It was definitely an interesting feeling, having an entire barrel of cold water dumped over you and feeling it only very faintly. A puppet body felt only those sensations dimly, mostly to just inform the crystal brain about the stimuli it was feeling. But I did still welcome the sensation, giving me that brief jolt needed to get over my repeated mistakes.

  I absently twirled about a lock of wet hair as I stood there to dry, thinking about my plans. I really had to figure out what I wanted to prioritize, and also had to accept I was going to probably mess up a lot. I wasn't a survival nut who could account for everything. The developers of FLOW probably weren't either, primarily focusing on what was a fun game instead of a true accuracy.

  Did they take and cobble a lot from reality? Absolutely.

  Did they also fiddle with a lot of things to make it streamlined and enjoyable? Yes.

  For example, charcoal was a straight direct upgrade from firewood. It increased the stats considerably , which made it a near-universal fuel source that would be suitable for at least successful crafts. In Shin, it was how some of the settlements without access to fire crystals could at least achieve iron. It wasn't going to be great compared to the ones who did, but it was how they justified its purpose in a fantasy world.

  For players, that was reflected with charcoal being a very cheap purchase from many stores. It also gave a way for people who made their player homes in woodlands to get something close to coal without using up their precious fire crystals. Better to save those for the more precious crafts where you absolutely needed a very nice grade, like adventuring equipment or advanced creations.

  I needed to take advantage of that now, and accept that was going to be a critical next step that I just couldn't skip. This wasn't a timed speedrun- this was my life now. I had shelter. I didn't need food or drink. I had a body that was immune to time's passing.

  I had a mind that could talk to itself to avoid going insane.

  Exhaling, I felt better. "One step at a time. One creation at a time," I told myself. Then I got dressed and got back to it.

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  While Kuch dug the charcoal pit, I used my new stone knife to have at it with a large tree trunk. With it, I was able to enjoy carving out a wooden elven helmet to add onto my creation. It was nice for them to have something now vaguely resembling an actual head.

  Crude Wooden Helmet (Final Grade: 78)

  No, no. Stay positive. Yes, it could be better.

  Better required access to things I simply didn't have.

  So settle for workable. I checked out the pit they dug and decided it was deep enough. While they went off to fetch more water to replace the barrel I used for my open shower, I fashioned a stone hatchet began to chop up the wood. Everything went in, and I dumped [Infuse] on each piece I laid. I had my mana lemonade which let me burn as much as I wanted so long as I remembered to hydrate. I didn't even need to take a bathroom break later.

  Soon, the charcoal pit was cackling alive with some embers taken from the fire pit. Now I just had to wait a short little bit, and could focus on something I really wanted to do. Kuch would be doing a more thorough search of the nearby vicinity, but I wanted to go even further. I wanted to see really how far things went before I could finally discover civilization.

  I wanted an eye in the sky, which meant a new construct with [Doll Maker].

  It wasn't going to be a powerful or major one like Kuch though. It was ideally just going to be a scout, maybe even multiple ones to search everywhere. Cutting down on its capabilities did mean that I wasn't going to do anything like remote mining or extraction, but I could always make one capable of it later if I wanted. For now, information was more important.

  With that in mind, I raided my vault and collected some pretty small wind crystals. These ones were the kind that'd grow on the surface to alert miners to a more potent deposit beneath and were pretty much the offshoots. At least [Infuse] would bump them up to a likely acceptable level.

  Wind Crystal (Item Quality: 35) (Infused Level: 121)

  Oh, nice. I got some really nice rolls.

  Now came making the body and again, I kept it simple. My hands kept busy while I hummed to myself, actually finding the activity quite enjoyable. Strips of bark carved away and fell to the ground, something I'd collect later for kindling material. Waste not, want not.

  A wooden bird slowly took shape, starting off a little rough and blocky. But I pushed on, brow furrowing. The body was going to be one thing. The wings would be another. They would connect together with my strings for a simple three-piece construct. Basic, but with possibility.

  The last splinter was neatly shaved off and I beheld my work, smiling. I liked it, it was hard not to when it was both small and cute. Could it be better? Yes, I could maybe paint it and add something like gemstones for eyes if I wanted to go the extra distance. Something I certainly would if I had access to them.

  But otherwise, I didn't mind how the system labeled it.

  Crude Wooden Pigeon (Final Grade: 42)

  I put the wind crystal into a little compartment I made in the belly and turned it back around. "[Doll Maker]." The wooden bird twitched, then flapped 'alive' when the strings connected. This time, I didn't even need to nudge it in the slightest when it abruptly fluttered up and perched itself on my shoulder.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  My subconscious mind apparently was enough to handle these lesser constructs, which made sense. If it wouldn't fight and would perform even simpler tasks than Kuch, then the drain is ridiculously minuscule. I was under no illusion that the moment it met anything with a higher ability than it, it'd get destroyed instantly. That was fine.

  Again, I kept the scope low, and achieved it. So in my eyes, that was perfect.

  The doll nuzzled me for a moment, then took off in the sky. Good, looked like it was going to scout the area. Closing my eyes, I could see through its own and marveled at the massive forest my manor was in. I could see in the distance the edges to which Kuch had traversed.

  My birds would go beyond.

  I disengaged and let them wander however my apparent unconscious thought appropriate. Then I got to work making more of them.

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  By the time I was finished with about half a dozen birds and sent them up, the charcoal pit had finished burning. With Kuch's help, I collected the carbonized word and studied it.

  Charcoal (Item Quality: 32) (Infused Level: 118)

  It broke a hundred, good. This was what I needed for my work. Already Kuch was adding fresh logs to replace the ones used up, guaranteeing I wouldn't run out. Or at least until I stumbled upon coal somewhere.

  Speaking of which, my bird scouts were already reporting many things that helped give me hope for that. Finally to the far north, there was an entire mountain range that gave me plenty of hope for the bounties of the deep. It was quite some distance away, enough so that it wouldn't be some idling trek. It would have to be a dedicated expedition with Kuch.

  In the opposition direction, the far south, the swamp petered out into a massive lake. Then it continued on even further, perhaps to an ocean. But that was even further away likely, so forget an expedition. I'd like to build for a voyage, maybe a boat that went down from the swamp and down the river.

  The west beyond the deep forest was, you guessed it, more trees. But more naturally spread out, not so tightly clumped together to block out all sunlight like the center had. I cast my mind back and distantly recalled there had been some forestland in that direction back in FLOW, maybe about the size of that deep forest today. I supposed that it grew unchecked since, especially when the mountains had apparently migrated north for whatever reason.

  Maybe I was still a little grumpy about not having easy access to a mine.

  Then to the east, there. I finally saw it. Smoke trails.

  Civilization.

  I almost wanted to cry in relief, knowing that this wasn't some far distant future of Shin where I was the only one alive.

  My bird had spied what looked like a wall from afar. It would need to get much closer, but I was wary of getting too forwards. I didn't know if the inhabitants would be hostile or if they could detect my construct from afar. Any half-decent wizard should and I didn't want my very undefended abode to suddenly be swarmed by opportunists. I directed my bird to climb even higher try and gain some distance, though it meant it would see even less detail than before. But I had to know what I was working with first before I could chance the risk of learning more.

  That would take time, which at this point was a transaction I was quite familiar and willing to pay. There was plenty of other work to occupy myself then.

  I laid out the wolf pelt I skinned and took the charcoal I'd just collected. Using it as a temporary surface, I began to outline a rough map of my surroundings. It wasn't going to last, as the pelt hadn't been treated, but it was something that let me collect my thoughts and organize in what directions I could look towards for collecting the materials I needed.

  South: Swamp, lake, ocean? Clay. Lots of plants. Alchemy regents.

  West: Trees, trees, trees. Deep woods, animals? Monsters? Stay away until battle ready.

  North: MOUNTAINS. ORES. CRYSTALS. METALLLL

  East: Lightly wooded, turns into plains. Civilization, big wall. High risk, high reward.

  But that big wall had to be there for a reason, I concluded grimly. It was very possible that anything outside it was considered 'evil' or 'dangerous.' I dearly hoped that wasn't the case, given that would mean monsters could perhaps be even more dangerous than before. Cordelia's flowers proved that new things had developed since the original scope of FLOW, so Shin could be full of things I didn't know about.

  More and more, the deep forest concerned me. I definitely was going to avoid poking whatever bear slumbered in the woods there for as long as I could. And I better not neglect my defenses, it'd be a disaster if a near-endgame monster stumbled from within to stomp me flat.

  I studied my crude map for a bit, then tapped the south. While I did want to go north at some point, the mountains were further away than the nearby swamp. I'd learned my lesson and would work with what I could make do now, instead of just hoping for the most efficient optimization later.

  Mind made up, I directed Kuch to begin trundling south and see what they could scrounge up for me.

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