As soon as I do, the map updates to include the coastline and the island. The map also shows quite a bit more of the land bridge, it looks like Lizzy has been busy. The system is also covering more of the peninsula, it looks like the kids have been busy as well.

  That probably means that I should spend some time crafting more obelisks soon. I will worry about that tonight, for now I should hunt while the sun is still up, not that I need light to hunt. However, the light will make it easier for me to spot anything that might be trying to hunt me.

  I take off from the coast and fly just a few feet above the waves as I head south. Once the coast is out of sight, I turn west and head in the general direction of the island. I am using mana to scan as large of an area as I can looking for dragonfish as I go.

  Unfortunately, by the time the sun starts setting I still haven’t found any more dragonfish. I wish I knew more about their habits, that would make it easier to hunt them. I don’t even know if they prefer deeper or shallow water, day or night, it makes it hard to find them.

  Still, it has only been one day, I shouldn’t be impatient, I might have more luck tomorrow. For now, once I reach the island, I start manipulating the ground of the west side of the hill. First, I curve out a crescent of the hill and flatten the ground, this will be where the building will go.

  I am thinking about building something like a hunting lodge, but I haven’t decided if I want to use stone or wood. Normally, I would go with stone because it is longer lasting, but with enchantments that isn’t an issue. Maybe a nice log building with a stone foundation and lots of windows facing west.

  While I am thinking about it, I hollow out a portion of the hill at the back of the crescent and place a gate platform inside. I turn the stone that I removed into small obelisks and store them in my ring. After that, I take a break and first eat a heart from one of the dragonfish, but Devour doesn’t trigger.

  That also confirms my thoughts about their cores and why absorb didn’t give me much. Then again, I should have been expecting that when I saw that they moved as a group. Beasts that group together tend to be on the weaker side and survive through numbers.

  That is a good thing since I still need over a hundred evolution points to evolve. If I had to hunt down individuals, it would take far longer than I have before the wedding. Even in groups, I don’t know if I will be able to find enough before I run out of time.

  It is also going to depend on how much time I spend working on this tropical resort. Then again, I only need to complete enough for the honeymoon, I can complete the rest later. That means the main building, the lagoon, and defenses to keep the island safe.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I decide to work on the defenses first, that way I don’t have to worry about anything bothering me. I make a dozen obelisks, but I enchant them to repel beasts and create a barrier around the island. Once they are done, I place them in the waters around the island, a couple of hundred feet out.

  That way, if anyone decides to go swimming outside the lagoon it will still be fairly safe. After that, I take out the leviathan’s heart, which is about half my size, and start eating it. It isn’t as tasty as dragon, but it is better than most other meats I have eaten.

  Devour Activated: Str +20, End +100, Toughness +30!

  ‘Not bad, not what I was expecting, but not bad.’

  Despite Devour activating, I keep eating the rest of the heart, just because I am enjoying it. Once I am done with my meal, I go back to modifying the landscape to build a lagoon. First I move the sand away, then I deepen the area between the crescent and the edge of the beach.

  Next, I shape the edge of the beach and push it out a little to make the lagoon bigger. Then, I make small holes to allow water in to fill the lagoon, but not let much else in. With the holes being as small as I make them, it will take a few days for the lagoon to fill.

  It will be full well before the honeymoon, but I will have to see if the holes are enough for it to stay fresh. I might have to add a bigger hole with some kind of grate over it, but I will wait and see. For now, I smooth out the bottom of the lagoon and fix the sand around it.

  That is all that I can do for now, I will need a lot of logs before I can build the building. The trees in the jungle are too small for something like this, I will need to find a real forest. The land bridge is also covered with mostly jungle, so I will need to head back to the peninsula.

  Although, I could probably find better and bigger forests on the main continent. I plan to make the lodge three stories, so I am estimating that I will need around fifty trees. Maybe less, but it will depend on the size of the trees that I use and how much I can manipulate them.

  I came across several large forests on the northern side of the main continent, I think those will work. Searching through my memories I find the one that looks the best and then open a gate to the area. Due to the distance it takes all of my mana and I have to use some from one of the crystals as well.

  This is the longest distance that I have ever gated and it makes me realize that the gate network in insufficient. Just dropping platforms randomly when I think about it is obviously not good enough. However, now is not the time to think about improving it, I will just add it to the list.

  The forest is a lot more vast than I remember, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it at the time. As I am looking around I can hear all sorts of animals and beasts fleeing from my presence. That works for me since I don’t want to have to waste time on weaklings like them.

  Before I start harvesting trees, I dig out a chamber underground and put a gate platform in it. It won’t do much to fix the network, but it will make it a little easier if I need to come back for more lumber. Then I start cutting down trees, but I only cut down every third tree so that I don’t clear too many in an area.

  However, I quickly realize that my pouch is already pretty full and I can’t put the trees in my ring. Unfortunately, plants don’t die as soon as you cut them down, so fresh trees can’t be put in the ring. Although, if the life force is removed, then that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.