The first night with other people around was weird.
I'd gotten used to being alone, doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Now I had five beastkin refugees sleeping in my storage shed, and I felt responsible for them.
Garon tried to give me back my own building. "You're the leader here. You should have proper shelter."
"I'm fine," I said. "You guys need it more. I'll build another place tomorrow."
Maya snorted. "Kid's got manners at least."
"Stop calling me kid," I muttered.
"You're literally five years old."
"Six next month!"
She grinned, showing sharp teeth. I got the feeling she was messing with me on purpose.
The other three were quieter. There was Toran, a young guy maybe twenty years old with brown fur and nervous energy. Kira, a middle-aged woman with white patches in her gray fur who barely talked. And Pip, the ten-year-old boy with black and white spots, who kept staring at me like I might disappear.
That first morning, we all gathered by the river.
"Okay," I said, trying to sound confident. "We need to make a plan. What skills do you guys have?"
Garon spoke first. "I was village guard for fifteen years. I know basic combat, patrol routes, defensive positions. Not much else."
Toran raised his hand slightly. "I... I worked in fields. Farming. Growing crops and stuff."
Kira's voice was soft. "Cooking. Sewing. General housework."
Maya crossed her arms. "I hunted. Tracked game, set traps, that kind of thing."
Pip just shook his head. "Nothing useful. Sorry."
"Everyone's useful," I said firmly. "Here's what I'm thinking. We need food production, so Toran handles farming. Kira manages cooking and supplies. Maya helps with hunting and security. Garon oversees defense and training. Pip... you can help everyone and learn different skills."
They exchanged looks.
"You've thought about this," Garon observed.
"A bit." Actually, I'd been planning kingdom management for months, but didn't want to sound too weird.
"What about you?" Maya asked. "What's your job?"
"Magic. Construction. Planning. Basically everything we can't do normally."
"That's a lot for one person."
I shrugged. "I've got a lot of magic."
We spent the morning doing inventory. The slavers I'd captured were still unconscious in their stone cages—I'd put them to sleep with air magic, cutting off oxygen briefly. Safer than letting them wake up and cause problems.
Their equipment was decent quality. Six short swords, four crossbows with bolts, leather armor that would fit the adult beastkin if we adjusted it, rope, dried food, water skins, and a small pouch of coins.
"Thirty silver," Garon counted. "That's... actually pretty good. Could buy supplies for a month in a normal town."
"We're not going to towns yet," I said. "Too risky. We need to be self-sufficient first."
Maya held up one of the crossbows, testing the weight. "These are military grade. Where'd slavers get this kind of gear?"
Good question. I hadn't thought about that.
"Maybe they're not just slavers," Garon said quietly. "Maybe they're working for someone. Noble house, merchant guild, something like that."
"Great," I muttered. "So we might have bigger problems coming."
"Maybe. Or maybe those three who ran away were too scared to report what happened."
I hoped he was right.
We decided to keep the equipment and use the coins later when we needed to buy things we couldn't make ourselves. The slavers themselves were a problem.
"What do we do with them?" Toran asked, looking nervous. "If we let them go, they'll tell people about this place."
"If we kill them, that's murder," Kira said softly. "Even if they're bad people."
I'd been thinking about this all night. "We keep them for now. Use them for labor—heavy construction work, digging, whatever. Under guard. Once we're more established, we can decide if they get released or turned over to authorities."
"Authorities who allow slavery?" Maya said sarcastically.
"Fair point. Look, I don't have all the answers. We'll figure it out as we go."
Not the most inspiring leadership speech, but it was honest.
The next few days were busy.
Toran started clearing land for farming. The valley had good soil but it was covered in wild grass and small trees. He worked dawn to dusk, cutting and digging, setting up basic crop rows.
I helped with earth magic, moving large rocks and roots that would've taken him hours to handle manually.
"This is amazing," he kept saying. "Magic makes everything so much faster."
"Wait until we get actual tools," I told him. "I'm planning to make a plow soon."
Kira established a proper cooking area with a stone oven I built using earth and fire magic. She organized our food supplies, rationing carefully.
"We have maybe two weeks of dried goods from the slavers," she reported. "After that, we're dependent on hunting and whatever Toran grows."
"Crops won't be ready for months," Toran added. "Even fast-growing vegetables take time."
So we needed to hunt more. Maya took Garon and went into the forest, coming back with two deer and several rabbits.
"Forest is full of game," Maya said, skinning a rabbit with practiced efficiency. "We won't starve. But we should smoke the meat to preserve it."
I built a smoke house that afternoon. Just a small stone structure with a fire pit and racks for hanging meat. Kira seemed impressed.
"You really can just make buildings appear," she said.
"Not appear. It takes work. But yeah, magic helps a lot."
Pip followed me around constantly, watching everything I did. The kid barely talked, just observed with huge eyes.
On the third day, I decided to wake up one of the slavers.
I chose carefully—not the leader, but one of the younger guys who'd looked less confident. Used water magic to splash him awake.
He jerked up, panicking, then realized he was trapped in a stone box.
"What— where—"
"You're in my valley," I said calmly. "Your leader and two others ran away. You and three others are prisoners."
He stared at me through the air holes. "You're just a kid."
"And you're a slaver. We've established both facts. Here's the situation: you work for me, or you stay in this box until you starve."
His face went pale. "Work doing what?"
"Construction. Heavy labor. Whatever needs doing. You'll be fed, given water, allowed to sleep. But you'll be watched constantly, and if you try to escape or hurt anyone, I'll bury you alive."
I probably couldn't actually do that—killing someone in cold blood wasn't something I wanted on my conscience. But he didn't know that.
"How... how long?"
"Until I decide you've earned your freedom. Might be months. Might be years."
He slumped. "Don't have much choice, do I?"
"Nope."
I released him from the stone cage but immediately bound his hands with rope. Garon stood nearby with a sword, just in case.
The slaver's name was Jed. He was maybe twenty-five, skinny, with a scar on his cheek. Up close, he just looked tired and scared.
"The others," Jed said. "My friends. Are they alive?"
"Yes. They're in boxes like you were. I'll wake them up eventually if they agree to the same terms."
He nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll work."
We put him to work hauling stones for construction. Garon watched him the whole time, sword ready.
But Jed didn't cause trouble. He just worked, quiet and sullen.
That evening, I called a meeting.
Everyone gathered around the fire pit—me, the five beastkin, and Jed sitting separately under guard.
"We need to talk about the future," I said. "Right now, we have shelter and food. That's survival. But to actually build something lasting, we need more."
"Like what?" Toran asked.
I'd been thinking about this constantly. "Infrastructure. Real buildings, not just basic shelters. A wall around the settlement for defense. Farms that can feed more people. Workshops for crafting tools and equipment. Eventually, we'll need a forge, a mill, storage facilities, housing for more citizens."
"That's a lot," Maya said.
"Yeah. It'll take months, maybe years. But that's the plan." I looked at each of them. "I want to build a real community here. A place where people can live freely and safely. But I can't do it alone."
Garon leaned forward. "You keep talking about more people. Where are they coming from?"
"Refugees. Escaped slaves. People with nowhere else to go. Anyone who needs a fresh start." I paused. "Eventually, we'll need to recruit actively. Visit towns, spread word quietly. But that's risky until we're more established."
"It's risky period," Maya pointed out. "The empire doesn't allow unauthorized settlements. Especially ones harboring escaped slaves."
"I know. That's why we stay hidden for now. Keep our head down. Build up strength before anyone notices we exist."
Kira spoke up quietly. "What about money? We can't buy everything we need with thirty silver coins."
Good point. "I've been thinking about that too. We need income. A way to generate money without drawing attention."
"How?" Toran asked.
I'd been working on an idea. "Magic items. Small stuff—enchanted tools, minor healing potions, basic utility items. Things that sell well but aren't rare enough to attract serious attention. We sell them through intermediaries in different towns, build up capital slowly."
Maya whistled. "You can make enchanted items?"
"I can learn. My comprehension ability works on anything." I didn't mention the system directly—that felt like too much to explain.
"So we become illegal magic item dealers," Garon said.
"Basically."
He laughed. "Why not? We're already harboring escaped slaves and building an unauthorized settlement. Might as well add smuggling to the list."
The mood lightened a bit. Even Kira smiled.
Over the next week, I pushed hard on construction.
With Jed's labor and earth magic, I built three more residential buildings. Simple stone structures with wooden roofs, each big enough for two people comfortably.
Garon and Maya got their own places. Toran and Pip shared one. Kira took another. I kept the original building I'd made.
We also built a communal hall—a larger structure for meetings and shared meals. It felt important to have a space where everyone could gather.
The settlement was starting to look like an actual village.
[SETTLEMENT PROGRESS: 15%]
[STRUCTURES COMPLETED: 8]
[POPULATION: 7 (6 citizens, 1 prisoner)]
I woke the other three slavers one by one, giving them the same choice. They all agreed to work rather than starve in stone boxes.
With four workers and my magic, construction speed increased dramatically.
We built a wall next. Nothing fancy—just a stone barrier about eight feet high, running around the perimeter of our settlement. It wouldn't stop a serious military force, but it would keep out monsters and provide warning if anyone approached.
Toran's farm was expanding too. He'd planted fast-growing vegetables—carrots, beans, lettuce. With my help creating optimal soil conditions using earth magic and regular watering, things grew faster than normal.
"This is weird," Toran said, looking at sprouts that had emerged after only three days. "Should take a week minimum."
"Magic-enriched soil," I explained. "The ambient mana in the valley helps plants grow faster and healthier."
"Is that safe to eat?"
"Should be. Magical plants are actually more nutritious than regular ones."
He looked uncertain but didn't argue.
Maya and Garon established regular hunting and patrol schedules. They'd scout the surrounding forest, checking for threats and tracking game.
"Saw smoke to the east," Garon reported one evening. "About half a day's travel. Could be travelers, could be trouble."
"Avoid contact for now," I said. "We're not ready to deal with outsiders."
Kira was turning out to be invaluable. She managed supplies, cooked meals, and even started teaching Pip basic reading and math using materials I created with magic.
The kid was smart. He absorbed information like a sponge.
"He's got potential," Kira told me privately. "Reminds me of my son, actually."
I hadn't known she had family. "What happened to him?"
Her face closed off. "Slavers. Different raid, years ago. Haven't seen him since."
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "Past is past. This place... it's a new start. For all of us."
Two weeks after the beastkin arrived, I had my first real failure.
I'd been experimenting with enchanting, trying to create a simple tool that could detect metal deposits underground. Useful for finding iron and other minerals we'd need eventually.
The theory was solid. I carved runes into a wooden rod, channeled earth-aligned mana through them, and set up a resonance pattern that should vibrate when near metal.
It exploded in my hands.
Not a huge explosion—more like a firecracker. But it burned my palms and left me with ringing ears.
"Ow. Shit. Damn it."
Kira came running. "What happened?"
"Enchanting failure. I'm fine."
She grabbed my hands, inspecting the burns. "This needs treatment. Come on."
She led me to her building where she had a small medical kit—supplies we'd gotten from the slavers. She applied some kind of salve that stung like crazy.
"You push yourself too hard," she said quietly. "You're six years old. Still a child, even if you've got the magic of a master mage."
"I'm fine."
"You're not. You barely sleep. I see your light on until late every night. You eat half of what you should. If you collapse from exhaustion, what happens to the rest of us?"
I didn't have a good answer.
She finished bandaging my hands. "Take tomorrow off. Rest. Let your mana recover. The settlement won't fall apart in one day."
"But—"
"That's an order." She smiled slightly. "From your elder. You said everyone has a role. Mine includes making sure our leader doesn't kill himself through overwork."
Reluctantly, I agreed.
The next day felt wrong. Everyone else was working—building, farming, cooking, patrolling—and I was just sitting by the river.
But Kira was right. I was exhausted. My mana pool was depleted from constant use. My body ached from physical labor that I wasn't really built for yet.
I spent the day just... existing. Watching the water flow. Feeling the ambient mana around me. Letting my mind rest.
Pip found me in the afternoon.
"Can I sit with you?" he asked quietly.
"Sure."
We sat in silence for a while. Then Pip spoke up.
"Thank you. For saving us. For giving us a home."
"You don't have to thank me."
"Yes I do. The slavers killed my parents. Right in front of me. I thought... I thought I was going to die too." His voice cracked. "But you saved us. You're building something good here."
I didn't know what to say to that.
"I want to help more," Pip continued. "I'm just a kid, I know. But I want to be useful. Want to learn magic, or fighting, or something."
I looked at him. He was staring at the river with determination that seemed too intense for a ten-year-old.
"Magic needs affinity," I said slowly. "You'd need to get tested."
"Will you test me? When you can?"
"Yeah. I'll test you."
He smiled, the first real smile I'd seen from him.
We sat there watching the river until sunset, and for the first time since starting this whole crazy plan, I felt like maybe I was doing something right.