Afternoon
Lucan and the others had just finished the arduous task of storing the beast meat in the storage crate. The seven beasts were heavy, and the work had taken some time.
Lucan now stood looking at the steam rising from the cursed lands, lost in thought. 'If only there was some way to clean the water, we wouldn't have a problem getting it.'
Nors approached and, seeing Lucan looking at the steam, asked in a low voice, "Lord, what are you looking at?"
"Nothing," Lucan replied, placing a hand on his forehead. "Just thinking about how if that water could be cleaned, we wouldn't have a problem getting it. If only there was a way."
"Lord, if it's like that, then we can at least get some water from the cursed lands," Nors offered, pointing toward the steam. "There's a place where the water is somewhat clean, but it's just that it's salty and not for drinking. But we can at least wash ourselves with it."
Lucan considered this for a second. 'If it's salt water, I can filter it the same way I did back home.' He turned to Nors. "Nors, you and Kenny go get some of that water. I think I have a way to filter the water for drinking, so you can do that and I will prepare for it, okay?"
"Yes, Lord," Nors replied. "If you say so, then I'll take Kenny and do that."
Nors walked over to Kenny and said something to him. They both grabbed buckets and began walking toward the steam, with Lucan watching them go. As Lucan watched, the screen suddenly appeared before him.
[Inspiration Detected]
[Modern Store Unlocked]
[Don't Use All Your LP For Every Item That is Here]
[Filter Water Machine: 40 LP]
[????: ??]
[Purchase: Yes/No]
Lucan's mind raced. He had so many questions, all coming at once. 'Do I need this? Is it a blueprint, or the actual machine? It says "Filter Water Machine," not "blueprint," so maybe it's the real thing. But then why the warning to not use all my LP on it? What else could possibly be in this "Modern Store" that's more important? And what even triggered this? "Inspiration Detected"? I was just thinking about the water back home, and now this pops up.' It was a lot to process.
After a few more seconds of thought, he came to a conclusion. He raised his finger and tapped the "Purchase" text.
"I need to purchase it and see if it's somewhat useful to me because there's nothing else that is cheaper than this," Lucan said. He purchased it, but nothing happened, and no item materialized.
But after a moment, another screen appeared.
[You have purchased Filter Machine Item]
[This item has been stored in the Modern Store Storage]
Lucan saw this and thought, 'This must be a different kind of storage. That's good; it means more space for items.' But the next screen quickly dashed his hopes.
[You can only have 5 items stored in it that are purchased from the Modern Store, and nothing else]
Lucan sighed. 'Now I can only store these specific items.' He checked the screen.
[Filter Water Machine,..... (1/5)]
Lucan tapped the screen, and its description appeared.
[Filter Water Machine: This is a machine, designed to purify cursed, wasted, salt, and any different type of waste water. To use it, connect the bronze input pipe to your water source. The machine's core will then activate, and a golden light will begin to shine from within its panels, a signal that the magical vortex is doing its work. Once the process is complete, the clean water will flow out of the silver output pipe. Any curse or impurities will be safely collected in the detachable stone waste box on the side. The machine is a sturdy, portable structure that can be used wherever you need it.]
Seeing this, Lucan mentally thanked the system. 'What a jackpot I got! Here I was thinking about building a filter water structure, and this came the next second.'
He felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. Now, most of his problems were solved. He could drink clean water, and he and the others could finally wash themselves.
"Hah... It's a really good thing this came," Lucan mumbled to himself. "If it didn't, I don't know how many times I would have had to drink the water I filtered myself."
"Now let's see how this machine looks," he said, and an image of it appeared on the screen.
The filter water machine was a solid, rectangular block that looked to be carved from a single piece of dark, polished stone, with veins of a copper-colored metal running through its surface.
The machine stood about as tall as a person and looked like it could be used anywhere. On one side, a simple, thick pipe of what looked like old bronze was where the bad water would go in.
A golden light shone from within, visible through small, crystal-like panels on its sides. The machine had two outputs.
At the bottom, a solid, detachable stone box collected and stored all the impurities pulled from the water.
From the other side, a thin, polished silver pipe provided a steady flow of clean, pure water.
'It already looks good,' Lucan thought. 'And it says it can be used anywhere. Nors and Kenny will be back in a few minutes, so I'll just place it near my shelter and see what happens when the water goes inside.'
Lucan headed towards his shelter and saw Dalia and Alian walking towards him.
As they drew closer, they greeted him, and he greeted them back. Standing in front of his shelter, he decided to place the machine on the right side.
A bright shine appeared as Lucan placed the item, and the screen popped up.
[A Modern Store item placed]
[+5 LP]
[+50 CP]
"So 1 LP is equal to 10 CP, that's okay, I think," Lucan said to himself. Unbeknownst to him, Dalia and Alian were just behind him and blinked in astonishment when a structure as big as them appeared out of thin air.
They were startled at first, thinking it was impossible. But after hearing from Kenny that their lord could make things disappear and reappear, they believed it and walked towards Lucan.
"Lord, what is this? Is it a place to live? Is it a home?" Alian asked, tugging on Lucan's shirt. The young boy, who was once scared of Lucan, was now starting to like his lord, seeing him perform what seemed like magic.
Lucan saw Alian pulling on his shirt and smiled. "Oh, this? It's not a place to live, but a place to drink," he explained. "What I mean is, we send water in from this way," he said, pointing to the bronze pipe, "and clean water comes out this way," he continued, pointing to the silver pipe. "And this box here is for storing the bad things that can be in the water," he finished, pointing to the stone box.
"Lord, but how does that work? Is it magic?" Alian asked. Dalia was relieved to see her son, who rarely spoke, now talking because of their lord—a man she used to hate simply for his title. Now, Dalia realized it wasn't the title they hated; it was the person who held it.
"Yes, it's magical," Lucan replied, placing his hand on Alian's head and patting him like a father would a child. "I'll let you see how it works. Just wait a moment for your grandpa and Kenny to come back with water, okay?"
As Lucan finished speaking, they waited a few seconds, and then Kenny and Nors came into view, their eyes wide with shock. And how could they not be shocked? A structure as tall as a person had simply appeared. It was perfectly made, not like the rough, imperfect structures they had built.
"Lord, what is this?" Nors exclaimed, looking from the machine to Lucan. "How did it appear here? Did you do this?"
"Yes, I did it," Lucan confirmed. "Didn't I tell you I would make something so we could filter the water? That's why this is here." Kenny's eyes widened in amazement. His lord truly was amazing, capable of such magic.
"Lord, but how does it work?" Kenny asked, looking at the machine with a mix of awe and curiosity. "Is it pure magic, or do we need to do something?"
"For what this is, you can get the explanation from Alian," Lucan offered, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "But first, give me the water."
Nors and Kenny placed the buckets down. Lucan picked up one, poured the water into the bronze pipe, and then placed the bucket under the silver output pipe.
Alian, in turn, explained what the machine was to Nors and Kenny.
All of them, at the same time, shared the same thought: 'Our biggest problem is gone.' Now, if Alian's explanation was correct, they could finally drink clean water.
"Lord, if it's like this," Nors said in an excited tone, "then we won't have any problem with cooking meat, washing ourselves, or drinking." How could he not be excited if the water could truly be cleaned?
They all waited for a few moments, and soon, water began dripping into the empty bucket. The water was clear—too clean to have ever been the salty, turbid water from the cursed lands.
Lucan picked up the bucket and drank, not even letting his lips touch the rim.
At the same time, Alian detached the waste box and peered inside, seeing dark, grimy sludge. Just as he reached out to touch it, Dalia stopped him.
"Alian, we don't know if that's safe," Dalia cautioned. "Don't touch this dark powder. Lord Lucan said what it is, right?"
"Yes, Mom, I know, but I was just checking it," Alian replied, pulling his hand back.
Lucan passed the bucket to Nors. "Nors, check this out," he said.
Nors hesitated for a moment, expecting the water to be salty, but when he took a sip, he felt a warmth spread through him. 'This... this is like holy water. If holy water exists, it must be like this.'
"Lord, this... this is just too good," Nors exclaimed, not realizing he had already finished all the water. "I didn't think it would get this clean and drinkable for us!"
"Grandpa, you drank all the water! How am I supposed to drink now?" Alian said, his eyes welling up with tears, though he held them back.
"Grandpa, you at least needed to leave some for Alian," Kenny added, wanting to scold his grandfather but unable to, as he was still so young.
"Now, now, don't be sad," Lucan said, reassuring Alian. "There's still one more bucket here. We just need to do it like the first one, okay?"
Lucan spoke, picking up the bucket and pouring the water into the machine. After a moment, clean water emerged from the other side.
"Now you can drink it, okay?" he said, offering the bucket to Alian. The young boy drank first, followed by Kenny, and then Dalia.
Dalia then took the bucket to Evan, who was still in the shelter. "Evan, you can drink this water. Our lord filtered it," she told him.
"How is it?" Dalia asked.
"It's good," Evan replied. "I feel like if I drink it a couple more times, I might be able to work with the others."
"Really? If it's like that, you can drink more," Dalia said, about to give him the bucket again.
"No, I don't think I can heal in one day. It'll probably take two or three," Evan reasoned.
***
"Now why don't we build some more shelters around here?" Lucan suggested to Nors and Kenny. "If the time comes when other people arrive, they can live here."
Nors agreed immediately. "Yes, Lord, we need to build more shelters. That will be good for all of us."
With that, they left the conversation there and began picking up the things they had used to build their own shelter, like stone and leaves.