Elephant Rope

Edam did as Rina said.

His eyes widened in surprise as he felt the magic move. 

Rina moved back, allowing Edam to have his moment. 

First, the smell intensified, turning into a sharp tang of chemicals. 

Then, the water turned almost black. 

The reed in the middle of the swamp started growing extremely fast. 

Just as the water turned clear, there was a boat load of dead frogs and tadpoles floating atop the water. 

Then, even the dead frogs started decomposing. 

The water turned slightly murky, then extremely clear. 

There were blind white fish swimming all over in the water. 

The reed has grown to the height of two storied houses, with a gigantic leafy foliage atop it. 

Rina watched the entire process in fascination. 

As the reed grew and grew, she recognized what it was. 

It’s elephant reed. The elephant rope, which is used to tie the elephants and hanging bridges is made out of this reed. It’s a bit of a rare plant, given it’s considered a crossover from the demonic continent. 

She did not expect to see such a thing here. 

On top of that, the fish swimming in the pool are Gnawers, which are widely used to process elephant reed. 

She had been wondering how to make it now that she has come out of home, now, there’s a ready made solution available here. 

Rina smiled, counting coins in her head. 

There are many uses of elephant reed. 

They had been at it for two hours. It’s already five, and the sun is about to set. 

When he finished, Edam looked like he had been wiped out completely. 

However, the stench surrounding their house is gone completely. 

For the first time, Edam smelled only pure fresh air all around their house. 

His eyes sparkled as he looked around. 

The tall reed blocked the eyes of any one looking upon them with disdain, at the same time, blocking the poisonous western sun. 

They could sleep tonight a bit better than other nights. 

His mother is ill, and he always wanted to improve their home, but no matter what he did within the home, he could not improve the outside environment much. 

Now, it’s better all of a sudden. 

Then, he remembered that Rina came to his house to ask about something else. 

“ I will do it. “ he told her. 

Rina looked at him confusedly. What will he do ? Why is he talking nonsense all of a sudden ? 

“ Whatever it is that you want me to do, I will do it. “ Edam repeated. 

Rina smiled. 

“ Life is long, work is strenuous. Are you sure you want to make such a vow ? “ Rina asked him. 

“ Yes.” Edam answered without doubt. 

If nothing else, Rina does not come to him with malice. 

From the time he was born till now, she is the only person who did something that helped him at the end of the day. No matter what, he is going to stick to this person. 

“ Well, I am going hunting in the forest. Just be a look out, I think. “ She told him. 

“ Okay. “ Edam replied easily. 

They walked into the forest for an hour. Rina was looking for suitable trees to build her house in as well as small animals. 

Soon, she found a tree.

Supremely tall, with extremely dense foliage, no branches at a height that other animals could climb, and the soil underneath is soft. 

She marked the tree and continued walking. 

“ Rina ! “ Edam called, pointing in a direction. 

A small fox was looking at them from the bush. 

It’s a green fox. 

Green fox are similar to rabbits in the sense they are vegetarians, but they are more picky about food than the rabbits. 

Green foxes eat rhizomes, mushrooms and fruit. Their noses are incredible. They could find a ripe fruit from a mile away. 

Rina stood still and readied her makeshift spear. 

All of a sudden, it’s as if time had slowed down. 

She could perceive the entire jungle as a single entity. 

She knew there were black spuds in the ground in front of the green fox, and it had come after sensing their smell. 

There is a ditch right behind the bush, hidden in a very natural way. 

If the fox jumped in, then turned sideways, it would go into a tree hole, then, they would not be able to find it no matter how they tried. 

The tree is a sycamore tree, which was eaten away by termites, so, while it stood so strong and tall, it would fall with a single kick. 

The entire area here is the habitat of the pine mushroom, whose roots extended all the way from the sycamore tree to the edge of the forest. 

Rina finally realized. 

Her ability is not space itself. Her ability is perception and modification of space. She is a space crafter ! 

A SPACE CRAFTER !!!! 

In the empire, a space crafter has the highest earning rate, and at the same time, they are imprisoned in their golden cage. 

But.. she is free. She could achieve so many things with this power. 

However, that’s for a later time. After all, space crafters need far too many resources to grow into their job. 

For now, it’s more important to get that green fox. 

She was able to feel the intent of the green fox to move to the left as soon as it made that decision in its little foxy head. 

She could hear its blood flow alter, feel its muscles twitch, and see its movement a heartbeat earlier than the fox itself could predict. 

Exactly …

…

..

.

Exactly … like when she was on the battlefield with a spear in her hand. At that time, she only thought it’s a warrior sense that her seniors were talking about. She did not realize it’s her real skill. 

She let the spear fly. 

The fox was speared right in the eye, the small bamboo spear coming out through its other eye. 

Rina moved like a sprite of forest. 

She caught the fox by its ears and lifted it up. 

It’s not dead yet, but it’s brain dead. 

As soon as her hand touched the fox, Rina could feel the little fox’s heart beating. 

The fox is just the right size to put in her space, but Rina did not put it in there. 

She made an incision in the fox’s neck, letting it bleed out into the bush. 

In time, the blood will become nutrients for the plants here, nourishing the forest. The cycle of life in the forest must not be disturbed as much as possible. 

This time, when she created her inchblade, Rina imagined a shape in her mind. 

A twisted blade, conforming to the shape of the meat in the fox’s body. 

Then, she gently removed the skin, with not a single bit of flesh on it, not even the slightest hint of scratch on the epidermis that held the fur together. 

The fat is removed leaving the organ membrane, then, the innards are removed, not a bit of the guts leaking out. 

They threw the guts into the pool, feeding the gnawers. 

The remains are roasted, with naught but salt and herbs. 

The fat, as minuscule as it was rendered into lard, then Edam made millet porridge, for that was the only thing available in their house - most of it was given to his mother. 

For Rina it was nothing new, given she was part of the military, later, she has a good enough job, if  not the best. 

After the meal, Edam invited her to stay for the night. 

Rina declined. 

She has work to do. 

After they submit their rejections, it’s quite possible that one of the royal mages will remain to check out the progress of the curse. Rina hoped it would be otherwise. In reality, the chances are fifty - fifty. 

Provided a mage really stayed, Rina should be ready to run at a moment's notice. 

Even if no royal mage stays here, the local noble, Bright family will keep tabs on them. 

She needs to be able to tick the box of ‘ not talented ‘. 

No matter how much knowledge of the future she has, that knowledge can not kill a single powerful mage or swordsman. 

For now, the best policy is to hide. 

Thus, she needs to prepare a safe house, and establish that her family has no relationship with her at all. 

But for tonight, she needs to stay on the marked tree to make sure that no vicious predators are making home near it. 

Thus, she said her goodbyes, and left alone. 

Edam offered to accompany her, but Rina declined. 

She needs to get used to being alone, also, she really did not want to open all her cards in front of Edam. 

As she went back, she cut a bushel of vines and sturdy bamboo branches the size of thumb fingers. 

She carried all of them up along with her, and set out to make a basket. 

She has a good use for it tomorrow.