Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

A breakthrough came in the night. Barely three days after Layn's return from the monster-producing site, he finally figured out how to properly use the crystal he brought back. 

"Are you for real?" Irea asked while looking at the makeshift blueprint. It was made on a special sandboard, where one could draw symbols and lines with a single move of one's fingers. 

A bunch of maquettes of a varied kind was placed on it, showcasing the true scope of Layn's ambitions. 

"Yeah. This is how our academy will look like in the beginning," Layn said while nodding his head. "But don't take it too seriously for now. When I mean a study hall, picture a small shed with some desks and seats, not some grandiose building," Layn added after a few moments. 

"That I understand, but," Irea moaned in protest. She then shook her head before clasping her hands into fists. "Nevermind, let's do it," the girl announced, raising her eyes at the archmage. "What do we begin with?" she asked. 

"Like everywhere else, we need to kickstart the economy first," Layn announced with a weird look on his face. "As dramatic as it sounds, we can't build without bricks or mortar. We can't live for long without a stable and abundant source of food." Layn started to count on his fingers, only to reach his second one and stop altogether. 

"Why bother drawing the entire thing right away, then?" Irea asked while leaning her head to the side. 

"To visualize. If we know where everything needs to go in advance, we won't run into problems with space later," Layn explained while his lips formed a wry smile. 'I learned that more than well enough back at the camps,' he thought, recalling some of his academy memories. 

What Layn was doing in this deserted place was no different from one of the popular exercises at the academy. The official claim said that it was all for the sake of teaching students how to survive. 

But those who had any brains understood its real purpose. This training was specifically aimed to prepare the students for life in the field. 

'Who could've known that I would actually use those skills,' Layn snickered, looking down at the plan at the table below. 

From the placement of the tents, through setting up road layout, saving enough space for the growth of the buildings that would come along with the expansion of the sect... Those were all tasks that Layn happily took on himself. 

Because when planning for the future, he could catch a glimpse of how this future would look like. 

"Let's not waste our time, then," Irea suddenly shouted, most likely noticing how Layn fell into the river of his thoughts. Once immersed in his own mind, the archmage could take a long time to wake up. 

"Yeah, let's go." Layn shook his head before moving away from the table. 

The entire thing was hidden within one of the tents. No different from the temporary lodging of the others, this particular tent served as the headquarters of the whole operation. 

And right around it, everyone was as busy as a human being could be. 

Three of the mercenaries tirelessly worked at the primitive brick factory. Just two days of working there allowed them to take care of the production with as little as three people while keeping the output unaffected. 

Two more mercenaries spent half of their day fishing while the other half on gathering what little herbs, fruits, and roots this endless plain had to offer. 

Everyone else, Layn and Irea included, worked on the construction. 

"Everyone, you all should know what we are going to build today," Layn spoke out as soon as he appeared in front of the other builders. 

"Yes, master!" The group, heralded by Irea and Antion, replied in an orderly fashion. 

Their response was disciplined and organized, but there were hints of genuine joy in their voices. 

Because they were about to build the two most important buildings of any camp. 

Lodging and kitchen. 

"Let's do it then!" Layn shouted, raising his fist. 

"URAAA!" the mercenaries shouted back before rushing to their tasks. 

"Hey, are you really sure about that kitchen idea?" Layn caught Irea's hand before she could run off to haul bricks. 

"Yeah. I'm sure you might doubt my words, but with some utensils, I could turn what we have into excellent meals!" Irea announced, pushing her chest forward in pride. 

"That would be a massive help," Layn replied, shaking his head in awe. "Still, to think you could come up with something with just a little stuff we have on hand," Layn started, only to stop in the middle of his sentence and turn completely silent. 

"About that, though," Irea didn't allow the chance to pass, instantly cutting in when Layn stopped speaking, "there is a small problem with the herbs that we are finding all around this place."

Layn looked at Irea with a questioning look on his face. "Problems? What kind of problems? Are they toxic?" He asked, guessing what the trouble could be. 

"No. It's not even a problem but more like," Irea stopped for a moment to find a correct word, "a peculiarity?" She asked herself, clearly not sure how to phrase her concerns. 

"Stop teasing me and just speak up," Layn urged the girl. Unfortunately, as fun as it was to play the word games with her, this wasn't a particularly suitable time for that. 

Layn's role as the academy leader wasn't limited to setting the rules and occasionally teaching the stuff. For the mercenaries, that alone could be the golden stroke of luck, to have their employer actually care about them. 

But it wasn't enough for Layn. He wasn't born of noble blood nor even entertained the privileges granted by the status he earned with his own two hands. 

'Those people are going to become the first set of disciples of my academy,' Layn's train of thought was pretty simple. 'I need to treat them right so that they will spread the word of this place on their own!' 

That's why, rather than passively observing the ongoing construction and other works, Layn took an active part in it. 

With the few other mercenaries who took up the building task, Layn continued to push himself to the limits. While the mercenaries would lay the brick one after one, Layn would keep a huge sphere of unburnt brick material, serving here as a mortar. 

This building style had its obvious downsides, but the few upsides it presented were more than enough for Layn to make his decision. 

Thanks to this choice, finishing the very first building for today took only a few hours. Before the sun could even hit the midday above their heads, Layn already covered the bricked rectangle with earth before setting it alight. 

This time, no one wasted their time observing the process. By the time the first building was finished, Layn and his mean were nearing the conclusion of the second build for today. 

"Woah, that went quickly," Layn said in a happy voice while setting the fire for the second building. At the same time, the other builders continued to remove the hot earth from the insides of the building. It did a great job at keeping the heat where it was needed, but not it made for nothing but dirt and obstacle. 

"Well, that's only to be expected from your means!" Irea said in a cheerful tone. 'After all,' she thought, 'I grew immune to your antics at this point.' Irea then smiled to herself. 

"Done," Layn said when the spark finally reached the trail of the unburnt brick material. He stood up before grabbing Irea's hand and pulling her away. "Don't stand so close. It might explode in your face."

A mere moment later, Layn's words proved to be prophetic when the mound of earth exploded in green flames. But rather than watching it, Layn turned his eyes to the next task. 

With the buildings prepared, all that was left to do was filling them up with furniture.

That task was left to just a single person who spend the last three days collecting straw and what little wood the sea of grass had to offer. Yet, with just a few suggestions from Layn, this single mercenary managed to create things from beds, through drawers all the way to desks and chairs!

And this one particular mercenary was the very first disciple that Layn recruited. 

"Sir, we are almost done with clearing up the house," one of the mercenaries reported, pointing his hand at the cleaned-up building from before. 

Roughly the size of ten by five meters, it could only serve as a primitive sleeping place for the mercenaries. However, it would be a lie to claim that living in a tent was more comfortable than doing so in this frugal abode. 

But this place offered two insanely essential advantages. 

First off, it was made out of incredibly resilient bricks. So inside this dorm, no harm could come its inhabitants' way. And outside of that, there was the protection from all the elements, keeping everyone safe from harsh winds and cold showers, something that no tent could achieve. 

'I wish I had time to furnish it,' Layn thought, looking back at the bustling area of the lodging house. Given how most of the furniture was already prepared, the builders were now only moving it around. 

While the sight of the straw-beds that Pavrien created was soothing for Layn's strained back, he couldn't afford to pay much of his attention to them. 

Because right now, he was trying to figure out an intelligent design for an indoor stove that wouldn't end up suffocating everyone inside the kitchen!