The day after summoning three replacement sprites, Ethan decided not to rush back to Planet 042.
The University Recruitment Competition was still weeks away.
There was no reason to act recklessly.
For now, development came first.
His consciousness drifted above the Origin Sphere as he observed the civilization below.
The forest remained peaceful.
Sunlight filtered through the trees.
The spring sparkled beneath the morning sky.
Small groups of sprites wandered throughout the world.
Some explored.
Some played.
Others simply rested.
The Fire Sprite was attempting to organize the Elementless Sprites.
The results were terrible.
Every few minutes, it became distracted and ran off to do something else.
The Water Sprite eventually took over.
The difference was immediate.
The Elementless Sprites naturally followed its instructions.
The Fire Sprite seemed offended by this.
Ethan laughed.
It was becoming increasingly obvious that the elemental sprites possessed different personalities.
The Earth Sprite remained beside the Earth Beast Horn.
The Air Sprite was asleep on a tree branch.
And the Water Sprite had somehow become responsible for keeping the others organized.
Hours passed peacefully.
Then something unexpected happened.
One of the Elementless Sprites wandered farther from the spring than usual.
Ethan barely paid attention at first.
The world wasn't large enough for anything dangerous to exist.
The sprite climbed over a rocky hill near the edge of the forest.
Then suddenly stopped.
The little creature tilted its head.
Something had caught its attention.
A faint metallic glimmer protruded from exposed stone.
The sprite approached curiously.
It poked the shiny object.
Nothing happened.
It poked it again.
Still nothing.
The sprite then did what every curious creature eventually does.
It tried pulling it out.
The metallic object refused to move.
Several minutes later, the sprite abandoned the effort and wandered away.
Ethan, however, was interested.
His consciousness focused on the location.
The glimmer appeared to be part of a larger deposit hidden beneath the rock.
The moment his attention settled on it, a notification appeared.
Resource Detected
Ethan immediately sat upright.
A resource.
His first naturally discovered resource within the Origin Sphere.
He focused on the notification.
Another window appeared.
Low Grade Iron Deposit
Grade: Common
Contains usable metal resources.
Suitable for extraction.
The description was simple.
Yet Ethan stared at it for several seconds.
Iron.
Actual iron.
Not a beast material.
Not a resource brought back from another world.
A naturally occurring deposit within his own Origin Sphere.
His mind immediately began racing.
Resources were important.
Extremely important.
Entire technological civilizations depended on them.
Even though Ethan followed the Elemental Path, resources still possessed value.
The question was how the deposit had appeared.
The answer wasn't difficult to guess.
World development.
As his world continued developing, new resources were naturally emerging.
That explanation made the most sense.
The notification had appeared shortly after another development increase.
The timing was too convenient to ignore.
Ethan continued studying the deposit.
It wasn't enormous.
But it wasn't tiny either.
Several chunks of iron-bearing stone were visible through the rock face.
The system hadn't indicated any extraordinary value.
Just a standard common resource.
Even so, Ethan found himself smiling.
The discovery represented growth.
Real growth.
His world wasn't remaining static.
It was changing.
Developing.
Expanding.
The Earth Sprite eventually arrived.
The moment it saw the exposed deposit, it became interested.
Unlike the Elementless Sprite, it immediately began manipulating nearby stone.
Small fragments broke away from the surface.
A section of the deposit became visible.
The Earth Sprite seemed pleased with itself.
Several nearby Elementless Sprites gathered around.
They watched curiously as the Earth Sprite continued digging.
The process was slow.
Painfully slow.
But it worked.
A small chunk of ore eventually broke free.
The Earth Sprite proudly held it above its head.
The surrounding sprites stared.
Then immediately began imitating it.
Within minutes, dozens of sprites were attacking the hillside.
Some used rocks.
Others used sticks.
A few simply punched the stone.
The results were chaotic.
Ethan couldn't stop laughing.
The Iron Deposit wasn't the most valuable thing he had ever seen.
But watching ninety-five Elementless Sprites invent mining with absolutely no experience was surprisingly entertaining.
The Earth Sprite eventually became frustrated.
Several times it pushed other sprites away from the deposit.
The Fire Sprite arrived shortly afterward.
It immediately tried heating a section of exposed rock.
Nothing useful happened.
The Air Sprite appeared next.
It contributed absolutely nothing before returning to its tree.
The Water Sprite at least attempted to maintain order.
With limited success.
By sunset, a small pile of extracted ore sat near the spring.
The amount wasn't impressive.
But it was real.
A tangible result of development.
As night settled over the world, Ethan opened his interface.
[ Origin System ] [ Synthesis ]
Name: Ethan Reed
Stage: 1 — Novice Creator
World Type: Elemental
Origin Energy: 1,030
Origin Credits: 600 CR
System Points: 60 SP
Units: 99
Elementless Sprite ×95
Water Sprite ×1
Fire Sprite ×1
Earth Sprite ×1
Air Sprite ×1
XP: 11 / 1,000
Everything appeared normal.
Yet Ethan felt increasingly optimistic.
The world was changing.
The civilization was growing.
Resources were appearing.
Origin Energy generation was improving.
And he still had over twenty days before the University Recruitment Competition.
For the first time since awakening, Ethan felt like he was beginning to understand what it meant to be a Creator.
Not a warrior.
Not a commander.
A Creator.
Someone who built a civilization from nothing.
Someone who guided a world toward prosperity.
Someone who transformed potential into reality.
And tomorrow, he would return to Planet 042.
Because while development was important, the path ahead still required resources.
Resources that could only be obtained beyond the safety of his own world.