He greet the new morning with the attitude of a monument. Yet he wasn't fully awake, his mind mixed with reality.
The thoughts that ran through, were easy to see to his eyes. The thought that ran through was of how he would deal with automation, and how to actually integrate it. The first idea, to enchant materials, he has never seen it in this world, but he believed it did. Yet no new skill appeared in the card that he held, at least in this slight hallucination.
He thought of a theory, which quickly came - through the use of mana, he could alter the material, maybe not physically, but in between the gaps, he could integrate his mana to reinforce the materials.
For example: unbreakable - it doesn't make the material denser, nor does it add onto what is already there, but instead, the mana sips in the gaps and simulates it becoming denser, while not adding any additional weight; or everlasting - the mana doesn't sip in, but stands guard outside, protecting the material from the elements, would it be flowing water, or wind, or fire.
Then his magnum opus came: Imbued - it didn't do much to the material, but it did create a pattern within the material, one that when fueled, would mimic the pattern that happens when one casts. Everything has a pattern, so it is recognized by the world and what we see, the same goes for spells, for they are an extension.
Enchant appeared in the skill box - 2 skill points.
But what is Imbued if it did not have order, the mana that feeds it comes from a person, repeating the spell as it fills in the pattern.
So he needed logic, if-else gates, not gates.
He needed to give his own spells patterns, he had high doubts that nature would figure out and give them a pattern. After all, they are artificial.
Lomig was born It appeared in the skill box of the adventurer's card, costing only 1 skill point.
Lomig is a simple way, to manipulate the mana riverbeds, allowing him to make gates, which open when conditions are met.
He woke up, opening his eyes and realizing that it was a dream, or maybe not - just a very detailed hallucination that granted him the ability to see his thoughts.
He materialized his adventurer's card and saw those both skills in the skill box. He didn't need to hesitate, this was the key to his desires... He stood up and got dressed, before walking out of his room and the inn.
After this he headed for the guild to ask Luna for a pen and paper... This reminded him of where he has come. This request felt familiar...
"Morning, Luna."
"Morning, Svet, what brings you in so early?"
"Might sound weird, but can i ask for a pen and paper, i need them for something."
"Sure. For a letter, maybe?"
"For scribbles."
She studied him for a second to gauge if this one of his dry jokes, but all she saw was calm eyes, no joke here. Nonetheless she giggled. - "Alright then." She reached for a stack of paper, taking one and putting it in front of Svetislav; then she grabbed the feather pen and the ink container, sliding them to him.
He took them without hesitation, before sitting at one of the tables in the restaurant section, a waitress immediately went to him. - "Morning, what can i get for you?"
"Nothing. Do you mind if i sit here for a second, after that i will leave."
"Alright, no problem."
Svetislav proceeded with the 'scribbling', naming the spell and drawing their new patterns.
For Growth he made: a flower with three petals.
For Perfect Conversion he made: kinetic was an arrow; thermal was a fire; mana was a droplet; physical was a cube; information was an eye. For this to work with his astral storage, he made it so whatever thing is drawn in the eye, this get's transformed. Therefore if he needs the cabbages from his astral storage, he would draw an eye with a cabbage, reflecting in the iris.
The two types of energy are connected with a line, left is always what goes in, and right is always what comes out.
For now he was done defining, so he went back to Luna, giving her back the pen and ink container.
He placed coins worth ten thousand eris, for the sake of thanking her for always giving him information.
"That... That's ten thousand. Why?"
"You have already given me a lot, take this as a sign of appreciation, though i would give you more soon." - He didn't even bother waiting for a reply. He pocketed the paper with all the patterns and left the guild to return to his way of meditation - work.
Once back in isolation, in his room, he pulled a pebble from his astral storage, enchanting it with Imbued, it didn't have enough area to work with, that's the first thing he saw, for each pathway for mana was as thick as the edge of his pointer finger.
With this detail revealed, he directly drew on the pot, what he did was an input point for mana, which he drew as a circle, followed by a line which goes to a rectangle, which has written a condition in it, being: "If the cabbage is ripe and with seeds then close the gateway." - which then split to two paths, one was when the gate was open, the other - when closed.
When the condition is met, the line leads to pattern one, being cube to eye with seeds, flower, and roots; then cube to eye with cabbage, then eye with seed to cube. The seed was set to appear in the dirt of this pot. Then a line, which cuts the algorithm.
When the condition isn't met, the line leads to the pattern of Growth, and then stops. The excess energy that gets put in is transported back to the start.
He materialized another pot from his astral storage, immediately writing in it a condition which checks if there is a need for energy, and if there is, it transforms a cabbage from his astral storage into mana before sending that mana to the output point of this code. He just had to wire it, he placed a finger on the circle which were the output and touched the input point to the pot which would be growing cabbages.
He just needed to kickstart the process with his own mana. So he created a new function, which allowed him to hand feed the system. By pressing his finger against the circle the system took a portion of his mana, more than enough.
Now he just needed to wait. Sitting on the bed he watched as his system worked on it's own, and not before long... It had happened. It works... In that moment he was happy, so much time spent here and finally he has begun with the automation.
And so, he prepared nice more pots the round the number to ten. Each of them he filled with soil, using Create Earth, before placing enchanting the pot with Imbued and integrating the same code, which took him around twenty minutes.
After wiring everything correctly, he made a better way to input energy into the system manually - by making a manual ring(the circle that took mana when touched) directly touching the output point of the king pot.(the one that ensures there is mana in the cycle)
So now he had ten pots growing and harvesting a single cabbage each every minute. With the knowledge that one cabbage's whole being can provide energy to grow five others, he can conclude that he gets eight cabbages every single minute.
The phase of manual work has now come to an end, or at least until he gets to building the farms, but that can wait for a bit, he wants to give the people who sold him this land time to move out.
With nothing more to be done here he simply went to the guild to meet with friends. Immediately as he entered he saw that Aqua was already drunk...
"How did you buy stuff, i haven't even arrived yet?!"
"The guild is keeping you tabs." - Kazuma replied, looking at him.
Svetislav sighed and moved to sit with his friends. Immediately a waitress came and gave him a receipt, because he hasn't paid for the meal that his friends had yesterday. His eyes popped out as he saw just how many fucking drinks there are, and they were not cheap, they were the most fucking expensive. The drinks made like eighty percent of the receipt's size and not only that. The cost for all of this was absurd, but he did promise them that he would pay for their needs... Svetislav immediately looked at Aqua who seemed pretty happy with herself sipping her wine and all...
"I knew it was bad but i didn't think she would take it to this level, like these are two entire bottles which are around fifteen glasses. Even in my country there are alcoholics, but Aqua takes number one in that sector."
"And the worst part - they don't let me drink." - Megumin murmured to herself., sitting timidly.
"Why?" - Svetislav asked, turning to look at her.
"They say that I'm too young and would end in the gutter."
"If you have weak will and get addicted, you will end up in a cycle that's hard to quit. But if you can resist temptation, you are pretty much fine; my first drink was when i was fifteen or sixteen, i don't remember."
"Are you serious? What was it like?"
"Nothing that good, beer isn't what i recommend, nor rakia, though i was more fine with drinking rakia."
"What's ra-kia?"
"Oh. it's a drink in my homeland. It's pretty strong."
The group sat and enjoyed themselves for a while till dinner time came, so did more adventurers and somewhere half-way Chris decided to show up, sitting next to Svetislav.
"Didn't expect to find you here tonight, Svet."
He turned around to look at her, making eye contact. Those moments felt like an eternity.
"Better here than eating alone. Joy shared is joy multiplied."
"Entering his grandpa phase." - Kazuma murmured to himself.
For a while he forgot his entire way of work, though automation was for that, to make stuff happen on their own so you don't have to think about them. He was just a man, sharing a meal with his pals...
Everyone was munching on their meals, but Svetislav was thoughtful.
"Everything alright?" - Chris asked him, concern was evident in her eyes.
"Yes, i just need to do something. I will be right back." - He replied standing up from the table.
"Where are you going?" - Megumin joined in on the questioning.
"To ask Luna something."
And so he walked to the receptionist desk. - "Evening, Luna."
"Evening, Svetislav. Do you need something?"
He leaned slightly on the edge and said: "If i may ask - how does the guild make their money back from the cabbages they buy from me? I am aware it would be more logical for me to sell at the market directly."
"Well... When we buy in bulk because we have long-term contracts with merchants and supply lines. Most individual sellers can't match the consistency we provide, in this case - you, and merchants don't like uncertainty. We sell it to them for a slightly larger price." - She explained.
"I see. A system of stability, just like my own."
"Exactly." - She said, smiling warmly. - "Though... If you truly wanted to maximize earnings, yes, the market would be more direct. But you'd also be on your own, with no guarantee of buyers."
"Understood. I have more than a thousand cabbages in person, if you will~"
"A THOUSAND CAB-" - Aqua staggered up from the table, tankard still in hand, sloshing with every step she took. She tried to sidle up, but tripped on the leg of a bench and nearly face-planted. - "Svetislav! My bestest, most richest, most holy benefactor! You wouldn't keep that away from your precious Aqua, would you?"
"When the fuck did she consider that i'm part of her cult?"
Back at the table, Darkness was very impressed. "A thousand cabbages, huh? That's... An empire."
Aqua, however was undeterred. She clung to Svetislav's arm like a barnacle, her eyes were wide and gleaming. - "My dearest cabbage saint, surely you'll share this reward with your loyal, adorable goddess, right? Right?"
"I should limit how much she is allowed to drink..."
Svetislav looked back at the table as if to ask with his gaze "Why didn't you stop her?" just to see Chris who had gone slightly stiff, her smile was polite, but behind her eyes was something else.
Suddenly she talked: "Don't waste your breath, Aqua, he isn't one to fall for flattery."
"Flattery?!" Aqua gasped dramatically. "How dare you! This is sincerity straight from the heart!"
"You reek of wine."
"It's holy."
Svetislav exhaled quietly through his nose, and gently pried Aqua's grip loose. "Aqua, If you want cabbages, I'll feed you - like I feed them. But do not mistake my harvest for a personal treasury."
She immediately burst into tears, she didn't take the rejection well.
Chris seemed to relax a bit, now that this situation is over.
Luna, still behind the counter, leaned her chin into her hand, smiling as she watched the scene unfold. - "You really do keep the guild interesting, Svet."
"I just asked how the guild uses it's resources..."
Aqua clunk like ivy, wailing about betrayal, cruelty, injustice, and the tragic fate of a goddess wronger by her own "disciple".
Svetislav's expression remained serene as he looked down at her. Not before long he placed his hand on her forehead.
"Eh? Svet? Wha~"
An unseen current began to move up her body and into his hand as he targeted to transform the toxins in her body that clouded her judgement.
The guild went silent as Aqua felt different. She blinked in confusion. - "Wait... I-I'm sober?"
"You were making a scene." - Svetislav pulled back his hand, his expression unchanging.
"You- You-!" Her voice cracked in outrage. "How dare you take away my holy buzz. Do you have any idea how expensive that wine was?! And i was in the middle of-"
"embarrassing yourself." - Chris finished the sentence for her.
Svetislav took out the receipt. - "I am also pretty much aware... You need to control yourself, you are not setting a good example. I have an insult ready, but i will not use it." - Svetislav walked back to the table.
He sat next to Chris, who said: "You might have made a life long enemy out of Aqua."
"I can live with that." - He replied, his posture staying perfect.
"Still.... Thanks. She was getting on my nerves."
"I saw"
The night continued and it was more pleasant, now that Aqua wasn't blabbering nonsense; her ego was so offended, that she didn't lick another drop of alcohol for the rest of the night.