Building a World Class Empire in another World

Aric didn't bother with his looks, though; he needed to focus on what he was doing. There were still a lot of things he needed to build a place to stay, the first being turning the logs of wood into planks that he could use. For that, he needed a skill and the required tools.

"System, a book on woodwork or something," Silva asked.

[Woodwork Book 1]

[200 gold]

He was shocked to see such a price, but he needed it right now, so he bought it. Unlike the other things he bought, this one gave him an extra option.

[Do you want direct transfer of the information or the physical book?]

The direct transfer seemed more appealing, so he decided to go with that one.

"Yes, direct transfer," he agreed.

[Direct transfer will cost 5 gold. Do you wish to proceed?]

"Yes." The price was a small one to pay for direct information.

As soon as the purchase was made, a stream of information rushed into his head. It caused a splitting headache, but it only lasted for a moment before it went away.

After the headache stopped, his mind was filled with information on woodwork—enough for him to carry out the work he needed.

Without wasting a bit, he searched the system for woodwork tools and found a package deal selling over ten different tools for a hundred gold. He took the deal and bought the package.

All the tools appeared in the box before him. He opened the box to confirm that everything was there, then got to work.

He pulled out the saw and tape and walked to the trees. According to the blueprint, he had to make sure all the planks were six feet (1.8 meters) long and about four inches in diameter.

He measured the distance first and cut the tree. Luckily for him, the tree was tall enough to provide two sets of planks and still have extra wood he could use for something else.

Aric started cutting around the six-foot mark. He had the knowledge of woodwork, but his body didn't have the practice, so it looked bad from the start. But he kept going at it until he finally made it through.

[New skill unlocked: Woodwork Level 1]

[25 EXP gained, 10 gold]

[Woodwork Level 1: 10% efficiency when carrying out woodwork]

"I got a new skill, but why is my EXP low this time? I've been gaining fifty all this while." Aric thought about it for a bit, then realized—it was like RPG games. The more you leveled up, the harder it became to get EXP.

"I guess I'll have to do more to get more EXP."

With the woodwork skill he gained, he was able to saw the trees with ease. He managed to make a number of planks—ten in total—but the sky was slowly turning dark, and he was yet to get the house up.

Though the day had still been fruitful for him, as he was 50 EXP short of a level-up, he also made 100 coins from it.

Even with the coins he gained, it seemed too hard for him to do it all by himself. Without any other solution, he bought a sleeping bag that cost 100 gold. He also bought ingredients for egg-boiled soup, but this time, he added some flavoring, making it 100 gold.

He cooked it up quickly, ate it in a heartbeat, and slipped into the sleeping bag. He looked up at the beautiful night sky, with two shining moons above his head.

His mind was completely empty as he drifted off to sleep, but he seemed to have forgotten something—this was a forest and home to other creatures as well.

The footsteps in the dry leaves somehow reached Aric's sensitive ears. They twitched at the sound, and his eyes snapped open, but he didn't make any sudden movement.

He didn't know what was going on, and it would be stupid for him to make a reckless move. His ears twitched every few seconds, he could hear footsteps from three different places. Whatever was coming was definitely not alone.

Aric wanted his axe, but it was far away from him—he had left it with the planks. So, he quickly decided to buy a sword. He didn't think about a gun because he was sure, without a doubt, it would cost far more than he had.

[Gold: 1650]

He still had an ample amount. He quickly searched for a sword and found a cheap steel one, but even that cost 500 gold. He bought it without a second thought.

The sword, in a scabbard, appeared near his sleeping bag. He slipped his hand out and grabbed the sword while still paying attention to the movement.

Suddenly, the movement stopped, and that made Aric worry even more. He got out of the sleeping bag and stood, his ears trying to pick up any sound, his eyes trying to see into the dark.

All of a sudden, he heard something rushing toward him—fast. He was sure his body wouldn't react in time, so in that desperate situation, he dumped all four stat points into agility.

The sudden increase spiked his speed and flexibility. He spun around, pulled the sword, and set it to block whatever was coming.

The creature slammed against the sword and was pushed back. Aric was knocked to the floor, tumbling before coming to a stop. He quickly got up to see what was attacking him.

Under the dim light of the moon and his dying fire, he saw a meter-long horned wolf staring at him, its eyes flashing with hunger for his flesh.

Aric's panic grew—if this wolf was like the wolves from Earth, they never hunted alone. That meant the sounds he heard were from others, and they might be trying to gang up on him.

Sweat dripped down his face as he came to this realization. How was he supposed to deal with this and survive?