Three days passed.
Ethan did not return to Planet 042.
Instead, he focused entirely on developnt.
The lesson from his first expedition was clear.
His civilization was too weak.
Not hopelessly weak.
Just underdeveloped.
If he rushed back into battle, he would simply lose more sprites.
And replacing them wasn't free.
Each new Elentless Sprite required Origin Energy.
Fortunately, his world continued generating it naturally.
The forest around the spring had beco noticeably livelier.
The Elental Stone Cluster radiated faint energy day and night.
The horn from the Earth Beast remained planted beside it.
Together, they ford a small gathering point for the sprites.
The Earth Sprite practically lived there now.
Every day it absorbed traces of earth energy from the horn.
The changes were subtle.
But Ethan could see them.
The Earth Sprite's control over stone was gradually becoming smoother.
Its attacks weren't stronger by much.
Yet they required less effort.
A small improvent.
But a real one.
As Ethan observed the world, another thought occupied his mind.
Population.
His civilization had started with ninety-nine sprites.
Now it only had ninety-six.
That wasn't a problem today.
But eventually it would beco one.
A larger civilization ant greater developnt.
Greater developnt ant more Origin Energy.
More Origin Energy ant faster growth.
Everything was connected.
After several hours of consideration, Ethan opened his system.
Origin Energy: 1,040
A small smile appeared on his face.
Without hesitation, he spent thirty points.
Three beams of light descended near the spring.
Monts later, three new Elentless Sprites appeared.
The nearby sprites imdiately surrounded them.
The newcors looked confused.
The Fire Sprite poked one.
The Air Sprite flew circles around another.
The Water Sprite guided them toward the spring.
Within minutes, they had already joined the civilization.
Ethan checked his interface.
Units: 99
Elentless Sprite ×95
Water Sprite ×1
Fire Sprite ×1
Earth Sprite ×1
Air Sprite ×1
The population had recovered.
Good.
Very good.
Then another idea appeared.
If population increased developnt...
why stop at ninety-nine?
His gaze shifted toward the Origin Energy total.
The answer was obvious.
Resources.
He could summon more sprites.
But every point of Origin Energy spent on summoning was a point that couldn't be used elsewhere.
For now, balance was necessary.
Just then, a notification appeared.
World Developnt Increased
Ethan froze.
The ssage vanished almost imdiately.
He looked around the world.
Nothing dramatic had happened.
No explosions.
No miracles.
No sudden transformations.
Yet the notification had appeared.
His eyes slowly narrowed.
Population increase.
Environntal additions.
Resource accumulation.
Perhaps developnt wasn't tied to a single action.
Perhaps it was the result of everything combined.
The thought made sense.
Civilizations grew through countless small improvents.
Not one giant leap.
A smile spread across Ethan's face.
That realization was valuable.
Very valuable.
The stronger his civilization beca, the faster his Origin Energy generation would beco.
Growth would eventually accelerate itself.
The forest below continued bustling with activity.
The Fire Sprite chased another sprite through the trees.
The Air Sprite lounged on a branch.
The Water Sprite remained near the spring.
The Earth Sprite sat beside the horn.
Everything felt stable.
For the first ti since Awakening Day, Ethan wasn't focused on survival.
He was focused on building.
Creating.
Developing.
This was the true purpose of a Creator.
Not simply fighting battles.
But nurturing an entire civilization.
As the sun began setting over the forest, Ethan opened the recruitnt information he had downloaded from the Association.
The countdown displayed at the top of the page.
22 Days Until University Recruitnt Competition
Twenty-two days.
Less than a month.
The number was shrinking rapidly.
Most students were probably training desperately.
Trying to squeeze out every advantage possible.
Ethan closed the page.
His gaze returned to the little civilization below.
Twenty-two days.
Not much ti.
But enough.
If he used it wisely.
And sowhere in the forest, completely unnoticed by Ethan, one of the newly summoned Elentless Sprites had wandered farther than the others.
The tiny creature paused beside a rocky hill.
Then it tilted its head.
A faint glimr flashed from within a crack in the stone.
The sprite stared curiously.
Whatever was hidden inside that hill...
it definitely wasn't there before.
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