents had begun making their way toward Sidra's tavern. It seemed lunchtime had arrived. Using the skill had completely drained his stored physical energy, so he felt intensely hungry.
He followed them toward the tavern, in excellent spirits despite the headache he had suffered just moments before.
The reason for his elevated mood wasn't only that he had leveled the hill and opened a new plot for construction. It was that he had acquired another rare skill, and discovered a new method of gaining experience he hadn't known about before — along with all the new applications of his magic that had opened up before him.
In the past, he had felt a small pang of regret for not having an affinity with the fire element. The dream of raining fireballs down on the battlefield had dissolved. But now… that regret had vanished completely. It was fortunate that he had acquired an affinity with the earth element. He had discovered that the possibilities of this element were truly endless.
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— End of Chapter Twenty-Nine —