Getting to the clay mine wasn’t difficult. However, collecting the clay at the mine was tricky. As clay was often found near wet and damp places, the mine was located not too far from the lake Rino wanted to steal water from. The only problem came in the form of his hands and feet.

Wet clay stuck everywhere on Rino’s naked body. The clay he scooped wouldn’t stay and constantly slipped through his hands. Even if he set a teleportation pad in the area, it was useless and completely ineffective. Rino did not have anything to collect them in or help him spread them out on the ground to cover the base of his reservoir.

It was getting irritating after the fifth failed attempt.

“I need a bucket and a shovel of some kind,” Rino sighed.

This was the problem when he started with no tools. Did he really have to fashion everything from stone, bones and wood? The Gods told him this was kingdom-building. Rino thought they would provide him with resources, manpower and knowledge, but instead, Rino was left buck naked, without a single tool and clueless about how to put his natural magical talent to good use. It was like casting pearls before a swine. Rino wanted to complain. What kind of king had to crawl through clay, buck naked and build reservoirs in his early days? Even the old fart he served in the old world had a nanny to feed him when he cried and wipe his bum when he pooped. How was this fair?

In short, life wasn’t fair. No amount of whining or sulking will change the fact that Rino was a work slave now. Hence, he looked around to find a more efficient work solution. Hard work did not always pay off. Sometimes, smart work was more efficient.

The idea came quickly, and soon, Rino was on his feet again. The forest was full of materials for him, and the lich was a resourceful magician. With nature magic, Rino expedited the growth of some huge leaves that he plucked. Then, he tore off vines and branches, tying them together in a circular fashion.

It was strange to see Rino weaving a wooden basket. His fingers moved nimbly as if he was used to it. Come to think about it, didn’t the lich also weave his sandals from grass strands before? The Gods were now curious. Why would a court magician, who lived a life of luxury, be so familiar with weaving things?

Rino took no notice of his surroundings. It was starting to get hot, but he was too engrossed with making the woven basket. One wasn’t enough. He would need a lot more than this for an effective trip. The lich swore he needed more hands for this task. A kingdom wasn’t built in one day, and Rino had a feeling, this rough start wasn’t going to get any easier. The Gods were simply going to load him with more responsibilities if they found out how much Rino could automate with magic.

That’s not a worry. For now, that’s a worry for his future self. With that, the first woven basket was complete and ready for use!

Phil had to admit, Rino had talent when it came to weaving things. IF he wasn’t good at magic already, Rino could be a very good craftsman with his ability to adapt and create things. His resourcefulness and ability to think ahead was what made him a good inventor. Unfortunately, he had a disagreeable personality who would sell his kingdom’s secrets for shorter working hours.

Rino pulled vines and tied branches together, adding leaves to the baskets and tossed them towards the teleportation pad. In less than an hour, there were over twenty huge baskets for use. The only thing left for Rino was to weave a smaller basket for the sake of scooping clay and something like a shovel with a flatter surface to spread the clay out evenly.

Ace yawned as he answered prayers. The other Gods left after seeing how hardworking Rino was. The God on duty occasionally checked on their chosen slave to see his progress. It was impressive how the promise of uninterrupted sleep could motivate this magician. Thankfully for it too. Punishing Rino using the system would cost them precious divinity, more than the reward transfer abilities and blessings. If possible, Ace wanted to keep it this way.

Rino worked diligently. His lazy days were here. He could almost feel it!

Twenty baskets of clay were filled and dragged to the teleportation pad. RIno sent everything back to base and tossed the clay-filled baskets to his excavated pit one by one. There was a lot of work to be done, but he had an idea.

Ace watched Rino abuse the shadow tendrils to spread the clay he collected all over the huge pit. With many strange-looking shovels, the shadow tendrils covered the area quickly with a layer of wet clay. The entire process that should have taken hours was completed in under ten minutes. Rino’s control over that many shadow tendrils was impressive, and Ace reported the discovery to Ark.

The baskets and shovels were collected back, and Rino used fire magic to hasten the process of drying the clay. By now, all the Gods were gathered by the reflecting pond, watching Rino create his reservoir. Would this be completed in a day?

They soon found their answer after two hours. Rino’s control over fire magic was so impressive that Ark had a feeling, he did not only retain his skills from his previous life but found a way to improve.

With the clay dried and baked using fire magic, Rino drew a gateway spell just over the reservoir pit. If anything, this reservoir looked like a giant bathtub with three sections. Rino built this underground and not above ground, making it hard for algae to form. There was no real need to purify the water or clean it. However, Rino still added a few magic circles to constantly heat the water up in the first section of the reservoir to be condensed on stone and dripped into the second part of the reservoir. The third part left empty for future uses.

“I never knew gates could be used this way,” Phil admitted, and Ark agreed.

Magic gates were usually used to transmit a person’s voice. Opening a gate to transfer items would consume an incredible amount of mana depending on the item’s size and distance for travel. Rino was using it for petty purposes, but they had to admit, it was a very efficient method for water irrigation.

As Rino created the linking magic gate at the bottom of the lake on a rocky surface, he swam back up to check if the gates functioned properly.

“Here goes nothing,” he prepared himself and activated the gates.

The connection clicked, and an unstoppable stream of water poured from the magic circle. Rino felt his mana draining rapidly, but what did he care? It was working!

“Woohoo!” he jumped in joy. “Au Revoir, manual labour. I have a Reservoir!”