Two years have passed since then. Thanks to my reporting back to my father and showing that the plant was now safe, my father gave me more land. At this point I already had several hectares planted. Of these, one hectare had been set aside for selection, because thanks to my ability, I had found other varieties of ivy, but now I was expecting my first crop of lilac ivy.

Of course, the first time was very difficult, I had to do my project and help my father. My little sister helped me from time to time, because no one wanted to work in my field because of what I was growing. But thanks to my little sister, her friends and then her friends' friends started helping me.

Eh, I can imagine how much of the harvest will be eaten by this girl... But only one thing made me happy - the first harvest will be soon. There were a few problems, of course. I needed a couple of devices, and I didn't know if they existed or not.

I drew them from memory and tried to find information about them or at least someone who could make them. After going around to all the craftsmen in the village and neighboring villages I realized that there were no such devices and their analogs here.

In this world technology was slow to develop due to the fact that there is magic here and it usually solved most of the pressing problems. So this world was roughly reminiscent of the Middle Ages. And all the power was spent on the constant war with the demonic mainland. For my project, I needed devices that could be used by anyone, whether they had magic or not. But I was told that up north, five days away in the Ermur Mountains, lives an old hermit dwarf who is considered insane for his inventions.  He can create anything, as long as you explain to him how it works and what it's for.

***********

Knock-knock

- Come in.

- Hello, Daddy.

- Hello Will, what is it this time? - Daddy already knew I was coming to him for a reason.

- Can I leave the village for a while?

It was clear from his face that the question took him by surprise. In all the time I've lived in this world, I've never left the village beyond the wild forest and the ooze of the great tree.

- Where are you going?

- I want to go to the Hermur Mountains. There lives an artisan there who can help me make a few items for my research.

- That grumpy old grouch.

- Daddy, you know him?

- Back when I was the king's warrior, Ed made swords, shields and armor that were second to none. And he always grumbled when he saw even a small scratch on his work, and if you broke it, you'd better not show your face. But at a certain point, he packed up all his belongings and disappeared. After I retired, I heard that he settled in the Ermur Mountains and does everything but weapons and armor. They say he's gone mad and is creating a mechanism that will move like a human.

Apparently the dwarf is trying to create a robotic doll or android... Now I'm even more excited to meet him.

- You realize he lives five days away from here? It's easy to get to the village near the forest at the foot of the mountain, but then you have to go through the forest, which is difficult. It is more difficult to go through it than through the wild forest, which is not far from us. There are also many dangerous animals there.

- I am very good at navigating the forest, and I will hire a guard at the nearest village to the forest.

- I realize that you will soon be of age and you are smart beyond your years... but your mother and I are worried about you. Again, if we forbid you, you'll just run away like you've done so many times before. Sometimes I don't even know why you ask permission.

(Author's note: In this world, you are considered an adult at the age of 15. At that age you can choose what you want to do and who you want to become)

Apparently my father did find out that I've been running into the wild woods without asking.

- Anyway, we'll talk to your mother about it. And you don't have to send Iva, she won't influence our decision.

- Oh... hmm, okay.

- To be honest, I never sent my little sister, I guess she saw when I needed something and decided to ask daddy herself.

I spent the rest of the day in my field tilling my ivy. Outwardly it now resembled a vine. The size of the berries was like cherry tomatoes from my past life, bunches of small 4-5 berries on each and already gaining a bright lilac color.

- Brother, your daddy's calling you!!!

- Thanks sis! - I went home with a sense of hope.

Knock, knock

- Come in.

- Good evening, Daddy.

- Come in, have a seat. So we've had a little discussion, and we've decided to give you permission. If you tell us what you're going to do, since you had to go all the way out there. It's just that you always give superficial explanations.

- Daddy, I'll tell you all about it when I finish my project.

- You may go, but don't forget to check in with us in the morning before you leave.

In the morning, after saying goodbye to everyone, I set off on a passing stagecoach through our village. I had to change places a couple of times on the way, as there was no direct connection to the place I wanted to go. It was the first time I had ever been so far from my home. I could see fields and forests with vegetation I had never seen in my world. As I stood in the fields, I found various fruits and berries that looked edible, but I was ready to cast a purification spell just in case. These berries and fruits tasted terrible, and some were simply tasteless.

The purification spell was a handy spell that could cure poisoning if cast in time. It wasn't all-powerful; there were poisons that the spell couldn't cure, so only potions could help.

Four and a half days later, I was in a village near the forest at the foot of Mount Hermor. It was a hunting village. Mostly meat and animal skins could be bought here. I tried to find a guide here, and when I asked where I was going, everyone refused, saying that only a few people knew the way there, and they were not in the village now, and they would arrive only at the beginning of the red horned wolf hunting season, which was about two months away.

The animals of this world were very different from what I was used to. For simplicity's sake, I called them by their appearance or what they looked like. I spent the whole evening searching for them and could only agree that they would only take me to the river, and that I would go on at my own risk.

In the morning we set off. By the river, as agreed, I went alone, I was only pointed in the right direction. There were no dangerous animals here at that time.

It was difficult to orient myself in the forest for several reasons: the trees in this forest were thick and tall and it was not clear where the mountains were, the sun's rays did not penetrate well through the vegetation, and it felt like it was late evening. After seven hours of traveling I began to think that I was lost. But just before I could think about it, I saw someone's receding silhouette about two hundred meters away from me.

- Hello, I'm lost, can you tell me the way?

But it felt like I wasn't being heard. The silhouette was still moving in the opposite direction from me, but more slowly. I hurried after him, but I couldn't catch up with him; he wasn't getting farther away or closer. After 15 minutes I was already standing at the foot of the mountain, but who it was, I never realized, when I came to the mountains silhouette just disappeared. Maybe it was a spirit of the forest? I had to get up into the mountains and find the dwarf.

The climb wasn't difficult, most of it was gentle, and there were occasional rocky places, but they were easily overcome by me.

According to the approximate coordinates on the map, I had to find the dwarf's house. He must live by a rock near a large mountain lake. A couple of hours later I was standing by an unusually beautiful lake with very clear and clean water. I looked around a bit and saw the place where the dwarf was supposed to live. As I got closer I saw that there was a door and a small window in the rock.

"Guess I wasn't wrong..."

Knock, knock

The door opened and in front of me stood a man a little shorter than me, something like a dwarf with a massive pumped up body.

- It's you again. ........

- Hel......

And the door closed in my face with a deafening slam.

.....

....

...lo...

I knocked again, but there was no answer.

- You are said to be a master craftsman who can make anything of any complexity?

 But all I got was silence. I stood there until nightfall, and Ed never came out.

I slept under the open sky. The stars in this world were as beautiful as in mine, and I didn't see any familiar constellations. I wondered if this world had a map of constellations.

I woke up because I was very cold, and there was a heavy fog around me, as if I were in the center of a cloud. The fire I had built was long gone. I went to the door and sat leaning against it! If he didn't have a back door, he'd have to go through me when he went on business. With my cloak on, I fell asleep.

- Are you alive? - I felt someone kicking me.

- I don't want you dying in front of my house. Tell me what you need to build. I'll think about it, but then you have to leave.

With joy, I even forgot that I was freezing. I jumped up and handed him some schematics of the devices I needed.

- Come, sit down and don't disturb me, if I don't understand something, I'll ask.

- Good.

The dwarf sat down on the opposite side of the table I sat at.  To be honest, I stared at his face. I knew from fantasy stories and anime that dwarves had impressive beards, but there was a dwarf sitting in front of me who didn't have even a hint of a beard.

- Why are you staring at me, is this your first time seeing a dwarf?

- To be honest, yes, and to be precise, I was picturing dwarves with a thick beard....

- Ahah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... A beard? We work in the forge day and night, any beard can catch fire, so it's fairy tales.

The dwarf went on to improve my scheme.

- So you want a square barrel with small gaps between the joints?  With a lid dropped into them, with a metal rotating device on top that presses on the lid as it rotates, and the lid pressurizes what's inside? At the bottom is a metal bowl with a small indentation on one side?

- Yes, you're quite right.

Exactly, it was a juice press, it's used a lot of places.

- Now, the second device. Hmm, so this device consists of two round bars that are notched? Mounted very close together in a box where a mold is placed on top with a taper at the bottom to match the shape of the box? With two gears attached to the outside of the bars and a handle to turn the gears?

- Yes you are right too, and I need one made of wood to start with, and in the future metal, in a smaller size.

- Isn't that a lot to ask?

- I'm willing to pay any amount.

 I have accumulated enough money, I think, to pay for this work.

Doing errands for the villagers and my parents, where they gave me money for the work I did.

- I'd love to do your inventions, but I haven't finished my project yet.

I remembered my father telling me he was making a human-like device.

- May I see it?

The dwarf led me proudly into his workshop. It was truly fantastic, or even horrible. I thought that nothing could surprise me in this world anymore. On a special stand or device stood a doll, or maybe a robot, as they call it in this world. The face of this doll was very similar to a human's, down to the smallest details, but the rest of the body had mechanisms and gears. Inside, you could see a device that looked like a heart.

- I've been making it for decades, ever since I was a blacksmith in the kingdom. But then I decided to leave and devote myself to making Edith.

He even gave her a name! He had a smile on his face, and you could see he was bragging about his invention, but at some point his smile disappeared.

- To be honest, I finished it, and it didn't work. I tried all the magical Mana Crystals, but as soon as it starts moving, the crystals crack due to not having enough mana in them.

I sank into my musings... The tree spirit told me that my mana supply was so huge that I was able to saturate the great tree, to the point where it became majestically large. What if I were to pour my mana into this device? So I remembered from the book that there is a way to transfer your mana to things or other people.

- Can I try to help you?

- What are you gonna do? You're just a kid.

- Set the crystal and then it's up to me.

The dwarf set the crystal and stepped aside, looking at me in disbelief. I pointed my hand towards the doll.

- Oh, the power of the energy stored inside my body, endow this thing with my energy, actus!

I felt something begin to emanate from my fingers. It felt good. The crystal began to glow so brightly that the light made it impossible to see anything but bright light.  

I stood like that for about fifteen minutes, but I didn't feel any weakness.

- I think that's enough..." I said, removing my hand.

The glow was gone, just a small pulsing light from the crystal in the doll. Ed was sitting on his heel on the floor, looking at me and the doll with big eyes. There was a scrape of metal, and I heard the gears start to move.

The doll moved and began to take its first steps. It looked like a baby taking its first step, a little clumsily, trying to grab onto something in the air.   The dwarf was in a stupor, if this had been some animated movie, his jaw would have been on the floor.

I wanted to say a phrase from a movie from my past life: "It's Alive, it's ALIVE!" but I held back.

When the dwarf came to his senses, he approached the doll, and the doll took notice, bowed and smiled. Then she turned to me and bowed with a smile. Though her face was beautiful, it made me uncomfortable.

The dwarf said some incantation to the doll, and Edith turned around and walked a little clumsily to the booth from where she had recently descended.

- I'm amazed at your power, it's the first time I've seen someone with such strong mana. You're on the level of a demon lord, maybe more.

- You're exaggerating.

- Maybe... maybe I'm even understating... Alright, I'll make your devices, but on my own and with my own modifications. Once they're ready, I'll send them to your village.

- I trust you completely.

- You can just call me Ed.

- Okay, Ed.

I stayed at Ed's for a couple of days, we talked about a couple more devices, and I promised to bring the drawings back in the future.

- Well, when you're in my neighborhood stop by, and I think Edith would love it too! - Ed and Edith accompanied me on my way.

Edith was dressed in a maid's uniform, and if you didn't look closely, she looked very much like a human being.

Ed gave me a map of how to get out of the forest without getting lost. Turns out there's a path I'm sure I won't get lost on.

"I wonder if... if this dwarf is a pervert." - with these thoughts, I set off towards the village.