The next morning the villagers all came together and started expanding the clearing towards the south. They cut trees, uprooted every plant they found and began to till the soil. They were creating fields for crops. The soil here had a nice, dark texture and was rich in nutrition, it would make for a perfect base to grow crops.
And as I was feeling generous at the moment, I decided to extend a helping hand.
'System is it possible to store magic in a seedling and slowly disperse it over a prolonged span of time.'
'There is no advantage in creating it. I'm just feeling generous.'
So I grew another apple and started infusing it with magic power. The system then applied a rune to, it which I, to my great chagrin, couldn't understand in the least. The apple had turned a light green and was giving off a hue of color every minute or so, like a slow heartbeat.
I gave the apple to Nerida, telling her to bury it in the center of the fields. Though confused, she did as instructed.
The next day she had an understanding smile on her face when the whole village fell into disorder. They had discovered that the seeds sowed the day before had already begun to grow. Little green sprouts could be seen emerging from the ground.
That was when Erik decided to announce that his field had grown the most. Based on that he was blessed by nature. What he said afterward I didn't listen to anymore. Looking at his face after I had drained all life out of the plants in his field instantly lifted my mood.
His ashen face, when he realized that his field was now barren, was too funny to behold.
I think most of the people there knew that the ruin of the field was my doing. That didn't stop them from shaming Erik for his now empty boasts though.
It may have been to curry favor with me or just because they didn't like Erik either but Nerida looked a lot better after this scene.
...
Just like that ten years passed.
I used magic-infused apples to boost the growth of crops, effectively cutting down the time they needed to grow by six to seven months.
Having a full harvest of wheat every month or so was an enormous advantage for the villagers.
As I kept bathing in their faith I felt my mind become clearer and less obstructed by laziness or disinterest. My absorption speed regarding magic was also on the rise. Especially so after my first and second generation of subordinate trees was fully grown and started to help me absorb more magic.
The time was ripe for my next evolution. From my system, I had received the hint that before I could begin to replicate an animal or beast I would first have to start replicating ores.
While the connection between replicating ores and animals wasn't clear to me I had little reason to argue.
Over the past ten years, I had expanded my roots and reached deep into the earth.
Fun fact, since my roots don't really need to collect nutrition form the ground, I can even grow in stone.
I had already collected the magic structure data of copper, tin, and iron. While I would have preferred to also have a sample of silver and gold, I didn't think it wise to delay any longer.
The bunch of shacks from ten years ago had also changed quite a lot. The clearing was now filled with neat wooden houses with a couple of fields at the borders. Similar to the apple that had helped with the growth of crops there was now a subordinate tree in each field, collecting and distributing magic so the crops would grow.
Narvi had sadly not lived long enough to see it. He had been pushing himself to lead his people here and had died of heart failure. Apparently, he had sustained some internal injuries that had sealed his fate.
Nerida was appointed as the new clan head, bearing all responsibilities for the clan thereon.
Her having a breakthrough into the knight magus realm not long after, along with my evident support, gave made her position very stable.
Erik had become suppressed to the absolute maximum. He had taken to living at the edge of the village, with little social contact, managing his little garden.
All in all the village was now self-sustained and I could concentrate on evolving.