After resting for ten minutes, the guy and the girl gathered themselves to continue the journey. Aya showed not a hint of displeasure, fully obeying Kenshin, following him without a second thought, unconcerned about how they would survive in the mountains. The young man, in turn, promised himself that he would take care of her no matter what, and not let her go hungry.
An hour and a half later, they reached the base of the first mountain, but Kenshin didn't like the terrain, so they ventured a bit deeper into the mountains, and about fifteen minutes later found a large network of caves. The young man decided this was just what they needed.
Leaving Aya outside, he grabbed a pre-prepared torch, lit it, and entered the cave. After 20 meters from the entrance, the tunnel split into two passages. Kenshin decided to check both. He reached the end of the left tunnel in about 2 minutes, and it split again into two parts. Deciding not to risk it and delve too deep into the unknown caves, Kenshin turned back and checked the second tunnel, finding that about 50 meters in, it ended in a dead end.
Deciding this spot would do, he focused on the ability about which he had only superficial information. The young man mentally activated "Shelter Creation," and his consciousness seemed to leave his head. He saw the nearby terrain within a radius of about 150 meters and felt a shock. Though he knew roughly how "Shelter Creation" worked, knowing and experiencing were not the same.
For the next hour, the young man built "blueprints" in the allocated area. Finishing the "setup," he mentally approved everything and confirmed the shelter's creation, then collapsed exhausted against the nearest wall. Sweat poured from his face like rain, and his head throbbed mercilessly.
The dead end before him glowed with blue light, and this lasted about five minutes before everything went quiet. On shaky legs, Kenshin approached the "dead end" wall and placed his hand in a small, almost imperceptible indentation. A second later, the wall rumbled and slowly slid aside, ceasing to be a wall and becoming a door. The door to his new home.
"It worked! It really worked!" Kenshin thought, unable to hold back a smile. All his fatigue vanished instantly, and he quickly stepped inside, glancing around his new "home." Confirming everything was as planned, the young man hurried back to the entrance where Aya awaited him.
Hearing footsteps echoing from deep in the cave, Aya grew alert, and as soon as Kenshin emerged into the daylight, the fragile blue-eyed brunette threw herself into his arms, kissing him fervently.
"God, Kenshin, thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried..." the girl said in a trembling voice, her tender face framed by two streaks of tears.
"Shh, everything's fine, I'm okay, see?" he said with a smile, hugging her and pulling her close.
"Where were you? I imagined the worst..." Aya sniffled, afraid to revisit her thoughts from while Kenshin was gone.
"I was building our new home," he replied with a smile.
"Home? Building?" Aya asked uncomprehendingly.
"Come on, I'll show you everything!" Kenshin said cheerfully, pecking her on the lips, then grabbing the bags.
When they reached the "dead end," Aya eyed Kenshin skeptically, not understanding how a damp cave could be called a home, but then Kenshin opened the door, and her jaw nearly dropped. The young man tugged the stunned girl by the hand, and they entered.
Inside their new "home," there was no lighting yet, but Kenshin planned to fix that soon. The "Shelter Creation" ability was only level one, so the resulting "home" wasn't vast or magnificent. But it wasn't small either.
The prototype for the "shelter" was partly a quite prestigious four-room apartment, but he'd added some personal changes, creating nearly an exact copy of an apartment from his old world. The system was generous with shelter customization options, allowing Kenshin to create parquet floors, carpets, beautiful concrete walls, lacquered wood, and more. In the end, the young man felt like he'd returned to his own world. The only reminders of where he was were his village clothes and the homemade torch in his hand, which was smoking up the beautiful ceiling of his new apartment.
The young man was initially upset, but then remembered that for the "Patriarch's" convenience, the shelter would self-clean every 2 days, returning to its original state and repairing some damaged parts. But if more than 40% was damaged, it would become unusable and stop restoring its integrity.
Kenshin glanced at the "Shelter Creation" ability and saw a timer on the right counting down to the next use, realizing he couldn't remodel this shelter or create a new one for seven days. Creating two shelters simultaneously was impossible; the old one would immediately become unusable and turn into an unremarkable cave.
Kenshin's "new home" had 4 rooms: one large living room and 3 bedrooms. Separate bathroom and toilet, plus a kitchen and one large training room the size of a school gym. It was styled completely differently: thick concrete walls, thick bare floor, a small tatami mat at the far end, several makiwara, two punching bags, and a weight corner with a barbell and weight plates, plus several different dumbbells. Kenshin didn't know what shinobi needed for training, but figured this equipment would be useful for now, at least for himself.
The only thing the system wouldn't create was electronics or any other high-tech items, so Kenshin improvised a "gas" stove vaguely resembling those from his home world, planning to inscribe a heating formation later. The system created pipes and a water reservoir, but refused water heating, leaving that for Kenshin to figure out.
The reservoir supplying water filled itself, apparently from a mountain river, and underwent system filtration to prevent poisoning. The sewage drain led deep underground.