Chapter 53: Effort
Wednesday, April 5th, 6:24 AM
Dungeon Ciara
“My time is limited due to interference, so I’ll be brief. The opposing force is gaining strength faster than you, according to the spread of their mana. Magical traps are possible if you imbue materials as I showed you with pyrite and quartz. Experiment with that. Speak with Mike about it since his class helps him to understand those things.”
[What about—]
“Fill your third floor with strong minions and get to work on a fourth as soon as you can. The deeper you go, the more likely you will survive. I will speak to the humans above.”
Sven appeared above the beach at his true size and woke everyone to inform them of the coming doom.
At least Sven didn’t roar.
Sunny and Sandy were already out in the ocean, swimming faster than ever when my Capitola kraken returned with its first catch. If I had a jaw, it would have dropped when I recognized the creature it had subdued.
Architeuthis.
The Giant squid.
It was a young specimen with a mantle only a half-meter long. When my kraken reached my tide pools, it tore into the exhausted young squid, which gave a small puff of ink and strained to jet away. But at more than twice its victim’s size, my minion was just too strong.
Before it died, I created a female Capitola kraken to join the male, and once they dispatched the squid, they disappeared to hunt together as I smiled and checked my minion interface.
Even at its normal size, a giant squid minion cost over sixty percent of my mana.
Well, that’s not surprising. I’ll hold off on them until my fourth or fifth floor, I guess.
Over the following hour, I discussed material infusions with Mike and created sixteen more krakens in my new saltwater lake and two more in the harbor. I ordered the ocean-going krakens to avoid harming humans or their companions.
One poked its eyes above the water to stare at Bella, who played on the beach with Abbie and asked, [What of that animal? It swims.]
[Any creatures you see interacting in a friendly way with humans are also not to be harmed. As a general rule, if you are near the surface, do not attack land-dwelling animals of any kind unless I say otherwise.]
[As you wish.] Three of my four surface krakens jetted away together while the original remained in my tide pools to heal.
The first two had caught and delivered a half-grown Mako shark, but my original kraken lost three of his eight tentacles in that fight. Fortunately, the limbs were already regrowing.
More importantly, I had a massive new fish to play with.
What?
I could create massive sharks based on the Mako with only forty percent of my mana. At six meters long, they’d be more than 2,000 kilograms each—around ten times the mass of my krakens.
It must be the brains of cephalopods like the Giant squid that make them so expensive.
My mana was almost full and I had a new shark minion ready in my creation interface when my new minions returned with another prize—a stingray.
Hm. I should wait and let my octopuses bring in prey for a day or two, since I have other minions to make.
And I did. While delving began for the day and Mike rallied people to get started building forges on the surface to produce nails and other fasteners, I made enormous cats on my third floor.
Based on poor, departed Peanut, the maximum-size, 450-kg versions of Palomar tigers became the largest cats on Earth—surpassing even the largest captive-bred hybrids. In addition, they also received a Stealth augmentation.
My third floor received twenty of them. One more cat received the same coloration as a typical mountain lion. I spawned the feline inside Siobhán’s room as a gift, with orders for him to remain docile until she named him, and to follow her commands to the letter thereafter.
[Soybean, I have a gift for you. Check your room when you have a moment.]
“’kay!” She and Joe stuck close by one another, assisting Mike along with my other residents. Even Sunny and Sandy insisted on carrying things to help as the forges were built.
High-altitude cirrus clouds rolled in from the west, as thicker clouds offshore dimmed the morning sun.
A quick look around my third floor made me reconsider its overall theme, and I added something that was a nemesis of mine when walking on New Brighton beach with my pups. An invasive species that had colonized parts of North America.
Pampas grass.
Its long, blade-like leaves could easily slice through skin if drawn across it, but more importantly, it grew large enough to provide cover for sizable animals like my huge cats.
I arranged the Pampas grass such that it created a meandering, maze-like pattern through some parts of the floor. Then I added several dozen clusters that concealed alcoves I shaped into the walls, where my big cats could take refuge if necessary.
After that, the floor received additional shrubs that my cats could hide behind, and I doubled the number of rock outcroppings to make the terrain less-hospitable to humans.
In keeping with the theme I had so far for each floor to have a rest area, I added basic restrooms to either side of the entrance tunnel, each with a single toilet and sink.
Then I tried an experiment, similar to what Sven had suggested. I channeled a tiny amount of mana into a lone tuft of Pampas grass to see what would happen. After a moment, its leaves changed color from slightly pale to vivid green.
I focused on it, and The Voice spoke.
Ooh. I wonder what happens if I…
FOOM
I see.
Further mana infusion caused the grass to ignite, scorching the immediate area and killing the plant.
To have some available in case it was useful, I imbued a hundred Pampas grass plants near the passage to my new core room. Even for a hundred plants, the amount of mana required was minuscule.
Fruit trees…
I grew a Rainier cherry tree in front of one of my third-floor bathrooms.
Imbued by mana, its fruit turned a brighter yellow and red—almost seeming to glow.
What?
I added and imbued a Freestone peach tree in front of the other bathroom.
This is ridiculous… no wonder Sven kept telling me to tinker with mana!
Ooh! I know…
I grew and imbued a stinging nettle, then grinned wickedly as I listened to its description.
The floor received a few dozen patches of that near the main path.
Then I tried the same with blackberries. Their thorns were four times as hard as normal and the berries temporarily enhanced eyesight.
Since more expensive ores give me additional mana when harvested, I wonder if the same is true for crops?
Quietly, I imbued a few of the trees in my fruit orchard to test that idea. The process was ten times more mana intensive than expected, requiring five percent of my mana to imbue each tree.
Ah, right. I should have anticipated that. But at least it didn’t multiply for both floors, or it’d be a hundred times as expensive.
Allison Ames and her daughters were near the peach tree I’d enhanced, and when Katie Ames picked one, the mana I gained was four times the usual amount.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Perfect. That’s exactly what I was hoping for.
While I was converting the rest of the fruit orchard, Katie called out, “Mom!” Then she held the third peach she’d picked in front of her nose and stared at it.
“What is it, Kate?” Allison rushed to her daughter, nearly tripping over Nino, who had accompanied them.
[Careless human.] Nino’s ears laid back as she glared at Allison.
“Sorry, kitty.” Allison didn’t spare Nino a glance as she caught hold of Katie, her rough embrace knocking away the two peaches she’d been trying to manage with her other hand.
“Mom, look,” said Katie, still focused on the peach in front of her face.
“She’s fine, Mom,” Valerie said, rolling her eyes as she kneeled to scritch behind Nino’s ears.
“Yes, you have a peach. That’s wonderful,” said Allison.
“No. Really look at it.” Katie raised her eyebrows and locked eyes with her mother.
Allison gave a small shake of her head, sighed, and stared at the peach. Then her forehead wrinkled as her eyes grew wide. “That voice,” she whispered.
“Uh-huh.” Katie beamed, then took a bite and squealed.
“Kate, what’s wrong?” Allison patted her daughter’s back.
“Knock it off, Mom. She’s fine,” Elizabeth deadpanned.
Katie held up a hand as she chewed, and her mom stopped. She swallowed, held out the peach, and said, “You guys have to try this!”
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“This is impressive,” said Joe as he poured molten steel from a crucible into a specialized mold Mike had made. “But I thought square nails were cut from sheets of steel before they were shaped? Pretty sure I saw a documentary on that.”
“Hm. Maybe so. But this makes them stronger, and we don’t have functional machinery. Yet.” Mike grinned as he held his hands over a pair of molds to imbue the nails with mana as they cooled.
Nearby, Siobhán pried the molds open and dumped the cooled nails into buckets for transport to the surface. Joe smiled as he felt the warmth of her contentment through the magic of their bond.
Siobhán looked up and batted her eyes at Joe as her adoration surged.
Women’s emotions are potent. Joe marveled as he winked back at her and she giggled.
“You two are disgusting,” said Mike with a laugh.
“Hey, you helped push for this, so don’t bitch about it,” Joe replied with a wide grin.
“What’s it like? That connection you have?” Mike asked, scooping impurities away from another batch of steel.
“Amazing,” Siobhán blurted, and her cheeks flushed.
“Well, it makes it easy to know what a person thinks of you,” Joe said thoughtfully.
“So, is that how you two went from zero to married couple in a single night?” Mike raised an eyebrow at Joe.
“We’re not—” Siobhán stammered.
Joe felt her worry surge.
“Not yet,” Joe finished for her. The tremendous eruption of love from Siobhán at his words almost made Joe stagger, but he mastered himself. “But yeah, that’s how. There’s no hiding anything from each other. It’s refreshing, to be honest.”
“Hah. Wish I’d had something like that with Brooke. Would’ve proved to her that she was always good enough for me.” Mike frowned.
“It does more than just that. You get to experience the other person’s perspective to an extent. It’s also how I know, right now, that Joe doesn’t want me to say any more.” Siobhán laughed.
“You’re connected right now?” Mike wrinkled his brow.
“Yeah. Helps us both to know what the other needs.” Joe set another pair of filled nail molds aside to cool.
“Hah. No wonder you’re acting like you’ve been together for years. It weirded me the hell out at first. Shit, I thought you’d both lost your minds,” said Mike.
“It’s still new and we’re figuring it out, but it’s worth it.” Joe nodded at Siobhán. “She’s worth it.”
Siobhán sniffled and stumbled over to embrace Joe as he felt a rush of adoration, fulfillment and gratitude from her.
“Well, it’s good to see you’re both happy,” said Mike. He sounded wistful.
“There’s always Allison Ames,” said Siobhán.
“Hah. I appreciate the sentiment, but she’s a bit young for me.” Mike chuckled.
“She’s thirty-one, the same age as Joe.” Siobhán tilted her head and shrugged.
Mike snorted. “Hate to break it to you, kiddo, but Joe’s a little young for me, too.”
Siobhán burst out laughing, then said, “Fair enough.”
When they reached the construction site, a crowd stood around one of the UCSC students, chattering.
Joe was about to say something when Mike took over.
“There’s wood that needs cutting, people. We’ve got hundreds more on their way from the Boardwalk this morning, so, unless you want to be packed in like sardines for weeks—”
“Bruce got a class!” One of the young men cut Mike off as he shoved another man toward Mike.
Oh, shit. Joe shut his eyes and he felt Siobhán’s apprehension and concern over his discomfort. He glanced at her and smiled when he realized it was another expression of how much she cared.
Mike firmed his lips and asked, “Oh?” The muscles in his forearms rippled.
Bruce stepped forward. “Uh, yeah. I’m an Elven Carpenter, I guess.”
“A what?” Mike cocked his head as the crowd murmured.
“I don’t understand most of it, yet. But there are these ideas in my head—things I’ve never learned about, but somehow, I know them,” said Bruce.
Mike grinned. “I’ll be damned. Well, put that knowledge to use, son. The rest of you, listen when Bruce tells you what to do. Let’s get back to work, people—these houses won’t build themselves.”
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Six different parties of humans delved into my Dungeon as Jeffrey and Todd toiled to fashion gear for others down in the workshop.
Mike had warned the people that Vijaya was back to being a proper boss and would no longer allow passage unless she was defeated. But I didn’t expect my first-floor boss to be so savage and cunning.
I hadn’t been paying attention until I heard the screams and found Vijaya skittering toward a crevice near her victims.
Three armored members of the first party to reach her lair were stung on their exposed necks in a stealthy sneak attack.
[Stop moving, Vijaya.]
She obeyed, her antennae whipping about furiously as she clung to the wall just in front of the crevice she’d been headed for.
Immediately afterward, one of the angry UCSC students drove a spear through Vijaya’s midsection and the others hacked her apart.
A glowing treasure chest spawned at Vijaya’s death, but the others ignored that while yelling and crying over the three girls who’d been stung.
Vijaya’s victims died in less than a minute, and I used the extra mana to grow hundreds of additional fruit trees in just a few seconds near Schwan Lagoon.
While I set about imbuing those trees with mana, one of the five survivors grabbed a pair of rings from the chest while her companions weren’t looking and hid them in her pocket. They fled toward the surface after the bodies of their fallen disappeared.
She’s a greedy one. I mused.
[Vijaya just killed three students,] I told my residents.
“What?” Rihelah shrieked next to Michael, startling some of the crowd who followed them from the wharf.
[Good humans is died?] Sunny whined as she came to a stop on the beach.
Sandy yowled, then covered her face with her paws.
“Nicolas…” Siobhán hissed.
The others shook their heads, and Mike sighed.
[I’ll have a little chat with Vijaya when she respawns. She’s going to behave like a proper centipede, no matter what.]
It had to be Nicolas. Centipedes don’t know to target a person’s unarmored vital spots, and Vijaya deliberately targeted women wearing cloth armor while ignoring the unarmored men beside them.
He’ll pay for this.
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Floors: 3
Minions: 291/360
Residents: 12/16
Denizens: 177497
Traps: 6/15