I spend the next three hours trying to get twigling number one to hold the shield correctly. I honestly don’t think these things are capable of learning. And getting the shield from over by the tree doesn’t count, that's more using data it’s given. These guys seem like little computers to me, little biological computers. I give them an order, they do it, result be damned. Example, a few minutes ago I left my pod and told twigling one to catch the shield then throw it back to me. It caught the shield out of the air fine, it was actually an impressive catch. The problem arose when it went to throw the shield back, it might be partially my fault for my lack of specificity in my command. It hurled the shield back at me as hard as it could, damn good aim too, hit me right between the eyes. It didn’t do any actual damage, according to my health meter, but it still hurt like hell.

The good news, twigling number two is almost ready. I’m looking forward to having them practice with each other. I haven’t looked at the specification for these guys in detail but I know I can modify them, to what extent I’ll have to find out here in a little bit. I wonder how much fun I’ll be able to have customizing these little guys, I wonder if I can change the color of their afro? Imagine you're just walking through the woods and you run into a walking bundle of sticks with a purple afro. Well, that would probably be bad for me because then they would know I’m here but it would be fuckin hilarious. Speaking of hilarious, twigling number two is done, so now I get to watch these guys throw the shield at each other's faces. Once I feel twigling number two’s presence on the network I order it to walk over to me and stand at attention. It walks over and just stands there, no salute, not even a straightened back with legs together, it’s just there partially slouched. Honestly not surprised, these guys are the bare bones basic.

I order the twiglings to throw the shield back and forth. I watch in anticipation as they turn to look at each other and twigling one winds up to throw. With a whoosh the shield goes flying the five feet in the blink of an eye, with a thud twigling number two…. catches the shield out of the air without breaking a sweat. God damn it, there goes my entertainment for the night. Twigling two then proceeds to throw the shield back to twigling one at full speed. Twigling one then catches the shield out of the air with no problem and prepares to throw it once again to twigling two. Something tells me they are going to do this all night unless I tell them to stop. Well that's fine by me, keeps them out of my hair while I work on a third one. This one I’m going to customize some but keep simple so I don’t utterly fuck it up.

I head back into my pod and start the sap cycle, then I use my skill to access the creations. Once I use the skill and think about modifying my creations new information flows into my head. I can see all the things I currently have plans for. I can modify an existing one, create a new one using an existing one as a template, or create a new one from scratch. Intuitive little system I got going on here, nice and helpful. I choose to modify an existing template, and get a full overview of what the final product will look like, as well as a nice stat sheet.

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Race: Twigling: Level 1 (Lesser)

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Health: 75/75

Mana: 50/50

Stamina: 200/200

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Strength: 25

Agility: 20

Endurance: 20

Magic: 5

Fortitude: 15

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General skills:

* Flora Network Connection - Level: 1 (Max)

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Well damn, these guys ain't total pushovers, especially if I make a mob of them. Now let’s see, how do I upgrade them? I poke around a little, eventually discovering that I can improve the level, up to four fifths my own level. Each level gives me three points to spend on its stats or skills, a paltry number in comparison to my seven per level but these guys are lesser, whatever that means. My guess is that increasing the level also increases the build time and mana cost. Bump up the level to its max, which right now is eight, and then distribute the twenty four points between strength, endurance, and agility.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

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Race: Twigling: Level 8 (Lesser)

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Health: 105/105

Mana: 50/50

Stamina: 392/392

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Strength: 33

Agility: 28

Endurance: 28

Magic: 5

Fortitude: 15

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General skills:

* Flora NetworkConnection - Level: 1 (Max)

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Ok that is better already, now how expensive is this going to be? I put twigling number three into production within the bush wall and watch as the process slowly starts up. Yea, this is going to take about four hours, and a shit ton of mana. Lucky in this form mana is something I have a crap ton of.

While I wait for twigling number three to finish I start looking into the rest of the prefab designs my skill came with. There aren't any more minions, but there are plenty of plants and plant based structures, which is weird. If I assume this skill is meant for wild monster dryads then what the hell would they need a wall for. Ok I use the term structure loosely, most of the structures are just some form of wall taped together, usually without a roof. Only one of the predesigns has a roof, and it looks like it’s meant to house corpses or something. A corpse house, what a wonderful thing to have in my catalog. Among the things saved in my log are every plant I’ve encountered with my network so far. Unfortunately I get the feeling that reproducing one of these plants from scratch is going to be a lot of work and expensive even by my current mana standards. I wonder why the minions are easier to make, less complex maybe? A regular old plant has to be self-sustaining, while the minions get their food from the network, but they also have intelligence. I look over to see twiglings one and two still throwing the shield back and forth without a care in the world. Scratch that, no intelligent life found. Minions also don’t have any extra functions. A normal plant also creates fruit and whatnot, the minions can’t even create entertainment.

Well, I have nothing better to do so I start designing random stuff in my skill, keeping just enough attention to twigling three in the background to keep it growing. I quickly learn a few things from the creative design process. First, I never see an actual number for mana and nutrition costs but I naturally have a feel for how much it will cost, not number wise just generally. No idea if that feeling will scale up or down as my mana pool improves. Second, the larger a creation is, the more mana and nutrition it uses. That makes sense, larger things need more materials. Three, the more intricate a creation is, the more mana and nutrition it uses. Example, a wooden block with a pattern etched into it is more expensive than just a wooden block. The cost increase seems to scale with the complexity, both functionally and aesthetically. So something complex that looks pretty is going to be a lot more expensive then something that is just complex. It really is an interesting system, and the sky seems to be the limit for what I can design. If it will actually work or not when I create it is a whole different issue. Seems magical tomfoolery will only get me so far, I need to know how to actually make something work functionally in order to build it so it’s functional. System won’t just create working models for me out of thin air, aside from the prefabs that came with the skill. Maybe I can use those as base templates for making other things.

I go back to designing things, a large variety of things ranging from tables, to chairs, to a primitive room with a roof. But I forget to add a door so I have to go back and do that but then want to add windows but somehow confuse myself trying to add shutters for the windows because building is hard and I’m an IT major not an architect. A new presence on the network diverts my attention from my projects, twigling number three is ready. I look over the results of my newest work, It looks exactly the same as the other twigling except for its level.

Twigling (Lesser) (Level: 8)

Twigling (Lesser) (Level: 1)

Twigling (Lesser) (Level: 1)

So now I have the three stooges, what should I do with them? I have an idea, a mean idea for my own amusement. I order twigling three to take the shield. It walks over and yoinks the shield from twigling two’s hands while it is readying a throw. Twigling two looks as close as a barely sentient plant can be to being confused, while twigling one is still waiting for the shield to be thrown at it. I order twigling one and two to steal the shield back from twigling three, and order twigling three to hold onto the shield no matter what. What ensues is a semi entertaining game of cat and mouse as twigling one and two try to steal the shield as twigling three just runs away. Twigling three is slightly faster, and one and two are not smart enough to use team work, so they just both chase the faster twigling three while bumping into one another. It’s not much but it gets me laughing, something I can't remember doing since coming to this world. I do a quick modification on the twigling three design, this time giving it a purple afro, because why not?

Unfortunately night fell when I was distracted designing the house, if it could even be called that. I decide to call it a night, despite the fact I’m fairly certain I don’t need sleep. But it’s a habit, and one I don’t intend to break yet. I also order the twiglings to return to their stations, I do not want them running around unsupervised all night. First I have twigling three drop the shield off by my other gear, the block of wood looks no worse for wear overall. It was a good test of its durability. I set the new twigling build and start thinking about all the other things I could do with this, the possibilities are damn near endless. Before I know it, I’m out cold dreaming of plants and minions.