I just finished up my repairs of the various floors after that Shaman had made such a mess of them, when the surface went completely quiet. Since it didn't seem like they were coming down here I decided to take some time to think and build the next part of myself. My son had done a wonderful job at letting the old creature wear itself out on illusions before finishing him off with relative ease, and I was quite proud of the work that he had put forth. Though, I was annoyed at the speed and force by which the Shaman had traveled through me, it also gave me an opportunity to see the weaknesses and strengths of my constructions. For example, he had basically teleported through the forest to the mountain cave. Which made me realize that I had no defenses for quick movement and even flight. My memories of being able to weave so level of rules or laws that would repeat and magic would enforce was oddly stronger and more efficient than the [Domain Edits]. I gave the latter a few experiments with the various rooms to create some limiting factors like mana draining, pain based on height off the ground, and more.
It was during the end of my crude trials with the skill that I noticed my son was meditating in his cave again. What made it stand out was what the mana was doing around him, and what it could mean for myself. It spiraled through his feet as the normal rainbow colored light, but quickly began to split into various distinct colors until they came out through his hands. Only two colors really hang around for any amount of time, the colors that represented the air and shadow. They spun into endless repeating patterns with the same color repeating for each thread that split from his hands. The interplay drew my attention from most of my domain to think. Mana was everything after all, and I had control of it. Even if the "System" limited me through some kind of spell. Yet, it's not like it prevented me from doing anything in particular, it just seemed to take over the process and was far worse at it than myself. My Will ran through the pool of crystal like water bubbling beneath my core, and tendrils of mana flowed up towards it. I focused with intensity on separating the subtle shades of color that made up the Major and Minor threads of the elements. And, I could see various parts of the "System" reacting and dispersing a few of the more advanced Minor threads like gravity and time. Some of the others, however, began to form into fractal patterns and I found myself scribing their base shapes into the stone room of knowledge I created long ago.
I could feel a pressure in my core as I finished up the first one, and it began to flicker and drawing in the particular color of mana that was related to it. In this case it was the simple rose red of fire, and heat began to pour out of the carving. I knew that enchanted items had some kind of interlocking runes that made them magical, but I didn't realize that I could do something similar. Or, that mana had such natural forms that it seemed to prefer. Fire was only a handful of breaths faster to complete than the other basic five, and soon a strange breeze blew through the hexagonal room I made. Each wall was the hardest and most compact rock I could make with it's own fractal etched into them. When the last one seemed to hit some kind of energy limit the strange wind picked up, and all the fractals just seemed to glow their color with no further effects. Fire no longer released heat, water no longer dripped, earth didn't create sand, and so on.
"Mother, so you found what I did." My son said to air with a respectful tone, his default when I showed him my knowledge. I had been so focused on my own study I didn't notice when he followed the draw the new room had made. Blinking my consciousness I realized that during the creation of these large symbols that most of the mana within me was pulled along powerful currents into this room. Now it condensed in the center where a rapidly spinning orb of rainbow light was condensed.
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"Mother..." He said with a hint of apprehension, "I think this might be unwise to let continue..." His fears were understandable since I could see that the mana draw was now only from within the earth like the Mana Well, but it was slowly increasing the size of the orb. I also noted several red glowing patterns on my core that usually were a different color.
SYSTEM ERROR DETECTED>>>
My son looked up sharply at the resonating sound, and I, internally, groaned.
EXTREME MANA CONDENSATION DETECTED>>>
STABILITY.... 97%...96%...95%... ETA 3 minutes and 47...46...45
While I had a feeling this was going to be something a bit much, I was also confident in two things; first, my construction was enforced with various architecture methods and I had time to create a shaped channel. Second, those suspiciously red patterns of the "System" made me think that it would be worth seeing this little experiment out to the end. My son was a bit more unsettled.
"Mother, I have as much concern over the System as yourself," He began, but I quickly interjected.
"Too suspicious, it didn't mention anything until the orb formed. I will begin to change things just in case it does explode though. Come to me and we will watch from safety." I said using mana to vibrate the air. He nodded, and retreated to my core room where I formed a panel of mana to view the experiment. Meanwhile I changed the room to form a deep pool below the orb, and then curved the ceiling to angle and direct the force back down. The room's floor was warped to look like frozen waves spiraling down the long cone into the ground. The waves would help to break up any force heading down, little at a time, and the depth should negate the force over distance. Then I changed the rock above the ceiling to copy the building structure of the wall outside. I had noticed that they had built it using interlocked triangle blocks, and it had held up remarkably well to it's own weight. This would be another experiment but it should be fine. I made sure to isolate the structure by moving my stone library away from it with all haste, and only connecting it with a narrow tunnel with a sealed series of stone doors. I duplicated my triangle structures throughout and around everything. I even added in some metal rods like the humans had done. Though I could make them into expanded triangles easily so I figured it would be even stronger.
In the end the room was now a hexagonal sphere encased in pyramid stone supports and metal reinforcement. I was actually very impressed by the design I could full appreciate as my perspective could see through the stone. The only worry I had was for the long cone extending below the room since I wasn't going to have time to make everything the same near the bottom of the pit.
STABILITY...5%...4%...3%...
I just decided to mentally shrug and braced my son in a water and stone cocoon.
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Lord Reginald was a defeated man, but that didn't mean he was dead yet. The messenger had arrived that morning with news that he was being "recalled" to the capital for "important work of the crown". Which meant that his plans had been figured out by that disgrace of a king, and he was likely going to be executed upon his return. Which is why he was taking his time preparing for the return trip, and why he currently was drinking a very old bottle of alcohol he acquired called Midnight Bliss. It was rumored to be able to bring the greatest of minds to a stop, and give them a new perspective on life. Which might have been why he didn't really think about the sudden change in the night sky until a heavily sweating soldier came in screaming about the end of the world. Reginald just tuned out the man and enjoyed the light display from the dungeon. The way the lights seemed to rip open the sky far above seemed, to Reginald, as a farewell to a worthy foe. Though he wondered why the ground didn't shake...