Shortly after Raine left, things started going wrong. The river used to farming and drinking water was contaminated. The crystal blue water turned an ominous purple. Crops and people died of some sort of curse disease.

  Then, the city was ravaged by some bandits afterwards. The Wraith Gang raided the warehouses, the food was looted. To compensate the loss; weapons, armor, and gold were all sold for food. But many of the citizens left.

  His Father, Gregory, gave him the territory and fled.

  Thankfully, no land was sold.

  Mana is the energy behind nature. Winds, snowfall, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis are extremes that show off Mana's strength. Learning runes is like learning the language of Mana. Which is why he is over by the river.

  The only way to rebuild his city is to start over. So he was going to lay the ground work for building a whole new city. First, he needed to clean the water.

  "ResHam." He mumbled as he started to dig. 'Res' means to dig and 'Ham' means Earth. So he is using his Mana and mouth to command the Earth to move.

  The remaining people slowly began to gather as Marcus dug around the river. He was digging in a pattern. The runic language is written vertically; and when digging 12 feet deep waterways, you need need to start from the bottom.

  It took him two whole days without rest, without explaining himself to the others, and without officially accepting his title in ceremony. He finished his 6x14 square mile rune work. 'FalKish', with 'Fal' meaning 'pure' and 'Kish' meaning 'grow'.

  With a final stroke, the purple river flowed through it's new path and screeched. Fal etched in the earth glowed, the filth floated out of the river and disintegrated in the air. The water became a crystal blue once it reached its new route and into the second rune.

  Kish activated shortly after. Grass started to grow uncontrollably. That should cover the food for the people.

  He collapsed on the ground.

  /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

  He put up a notice on the bulletin board of the run down square. He didn't know how many people were left over. Marcus really didn't want to outsource labor and slavery in any form was illegal in the kingdom's domain.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  {Territory Rebuild Project}

  [Stone workers and farmers are needed! With the river now clean, we can now grow food again. But the town itself is too run down to sustain our lives. The Baron Marcus Allen decided that it would be better to start over with brand new homes.]

  "Let's hope it works." He muttered as he went over his map.

  "Yes, young master." An old man said from his side.

  The old man was none other than the head butler Anton Reeves. Anton has been the head butler for three generations. He has served the Allen territory for over 60 years. But don't let his calm demeanor fool you. He is one of the few Knight Grand Crosses to live in this Boreal Kingdom.

  The Knight path is different from the Mage path. Mages use the power of Mana floating in nature and Knights use Aura. Aura is the raw power of Lifeforce and Vitality. Knights have a special vessel behind the hearts called the Aura Gate that stores this volatile power.

  One can gather Aura through training and battle, and can build up their reserves naturally after a while. Aura travels through special pathways behind the blood vessels. But Mana mingles with the blood and calms down enough to flow smoothly, Aura doesn't have that.

  Aura bounces around in the echo chamber in the background of normal bodily functions. It builds up if you don't release it frequently. If you can manually temper yourself and gather enough Aura, you can become a Knight Lord, then a Knight Count, Knight Grand Cross, and finally Knight King.

  In order to advance, you need first to condense it into a thick semi-fluid core, and then you add a new layer for each realm. Anton is one of the few that made to the third layer.

  A thought passed through his head as he thought of his butler. The book of note he gave to this world's protagonist. Did he remember to remove his Aura notes and his Mana circle modifications? If he didn't, then Elena Drapnir will either explode or become the world's first ever spellsword.

  Both implications had disastrous consequences.

  Pushing it out of his mind, he went back to work. He was going to layer three runes on top of each other in his new town. An actively flowing river is churning out excess Mana while FalKish is active. He plans to use the major roadways to form the 'Dre' rune and 'Teq' will be made out of some carefully chosen and planted Dew Roses.

  'Dre' literally translates to 'shield' or 'barrier'. Stone isn't naturally conductive like water is. But there is plenty of partially used Magic Crystal Ore that would work perfectly underneath the roads. 'Teq' means to 'gather'. Dew Roses already have the natural ability to pull in Mana from the air. Their crystal purple petals soak in the energy and solidify, once they fall off you can use them in a variety of inks and potions.

  But he needs to count the residents. He needs to tear down some buildings for their wood and stone. He needs to protect the ore and the family heirloom. He needed to call in a couple favors.

  It the offices of every member of the nobility across the kingdom, there is a cabinet with two shelves. The lower shelf has a crystal ball filled with the addresses of the others, as well as some personal contacts. The upper shelf contains a teleportation circle.

  Teleportation was discovered about 150 years ago. But living things always ended up as a shredded paste when it reached it's destination. Non-living things were fair game. As such, it became a glorified instant messaging service for the rich. Some nobles even had a direct line to royalty.

  It was time to send some letters.