The trip was rough, but I knew it would be. Despite how advertised the caravan was, we weren’t attacked by any sorts of bandits or brigands; the threat of the sage apprentice and Byron’s own history was enough to deter any potential attack.

  Still, some people got carriage-sick; some people managed to injure themselves; wagon wheels or axles broke; animals got into supplies while camping. There was no shortage of small issues.

  Magic helped. I could heal up injuries, provide water, kick-start cook fires, and construct simple rock structures as needed. When we passed through town, we could afford even the outrageously marked up prices some merchants decided to gouge us with during resupplies, taking note of the businesses and families in order to avoid them in the future when outfitting our settlement. The vibe of the journey was largely one of excitement and anticipation, as we were setting out to build something new, rather than some slow dejected trek out to the boonies due to the loss of wealth or face, and that kept the mood cheerful even in the face of the minor troubles that plagued any long trip.

  And at the end of that trip, the familiar village of Redding was there to greet me.

  Many of the villagers came out to gawk as our procession made its way into the town square, but cantor Umbor led the pack, greeting me and Byron.

  “Welcome back, Tovar, Byron,” he said with a warm smile.

  “Thank you, cantor Umbor,” I said with a grin. “It’s good to be back.”

  “Tovar!” a voice called out from the back of the group, which parted to allow the owner through. “You made it! In springtime! Finally!”

  “Hi, Torra.” I rolled my eyes. “I take it you got my letter.”

  “So you’ll do it? Because I haven’t tilled anything yet,” she said nervously.

  I sighed, fondly. But this was the reason I learned [Control Earth], after all. “Yes, yes. I’ll magically till the fields for you.”

  My sister let out a whoop of joy, both her fists pumping up into the air.

  Torra had grown into a strong young woman over the years, as was necessary to keep the farm going for our family. She was tanned, which stood out against her light hair, with a few scars on her arms and one on a cheek where a too-firm stalk had whipped up and cut her. But her back was still straight and her eyes were bright.

  I could only do so much for my family in my time away, but being close by would change that. I actually hoped they would relocate to my new settlement, when it was ready, so that I could make life even easier for them. I expected to see a number of people from Redding make their way to the settlement over time, though we couldn’t just import the entire group. The lands beyond the forest weren’t ready for farming, and even with magic, it would take years to clear the lumber and prepare new farmland.

  What we could do was buy excess grain at a fair price, and raise the spending power of Redding, increasing the flow of goods in this direction from up the way back towards Ivarnel. That was inevitable once the march was settled and the new territory founded, but it would be better if the people of Redding could make use of it than suffer the merchants passing by while living in poverty.

  “But first, let’s go pay our respects,” I said, motioning with my head towards the chapel.

  Torra nodded, growing somber as we headed away from the others towards Redding’s small graveyard. Byron and Umbor trailed behind us, quietly discussing the journey and the plan for the caravan now that it was here, so that Byron could pay his respects as well.

  We stopped at Toldan’s graveside, and Torra took my hand as we stood in silence.

  I knew that Toldan’s soul was still out there, somewhere in the multiverse, living a new life—maybe even a better one. But death was more about the people that were left behind than the ones who were gone, even if the Engine of Reincarnation hadn’t been out there to give their souls new lives. Toldan’s gravestone was a marker of his time here, but it was also a warning about the dangers of the forest and the threat the goblins posed. It was a reminder of how quickly things could fall apart, and how our family had nearly unraveled, but was saved and able to come back together. It told me to cherish the time I had with the people in my life while they were present. I squeezed Torra’s hand gently, and she raised her head. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

  Before I left the graveyard, I stopped at one more grave; a newer one. Mishel, my first swordsman teacher, and a man who was almost as big a part of my youth as my own father, had finally succumbed to old age in the past year. Fortunately, I had been able to visit over the years and I had been proud to show him my progress with the sword, but as was often the case after someone passed, I wish I could have had more time with him. I bowed my head in prayer for the man’s soul and the journey it had gone on. I hope you have a beautiful next life, Mishel.

  With that, we parted from the place of rest and returned to the land of the living. There was work to be done.

  * * *

  “Ready?” I asked.

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  “Ready!” three excited voices called back to me.

  Torra, Tomas, and Tomelia watched me with shining eyes as I prepared to chant my spell.

  It wasn’t much to see, as I stood there and ripped through the words of the [Control Earth] spell as quickly as I could while clearly enunciating each word. I wasn’t as fast as Somnial, and even he had taken a while to chant this spell; earth was a complex material, and the words of control reflected that.

  I channeled the full 21 stat points of my Will into the spell, holding nothing back. This was a maximum exertion spell for me, given the size of the field, but I was glad for it. It was rare that I got to test this magical muscle to the fullest extent in Ivarnel, on account of how much power I could already wield.

  As the mana built within me and poured out of my mouth, [Control Earth] flared to life, and shaped by my intention, furrowed rows plowed into the soil of our family’s field, hours and hours of backbreaking work done in a matter of minutes.

  Sweat beaded on my brow and I was breathing slightly harder as I turned to take in the appreciation of my siblings, only to find them all frowning slightly as they examined the fields.

  “Tovar,” Torra said slowly. “You only did a quarter of the field.”

  “Well, yeah,” I said, wiping my forehead. “I’m not as strong as Somnial. He was the [Sage]! I’ll do another quarter tomorrow, and another the day after, until it’s all done.”

  “Oh,” Tomas said. “Well… that’s good too.”

  Tomellia, who had grown up seeing me develop my spells over the years during my visits, shrugged and walked off.

  “Seriously? It’s magic!” It wasn’t as flashy as a big fireball, but I expected a little more of a response.

  “It’s an unfinished field,” Torra grunted. “But, fine. So long as you get it done.”

  “You are not nearly as appreciative as I thought you would be,” I grumbled.

  “I’ve been waiting six years for this, Tovar!” Torra said as she walked off after Tomellia, keeping an eye on her. “Keep practicing!”

  “Wow,” I said, looking at Tomas. “You want to plow the rest of this field, buddy?”

  “Um. No?” my brother said, confused. He was still scrawny in his youth, but getting bigger ever year.

  “Then a little ‘thank you’ would be nice.”

  “Thank you?”

  I sighed, then scooped him up and hurled the boy over my shoulder, as he squawked in protest. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

  Beyond my family’s fields, Byron was arranging our camp. We would need to clear some trees, but we could make use of the lumber, both in the short term to fortify our camp and ultimately we could mill out boards to use in construction once we opened a way into the new territory.

  After I was fed and watered, I put my actual muscles to the task of aiding the development of the camp. When my magic recovered somewhat, I was able to do some lesser spellwork, mostly setting up raised stone foundations. We would construct some lean-tos and shelters in order to store goods that needed to be kept secure, dry, and safe from the elements, like the trunks full of books and some provisions. There was also talk of building a longhouse for sleeping in, if it would take a while to push further into the territory.

  It would; I wanted to be positive we killed off every goblin outside the dungeon after we had the entrance blockaded before I moved people out that way. There was no need to risk these people who had tied their lives to mine, even if they would reincarnate after death.

  Building structures had value for Redding, as well. A couple years back, I had offered to buy a draft horse for my family—and by extension, the village, who could share it—in order to make plowing and working the fields easier.

  While the cost of the horse itself wasn’t a problem for me, there were issues like not having a barn raised for it and neither the labor to make hay or the enclosed structures to store it for winter. Having a horse would require a lot of additional construction, the clearing of a hay field, and, while the horse could aid in creating its own hay, it added labor to the summer season. For the size of Redding and the number of people, it hadn’t seemed worth it.

  These structures could ultimately be reused for that, once we headed onward, and the area we cleared for the camp could go towards hay production down the line. We’d probably need to raise a small house, as well, so someone could live out here to care for the horse and make sure wolves or other predators didn’t come through, but that was doable too. I’d make the offer again to the village on the way out, and if they weren’t interested, they could find other uses for the structures we left behind.

  “Any sign of trouble?” I asked Byron.

  “No, master Tovar. Some animals, but no monsters,” he glanced at me, his lips quirking slightly into a small smile. “Though I could handle it if there were.”

  “Oh, I know,” I laughed, but it was a quick, short thing. “I just want everyone to stay safe.”

  Byron nodded. “There is a lot of forest to sweep. It will be difficult to ensure we’ve wiped out every goblin, to the last.”

  “We’ll have to,” I said. “I don’t want to move people onto the land until they’re all dead.” Then I sighed. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. We have to cut a road in before we can pass these woods.”

  “The former Dulth war camp is within the claimed area,” Byron said. “Are you planning to settle the caravan there?”

  It would be less work to clear, but it was also a wide open space with a well-made road back into Dulth. I supposed that avoiding that open passage was impossible, since even if we settled on completely untouched forested land, it was only a short jaunt through the remaining wood to reach it. Dulth was bloodied when Somnial struck their advance down, but the peace was tentative.

  “I think we need to map out where the dungeon actually is first, find out what value it holds, and determine if we’re going to actually farm it or not. That’ll be a factor in the final location.”

  Over the following days, between helping set up our initial staging camp and magically tilling the family fields, I began to push into the forest and start mapping it out. I never went further than a half-day in, only taking a shallow look. My father, Hildan, actually joined me on some of those expeditions. He didn’t hunt anymore, but he still knew the forest around our home like the back of his hand.

  With that, I had a preliminary exploration plan sorted. It wasn’t until help arrived that I would start thinking about truly exploring the forest and trying to find the dungeon and exterminate all the goblins.

  A few weeks later, said help arrived. A familiar carriage rolled out of the town square down the road to my house and the staging camp, and slowed to a stop as I walked over. Sitting up front was Gus, who tipped his hat to me, and a grin broke out on my face.

  The carriage door opened, and out stepped my best friend, who glanced around with a slight smirk on his face before turning to me. “And I thought Obdorn was out in the boonies.”

  I opened my arms, displaying what little there was to show. “Welcome to Redding! Where we’ve got farmland, woodland, and nothing else. Let me show you to—”

  My welcome faltered when movement drew my eye back to the carriage door and another person stepped out behind Felton. My eyes widened at the familiar figure and her cheeky smile.

  Felris was here.