When the core awoke, the first thing it noticed was that it was black. Well, not all the way black, but the whole world was cast in shades of grey and black, except for around the core, which cast a torquiest glow on the sand around it. White lights glittered above it, and a large white orb hung in the sky.

The core considered the world for a second. Hint! It demanded.

Do you want a hint?

Yes! Of course!

At a certain time called ‘sunset,’ the sun goes below the horizon, which is called ‘setting,’ and this heralds the beginning of night. The white dots are stars, balls of fiery magic, and the white orb is the moon, a hunk of glowing rock.

Strange. But the core was already growing bored of the ‘night,’ and so turned its attention to its koi. The first thing it noticed was that the greater koi, water koi, lily koi, and blood koi were extremely fat…

And that there was no other creatures in the pond. The core also felt… strange. Like it controlled the water around it…

By releasing mana into the water around you, you have claimed it.

Oh! It had claimed the water! Delighted, it pushed and pulled the water. Then, it turned its attention to its koi. A few koi could evolve, and it turned them into two greater koi, a water koi, and a bloody koi. It was sad it hadn’t gotten the option for lily koi, but it could probably get one later.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It could now spawn an assortment of bugs and fish, as well as ‘algae’ and a few types of ‘seaweed’.

It spawned a few lily pads, hoping that would allow it to make more lily koi. It made more algae, delighted in the plant’s strange looks. It spawned a few bugs and fish, interested in the looks of its new animals. Though none of them were as good as koi.

Once it had grown bored of this, it turned its attention to claiming the ground.

Do you want a hint?

Of course!

Focus on the ground, and spread your mana through it.

Mana? It had heard of this… mana. But what was it? And how did it use it?

Mana is the energy of all living things. It is called many things, including magic.

Unfortunately, I am unable to assist you in using mana.

Wait… The hint thing was alive?

… Yes.

Why?

… I’m not sure how to answer this question.

Why was it alive?

I was created to assist you by the overall system.

Huh. Weird. So it had its own personal hint thing? And there was a more powerful hint thing?

…Yes?

Odd. Anyway, it needed to find out how to use mana. It concentrated on the stone, as if it was moving the water. And, for a second, it felt the stone. But the feeling faded away as soon as it felt it. It was angry for the first time. Frustrated, it sent a beam of water to lash against the stone, fueling it with the core’s anger.

The stone around where the water spout had slammed into suddenly became one with the core. Shocked, the core attempted to move the stone, and it moved! The stone moved!

And as it moved, the core felt as if it’s control over the stone was seeping out, expanding. Soon, it could feel all the stone around the pond. A notification popped up.

You can now spawn grass!

You can now spawn weeds!

You can now spawn dandelions!

There were a few more notifications, but it ignored them. It had claimed the stone!