The World Seed in Kestra's tribulation realm may have taken control of the conduit tot he blighting. That did not change that the conduit ran through Kestra. The sheer scale of the chaotic mana and fouled everything -- air, soil, water, corpses of creatures and warped flora both -- passing from the blight to her World Seed overwhelmed all but the most instinctive of Kestra's needs. She ate when food was put in front of her, and stumbled after whoever led her about, and that was about all she did.
Afterward, the others told her she was catatonic like that for three days, then slept straight through for another day. Three days was how long it took for a mana seed to be planted at the site of the bush house Graemire had made for their camp, and for it to mature into a Dungeon Core.
At that point, her World Seed calmed. The stele through which it was still consuming blight remained. Kestra had no intention of retrieving that anchor to the Myriad Realms before the blight was all gone. Still, the scale of the throughput on that connection diminished from the vortex of a maelstrom to something more in line with a runoff stream.
Graemire had come to her realm once more, and he and the other Elementals were all busy with the changes that had happened there. It felt like the kind of busyness a person focused on to ignore something that disturbed them, but that didn't make the work any less necessary. In the time while her World Seed had been so overwhelmingly active, her retreat realm had expanded to a width of five kilometers, complete with newly formed stone, ores, soil, water, air, and plants. The little Ore Sprite was ecstatic to be overwhelmed with coalescing the new metals into deposits.
There were also mana-born creatures appearing in her new woods, birds claiming her skies, and fish in her waters. They were all smaller than her fist, and none of them were magical despite being mana-born, yet all of them answered to her sprites and to her, and they tended to her woods as naturally as the Nature Sprite.
All of that she discovered after reading her notices.
♦•♦•♦ [COMPLETED] Quest: Grow Your Mana Well III ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Grow your Mana Well to Low Foundation Grade
Rewards:
- Foundation Mana Stone Generator Seed
- Quest: Grow Your Mana Well IV
EXP: 50,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ [COMPLETED] Quest: Grow Your Mana Well IV ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Grow your Mana Well to Mid Foundation Grade
Rewards:
- Quest: Grow Your Mana Well V
EXP: 50,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Level Up! ♦•♦•♦
You have reached the next level. You gain 5 boosts to distribute across your statistics.
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ [COMPLETED] Quest: Grow Your Mana Well V ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Grow your Mana Well to High Foundation Grade
Rewards:
- Quest: Grow Your Mana Well VI
EXP: 50,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Level Up! ♦•♦•♦
You have reached the next level. You gain 5 boosts to distribute across your statistics.
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ [COMPLETED] Quest: Grow Your Mana Well VI ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Grow your Mana Well to Low Earth Grade
Rewards:
- Earth Mana Stone Generator Seed
- Quest: Grow Your Mana Well VII
EXP: 500,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Quest: Grow Your Mana Well VII ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Grow your Mana Well to Mid Earth Grade
Rewards:
- Quest: Grow Your Mana Well VIII
EXP: 500,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Level Up! ♦•♦•♦
You have reached the next level. You gain 5 boosts to distribute across your statistics.
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Level Up! ♦•♦•♦
You have reached the next level. You gain 5 boosts to distribute across your statistics.
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Congratulations! Befoulment Bane ♦•♦•♦
You have significantly aided in containing befoulment within the Myriad Realms!
♦•♦•♦
Rewards:
- Title: Harmonious
- 1,000,000 Challenge Points
- Scroll: Reward Store (Consumable)
EXP: 1,000,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Title: Harmonious ♦•♦•♦
You have made a significant contribution to the harmony of the Myriad Realms.
♦•♦•♦
The elements of the Myriad Realms respond more favorably to you.
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
Those were followed by five more level up notices.
She applied her boosts right away, not wanting to have that waiting for her. She opted to get the Enhanced title for her Mana, Reaction, and Attunement stats, which also advanced a certain quest chain.
♦•♦•♦ [COMPLETED] Quest: Mana Cultivation III ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Reach Solid Mana Cultivation Stage
Rewards:
- +5 Mana
EXP: 50,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ Quest: Mana Cultivation IV ♦•♦•♦
Requirements: Condense 5 Solid Mana Drops
Progress: 0/5 Solid Mana Drops
Rewards:
- +10 Mana
EXP: 100,000
♦•♦•♦ ▲▼▲ ♦•♦•♦
Her profile looked ridiculous to her own eyes.
♦•♦•♦ PROFILE ♦•♦•♦
Name: Kestra Boom-Smiter
Level: 49
Experience: 176,643 of 240,100
Race: Human
Titles:
- Transmigrator
- Harmonious
♦•♦•♦
Boosts: 3 of 285
Force: 70 = (7+10) + 53
Reaction: 70 = (10+10) + 50
Recovery: 50 = (8+5) + 37
Attunement: 75 = (10+10) + 55
Stamina: 50 = (8+5) + 37
Mana: 85 = (10+25) + 50
♦•♦•♦
Tempering Stage: Untempered
Open Foramina: 8
Cultivation: Basic, Drop Forming
♦•♦•♦
Achievements:
- Transmigrator
- Dungeon Hunter
- Mana Well Maker
- Ascension Level IV
- Enhanced Force
- Enhanced Reaction
- Heightened Recovery
- Enhanced Attunement
- Heightened Stamina
- Enhanced Mana
♦•♦•♦ ▼○▲○▼ ♦•♦•♦
♦•♦•♦ STATUS ♦•♦•♦
Health: Healthy
Stamina: 750 of 750 (5/s)
Mana: 850 of 850 (60/s)
Conditions: Battered Meridians
♦•♦•♦ ▼○▲○▼ ♦•♦•♦
Inspri had already planted the seeds for the generators, but the three of them were sharing the original output conduit from her Mana Well. It was a matter of moments for Kestra to grow that conduit, increasing the output going to Inspri's domain. With her much higher Mana Manipulation skill, Kestra estimated the total conduit sent over around ten mana per second.
Inspri had divided the output equally when the different seeds were added. The Foundation Mana Stone Generator Seed had taken 33,000 mana to mature, and was already producing mana stones that were three centimeters in diameter. The Earth Mana Stone Generator Seed required a total of 144,000 mana to mature, and presently needed close to 46,000 to finish the process.
Kestra had Inspri readjust the output distribution. She didn't want any more than 1 mana per second going to the Base generator, and was happy to spend 2 mana per second for the Foundation generator, which left 7 mana per second for the Earth generator. By her rough calculations, that would net her 17 Base stones, 15 Foundation stones, and 16 Earth stones per day after the last generator matured. And with the 7 mana per second pouring into it, the Earth Mana Stone Generator matured within a few hours.
She hoped that would help sustain her Divine guests. Graemire in particular felt gaunt to whatever proprioception operated through her personal realm.
----------------------------------------
A few hours after Kestra roused from her conduit conducting stupor, Inspri had shared all the goings on Kestra missed out on, at least as it pertained to her retreat realm. Currently, the inventory sprite was only aware of the retreat realm becasue Kestra was physically present. That was enough for Inspri to borrow Kestra's realm proprioception, though.
Ralouf had looked after Kestra while the Elementals soothed their troubled hearts by ordering her expanded realm. Inspri recounted nearly every word spoken and action taken in the retreat realm with a childlike zeal. The sprite's enthusiasm for observation came through clear enough that Kestra silently resolved to see what she could do to increase the sprite's ability to observe.
Physically, Kestra still had the battered meridians condition, but while listening to Inspri, her mind cleared from its fogged state, and her body felt well enough, if a bit itchy from dried sweat. Thus, her first movements involved finding a washroom and taking a bath. From there, she felt hungry, so she cooked.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Ralouf had said the food of the realm would be a channel for the realm to claim their mana, but all the Divines told her that her realm was "stable"; it didn't try to claim or change their mana. On the hope they would be able to enjoy food from her personal realm without issue, she made enough to share with the two Divine Creatures currently in the tower, Ralouf and Yorgin.
She shaped wood to make serving dishes for the hearty, meat-heavy stew she made with the Celestial Boar Meat they looted during the last dungeon run. Yorgin's serpent form looked very much like a carnivore. On the off chance she was wrong, she also made an ambrosia from the fruits growing in her retreat realm, accompanied by a brumi based curry.
Inspri reminded Kestra to set some of that food aside for the prisoners, whom Ralouf had also taken point on keeping alive and fed. Under Ralouf's direction, Mistspri made sure they had enough water. Soilspri had uses for their wastes, though it was still up to Stonespri to collect the material. Kestra didn't want to talk with the men, so she just used her realm-bound shenanigans to drop off plates of the curry for them.
Kestra personally carried the food up to the tower room Yorgin claimed. Blight Sickness could make mana consumption a dangerous necessity for the monsters of Moh so as she set the serving tray on a convenient bedside table, she asked Ralouf, "Is the food of my realm safe for you to eat, and if it is, will this be too rich for Yorgin?"
The stout man answered by sampling the food, then dishing up a large platter for his friend. He commented, "Some of the base mana stones would be good, too."
Kestra had Inspri crate up half of the current surplus and then moved it to the next room over. She went and retrieved a couple handfuls. "I put more next door, in case the stones radiate mana in a way that I can't feel. Take as many as you and Yorgin need to recover, and let me know if you need more. And please don't say anything about paying me back," she added, cutting off Ralouf as she saw him open his mouth. "You've been caring for me, and Yorgin got hurt like this getting the anchor to safety. Nicada would have killed me, but you all stood up to her. I know it wasn't so much about me as it was about her, but you all stood up to her. That matters. You're good community to keep, so let me do what I can to help you now."
Ralouf and Yorgin exchanged glances, then nodded to her.
"Well enough," Yorgin said.
Ralouf patted Kestra's cheek, pausing to wipe away a tear she hadn't realized she cried. "Fine. This is that 'communal soul' aspect of humans you spoke of, isn't it?"
"Maybe?" she agreed.
Yorgin perked up and swallowed the food in his mouth. "What's this?"
Ralouf shaped a stone table and set to serving around the food. He waved the question over to Kestra while also gesturing for her to sit at the low table.
She did as she was bid, and in answering Yorgin's question, rekindled their curiosity of why people of this realm leveled so slowly compared to her own experiences.
"I thought it might be the Village Stones, but I don't know that much about them," Ralouf commented.
"It probably is the Village Stones," Yorgin mused, as if this thought had just occurred to him.
Kestra pushed the bite of food in her mouth to her cheek to ask, "How so?"
"I read some," Yorgin began.
Ralouf laughed and teased, "Every book he gets hold of!"
Yorgin nodded, showing them a smug 'as-it-should-be' grin. "Some. I don't get enough books. Anyhow. Some of the books have to do with the city sieges in the Kuruk nexus. They make it clear that in the higher realms, the City Stones operate off of the realm's free mana. If the attackers are able to siphon away enough of the free mana of the realm, the besieged City Stone will draw upon the mana regeneration of those bound to it. There was a mention about the experience gains of those bound to such besieged cities dropping off, too. At a guess, the people of the Low Mortal Realms are burning their futures to preserve their present because there isn't enough free mana below the Peak of the Mortal Realms for a City Stone to operate."
Kestra felt a glimmer of an idea, but she didn't know enough. "What, aside from suppressing monster spawns, do the City and Village Stones do?"
"Creatures, please!" Ralouf teased.
Yorgin ignored his friend's interjection. "They don't, actually. Well, they do, but that's a side effect. They act more like a dumbed down Dungeon Core, one that handles building things and supporting the Ascended races that use them. They don't do the construction. They empower the Ascended that bind themselves to these Stones so they can build the various structures and maintain them, and then, in the different buildings the Stones support, the villagers get bonuses for their skills."
Yorgin happily held forth on the subject, long enough for both Vostler and Graemire to seek them out and join the lecture audience.
The glimmer of Kestra's idea became a glow of inspiration while she listened, but it was still lacking something.
----------------------------------------
Though Yorgin enjoyed holding forth about the books he had read, and Ralouf and the Elementals had some experiences to share, they were all Awakened. Their races were not communal in the same manner that the Ascended races were, and so their experiences with Village and City Stones were, ultimately, limited.
After the conversation turned to people the Divines knew back in the Divine Realms, Kestra gathered the dishes and headed to the cook room.
To Kestra's sensibilities, the tower that Ralouf had replaced her cabin with was a marvel of luxury. Sure, it was presently unfurnished, but it had indoor plumbing! More than that, the size of the rooms impressed her. On Moh, she had shared a room with Dualla at the Pine and Swine, one of the inns in Telleranhook that catered to Freelancers in a boarding arrangement. Geunter and Mira had only just bought a merchant home, one with three rooms, and Hildai lived with them. Two of the rooms in her sisters' home could fit in any one of the rooms that Ralouf had built.
On Moh, one of the main considerations for room size was how expensive those rooms would be to moderate their temperatures. Enchanted heaters and coolers were a common luxury around Telleranhook, requiring mana crysts harvested from monsters to power, and the less volume they had to moderate, the longer the crysts lasted.
Kestra didn't think she put in any kind of seasonal variance when she made her retreat realm. The temperature stayed constantly pleasant to the point that the usefulness of buildings had more to do with sectioning off specific use areas, like her lab and bedrooms and the kitchen. Still, even if she didn't have to run heating or chilling enchantments, the size of the rooms felt decadent. Even the stairways were grand, wide enough for Ralouf and two of his twins to walk up, side by side. The steps were neither too shallow nor too deep, neither too short nor too tall.
Graemire walked down those steps with her. "How are you feeling?"
"Recovered, but I need a bit of getting used to my new self, I think."
"Oh?"
"I said before, didn't I? Stats aren't something that Moh's world voice aided us with, at least not directly. Our attributes were rated, but you trained or you never saw improvement. Boosts make things about my body different from what I expect. Plus, I have spells to play with! The closest I came to spells before was the Cleanse skill, but I had a lot of conversations with [Mages] about how they worked their affinity skills into spells. I'm curious how that applies to the elemental Control spells."
"Was all of your spell casting -- you called your world Moh?"
Kestra shrugged. "I needed a name for the world I came from. It's not home anymore. Right now, I'm using Moh."
Graemire accepted that with a chin dip. "Were all your spells on Moh elemental in origin?"
"Kind of? Keep in mind that for Moh, elements reflected states of existence: vapor, liquid, solid, plasma, and time. There was also soul magic, but that got the gods' attention real fast, and no one sane wants to earn godly ire, so even talking about soul magic bordered on taboo in a lot of places."
"Would you mind me watching while you work with your Control spells? Which ones do you have?"
She rattled off the list as she led the way into the cook room. "Control Water and Flames, Earth, Wood, and Metal, Air, Lightning, and Gravity. I think 'gravity' means something like one of the really arcane 'mancies that has to do with Levitation spells, and I'm curious if Control Wood is anything like Botanomancy. The [Plant Mage] I bought my bows from got very, eh, esoteric I think is the best way to say it? When she talked about how the affinity skill helped her with casting the specific spells that shaped the bows she made. But all the [Mages] used to say you have to cast to understand."
"What does it mean to cast a spell based on a skill?"
Kestra set the dishes in the sink, plugged the drain, and opened the faucet. "The Living Scrolls recognized my attempt to push out what I know, well, knew on Moh as the Cleanse skill as a combination of the spells Control Water and Disassemble." While she spoke, she focused on the feel of using the Cleanse skill in its original purpose -- to lift off dirt and oils and other contaminants from her tools -- to clean the dishes.
Graemire watched on with mild fascination.
No new notices came from the Living Scrolls, and Kestra found that encouraging as it matched up with something she had once heard. "I think that the Control spells of the Living Scrolls are very near to the affinity skills of Moh. When I could get [Mages] into discussions about how those skills worked, and how they got them in the first place, they tended to be generalizations gleaned from observing enhanced skills. What I'm doing right now with the dishes feels very much the same as the first rank up enhancement to Cleanse."
Graemire nodded his acceptance of her statement, his expression showing that his curiosity was yet unabated.
A small silence fell between them while she finished and put away the dishes. Then Kestra announced, "I'm going to head outside for the next tests." Once again, she led the way.
Near the tower, Ralouf had cleared a small plaza; without plants it didn't match what Kestra thought of as a courtyard. There were signs that he planned to build more structures around it. The ground was stone, which Kestra hoped wouldn't catch fire.
Control Flames worked on a torch's flame, but it also produced its own, very small flame when she cast it. Both the torch flame and the flame she made with the spell got up about as hot as a small campfire, to her disappointment. There were a few alchemical concoctions that needed a hotter flame than that to properly set. Still, the more mana she poured in, the bigger, the hotter, or the wider she could make the flames. Trying to do more than one change at a time took an exponential amount more mana to accomplish. It also took mana to snuff out or diminish the torch flame, and even more to work with the flames Graemire conjured for her to practice on.
He suggested, "We could contest for control of the flames, but that's a more advanced training than I think you're looking for now."
"Later," she agreed.
Next up was a re-creation of something she had talked a [Storm Mage] into trying out. To get into the right mindset, Kestra started with a long-short story. "[Alchemists] of Moh recognize vapor and liquid as fluids. That means they conform to their containers, and without a container, they spread and sink as far as they're able. Vapors are just so much lighter that they usually sit on top of liquids and solids. There's a fun little trick that most [Alchemists] love to share with the novices."
Graemire used his gaze to silently encourage her to continue.
Kestra smiled in anticipation. "Most root vegetables of Moh, and some beans, have a substances called starch that can be extracted. Mix the starch with water and it stays very much like a fluid -- when you move slowly. Strike the surface and it's like hitting dirt or stone."
Graemire nodded. Kestra noted his lack of surprise and guessed that the alchemists of the Myriad Realms had already figured out something like this. It did not dim her excitement. "I had some successes working with an [Armor Smith] to make armor against bludgeoning strikes using those principles, and now I am going to see if I can use the Control Air spell to make the air work like that, like an Air Shield. Can I make the air act like starch water? That's what I'm going to try next."
A look of comprehension brought a faint smile to Graemire's lips. "You can," he asserted.
And then he spent the rest of the day teaching her how to make her air shield a reaction cast, something combat effective.
She went to sleep with a lot of sore muscles and new, surface level bruises, but also far happier. She might not be able to cast a shield spell capable of directly blocking the next Divine Elemental's projectile, but she felt like she had a chance to deflect enough to survive the first strike.