Winning was great, but my immediate concern was trying to figure out how to detoxify my creatures. I had 3 Kobolds and 2 Guardians that were currently poisoned. Unfortunately any bats that had been poisoned didn’t survive. While I was freaking out, one of my Kobolds had ran into the main cavern and gathered some plants they had gotten outside my cave. Running back they fed the first batch to the female who had defeated the first Tatzelwurm, before moving to my main female Kobold. They also gave some to my Guardians, but significantly less than what they gave my Kobolds.

Watching these actions I pulled up the template for these plants.

Alpine Forget-Me-Not

A small blue flower that thrives in cold climates. Found in high altitude areas, this flowers bright blue petals and yellow center are used by several species as ingredients for alchemical purposes. On its own, it helps tighten tissues to help close wounds, and the oils produced can detoxify different poisons and venoms.

Chances to evolve - mid

I had noticed the Kobolds bring in several plants, but since I was focusing more on the expanding of my walls and watching over my creatures I had not looked at them in detail. Once again reminding me that as much as my little Kobolds seemed to worship me like a god, I was not in any way, aware of what went on within my walls. Luckily my Kobolds seemed to have their own basic knowledge of what was useful in the world. If they only had knowledge based on what I myself knew, they would probably be dead.

I watched as the poison status disappeared on all my creatures, and the health on both Kobolds actually went up due to the slight healing abilities of the flower. Seeing that they were doing better, I decided to check out the cave. I knew it was about 10 feet wide straight from where I entered, the wall to my west being where I planned on opening a spot for entrance into my southwestern cave I had made. The east went on about 6 feet on the wall my hole was in before opening up into a huge cavern like area. It was filled with stalagmites and stalactites, plus a few different plants I had not seen yet. On the southern wall about 6 feet from the wall and just outside where my vision had ended, was a massive cave lake. I could see where it started, but couldn’t see its ending as my Mana hadn’t spread that far yet. It would seem I had found a nice water source to possibly get a node from for my little river.

As my Mana spread out, I finally came upon the scene of the initial fight. They weren’t actually all that deep in when they came upon the initial Tatzelwurm, only a few feet beyond the curve of the northern wall. It was there I also found the body of my male bat, the Kobold that had fallen, and the original bat I had sent out. It seems the Tatzelwurm had been feeding on my poor explorer bat when the war party came around the corner. Seeing the bodies of my creatures just lying on the ground was an eye-opening experience, reminding me I held the lives of not just myself but my creatures as well.

Deciding that claiming territory, though important, came second to me trying to bring my creatures back. The tutorial had stated that they could be brought back after a certain amount of time, at half their Mana cost. I figured the time limit was to make sure you didn’t just bring things back to life in the middle of fights, a fair rule logically. There were some more philosophical questions to the whole process, but they weren’t important right now. Focusing my Mana I tried bring back the explorer bat and my male bat at the same time. At half Mana cost, it was 10 each, so it wasn’t even a strain on me. I could feel my Mana was larger as well, as I gained some levels from the Tatzelwurms since they died within my bubble of influence.

I could feel the pull of Mana, as it collected around their little bodies and filled in the wounds and missing parts. Finally in one last big pull the Mana flooded their bodies, bring them back to life. I watched as the little explorer gasped, like they had been underwater a tad too long. My male on the other hand came back fine, just shaking his head as if he just awoke from sleep. I watched as they got back up from the ground, stretching and examining their bodies, before jumping up and taking flight. They flew to my little entrance to the cavern, meeting up with the group there.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

As they flew around I pumped the 16 Mana needed for my Kobold, beginning his process of fixing and returning to life. But I split my focus to watch the reunion, as my first female bat, crashed into the male, causing both to fall to the ground. Luckily he was only about a foot up, but I could hear her screeching cries of happiness and anger. It would seem that my male bat had not fallen in surprise, but by pushing the female out of the way, sacrificing himself for her. Seeing how happy she was for him to be back, it would seem his little sacrifice play had earned him major brownie points.

As my Lesser Kobold also came around and joined the group, being happily welcomed by the others, I tried my best to get their attention. Almost immediately my creatures turned as one, facing towards where my core was. I decisively ignored how they had turned as one, in near perfect sync, reminding me of some strange horror show trope. Seeing how they were focused I sent out a wave of happiness and pride in how they had defeated the two Tatzelwurms. I let that wash over them, there emotions returned tenfold in being praised. Letting them bask for a few extra moments, I then turned more serious.

They had won, but the cost had been high. I was currently reviving the other bats and the one male Guardian that had fallen. In total I had lost 6 bats, nearly the entire group I had sent, one of the Kobolds and a Guardian centipede. 8 creatures didn’t sound like a lot to lose, especially to 2 creatures of obviously higher rank and rarity. The problem was that was a little over a quarter of my total creatures.

Currently I had 15 Foxen bats, the 9 Lesser Kobolds, 6 Guardian centipedes, and my singular Fanged Field Mouse. 3 of those Kobolds and 4 of the Guardians had been made while waiting for the original war party. So if I took those out of the equation, I had actually lost a third of my creatures to 2 Tatzelwurms. Again they were obviously a 4th tier creature with a rare Mana Core, but that just means if they had been a 5th tier, I probably would be dead. I didn’t want all of my battles to be a case of luck or close calls. The skink had been a close battle as well, while the Tatzelwurms were won because my creatures were throwing themselves into battle, not caring if they die or not. They didn’t even know I could bring them back to life, they were just so devoted to helping me grow that they didn’t care for themselves.

This couldn’t be allowed. I didn’t want them to just sacrifice themselves in an attempt to turn the battle. I wanted them to be able to grow and live, not be tools for me. I sent this over to them to the best of my abilities, sending imagery and emotions describing how I felt and wanted for them. I could feel them turn serious, then I could feel more devotion. They knew I cared and wanted them, to live, but those feelings were being turned into idolization. But then I felt the 3 main females and 2 males, answer my emotions, acknowledging my intentions. Felling that I did my best to explain that even though I could bring them back, too many deaths would only hurt them. Plus if a battle went on to long, I may not be able to bring them back at all.

I had made that guess based on the different reaction made by the 2 bats I had raised. My little explorer had come back gasping, as if he had been gone for almost too long, while my male had come back as if from a deep sleep. The time difference between their deaths had been almost 30 minutes, based off my internal clock. The bats and Guardian I had revived didn’t even seem to have the cobwebs my male bat did, coming back at almost full attention. My best guess was that anything over 45 minutes to an hour probably wouldn’t come back at all. Plus the fact they had to be within my range of control meant anyone who died outside my influence would have to be carried back to me.

I did my best to convey that to them, showing them I was not some all-powerful being. I was a little worried that would cause some dissent, but it would seem for all their worship of me, my creatures already knew that. I could feel some amusement flow to me from my female bat, noting my embarrassment from the realization, the cheeky little thing. Luckily she was the only to notice it, being the first creature I had connected with, giving her connection more strength than the others.

I had made some poor choices once again, not quite learning from my past experience. I had created more creatures, but had only sent one bat on expedition. If I had sent a few more, they may have been able to return and report to me what had attacked them. The war party had been unbalanced, the 2 Guardians not enough to tank the enemy, leaving openings for the sneak attack from the 2nd Tatzelwurm. Not only that the party had almost no experience in this kind of thing, something I could have helped with by waiting and exploring the outside a little more, or by explaining things better to them. The fact they were smart enough to lead the 2 Tatzelwurms to me for experience showed how much I wasn’t thinking compared to them.

It felt like I was coasting through life, letting whatever bumps and rapids life threw at me hit me unexpectedly and only hoping I would survive. It was time to start some better planning, and working on my creatures to get them levels and possibly evolve. I also couldn’t let these kind of things get me down. I may be able to create life like a god, but I was still 100 percent mortal in how I think and act.