She sat near the gently flowing river, which meandered its way through the meadow which sat at the center of her spirit sanctuary. The sunlight was quickly fading, and while the temperature dropped, Lyra became certain that even at night it wouldn't get colder than fifteen degrees Celsius at most. Still she wanted some shelter from the elements, be it wind or rain. So, she figured it was time to test her ability.
Naturally, she had never done magic before, but she supposedly had three hundred mana, which was an insane amount for a freshly born level 1. So, she just did what felt natural. She raised both hands, and spoke the words:
"Magic Creation."
And she could feel the magic, this strange feeling of power coursing through her body. It was there, at the edge of her fingertips, ready to be commanded.
"Create: Shelter." she said, seeing the structure she wanted to create before her inner mind. And then, she felt the magic flow through her, seeping from her fingertips, as the earth before her rumbled. Four walls, made of dirt and stone, rose from the land itself. Wooden beams seemed to materialize out of nowhere, to support the thatch roof that also materialized out of thin air. Ten seconds after her spell, and her tiny cottage was finished. Walls made out of thick stones joined together by a mud mixture, and an a-frame roof made of wooden beams and thatch. There was a single entrance, just an opening in the wall, and no windows.
She thought the words "Status Window" and it appeared before her.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Lyra Lunarsong
HP: 30/30 MP: 140/300
Level: 1
Race: High Elf
Age: 17
Stamina: 3
Strength: 3
Agility: 5
Spirit: 5
Intellect: 30
Job: Mage (Apprentice and Novice level spells costs 50% less mana to cast.)
Skill: Magic Creation (SSS) (The User may create spells with their own unique effects, the manacost is proportionate to the effect of the spell)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So her spell, "Create: Shelter" had cost 160 mana. That was not bad. She had nearly half left. Then again, it wasn't a very complex shelter. Just stone, mud, wood and thatch. Now, seeing she had 140 mana left, she had to make a decision. Bed or door?
Frankly, it wasn't much of a debate, as she settled on trying her hand at making a bed for herself. Sleeping good was far more important than a door. Besides, did she really need a door? It wasn't as if she was expecting visitors or company.
So, once more she called on her magic, feeling it spread out from her core, filling her up. She envisioned a simple wooden bed, with a blanket and pillow, and spoke the words:
"Create: Bed."
Moments later, the bed seemed to materialize out of thin air. A simple wooden frame, a linen mattress stuffed with a mixture of straw and leaves, a blanket made of woven wool, and a linen pillow stuffed with what she assumed was cotton. She felt a bit woozy and wobbly after this spell, and figured this was likely an effect of being low on mana. When she looked, her "Create: Bed" had cost about 100 mana, so she only had 40 mana left now. Thankfully, now that she was feeling a bit dizzy, she had a bed to lay down on!
So, she sat down and tested the "Buoyancy" of the mattress. It wasn't even half bad. Not too soft, but also not too firm. Then she laid down on her back, head against the pillow. This was nice. The cottage had only 1 room, smelled earthy and woody, and there was a gentle draft coming in through the opening, but it was home. She looked up towards the ceiling and smiled brightly. What a day it had been... from dying, meeting the Goddess, negotiating with her, and then ending up reborn here. She was healthy, she was beautiful, and she had been blessed with a place that, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be all hers.
For once in her life, she looked forward to tomorrow. She wanted to explore more, figuring out her food situation, exploring what else she could do with her magic. But most of all, she was looking forward to the peace and quiet. To be able to live life at her own pace. And so, with positive thoughts flooding her head, she wrapped herself in the blanket, and went to sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, it was to the rising of the sun, accompanied by the singing of the birds who also greeted the first lights of the day. Lyra slipped down from the bed and exited her small and humble cottage, her feet brushing against the dew-laden grass, as mists rose and danced across the meadow as the first rays of the day heated the vapor that had gathered during the night. She took a moment to stretch, still marveling at how responsive her body was. And flexible, she realized, as she could bend and move in ways she had never been able to before.
After a bit of a morning stretch, she checked her status window again. She was back to 300/300 mana, so she theorized that mana naturally recharged when at rest, but she'd have to do some experiments to figure out the exact mechanic. For a moment, she considered spending some mana to create a basket, where she could gather fruits and berries, but then eventually decided against it. She had all she needed to make a basket herself, and it was not like she was short on time. She should save her mana for things she couldn't do herself, with what she had available. So, she headed into the nearby forest to scavenge around for things she could use.
After about an hour, she had collected enough young-growth trees that were flexible enough to the point she could weave their branches and stems together into a basket structure. Having watched quite a bit of survival youtube videos in her past life, she had a good idea of how it should be done. But having seen a video and doing things for yourself are not the same thing, so her first attempt at a basket was a proper failure. However, undeterred, she kept going until eventually she made a reliable structure. By now, the sun was quite high in the sky, and she felt a low rumble from her tummy. She had not eaten anything since waking up here yesterday, after all, so a bit of hunger was natural. Still, she was far less hungry than she had thought she would be, and chalked this up to elven metabolism perhaps being a bit slower than that of a human.
She took her new basket under her arm and went about to look for things to eat. She gathered a few ripe fruits from a nearby tree, and plenty of raspberries and blueberries. Some of the fruits she did not recognize, and she assumed they might not exist on earth. They looked and tasted a bit like peaches, but were far larger, almost the size of a honey-melon. Then there were actual apples and pears as well, which she knew well from Earth. She sat with her naked feet bathing in the river, as she enjoyed her lunch, gazing up at the clouds as they slowly drifted overhead.
As she ate, she started thinking about her goals and aspirations. She had shelter, and could improve it using her magic if the need arose. She also had plenty of food, but she had no clue how the passing of the seasons would affect the temperature and food situation. However, since there was a lake and a river, fish were accessible year round, so she wasn't that worried about food. Push come to shove, she figured her mana was enough to heat her cottage even if there were very cold winters here. Once she had spent a full year here, she'd know better what she needed to live here permanently.
And that was the plan, wasn't it? She thought about for a quite a while, as she snacked on a "Super-Peach" as she had come to call them. While she wanted to explore the world, she wasn't in a rush. The world was no doubt dangerous, and right now she was in a good spot with plenty of food and no competition. More than anything, she wanted to relax for a bit and build her strength. Practice and experiment with her magic, while studying the effects of these systems that affected all life in this world. The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that she also wanted to grow stronger.
In her past life, she had constantly been at the mercy of others. Because she had been weak, and sick. She held no agency over her own life, but just... cruised along, on the torrents of life. Here, she wanted more. She wanted be the agent of her own fate, to only do the things she wanted to do. To do that, she would have to grow stronger, so that no one and no thing could ever push her around. But how?