B 3 C 12: HOW MANY LILS?

Upon waking up, I gaze around for Lil and begin to panic when I don’t spot them. I briefly forgot they’re in my inventory. It feels like my mana isn’t recovering very much at all. I’ve slept for at least several hours, long enough to get hungry at least. But my mana is only at just over a hundred and not climbing to any decent degree. Maybe food will help?

I summon and consume some fish, and water. Even though it fills me, I don’t see any signs of speeding up my mana restoration rate. Is Lil receiving my mana instead of me? Is it fixing their glitch? Dumping Lil out of my inventory is going to take a full pool of mana at the very least, but now that they’re stuck in my voidspace for a while, I’m curious about a few things.

What happens if I summon an umbral copy of Lil? What happens if I try to do inventory crafting to combine things onto Lil? What happens if I summon an umbral copy of Lil, then for example, put a helmet on the real Lil? I’m actually afraid to try the second one, as I worry it might consume Lil in some way if they get combined with an item and just become draconic scales on that item or something. That thought terrifies me.

Still, I’ve got just enough mana to try an umbral copy of Lil. Lil, can you hear my thoughts? Are you curious too? I can see you floating around in there, peering at all kinds of things. What are you looking at? It seems like you might be hearing me, but I can’t tell if you’re responding. I guess we’ll give the umbral copy a shot. I perform an US, an Umbral Shot, expelling a copy of Lil from my inventory with no velocity. I just want to inspect it.

Suddenly, both Lils gaze around in frantic surprise. The Lil in my inventory hops around in my inventory, and the umbral copy leaps into my chest, causing me to catch them. The Lil in my inventory makes a nuzzling motion, and the external copy nuzzles my scaled torso. If I’m parsing this correctly the Lil in my inventory is getting sensory feedback from, and able to control, the umbral copy.

Curiously, I query, “Lil, can you hear me? I’m not hearing you if you’ve been talking.”

Lil seems to try to speak, but they realize I’m not responding to whatever they’ve said,so they simply nod emphatically. That’s good news at least. It’s a bit less lonely.

“Lil, could you hear me before I made the umbral copy?”

Lil tries to approximate the so-so gesture without hands. I wonder if they can hear me verbally, but can’t ride my thought train. That seems likely, otherwise Lil would probably just call out to me from thinkspace. Still, this umbral copy has hung around for a fairly long time, I’ve never had a copy stick around long enough to really inspect. It’s identical, other than being made from a nebulous gray umbra, instead of Lil’s red scales. I wonder if it would cost the same amount as actual Lil to claim, or if it would cost the normal amount for an object of this size to draw it into my inventory.

First, let’s try equipping Lil with a helmet. Hm, it worked, and now the umbral copy is wearing a helmet. That’s utterly fascinating. I could play dress-up with Lil all day, but that won’t help us progress. Unequipping Lil’s new helmet, the umbral copy loses theirs as well.

“Lil, can you evolve while you’re in my inventory? Can you try?”

Lil looks thoughtful before they begin to glow with a coat of creamy gray in my inventory. Sure enough, the umbral copy also elongates as a silhouette, and suddenly an evolved Lil copy takes up most of the space in the dugout. When the Lil in my inventory evolved it felt like my stomach just expanded as if I’d eaten everything at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

I stroke the umbral copy’s face and lay my forehead to its forehead. I don’t have the mana to do much of anything at the moment. I suppose I could try to cheat and siphon some heat from the air, pulling in atomic motion as mana. Extending my thermokinesis out, I cautiously draw in the kinetics of the molecules in the air and soil around me. I try to avoid the tree roots so as not to damage them. Sure enough, I get about enough mana to claim an object of evolved-Lil’s size.

Is this a risk? What if, like Lil, it costs far more and drops me into energy debt leaving me unconscious? I suppose I’m mostly safe in this dugout to experiment. Stroking the jaw of Umbralil, I claim the unusual copy to my inventory. Thankfully it only seems to require the normal amount for an object of its size. Lil looks surprised in my voidspace. Umbralil mirrors the expression.

Hm, this could change some of my tactics in combat in a few ways. Having one or more extra Lils to fight alongside me is already a massive boon. Furthermore, evidence suggests I could summon umbral copies of a spear for a hundred mana, then combine stuff onto that spear to increase its density, size, lethality, and cost. I wouldn’t have to pay that cost for all of the copies of the spear though. If one or more copies connected with a foe, I could tie a sword to the original spear’s tip in my inventory. Would a sword appearing inside a foe displace their organs? That’s pretty gruesome. Actually I think the world would prevent it. I can’t summon items accidentally or purposely in the same place as other solid matter normally. About the only thing that came close was when I displaced water with other water.

My mana has tanked out to zero, and Lil’s starting to look a little sickly in my inventory. Now they’ve fallen into a hibernating stasis. Is it taking my mana to allow Lil to be conscious?

My mana doesn’t seem to be recovering at all anymore. I don’t think I’ll be able to get Lil out of my inventory if I remain here. I’d better just start marching and slowly siphoning mana out of the air. Well, siphoning atomic motion and converting it to energy. There’s a heaviness in my stomach, and what feels like a depleting pull upon my heart. My mana threatens to drop into the negative, and Lil suddenly de-transforms while in stasis. The weight in my stomach lightens up, as does the draw upon my heart. Oddly, the umbral copy remains evolved.

Alright, that’s all the experimenting we’re going to safely be able to do. Let’s head out, shall we Lil? I know you can’t hear, or respond, but it feels nice to know you’re with me. I leave the dugout, and begin marching along the same heading we were previously taking. I’m able to lope at a decent pace now in my draconic form. In fact, if I sprint, and leap, I can make a modestly elongated glide, conserving my physical stamina. Sprinting and gliding are starting to become second nature. At least if I’m trying to only head directly forward. Veering to one direction or the other is an entirely new sensation to balance against, in order to retain my equilibrium.

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I’m continuing to passively siphon atomic motion out of the air. Even carefully drawing in the motion to convert to energy, at its poor return rate, is at least granting me some mana regeneration now. Lil seems to be looking less ill in my inventory as they awaken. Hey Lil buddy. This more or less confirms my suspicions that Lil is requiring my mana to be sustained in my inventory. Lil hops in place, and so does the umbral copy within my inventory. It feels like there’s an earthquake that only takes place in my stomach. That’s an incredibly unusual feeling. Lil doesn’t have the same limbs as their umbral form, so their control is definitely limited comparatively.

I'm being tailed by a figure in a hooded cloak. Since he seems to be levitating about 20 feet off of the ground as he follows me, I'm just going to assume it's Mataalii, based on Te's last description of him. Do I kill him now? What sort of powers has he picked up? If I launch everything I have, and he doesn't die, I'll be at his mercy. He's got a danger wrap for enhanced senses and ease of dodging projectiles, at the very least. That makes filling the air with projectiles in a nearly solid wall the best option to score a direct hit, but if he has high maneuverability and speed, he might just fly to an area where he doesn't have to dodge any of them. Plus my mana is barely capable of generating one or two umbral shots at the moment.

I need to test the waters to see what his suite of powers is like. I also need to make sure he doesn't have some massive area-covering powers that might hurt the flora in this area. I'm still not sure why, but my heart aches for the loss of any of these ancient, massive trees.

I pause to take a breather, well, to at least appear as if I’m taking one. I make a big showing of panting and acting discombobulated in my new body. Mat takes the bait, thankfully. I don’t even need to look to know he seems to summon a globule of lava as if from nowhere. As Mat launches the lava I feel the fluctuation in heat approaching me. I simply wobble left, pretending my balance is still off. I can hear the air swoosh as Mata cuts it with his hand, and the lava glob suddenly veers left towards me.

So you do have control over lava now Mat. Let’s see if you can control it when it’s nothing more than a chunk of stone. I pull up an FFS in the direction of the lava, and draw all the heat from it. The lava falls like a rock after becoming nothing more than pumice. It harmlessly bounces off my FFS and I hear a “tch” coming from Mat.

Seems like he doesn’t have petrakinesis or terrakinesis, thankfully. I’ve got just over one hundred energy at the moment, do I dare risk trying a strike right now? He might have fantastic reflexes at this point. If only I could control trajectories of my umbral shots like Mata could with his lava shot. Well, maybe I can’t control a trajectory, but Lil certainly could. Still, I’m curious, how many layers deep does Lil exert control? If I make a copy of the umbral copy, instead of Lil, do Lil’s actions still translate?

I don’t exactly feel threatened if all Mata has brought to the table is lava at this point, so I may as well test this out. Mat seems to be doing something behind me. I still haven’t even turned around to face him. He might not even know that I know he’s here. My FFS probably looked like a passive defense. I summon an US of Umbralil, aimed towards Mat, and Lil gazes wide-eyed in my inventory. I try to connect my senses to Lil, and I can actually see through Lil’s eyes, Umbralil’s eyes, and Umbralil number two. They don’t appear to have Lil’s same massively potent aura senses, but that’s fine.

Mata dodges to his right, Lil leans left in my inventory, and Umbralil number two veers towards Mata’s new position. It’s definitely Mat under that robe. He’s still feraform, so he hasn’t changed too awfully much, but there does appear to be some sickening graying of his fur that branches and diverges in streaks akin to lightning. Get him Lil, end this.

There’s a heavy ache in my chest, and I close my eyes, cutting myself off from all three Lil’s senses. I don’t want this weight on Lil’s heart, but I’m so grateful that it doesn’t have to be me.

There’s a sudden wave of heat coming from my rear, and I steal a glance in its direction. Mata has summoned a small flood of lava in the air, and is proceeding to try to trap Umbralil #2 in it, to little effect. Umbralil simply flies through the molten rock, it slows them down considerably but doesn't stop them. The two of them perform an aerial ballet, but I need to siphon the heat out of that Lava if Umbralil is going to have any hope of keeping up with Mat. Plus I really don’t want it taking out trees and starting a forest fire. Currently Mat is fleeing, Umbralil is chasing them, and lava is chasing Umbralil.

I launch myself directly towards the heart of the floating wave of lava with a JT propulsion, and summon a flash freeze storm on the way. It’s enough to generate another hundred energy as this pond of lava turns into a boulder midair. I let myself plummet behind the boulder, keeping it between Mat and myself, so that he no longer visually knows where I am.

Let’s see how many Umbralil #2s that Lil can control, shall we? I summon another clone of Umbralil as another Umbral Shot near Mat’s back with velocity aimed towards me, through Mat. As the new Umbralil appears, Lil appears to be sweating. That’s an odd thing for a reptile with infinite thermal resist. But instead of hopping around and leaning left and right, they furrow their brow and seem to be able to control the Umbralil copies individually.

Mata lets out another “tch” and suddenly he’s gone. Grr, we haven’t finished him off, or seen the last of him. I’m certain he has more powers than that, but maybe he’s taking time to get used to them in the same fashion I’m getting used to my new body. I wonder how he even found me. I get that he could recognize my hair, but what led him to me? Oh, wait. My aura is so strong it leaves a massive trail everywhere I go if you have aura senses as strong as Lil’s. Maybe that’s one of the abilities he picked up, other than the low-speed flight, and lava conjuration/manipulation. I wonder if the last one is two abilities, or if he has an inventory full of lava now, and just used that to summon lava. Or maybe it’s a single ability.

The extra Umbralil copies land nearby and approach to nuzzle me from both sides as I’m lost in thought. Chuckling, I stroke their cheeks and nuzzle in return. Do I claim them to my inventory as well? It would take less energy to call copies out of my inventory than to keep making new umbral duplicates. I suppose I could claim one of these two, and see how long the other Umbralil lasts. It has been nearly a minute since I summoned the second one, nearly three minutes since I summoned the first. Yeah, let’s see what happens.

I claim the fresher Umbralil copy to my inventory. The remaining Umbralil lasts until what must be about the five minute mark. I wonder if the two in my inventory also have a five minute duration, or if they’ll have become permanent since I claimed them and their normal expiration has passed. I feel like it might be the latter since that’s what happens with Valkyrie equipment when Valkyrie de-transforms. It’s also what happened with Linti’s magical lightning bolt duplicates. Oh, I just got that, lightning crossbow bolts, lightning bolts, her attack is, well, yeah. Wow, can’t believe that one slipped by me during the heat of combat. I suppose I was a bit distracted at the time, what with my heart stopping, then my throat being blown to pieces.

I’m fairly certain the bolt that came straight on towards me was the original attack, and the two that homed in from a wide arc were the duplicates. It just seems most sensible. She can probably launch magical copies in arcs, but a real bolt still needs to be fired from her wrist-mounted crossbow.

Huffing, I heave an elongated sigh and start marching back along my original course. I don’t think Mat will return until he has mastery over some of his new powers. I’m going to need to step up my game in preparation.