The next morning, I rose before the sun.
For the first time in this world, I felt something close to purpose.
The mana spring had changed things. Since claiming the land and activating the system's domain core, I noticed subtle shifts everywhere. The air was cleaner. The soil didn't crack beneath my boots as much. And when I pressed my palm to the earth again, I felt a steady, pulsing warmth. Like a heartbeat.
This place was waking up.
And I would be the one to shape it.
I opened the system menu again.
[Building Interface – Cradle of Ash]Structures Available:– Town Hall (Required)– Wooden Homes– Storage Shed– Mana Well (Active)– Watchtower– Farm Plot– Training Grounds (Locked)– Barracks (Locked)
Current Materials:– 122 Stone– 87 Wood– 10 Mana Crystals
[Build Town Hall? – Cost: 100 Stone, 50 Wood]Bonus: Unlock population cap / Territory Management Panel
I blinked.
"I don't even remember collecting materials," I said aloud.
Elowen appeared beside me, holding a bundle of freshly gathered branches. "The system gathers ambient resources when you mark areas. Yesterday, when we explored the old ruins, you unknowingly marked them."
I stared at her.
She really had studied this system long before I had.
"You're full of surprises," I muttered.
"I'm just doing my duty, my Prince," she replied with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes. "Stop calling me that."
She tilted her head. "You are still the prince of humanity, even if exiled."
"No," I said. "Not anymore. Not in the way they want me to be."
She nodded slowly. "Then what will you become?"
I stared out at the horizon.
"Something new."
I selected the Town Hall.
A glowing pattern spread across the ground, drawing glowing blue lines into the soil. Then, like a spell forming from nothing, wood and stone rose from the earth. Walls took shape. A roof assembled beam by beam, like time sped forward. Within moments, it stood completed — simple, sturdy, and humble, but real.
[Town Hall Complete][Population Cap: 50][Territory Name Confirmed: Cradle of Ash][New Feature Unlocked: Settlement Panel]
I grinned.
It was small, but it was a beginning.
"Let's build more," I said.
By evening, we had a small storage shed and the outlines of two wooden homes. My body ached, but my mana didn't waver. Not once. Every time I felt tired, I pulled on that endless stream of power — and it flowed freely.
Still, I took breaks. Not because I needed to.
Because Elowen reminded me to.
"You're not a god," she said gently as she handed me water. "Even if you have the mana of one."
The next day brought our first visitor.
Not from a kingdom.
Not from a princess.
But from the wastes.
I spotted them at sunrise — a thin figure staggering through the fog. I readied my mana, summoning a basic light shield around my hand. Elowen stood beside me, an arrow already notched in her bow.
"Wait," I said.
The figure collapsed before reaching the gate — if you could even call two stacked stones a gate.
We rushed over.
It was a girl, no older than fourteen, clothes torn and skin covered in dust. Her eyes were wide, and when she saw me, she tried to crawl away.
"Easy," I said, kneeling beside her. "You're safe here."
"You're… him," she whispered. "The Fallen Prince."
I winced.
News traveled fast.
But I kept my voice calm. "I'm Caelen. What's your name?"
"Aira," she said. "My family… they were taken by slavers. I escaped."
Elowen stepped forward. "She has no injuries. Just exhaustion. And fear."
"We'll give her food," I said. "Water. A place to rest."
The girl looked at me, eyes wet. "Why?"
"Because this land is for people like you," I said. "For those the world threw away."
By the end of the week, four more came.
A former soldier with a limp.
A widow with her twin sons.
A mute craftsman.
They came from different places — all broken, all lost. And all of them looked at the banner I'd raised above the Town Hall with the same expression:
Hope.
I opened the system again.
[Population: 6/50][Morale: Stable (Cautious)][Resources: Low]
[New Side Quest: Welcome the Lost]– Objective: Reach 20 citizens– Bonus: Unlock "Guardian Statue" structure
[Notice: Unknown entity is monitoring Cradle of Ash]
My fingers tightened at that last line.
"Still being watched," I muttered.
Elowen stood behind me. "Do you want me to send a message?"
"No," I said. "Let them watch. Let them wonder."
Because soon, I would give them something to fear.
That night, as we sat by a small fire outside the Town Hall, I turned to Elowen.
"I want to train."
She raised an eyebrow. "You have infinite mana. What could I possibly teach you?"
"How to control it. How to shape it. On Earth, I read magic systems in novels, but this isn't theory anymore. This is real."
She nodded slowly.
"Very well," she said. "We begin at dawn."
And she smiled.
Not the soft smile of a maid.
But the sharp, knowing smile of an Elven princess ready to teach a king.