Chapter 49: Dwarf Crisis (Please keep reading!)

The raft camp has been completed.

It consists of a central tent, simple wooden perimeter walls, and two wooden watchtowers—one facing the river and the other facing the forest behind.

Soldiers are stationed on the watchtowers at all times.

A small patch of the forest behind the camp has been cleared, and large quantities of high-quality logs are being driven by oxen and mules toward the riverbank.

Occasionally, the two warhorses also assist with this labor, though they can only be inconvenienced for the time being.

At the riverbank.

Kana is standing there.

The elderly shipwright in charge of command is introducing the first raft they have built to Kana.

Because they are rafts and time is tight, there are no sails.

Through simple additional structures, they can only drift downstream with the river current and use oars to control their direction.

You cannot expect much more than that.

With the schedule being so rushed, many things have to be made do.

The primary focus remains on passenger capacity.

"Your Highness, a raft of this size can carry about fifty or sixty people. If we squeeze them in, perhaps we can fit over eighty. This is the limit of what we can build; building anything larger wouldn't work. After all, after all, these are just rafts. Moreover, the tools and the site here are too primitive."

He explained cautiously.

Kana nodded, indicating his understanding. "You are the professionals, so you should handle the construction. But three days have passed and only one has been built. Will we make it in time?"

The shipwright nodded. "Don't worry, Your Highness, we will certainly make it in time."

He likely understood what these rafts were for—perhaps they would serve as their retreat—so he was building them with great care.

"The workers have become skilled. They are just rafts; we will be able to build them much faster soon."

Kana nodded and left the riverbank.

He walked to a clearing not far from the water.

Aliris was there, training hard, with the carcass of a small deer beside her.

She was controlling its blood, making it shift shapes in the air as she practiced diligently.

"Has she been traumatized?" Bobette, following beside Kana, couldn't help but ask.

"Why? What makes you say that?" Kana asked, somewhat puzzled.

Bobette pointed at Aliris.

She felt that ever since they returned, Aliris seemed to have become even more hardworking.

She spent most of her day training, using up almost all the mana in her body every day, leaving only a tiny amount to avoid headaches.

"Perhaps it's because this special power is very interesting? So she wants to spend more time mastering it?"

Kana explained this way. He felt this was a high possibility because he was the same.

Reality was far more real than a game; the sensation of controlling blood so freely was much more powerful, and even he couldn't help but become obsessed.

His skill bar clearly displayed the rewards of his obsession.

【Blood Magic】 【Proficiency: Mastered (126/1000)】

He could now skillfully transform blood into blood arrows to pierce targets. He was gradually catching up to Aliris.

However, he was currently focusing on another skill.

【Puppet Manipulation】 【Proficiency: Apprentice (95/100)】 【Special Effect: Transforms mana into invisible threads, using willpower to control creations known as puppets.】 【Description: Many people always treat alchemists as a logistics profession, believing they should be scholars staying in the rear. It is only when a Puppet Master controls a vast number of puppets to ravage the battlefield that people realize not all alchemists are like that.】

This skill was born a few days ago when Kana finally had enough mana to digitize the 【Spherical Puppet】 and then exert control over it.

He reached into his spatial pouch and pulled out the silver, head-sized sphere.

【Spherical Puppet—Basic Type】 【Puppet—Construct—Magic】 【Attributes: Levitation, Mana Conduction】 【Special Effects: Scout's Eye, Combat Support】 【Scout's Eye: Controlled via mana threads; consumes mana to scout the surroundings with the puppet as the center.】 【Combat Support: Connected via mana threads; consumes mana to allow the puppet to automatically assist in combat.】 【Description: A total antique, a precious collectible. If other alchemists knew you actually brought this thing out for combat, they would soak you in a pool of acid.】

Ignoring the description, Kana placed his hand on the sphere, connecting a thread of mana to it.

With a gentle release, the spherical puppet floated up automatically. However, its floating height was limited, reaching a maximum of about 10 meters above the ground.

The higher it floated, the longer the mana thread required, and the more mana it would consume during conduction.

It couldn't be helped; it was a true antique, something from countless years ago. Its age was 100% longer than the age of this country, even though it still looked brand new.

Kana had experimented over the last few days; floating it about 5 meters away from him was a distance he could accept for sustained combat.

Under his control, the sphere flew wobblily. He was still practicing, after all.

Controlling the sphere, he activated its mana conduction attribute.

From the nearby deer carcass, the last clump of blood was drawn out.

This clump of blood transformed directly into something like blood blades, circling the sphere and becoming blades around it.

This sphere could extend Kana's blood magic.

Sitting on a nearby rock, Bobette watched the two of them controlling blood, flying it back and forth in the sky.

She couldn't help but sigh.

"Enough already. If someone didn't know, they'd think I'd fallen into a cult's nest. Controlling blood... no matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like an ability a protagonist should have. Sigh."

While complaining, she flipped through her notebook, recording her observations from this period.

She was a scholar, and also a writer.

Before an hour of training had passed, George came running up in a hurry.

"Did something happen?"

George nodded. "Last time... the short old men Your Highness mentioned last time, they have arrived."

"Dwarves!" Bobette shouted.

"That's right, dwarves," George corrected, then bowed to Bobette. "Sorry, Teacher, I forgot again."

"Them?" Kana asked, puzzled.

"Yes, there are three of them, but I don't know if one of them is the one I saw from a distance last time. I'm a bit... a bit unable to tell them apart."

Hearing George's words, Kana nodded. He could understand; to tell the truth, all these dwarves were just big bearded men. Unless you were very familiar with them, it was truly difficult to distinguish the differences between them.

"Take me there."

Aliris also walked over, following behind Kana along with Bobette.

They walked all the way to the edge of the woods.

Many workers were watching, talking among themselves as if they had seen something extraordinary. Clearly, it was their first time seeing dwarves.

Only the two shipwrights did not seem to find it particularly strange.

The people up there were gathered in a group, looking left and right.

It wasn't until they saw Kana that one dwarf, whose beard was braided into two hanging pigtails, hopped up and waved his hand.

"Hey!"

Kana walked over and smiled. "I see you, Getari. What brings you all of a sudden?"

"Haha, it's been a few days, Kana! We've come to thank you. And, of course, we need a little bit of help."

"A little bit of help? Alright, if I can, I will provide it."