Chapter 3 - Annexation

“Stevin. You’ll stay back and hide in these woods. If I hurt someone too much, you’ll heal them. Be as secret as possible.”

Stevin nodded, to which Dawn walked out into the plains.

“May I speak with your chief?” Dawn asked the guards, a cold rigid expression was all that was on her face.

One of the guards called a villager nearby and told them to fetch the chief. Their partner kept a close eye on Dawn while she waited, a tinge of fear upon his face.

When the chief arrived, Dawn spoke without wasting a moment, “Surrender the town to me. If you don’t, I will take it by force.”

The chief was shocked for a moment, before soon calming himself. “I’m afraid I can’t agree to your-” Dawn struck midway through his response, manifesting her halberd, only missing the chief by the sacrifice of the scared guard. She pulled out the halberd from his shoulder, and swung at the other guard, enhancing her body with mana as she struck, cleaving through his stick before jumping at him and punching his face. With the two guards down, the chief didn’t stay frozen. “TO ARMS! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”

The townspeople rushed to the gate, while the chief retreated through the crowd.

Too many people. Need more area attacks. Dawn swiftly formed a fireball, hurled it at part of the crowd, before throwing two more into the crowd, halting their advance as people tried to get out of the way of the fire. Taking advantage of the moment, Dawn rushed forward and swung with wild abandon, utilizing her heightened sense to gently redirect the halberd from hitting their heads.

Having cleaved through around 20% of the entire town unscathed, the remaining villagers grew more skittish.

Not quite. Still not willing to submit. Dawn rushed a second front, slashing through the villagers like cattle, her senses allowing her to improve her skills with every swing. One villager tried sneaking up on Dawn, but it wasn’t enough. Dawn spun around and swung her halberd, lopping off the assailant's hand in a single smooth swing. Kicking them back, Dawn turned back and yelled, “CHIEF! Surrender, or I will continue!”

The townspeople already had lost the will to fight, falling to their knees if they hadn’t collapsed. The chief appeared, wielding a stone spear, and dug his heels into the ground. Recognizing the attempt, Dawn rushed him head-on. The chief thrust with all the power his body could muster, to which Dawn leaned her head out of the way and tackled him to the ground. She began to smash his face with her fists, taking subtle care to prevent her strikes from killing him. When his face was a bloody, crushed mess, teeth ripped from his gums, Dawn asked for a third time, “Will you surrender?” raising her bloody fist above his head.

“I- I surrenzer!” the chief lisped.

With her display of force complete, Dawn stood up and surveyed her new territory. The town was intact, only minor singing of buildings from her fireballs, but the people weren’t fine. The ground was covered in blood, and most of the town was collapsed. The few who remained awake were prostrating themselves.

“Stevin!” was all she cried before he appeared inside the town. “Heal any fatal injuries. Call me if you run out of mana.”

She turned away, dragging the chief behind her inside of his house. Tossing him on the floor, Dawn sat down and began her questioning.

“How do you acquire food?”

“Ve-ve vunt.”

He’s hard to understand with that lisp. Dawn’s hand glowed, as his body was forced to regrow his teeth.

“How often do you hunt?”

“On-once a day.”

“Calm down. I will not hurt you any longer,” when she saw the chief clearly not calm down, she told him, “inhale. Hold. Exhale. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.” The chief followed her orders, his breathing stabilizing. “Do you have specialized jobs?”

“No?”

“Does everyone do the same thing every day?”

“Uhh,” the chief’s mind clearly began to spin, trying to explain the town's schedule. “We have people hunt, people guard, and people rest. We swap roles every day.”

Hrm. Constant hunting? The injuries would make that hard. “Is anyone currently out hunting?”

“No, we were to do that later, but…” his implication was obvious, but Dawn didn’t care.

“Do you know what agriculture is?” the chief shook his head. “Growing plants?” he shook his head again. “How much does everyone eat?”

“It’s… 3 large boars?” the chief’s hesitation was apparent.

Must not have standardized units, and go by size & feel instead.

“Come with me. We’re going hunting.”

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With the second boar slain and a trio of wolves lain across the ground, Dawn turned to the chief and asked, “Is this enough?”

He vigorously nodded, shock covering his face at her food acquisition in just an hour.

“Head to the town, and tell Stevin to come here.”

Shortly, Stevin arrived, to which Dawn told him, “Carry the wolves.” Loading the two boars onto her arms, one in each, Dawn walked back to town, Stevin following a few feet behind.

“How’s everyone’s injuries? Any deaths?”

“No one died, but some are unable to walk, and the amputee’s hand hasn’t been reattached.”

“Send the amputee to the same room as those unable to walk. I’ll heal them when I finish delegating the cooking,” Stevin nodded, before hurrying off to the town.

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The amputee had the strongest look of fear on her face that Dawn had seen from any of the villagers that day.

No, the chief was more scared. “Hold still,” Dawn held the girl's wrist. Mana flowed through the stump, and soon flesh and bone began to grow. In minutes, her hand was good as new. With her healed, Dawn dropped her wrist, missing the expression of pure shock upon the girl, and walked to the first collapsed villager.

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What’s wrong with them? No visible wounds… concussion? Their pelt is coated in blood… perhaps anemia. With an idea formed, Dawn cast the [Heal] spell, aiming first for the brain to regrow. With nothing happening after a minute, Dawn swapped to blood and noticed the face grow a little less pale. Anemia it is.

With the first patient healed, Dawn moved to the second. Then the third, and fourth, and so on. When the entire room was healed, Dawn left without another word.

What next? If the town can’t hunt, they need food. While I can hunt, we won’t be able to advance as a society. What did people on Earth do? Agriculture. But it’ll take a while to get that started… [Rapid Growth].

Dawn glanced at the sky, and found it was only noon. “Stevin,” she called, to which Stevin immediately showed up. “Every day you will hunt for food. Bring a hunter to make sure you’re getting the right amount.”

With Stevin's nod, Dawn headed out to the forest.

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I should collect a variety. Grains, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms. Livestock? No, too early to set that up.

Dawn traveled throughout the forest, picking and carrying all manners of plants; an apple and orange, a bit of wheat and oats, and one mushroom. Soon enough, her hands were full.

Forgot a backpack. Dawn shook her head dismissively, annoyed rather than embarrassed by her mistake. But this should be sufficient for a test run.

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As Dawn stared at the ground, she ran over a mental checklist of what to do.

Dig a hole, bury the seeds, cover, water. Digging… my hands will do. Water… I’ll see if they have a jug or similar.

Dawn stabbed her hand into the earth, and began tearing it up. With each scoop, she tossed it behind the hole and continued until the hole was half a foot deep. With the first hole done, she moved to the second, continuing until she made 5 holes.

She grabbed the apple and tossed it in the first hole, followed by the orange into the second, and the mushroom into the third. With the wheat and oats, Dawn stared at them for a second.

Do I need to prep them? There appear to be seeds… I’ll pull them off and toss the seeds in.

Dawn’s hand ripped the seeds off the wheat in a moment, to which she tossed them into the fourth hole, and repeated the motion with the oats for the 5th.

With the seeds in the holes, she covered them with the dirt and set off to the village to see if they had a jug or something similar.

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“I’m afraid I don’t know what that is?”

“Then how do you get water?”

“The forest has a river we drink from when we hunt, and the river is that way,” the chief pointed off in the distance, presumably to the river Dawn was unaware of. “Be wary going there though, the other town drinks from there too.”

“The cannibals?” Dawn asked; the chief nodded, trying to hide the grief creeping onto his face.

How to bring the water over… redirect the river? Too much for a test. Carry it? My hands are too small… mana manifestation.

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Finding herself on the riverbank, Dawn formed a solid bucket and dipped it into the river. With great mental effort, she kept the bucket manifested as she held water with it. And with her water, she began to make the half-hour walk back to the field, every step a challenge of both holding the water physically and holding the bucket together mentally.

But she persevered and was successful, taking an hour to complete the journey. Back at the small mounds where she buried the plants, she began to carefully pour the water onto the piles.

With the plants watered, Dawn checked the time once again. The sun was nearing the horizon, so she headed back to town. Grabbing some food, she realized her lack of a home.

A problem to resolve tomorrow. Dawn found a secluded section of town, laid down, and slept.

When the sun rose, Dawn swiftly found the chief.

“Chief… I don’t know your name. What is your name?”

“My name is Samuel.”

“Ok. Prepare housing for me and a house for Stevin as soon as possible,” Dawn turned around and headed out. The field wouldn’t water itself.

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Dawn’s second time watering the field was faster than before, taking 45 minutes rather than an hour to return with the water.

Slow. But the forest grows daily… perhaps some magic exists in the forest? But the point of farming here is to be outside the forest. I should investigate if [Rapid Growth] exists.

Dawn sat before the field and closed her eyes. What is growth? For a plant, it absorbs CO2, draws up water, and combines them into food using the sun. So for growth…

Dawn began feeling a hint of knowledge in her mind. It was like with [Flame], but more complex.

So rune learning speed depends on complexity.

Dawn sat there, the hours ticking by. By dusk, she felt most of the rune coming together in her mind. She headed back and found a tent laid out for her.

A temporary solution.

Dawn crawled inside and slept the night away. And with Dawn rising again, she headed to Chief Samuel and told him, “be sure to prepare a permanent shelter.” This time, she stayed, staring at Samuel. Fear crept onto his face. “Do you understand?” He frantically nodded, so Dawn left to fetch the water. With the 40-minute return journey complete, Dawn began to finish her studies on [Rapid Growth].

Hours later, Dawn opened her eyes to the setting sun, with [Rapid Growth] in her mind. Stretching out her hand, the rune flared to life.

A small twig pierced through the ground, leaves unfurled. But it did not stop, continuing to rise, branches poured off the sides, leaves appearing all across the branches. The branches seemed dedicated to piercing the heavens, but their rapid growth stopped, in tandem with Dawn's collapse.

Why did my mana consumption skyrocket? Was all she could think before sleep claimed her.

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Dawn awoke inside her tent, the sun creeping through the wide opening. She crawled out, and rose to see a few townspeople with shocked expressions.

“How long was I out?”

They remained silent.

“How long was I out?” Dawn repeated.

“A day,” Chief Samuel answered, pushing his way through the crowd.

“I see. I must be off them. I must water the crops,” Dawn began walking, scaring the crowd into parting for her. As she walked through the town gateway, Stevin appeared before her.

“Stop. You need to rest,” Stevin told her, an expression of concern apparent on his face.

“I do not. I collapsed due to mana exhaustion, but since my mana has recovered, so I am fine.”

Stevin manifested a spear and pointed the tip at Dawn. “Rest.”

Dawn responded by smacking the spear aside, thrusting her hand to his neck, and throwing him aside. “I do not need to rest,” she told him as she left through the gate.

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Have I grown stronger? The thought crossed Dawn’s mind as she poured the water over her crops without much effort, taking only 30 minutes, the same time as to simply walk the distance.

Pouring the water, Dawn used [Rapid growth] on the apple tree once again, finding it easier. The mana consumption is lower… perhaps it’s the water.

Dawn continued to use [Rapid growth] until she felt it draining her mana at a faster pace. Cutting the mana, she made the hour-long round trip to bring back water. Pouring it upon the tree, she recast [rapid growth].

So it drained my mana to compensate for the lack of water. With [Rapid Growth], I can teach the town to grow the food. Tomorrow, I’ll begin the magic training. But the water… water summoning? Seems too exhausting. Dig a well? I don’t know how. Irrigation? Difficult, but better than the alternatives.

Dawn manifested a blade and stabbed it into the ground, carving a line to the river.

Should there be an outflow point? I’d need to either dig a reservoir or make it flow back into the river…

Dawn returned to the farm, to the initial cut on the ground, and continued the other way to the river.

I’ll teach in the morning, and dig in the evening.

Dawn glanced at the sun, finding it soon to be night. Tomorrow, she’d begin.