Creating the Evergreen Forest

I close my eyes and concentrate on my magic. I need to create a space that is strongly connected to my magic. I need to imagine what features my Magic Space should have. It’s an empty space. Time should flow at the same rate, just like it does in the world outside. The Magic Space should have gravity just like the world has gravity… It should have fertile soil like the world has fertile soil… and air just like the world has air… and weather… just like…

No, I don’t need a copy of the forest. This is disconnected from my surroundings! I specify the rules. I want eternal temperate climate spring weather! The soil should be deep enough for tree roots to grow. The “sun” is just a fixed light source that has the same properties as the sun, should shine and darken in daily intervals just like the real sun rises and falls.

Yes, this is the image I’m going with. As for dimensions, I need a height big enough for trees to grow. Let’s go for twice the height of a tree. That should be more than enough. As for the horizontal dimensions, I leave it variable. I just let it grow with the amount of Mana I put in. I begin creating the Magic Space. I can feel it slowly growing. I should be about the size of my room now.

Oh, I still have a lot of energy. Let’s put in more Mana! And more! My feeling tells me it’s grown to about three to four times the size of my whole cave. This is more than a good start. But I have to stop. I get the feeling grew too fast! I feel the Magic Space destabilizing. I need to stabilize it fast.

I put in Mana to the boundaries of the space to stabilize it. Slowly the Magic Space stabilizes. That was close! But still, it’s a success! I open my eyes. It seems my menu agrees.

Magic Space

You have created a Magic Space.
Please give it a name: ________________________
 
OK Cancel

I name it the Evergreen Forest. I imagine opening a portal to the Evergreen Forest.

“Gate: Evergreen Forest!”

A smokey portal appears. I walk through the portal. I find myself that is the size I thought it would be… but it’s totally barren! I feel the earth under my paws. The earth isn’t dry; it isn’t wet either. I try using Forest Magic to grow a tree. It’s not working: nothing grows at all.

“Swift?” Sain enters the Magic Space.

“I’m here.”

“Nice space, especially for your first time.”

“Thanks. Though I envisioned a green forest and not this barren wasteland.”

“You can’t just create plants from nothing. You need to bring in fertilizer from the outside.” Sain answers.

“Hmm… I guess I need to out of this feline form for that. How do I do that?”

I close my eyes and imagine getting back into my catling form. I experience a tingling sensation all over my body. When I open my eyes, I’m back to my original height!

“You’re back to normal!” Sain exclaims, “about that ability: you should be careful about whom you reveal that to. And you might want to cover up…” He points down.

I look down and see I’m naked…

“Oh…”

This is quite a problem! So the transformation doesn’t transform the clothes with me… I quickly get a set of clothes from my Infinite Storage and get dressed.

“I might need to find a solution for this… even if it’s just for my underwear.”

“I might be the magic expert of this group, but I can’t help you with that. Though I think Lady Aenwyn could help you.”

“Who’s Lady Aenwyn?”

“The court mage. She’s quite knowledgeable.”

We leave the Magic Space. I go get the Slimes in the sewers. I think they should be able to produce fertilizer. I lead them into the Magic Space and order them to produce fertilizer. That’s a lot of fertilizer! The Slimes are happy. I guess the Slimes just didn’t produce fertilizer because I ordered them to keep the sewer clean.

“I’ll bring you here regularly to produce fertilizer.”

The Slimes answer by jumping in happiness. I use magic to mix the fertilizer into the soil.

“That much fertilizer won’t do much. You’d need about five or six times as much to grow even just grass.” Sain says.

“I’ll just have to wait for the Slimes to produce more, then. How do you know this?”

“I’ve learned about it before. You should mix in some soil from the forest as well. You were planning on trying to cultivate Tarry and Wooberry, weren’t you?”

“How did you…”

“After you told us about those only growing in forests. I got the same I idea. It’s just, I’m not good with Space Magic. While you can grow plants with Forest Magic almost anywhere, Magic Spaces don’t have the seeds you need for it to work. So you need to bring these in from the outside as well.”

“I see. Thanks for the information. I’ll start by planting some regular trees, then.”

“Let’s have Silas help out, too.”

This is going to be a long-term project. While I could use the help, this is something I ought to do myself.

“Thanks, you don’t have to do that…”

“No, we insist.”

Somehow, I get the feeling everyone is way into teaching me things… Let’s poke a little.

“I’m glad you’re helping me by teaching this much. But at this point, it feels like you all have some greater motive.”

“You’re sharp.” Silas enters the Magic Space, “Yes, you might be right. We do have a slight motive.”

“Silas!” Sain is shocked, “What are you talking about?”

“I just called it a motive, but it’s not. It’s more like wish we share. As you know, Young Master is the second prince.”

A wish they share?

“Yes, what does it have to do with him?”

“Well… when he comes of age, he’s supposed to become an adventurer for a while…” Silas struggles with his words.

“I see. And you were hoping I’ll join his party at that time?”

“We didn’t talk about it. But everyone secretly hopes you’ll join him, even Matt. We didn’t talk about it because it’s nothing we can do something about. It is your decision! Though I do have to say we enjoy teaching you.”

“What about you guys? Can’t you join him?”

“We’re not exactly his age… And we’re not his close friends.”

“Hmm…”

“We’re sorry if we offended you. But please don’t let it affect your friendship with Matt!” Sain looks very worried.

“No, no… that’s not the problem! So, when will it be?”

“It’ll be when he turns 12 (do-two) so in about two years.”

Two years. That’s quite some time… Enough time to get ready. It’s not like I dislike Matt. Going adventuring with a friend sounds enticing.

“I’ll gladly go adventuring with Matt. He’s my friend after all.”

“Thanks. It’ll give us peace of mind to know you’re joining him.”

“In exchange, I’ll take you up on my offer to help me with this experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“Well, we still don’t know if Tarry and Wooberry will grow here,” I answer. We all start laughing.