Ping!

Rino wasn't expecting the daily quest to update itself on the dot of midnight. He thought he had more time to deal with the things he wanted to do before checking it out.

As it turned out, Rino now had a new daily quest and side quest.

===

Daily Quest #12

Objective: Craft Basic Spears

0/10 Basic Spears

Time Limit: 3 Days.

Tutorial here.

Reward: Basic Spear Skills

Penalty: Deduct 24 hours of sleep upon failure and [Curse of Overtime] until quest is forcefully completed.

===

Three days to make ten simple spears? Rino could do that tomorrow. Griffith might be swamped with the new fae estate construction works, but Rino still had Aiden. Thankfully, the sawmill construction and paper factory were already finished. Even if it was temporary, they were good enough for the lich.

As Rino checked his newly updated side quest, he knew where he was going for the night. Thankfully, Kragami made the brewery a priority, and the first batch was ready.

===

Side Quest #15

Objective: Offer Potato Beer

0/1 Barrel Potato Beer

Reward: 1 Packet Brewer's Yeast

Claim your reward here.

===

The side quest did not hold a tutorial, and Rino was very certain that the gods above must be watching the overall progress of his kingdom. How else would they know he had beer manufactured from potatoes? In any case, Rino hopped onto the teleportation pad for a short trip to Cypress County.

After arriving at the marsh, Rino could not help but be impressed by how magical everything appeared. The mana web array was put to good use, and those Water Bell Flowers glowed in the night, acting like little lamps. There were also many new wisps ever since the water was gradually replaced by mana imbued water. These wisps occasionally glowed, reminding Rino of fireflies.

The Cypress Ghost Tree also seemed to have grown a little bigger. Rino did not remember the treehouse he built to look so small from down here. There were definitely more branches around the tree houses now, acting like little bridges. Aiden added small bridges between the branches and a spiral stair for easier access. The lich felt slightly guilty for not factoring that into his design. His elderly teacher would have found it difficult to access his new home without these amenities. Thankfully, he had thoughtful subordinates.

"It's rare to see you here," Kragami mused after sensing a huge mana fluctuation in the air. "Aren't you busy demolishing the forest and creating light shows in the sky?"

Rino chuckled silently. "I'm done," he told his teacher. "I even put the advanced rune writing knowledge to good use. Meet my artefact weapon, Libitina."

Swiftly, Rino withdrew his bow from the shadow sack, and Libitina shook in his hands, excited to give his teacher her greetings.

When one lived for long enough, they would see all sorts of strange things. However, Kragami never imagined the day would come when he would see a bow-wielding magician. Was his student pulling his leg? Then again, the number of complicated enchantments layered on Libitina proved that it wasn't a joke. Rino was 100% serious.

"Are you any good with a bow? I didn't think you were good at physical activities."

Rino shook his head shyly. "I have a handicap for that. Besides, Libitina isn't used for regular spells. I will only use her when there is an enemy too powerful for the guards to handle. Most of them would be able to take down the monster serpent in a few strikes. I have nothing to worry about leaving them in charge of my kingdom's defences."

Indeed, Kragami witnessed first-hand what those archers and hobgoblins could do. Aiden was helping them fine-tune some of their bows because Griffith was too busy crafting the arrows and fletching them according to Rino's specific orders. Fletching arrows was a new concept in this world, and honestly, Kragami sometimes wondered where Rino got all his strange ideas from.

Rino carefully tucked Libitina away and followed his teacher upstairs, where he saw two more new treehouses. The Cypress Ghost Tree was starting to grow into something similar to the World Tree with how massive it was covering. The teleportation pad Rino created at the foot of the tree was now inside the tree as it grew around what Rino built, leaving a very courteous exit as if it knew what the teleportation pad was for.

Then again, the magic tree was now part of Rino's soul. Perhaps it was a good idea to leave his consciousness separated so that every individual could focus on what they needed to do best. World Tree Rino was doing a very good job overseeing certain construction and expansions in Spudville. The  Cypress Ghost Tree also made good work of turning the murky swamp into something more habitable in just a little under two weeks.

Kragami brewed some herbal tea and served Rino some before they talked a little about the swamp's major construction process.

"I was thinking of making more than just paper products now that we have the means. Aiden is still working on perfecting the sawmill's system as the output for treated wood is still unable to keep up with our construction demands. On the bright side, the swamp can continuously regrow what it used, unlike the forest site that you demolished."

Rino looked away and sipped at his tea. "Have you considered exploring spice and salt production? The swamp has minerals that the forest doesn't have. I'm not complaining about the taste of the food the ladies make, but you're particularly nitpicky."

His teacher blew on the hot tea and looked out of the window. "Not yet, but let's not delve into it too deeply. What are you here for?"

Draining his cup, Rino explained how he was here for a barrel of potato beer. He did not disclose why he needed it, but he did let Kragami know that there was an easier way of brewing potato juice into beer.

Uninterested in the process, Kragami quickly ordered a few fairies to prepare a barrel of potato beer. This was the first successful batch they brewed, and while it was a shame that the necromancer wasn't able to taste it first, he had faith that his student would find them a better beer brewing solution.

Fermenting wasn't an easy process. More often than not, food will rot before it could ferment into the product wanted. Kragami and Aiden were working hard to understand it, but Rino appeared to have a solution so the first barrel of potato beer was downpayment for finding a positive solution to ensure future brew success chances increase.

Rino accepted the barrel gratefully and tucked it away in his shadow sack for now. He did not want to expose his special quest system and would turn it in once he returned to the farmhouse.

For now, he accepted the tour of Cypress County from the proud mayor and got onto the boat.