[water-2 points]
My first points were spent on water, and I saw a transparent orb of water not much bigger than my hand show up and it moved around where I was looking.
“Tia a little help, the water is just floating there.” I ran to the exit as it became more and more solid till it solidified on the ground right next to the exit and flowed out into the thirsty sand. Like a spring without end.
“I am here what..oh ok no big deal it is just some spilt water….our water going into the sands. Ok that is a bit annoying but at least we can pick it once more and get the placement right.”
“True ok i will try. Dungeon core status environment”
[environment, you can add floors or other features room 1, floor 20, glass 4 points, magma 10 points, plants 4 points, or radiant mana 20 points, ]
“Ok looks like we have a bit of a problem. Umm pick plants and lets hope for the best.” tia said, “we need plants and might get water to pop up once more.”
[plant-4 points]
Once more I spent points and I saw a swath of transparent green cover my vision, I looked near the water that was spilling out of the dungeon. It settled in and became solid, now the start of the dungeon was covered in a green carpet.
“Oh come on something is screwy with this core, giving us moss in a desert” tia said and sat down on the soft moss. “Well at least it is something soft, and we can eat it. We are down to 4 points today right, we should be fine for today we have food and kind of some water even if we can't get more than a mouthful at a time before it leaves.”
“I have an idea I have earth magic at level 1 i might be able to get that water to come back in umm somehow.” i said and i looked at the sand and pushed my will onto it to make it solid, i felt my mana leave me and nothing changed on the sand that was just outside the exit but my mana was still spent.”
“Well too bad it looks like you can't use your earth magic outside of the dungeon, maybe try it later when you have a higher level in earth magic?” tia said upbeat despite my failing.
“Tia can i change the exit of the dungeon?” i had the inkling of an idea.
“Sure but it still has to be accessible to people, some dumb Balancer rules.” she said fully relaxing on the moss.
[room - 1 point]
I saw the overlay of a transparent room over the exit to the cave and i kept looking there making sure it lined up with the exit and after it flashed for a few moments it solidified and then faded away. I took a step and to see if my idea worked and it did, i can walk out of the exit to the cave. I kept walking and then hit an invisible wall not that far away. But still i can go outside now, it was not long i was trapped in that cave, less than a day really but still it was a victory. Now to test out the next part of my idea. I knelt down on the sand next to the water, and dug it out making a deep bowl shape, and then channeled my mana into the sand once more and let it flow out of me and into the sand, this time the sand came together and formed stone. The earth magic worked this time and we now had a bigger area to drink from. It did not take long for the water to spill out from the new container back out into the sand like it did to start with. I felt good though two things worked out for me after two things did not. I hope this pattern of things not working out for me did not keep going.
“Ah thanks lilly you made a bath for me,” tia ran on the moss and took a flying leap to jump into the water, i narrowly grabbed her before she hit it.
“No that is our drinking water, you can have your fun with it when we can live off of mana alone, or dig out your own bath from the sand and i will make it into stone.but for now you leave that water alone. “ I sat down and moved my legs into the sun baked sand while I was on the cooler stone.
“Fine.” tia lazely hovered around. “So now that you have food and water done what do you have planned next? Going to pick fey and start up some minions, save up for radiant mana or something else?”
“For now just save up for radiant mana it should take 9 days with the 3 points i have left, and i don't know how fast this moss grows and if any fey will be able to eat it.” i tucked my legs back into the shade and continued. “After all we are in the middle of nowhere we can spend a few days saving up points for free food for all.”
“Fair enough but you know you will be the only defender this place has and you are not that combat based. You are more night time seduction in a town or city. So out here.” she motioned to the sands. “ you are not in your element.”
“I will have to take your word for it. But i don't know what being a succubus is or how strong i am, i have nothing to compare to yet. Well other then you tia but i don't think that will give me a good gage of my own ability.” i stood up and brushed myself off and walked to the back of the cave, tia following me as i walked. “I still have so much to learn, and find out what i can do as a guardian, a succubus, and my earth magic.”
“Well we have time right now right, let's start with something you can do right now. Lets play with your earth magic.” i nodded at her idea. “Good, well first how does your mana look right now?” i gave her a confused look, she sighed. “Fine you can see it by thinking or saying attributes, in time you will just get a feel for how much of it you have.”
“Attributes”
[health 58/58]
[mana 40/80]
Strength 3
Dextary 6
Stamina 8
Wisdom 4
Intelligence 5
Alure 8
Luck 7
“Looks like i have 40 out of 80 mana, after i did the trick with making sand into stone around the water.” i said.
“Hmm not that great on efficiency. But in fairness demons are not known for being masters of earth magic, they tend to go for fire above all else. Looks like you have to spend more mana because your race affinity does not match.” tia thought aloud. I slumped at the revelation. I had picked a bad magic, but how was i to know i would be a demon i thought i was saying all those good things and had no way to know i would be a demon for it, or get a new body at all.
“Please tell me there is a upside.” i said under my breath.
“Yep earth magic is rare, and you can use less mana by having it come out at a slower pace. In the end the result is the same if you do it fast or slow and that is one of earth magics strengths. And it is fire and air magics weakness they have to go all out to get any result worthwhile. You could make a mountain with earth magic even with a small mana pool, but the other elements need to have a huge mana pool to pull off there amazing feats. So even with it being a bad affinity for you, it was a smart pick as a dungeon core guardian!” she patted me on the back hard. I smiled a bit from her efferets.
“Thanks for that, this has been quite the day.” i slapped both my cheeks. “Ok i am ready now i just needed that boost. What can earth magic do for the basics, and how do i start?”
“That's the spirit, i know this has been a lot to take in but it will get easier.” she gave me a smile. “At its core earth magic just moves the earth, simple right.” i nodded. “The trick is most things are made of one kind of earth or another, and by moving earth in different patterns you can make another kind of earth. Metals would be an example they still are found in the earth and are therefore still earth.”
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“I asked for the basics.”
“I know i am getting there, just let me be happy you are an earth mage.” she beamed a me. “The basic stuff that you have done some of already. Is to bind earth together into a given shape. You can move earth in any direction you want so long as you have the mana for it, it is easier if you just move it while still touching other earth then say shooting rocks in the air at people. That is a very mana intensive move even for those with earth affinity. But you could arrange some rocks to be tossed at high speed not using magic but they don't go as fast or nearly as actually.
Earth magic an encourage growth by feeding mana into what you want to grow, normally it is plants but it can be used for healing too, but water is the best as far as primal elemental magic goes for healing and growth. But be careful if you ever use earth magic to grow or heal, as too much can fill the subject and make it burst like an soap bubble. It can be messy….”
“Got it i can move the earth around or make it bind to other earth, healing and growth will be helpful latter but i don't want to risk missing those up just yet.” i put my hand on the earth and started to poor my mana into it willing it to stand up from the rest of the ground. It formed a small spike with a divot around the base it was no longer than my thumb.
“Good start hmm can you make another one next to it just a little apart.” tia said with a blush.
“Sure i just want to see how much mana i just used first.” i said then thought attributes
[health 58/58]
[mana 38/80]
Strength 3
Dextary 6
Stamina 8
Wisdom 4
Intelligence 5
Alure 8
Luck 7
“Looks like that just used up 2 mana. Ok doing your request.” i then made the next spike of earth right next to the first and same size. “There done.” i looked back to my mana and saw it was once more had a cost of 2.
“Nice, can you make the top a bit more rounded and all of it smooth? Lets see your detail work.” she said still having a blush. I did as she asked and checked my mana this time it used only 1 point. “Thanks” she gave my shoulder a hug. “It will be lots of fun having a succubus as my friend. No judgement at all.” she spun in the air in joy.
“Ok i have to ask what do you mean no judgment, you know i was not born a succubus well i guess reborn, but i am only a day old and have no real memories of anything really. So i can't be seen as a standard succubus.” i crossed my arms as i looked at tia.
“You know what that is true, but i will make things simple. I am going to show you what i mean and you can tell me if you approve or not.” she flew down and sat next to my now rounded out earth spikes and started to lick one all round the top of one. Then she repeated her actions on the other till i could see them slick. Then she lowered herself on them letting out a moan that got louder the farther down she went. I just stared at her in confusion. She used her wings to lift herself up then stopped and went back down getting louder as she went. I just sat down and watched her repeat this for a good hour not saying anything till she shuddered her wings beating erratically and a quick burst of liquid came from her lower half.
“See you had no problem with me doing that, i can even see you got a little excited yourself.” she panted and pointed to a wet spot on the ground around me. She lay down on her belly and looked at me with a silly grin.
“I have no problem with it because i don't know the meaning behind what you just did. I also don't know what is going on with me. Once more you are in the position to explain things, like is normal.
Tia went on to explain the birds and the bees.
“And now you know, i just did it for fun and it feels so nice. As a succubus you kind of do the same thing, only you can be a bit more deadly. Go on give it a shot make a smooth shaft of stone and do what i did. I know you will like it.” she said playfully.
“I think i am good, i want to go back to my earth magic but not that way. My mana is now full and time to do some learning.” i moved the two shafts tia had used back into the ground making the area flat.
“Oh that is not very nice.” tia pouted. “Fine i will just be here guarding the core while you have fun with your magic.” she huffed and sat right next to the shining core.
“Ok i will.” and i went to the sand outside of my cave. I started to poor the smallest amount of mana into the sand to see what would happen and saw the small grains of sand start to jump together more and more the sand came together and it looked like it was becoming a solid stone the size of a pebble. I checked my mana it had used one mp to do that trick.
‘This is not good i can make a pebble with one mp and small spikes with a little more. Lets see what all my mana can do at once.’ i stepped past where the water was being collected and put my hands to the sandy ground and pushed with all my mana, i felt it leave and flow out of my hands and my knees and tips of my toes. It was flowing out of all of me that was in contact with the ground. Good to know for latter if nothing else. For my efforts i got a disk of sandstone no larger than the reach of my arms. I then fell onto it out from my excursion of my full mana, as well as the not small drop the disk made. It fell into a suddenly appearing hole that was easily from my fingertips to my elbow, and the landing was not soft, i got a little scraped from the now sandstone.
[you have made sandstone hemisphere]
[you gained earth magic subskill transmuter level 1]
[with the transmuter subskill you can change one form of something you have dominion over to another form of something you have dominion over for a lesser cost or greater effect. As you level this up your range of options will grow]
‘Great now the blue things pop up when i don't summon them…. Wait hemisphere? What is that about i made a disk.’ i waited for a bit for my mana to recover and crawled over and dug out the side of my disk, and as i dug deeper i saw and felt it was curving gently in the shape of a sphere under the sand.
‘Ok well now i have a small pit with a sandstone floor at the bottom of it before my new home. What can i do with this.’ i saw a little bit of water start to wet the side closest to the dungeon. ‘Well tia did want a bath and i guess i could make the sides of this into stone and have the extra water drain into it. It is just pouring into the sand anyway why not make some use of it.’ i then spend the better part of three hours slowly transmuting the sides to stone and resting to regain my mana. I found that i regained my mana slightly faster if i sat down and closed my eyes and let my mind drift thinking of nothing. My last action was to direct the flowing water into my bowl of sandstone. I sat in the bottom of the now sunbaked bowl and felt the water come in and cool me down, it was warming up a little from the sand stone but still felt quite nice.
I got out when the water was ankle deep and walked over to tia who was asleep and curled into a ball. ‘Oh this will be fun.’ i thought as i ever so gently scooped her up and seeing as she did not wake from this, i ever so slowly walked over to the still filling pool and tossed her in.
“Ack what, bla, what's the big idea. Tossing me in the water like that. A lady could drown like that.” she stood up and beat her wings a few times to toss the water off of them. Then she took a look at what she was standing in. “you made this? How? When?” she tried to fly but her wings were still too wet, then tried to climb out but the walls gave her no pertace.
“Oh you know i was just playing with my earth magic and this just kinda happened, still a little shocked i changed so much sand into sandstone though. I thought i would have needed a lot more mana to do that.” i hopped down and picked up my little pixie companion. Then got us both out. “Oh ya i also got the subskill transmuter, does that ring any bells?”
“Hmm well ya but only the basics of it, it is as you know a sub skill of the earth magic tree, the most extreme use of it is turning base metals into rare ones in a single go. But you could do the same thing over time, heh you could even turn this sand into gold, but it would take a lot of sand to get a bit of gold, the stuff you transmute tends to get smaller the rarer it gets. But on the other side you can make something rare into lesser things and get more of the lesser material.” she looked down at the sand stone. “But as far as making sand into sandstone that is not that big a leap even without the subskill transmuter. You did not even try to shape it past the transmuting the sand into sandstone, that likley made it easyer on your mana too.”
“If you say so, i would have thought this much would be beyond me given making those..toys.. Of yours took 3 mana each.” tia brushed it off.
“That was changing where it was with a fair amount of precition, you were telling the stone where to be and you mana moved it by force. For the sandstone you asked it to come together how it saw fit and gave it mana to do with as it wanted. Or at least that is the easiest way to think about the process. Earth can be stubborn but if you let it do what it wants it can so some surprising things when fed mana.” tia nodded sagely, as if giving out great wisdom.
“Ok well it looks like it is getting dark, so any idea what we should do for sleeping arrangements. All we have is the sand and the dungeon cave, does not look like things will be that warm tonight.” i said dreading the chill to come.
“Hmm ya the next few days are going to be bad. I wish you would use some DP to buy something to keep us warm, but it is a smart move to get radiant mana so we don't need to eat and latter on feed everything that is going to live here. Uh oh i know.” she clapped her hands at the thought. “How about you try to lower the lip of the cave entrance, that should keep some of the heat in.” i looked up at the opening to the cave and tried to touch it but could not reach. “Hmm ya you can't move the earth if you can't touch it. Ah ha how about making smaller little cave that we can sleep under, think of it like a burrow or a stone blanket”
“Ok fine, but do know i likely won't have the mana to do so in one go, and tonight might just suck.” with that said i started my work and after using up all of my mana i got the stone to move a grand total of four hand spans up, and half a handspan down from the material moving up. I sighed and double checked my work by measuring it with my hands, placing my hand on top of each length of moved stone, and yes it was as if i only moved four hands worth of stone.
“Well i might be able to get it two or three times as high today. But it still wont cover us at all and we will still freeze.” i muttered to tia and then started to regain my mana, i let all sounds drift away as i meditated.