At the end of the second week, the group had created five pillars of earth in the river. Since everyone started to get used to their work and their skills were improving as well, they thought things would progress faster, but they didn't consider that the river would become deeper and deeper… thus, they needed more earth blocks to create the fourth and fifth pillar which were ten meters tall. Regardless, Billy finally will have the chance to take a break and return home. Most of the recruits also had the same chance, but he was the only one in his group that was going to return.
"I feel like l am more motivated here, staying at home will probably make me lazy again," Lily said.
"Dad is also going to stay, so I will stay as well," Alexander said. "Besides, I feel like I didn't do much."
"What a liar… you wanted to stay close to Lily," Billy thought while frowning. "What a simp…"
"I am going to train here as well," Natalie said. "You will get behind at this rate, Billy."
"I don't mind," Billy said. "I can train at home, my diligence doesn't need external factors like you guys."
Power was something that could be obtained in that world, as long as everyone had diligence. However, seeing his siblings grow up from up-close wasn't something that he could enjoy forever. Alexander, Lily, and Natalie didn't understand that because they were only children. Besides, Billy won't be able to train the way he wants by staying there… Returning home was more than necessary for his goals.
"First things first… I have to buy some rings and then slowly make them level up and obtain the meditation effect," Billy thought. "It will take a few months to make them reach that level, but they certainly will improve my training speed and ability to trade mana for experience."
After three days, Drew and Billy were back home. While it wasn't a good idea for the leader of the tribe to leave his allies behind, he put Nikola in command, and everyone knew how he trusted him. Regardless, as one would expect, Samuel and Samara looked ecstatic when Drew and Billy returned and asked him to play horse without giving Billy any time to rest. It was a bit rough, but Billy couldn't say no to them.
"Did something happen while we were away?" Drew asked.
"No… everything is boringly peaceful," Camilla replied. "Now we don't have to worry about anything… aside from the magic beasts. Speaking of which, some guards visited that arid area of the elementalists and they spotted a new type of monster. They are the earthworms… according to the elementalists that stayed behind. They always existed, but kept their territory away from their base. Also, they don't leave that area."
"I guess that is fine then," Drew said. "We have no business there… Anyway, I am going to report to the lord tomorrow. What are you going to do, Billy?"
"I guess I will buy some things that might help once we return," Billy replied.
Billy recalled that rings could also increase his magic power, so he would be able to train more and be more effective while controlling. So, perhaps he should stop being stingy and spend all his savings on equipment. Even though he will look weird with several rings. The next day, Billy went to visit John's shop, and he confirmed that things were the same as usual. He had close to zero customers. After selling the few ores he got, Billy only had fifty copper coins. It was worth three days working outside the town.
"It has been a while, I heard that you went on that expedition to build the bridge," John said. "You found those ores in there?"
"Yes… if I find something worthwhile and that I don't need, I will sell it to you," Billy said. "So, give me some discounts on these."
"You can ask for that once you actually manage to find something," John frowned. "That is how business actually works, kid."
Billy shrugged and then began to check the wares of the shop. He was hoping to find something cheap but good with his Appraisal, but he didn't find such a thing. Either John had good eyes for his merchandise, or he was playing safe. Considering that Edward also had a habit of collecting old relics, it was natural that he wouldn't find anything impressive. Still, he tried anyway, much to no avail.
"I guess the only way to get good gear is by searching after completing the bridge," Billy thought. "Considering the old spearhead, I am expecting good things from these new lands."
In any case, while that was a bit costly and made John frown, Billy decided to buy nine rings and make them level up. He would raise some suspicions by wearing them all the time, but he should be able to hide from the others when he needed to. Perhaps buying an extra-large pair of gloves will do the trick. While armor wasn't something that his tribe didn't use much, some people in the town used it.
After buying his things, Billy immediately proceeded to level up the rings. Making one reach level twenty and then repeat the process of another to obtain another level of automatic meditation would be good. Still, instead of that, Billy decided to level them up equally in order for him to gain as many extra points in magic as possible. Thanks to his current mana, Billy managed to make the rings reach level three, and all of them granted him fifteen extra points into magic. Once he did that, he recovered some of his mana after meditating at home and then used all of it to control the temperature around him and focus on a single spot. At the same time, he used Wind Manipulation and mixed both. He quickly obtained the result that he wanted...
Congratulations! You have learned Fire Manipulation.
