Karl was excited about the elemental crystals but he didn’t know what to craft with them. So he decided to look around and ask other villagers for ideas, just like he did when he was having problems with the Toughness Rune.

He wanted to create something useful other than weapons. He would, of course, try to improve the weapons, but he would need more than that to make a difference.

Instead of going astray with fantastic ideas, he was trying to focus on something practical that could be craft with the materials in hand. To make good use of the water crystals he had to look for things that involved water.

Because the villagers only use water for a few things his options were very limited. So, he decided to look at these activities to get inspiration. It didn’t take much for him to think of something interesting.

To water the plants, the villagers would draw water from the well. Although the process was very simple, it took the kids too much time to do it. Sometimes, they even need to ask for help because they weren’t strong enough to draw the bucket.

Since the drawing process was something common, he didn’t think of it initially. But as soon as he started to pay attention, he realized that drawing water was one of the most tiring works. And that was just talking about the work at the fields. Every family would also need to draw water to clean, cook, and drink. If he could use magic to make the drawing easier, it would be great.

‘Master AI, can I use the water crystal to move up water from the well?’

‘-- Yes. The most common use of elemental energy is manipulating the correspondent element. The elemental energy will naturally attract the element. To understand their attraction you can place the water crystal near water and see what happens.  --’

Karl took out the crystal and brought it close to a puddle. When he got to a hand distance from the water, the crystal reacted. He saw the faint blue energy spinning slowly in the crystal and the water on the puddle stirring.

He moved the crystal a little closer and the water started to flow upwards to the crystal. He quickly retracted the crystal and the water fell. He repeated the process, pulling his hand a little slower. The water flowed higher, but in the end, it still dropped down.

Karl had an idea. He tried again, but this time he pushed spiritual energy into the water crystal. The water quickly flowed from the puddle and circled the crystal forming a water dome. Karl was very excited. He asked a kid to let him use the bucked she was carrying and tried to pull up the water in the bucket.

To bring up all the water in the bucket, Karl had to push all of his spiritual energy. The girl was excited but afraid when she saw Karl controlling the water. Soon, Karl’s spiritual energy was emptied and the water dropped. He thanked the stunned girl and left to think about what to do.

‘So this is why elemental Mages only control one element... It takes too much energy to control an element without the affinity, right?’

‘-- Very good. It becomes even harder for a Mage to control other elements once their affinity increase. Likewise, if your spiritual energy has affinity with an element, it becomes easier to control it. --’

‘But how can I use the water crystal if I don’t have water affinity? And if I craft a tool, how’ll the other villagers use it without having spiritual energy and water affinity?’

‘-- Good questions. First, we should talk about what happens when the water and the water crystal interact. The water-energy in the crystal has a property called Affinity. The water affinity is what attracts the water, but to do it, it needs energy. When the crystal attracted the water without you doing anything, it used its own water energy plus the environmental energy as fuel. That is why it could not pull much water. But once you powered it with your spiritual energy, the effect was stronger. --’

‘So, I can use an energy crystal to power the attraction of the water crystal and water?’

Karl already got used to testing instead of just waiting for a ready answer, so he brought together an energy crystal and a water crystal and tested it again.

It worked better than before, but it was still lacking in pulling force.

‘-- To move the water you only need water affinity and magic energy. In your test, you are powering the water energy, which is increasing the water affinity. However, if you power the affinity directly, the effects will naturally be better. Therefore, you need to extract the water affinity from the crystal and use magic energy to fuel the attraction. --’

Karl’s eyes brightened as the process became clear.

‘-- Since we are talking about extracting energies, you should learn about the extraction Arrays. Let’s begin with the Extraction Array, which is represented by a pentagon. --’

‘--The pentagon’s concept is Growth. It has the aspect of sustenance. Like the roots of a plant that drain nutrients from the ground to power its growth, this array extracts magic energy to power the Array design. --’

‘-- This Array can extract magic energy from anything placed inside of it. The extraction process will only start if other active Arrays are connected to it. The word active simply means that the Array is working and consuming energy. The extraction rate will depend on the quality of the Array and the energy consumed by the connected Arrays. --’

‘-- The Extraction Array will only extract energy. To separate elemental affinity you can use a similar Array, the Properties Extraction Array, which is represented by a pentagram. --’

‘-- The pentagram’s concept is Uniqueness. It has the aspect of selection. It will search and select the unique energy properties in what is placed inside of it. --’

‘Humm... Master AI, you told me that elemental energy has different properties, like elemental affinity, physical properties, and even emotional properties. How can I select which property the Array will extract? When using the water crystal, I just want to extract the water affinity, not the physical and emotional properties, like flexibility and coldness. ‘

‘-- It is good that you are paying attention to the details. Remember that the aspect of the Array is selection. When drawing it, you can also focus on the property you want to extract. That will, however, make the Array specific for an element. --’

‘Awesome! I can use the Properties Extraction Array to get the water affinity and power up using an energy crystal inside the Extraction Array... But Master, how do I connect these Arrays? Once I get them to work, the water will be attracted, but how do I get it to move upwards? Will I have to pull it up with a rope or something?... It would be easier than pulling the bucket, but still seems too much work...’

‘-- Do not be impatient. Remember, one step at a time. First, you need to learn how to draw the Arrays. --’

.........

Evening came and the villagers gathered in the central square.

The sight of the two thousand villagers made Karl sight in amusement. He clearly knew the size of the village, but seeing them all together, even the sick and children, had an impact on him.

But when he looked at them attentively, his astonishment turned to sadness. They were too miserable. Their bodies had marks of poverty and work abuse. The fewer clothes they used to cover their private parts, all scraps. They weren’t looking expectantly to the Chief, they were looking for the food behind him. That’s all they could think of.

He never realized before, how lucky he was to have a small family, to eat a little more each day, to have a dream, to long for something more than just surviving.

Karl looked at his parents and finally understood why his mother filled his head with fantasies. She probably didn’t believe that he would succeed on it, she just wanted to give him something more to live for. Just like her parents did for her.

Reiner seemed to guess what Karl was thinking and could only look down avoiding his gaze. Surprisingly, her hand was firmly held by her husband. The man that always criticized her actions, smiled and said:

“You were right! He’s special! Just the four kids did more for the village than all of us... I’m proud of him... I’m happy, but... I need to stand firm and protect him. I have to be the one bringing sense to him so you need to keep cheering and supporting him.”

Reiner’s heart finally calmed down. She felt a little guilty about her true feelings. She didn’t know where her hopings ended and the pretending started. Of course, she wanted for her son to live a better life, full of fantasy and dreams, but was it actually possible? Would he hate her the way she hated her father if he ended up being ordinary?

She smiled. Her worries disappeared behind the image of her son.

‘He’s truly special! It wasn’t for nothing! Maybe... I’m sorry, father! I’m sorry I doubted you... My son did it!’

.........

Chief Omero was at the center of the square, standing on a small podium commonly used to make announcements. Grandma Marlen and other elders had kept the fire going to provide them some light. Around 2000 villagers were crowded in the central square looking attentively at Chief Omero.

“I guess everyone is concerned about the increase of annual tributes. Unfortunately, we can’t argue or do anything against this kind of decree because we can’t survive without the barrier. They’re smart and know that we can’t fulfill the quota, so they’re trying to force some of us to slavery.”

Many villagers were closing their first tight with anger while others had dropped their heads in sadness.

“However, that’s not entirely true. The Origin pitied us and send something to resist the nobles’ oppression.”

He paused and look at all the faces. The villagers became confused. They understood Chief Omero’s words but for them, it was impossible to go against the nobles. From time to time, the merchants brought word of an elimination campaign from the nobles against a rebel village. To rebel against the Kingdom was the same as condemning the village to destruction. Even so, when the villagers heard this, a secret spark of hope ignited inside of them.

“You probably heard about the kids going out and bringing back meat... When young Karl was coming back from his ceremony this year, he received the Origin’s grace. He was given something to help us resist the Kingdom’s oppression. Karl learned how to craft magic tools!”

Everyone was shocked and looking at Karl with disbelief in their eyes. They didn’t know what a magic tool was, but they knew it was powerful since the magic word was on it.

Karl was also shocked, he couldn’t understand why Chief Omero revealed his story and why he was saying that it was a gift from the Origin to fight against the Kingdom. In his mind, Master Al spoke:

‘-- Interesting. The Chief of your village has some interesting plans. Do not be afraid, for now, this will benefit you. He has some ability in manipulating the villagers --’.

‘Manipulating? Is Chief planning something? What is it?’

‘-- Karl, you still have a long way before you can grasp the undercurrents. For now, just think about how the Chief brought up feelings of sadness and powerlessness in them right before presenting a solution, uniting all in hope and hate against the Kingdom. Of course, he can’t change their submission mentality in one day, but he has planted a seed --’.

In the podium, Chief Omero continued:

“To save us from starving, to help us fight against beasts, to give us access to resources, the Origin taught Karl how to craft magic weapons. With the weapons, Karl and a group of friends slew two beasts.”

Several villagers looked at Karl with awe.

“We have been suffering for so long. Now it’s time to change our lives. If the kids have shown the courage to face and defeated the beasts, we adults should also have the courage and face our problems!”

.........

After the speech, everyone moved to get a portion of food. Grandma Marlen was coordinating the serving, each person would get some broth and a small piece of meat. For them, eating this much was really a feast.

Every adult, child, and elder was delighted to taste the flavor of the meat, they savored the best they could. To Chief Omero, this was the best closing for his speech.

From this moment, the villagers from Caiset had experience magic, hope, and happiness. From this moment, they would long for these feelings every day of their lives.