Lily looked over at the empty seat where her father would typically sit at their table. It had been a few days since he left for Ever-Night. He claimed he and Geon were working on an exciting project they would love, but she missed him. All of the ladies present did.

“I wonder if Dad felt like this with us,” Lily commented.

The other ladies tensed at her words.

Liara sighed. “He probably did. We have been working and planning so much that we really haven’t been spending much time with him.”

“Perhaps we have been focusing too much on our plan.” Listamati lamented.

“What we are trying to do will cause a massive global uproar. We need to make sure it is done right.” Rana commented, her ears flattened, and her tail drooped.

Sophia looked about the table at the collective sadness and sighed. “Then the answer is simple. While he is busy, get ahead in your work while you can. Once he returns, all of you take a vacation together. The three wives and daughter. I am sure we can manage while you are away.”

They smiled at the idea and promised each other they would get to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos looked over the chamber he had built. “I wonder if this is big enough? Or could it be too big?”

It was an empty chamber that was eight feet in diameter and ten feet tall.

“I think it looks good.” A feminine voice replied.

Caeldaemos turned to see a woman who looked much like an adult version of the dungeon core.

“Geon?”

The woman smiled. “I finished the Operating System and am testing it out. What do you think of my Hard-Mana form?” She spun around for him.

He pursed his lips. “Is there a reason for an adult form?”

Geon got a mischievous smile. “What’s one more for your harem?”

“No. Go back to your original form.” He got annoyed.

After pouting for a moment, her form collapsed in on itself until it was the size of a fourteen-year-old girl.

“That was kind of neat to watch.” Caeldaemos was surprised.

“Well, at least early teenager is acceptable for you.” Geon went behind him and hopped up on his back, hanging around his neck while looking over his shoulder.

“Hmm. You weigh nothing, and it almost feels like… air is hanging on me.” Caeldaemos observed.

“Seems like I might need to make some adjustments to the program. I will work on it.”

“So, are you no longer in your core?” He asked as he began infusing various domains and adding circuits to the chamber floor.

“I’m still in my core.”

“See! I’m over here!” Geon waved at him from her core.

“Remote control. I still think this thing might be too small. What about the thing we talked about earlier?” He asked.

“I had an idea for that. If we set up a table to scan items for the user, they can use them. Though I did add the ‘Generate Item’ function to the program.” She replied.

Caeldaemos smiled. “I think they are going to really like this.”

“I think so too.” Geon giggled. “Oh, right! I forgot to tell you. Every dungeon core has adopted the ‘Non-Lethal’ function. Many like it over killing people. They get a good laugh when people rage at them for taking their equipment. Better that than being hated for taking lives.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I think a secured box would be better than a table for the scanner. Less likely for things to get stolen.” He commented, creating the connected box and linking the circuits together.

“Rana will likely say both.”

“True. People who use it privately could use a table while something public would use the secured box.” Caeldaemos agreed.

“Ah. One second.” Geon hopped off him, and her Hard-Mana form was deconstructed briefly and reformed. “Okay, check it now.”

Caeldaemos knelt and held her hand. “Mm. Definitely feels real now.” He picked her up by her waist. “Maybe a bit heavy?”

“Are you calling me fat?” She joked.

He laughed as he placed her back down. Geon made a few more adjustments, and he checked again. Caeldaemos felt the form was good now.

A few more days went by, and their project was complete. Geon installed the program into it and verified it worked as intended.

Caeldaemos stored the project away.

Geon had put her Hard-Mana form away and lazily floated about her core.

“Thanks, Geon, you were a great help for this.”

“No problem. I have been a bit bored here. I think I should be done here in less than a week. Say hi to everyone for me.” Geon brightly smiled.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“I will. I’ll check back in in a few days.” Caeldaemos waved goodbye and teleported back to Hallibrush.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily watched the door to the room her father normally teleported to. She had been missing him quite a bit. It was then that she heard a thud from behind the door.

The door opened. “I’m back!”

Lily used Flash Step and hugged him tightly in an instant.

She could feel his warmth, his hand petting the back of her head.

“Hey, Lily. I’m happy to see you too.” He hugged her.

“Why’d you take so long?” She asked.

“Sorry. I guess it was dumb of me to do that.” He pulled away from her and knelt to look her eye to eye. “I promise to do my best not to repeat it.”

“You better.” She hugged him around his neck.

Lily then gagged at his stink, complaining that he reeked of death.

“Oh.” He laughed. “Probably from being within the miasma for so long. I will take a bath and clean up.”

“I’ll join you!” Lily cheerily said.

“Where are the others?” He asked as they headed for the bathroom.

“Lia and Lista went with Mari to Galgalake for stuff. Mom is working on getting the workshop built. I think Orelia and Sophia are helping the mayor with a few things. They should be back soon, though.”

“Then let’s take our time together, just us.” He ruffled her hair.

Lily missed him so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos and Lily headed to the town center. Many of the people of Hallibrush welcomed him back. But as they went about, he made sure to inform them that if they had time, they should come to the town square for something interesting.

“Cael.” Sophia saw their approach from in front of the town hall.

“Welcome back, my lord.” Orelia bowed her head to him.

“Good to see you, my lord.” Mayor Toto welcomed him.

“Thanks. Have you seen the others?” He asked.

“Liara’s group returned and went to fetch Rana. They should be back shortly.” Sophia informed him.

A few minutes passed, and they returned, giving welcoming hugs and kisses to Caeldaemos. By then, the crowd nearly consisted of every one of Hallibrush.

“Alright. Here is my surprise.” Caeldaemos summoned his and Geon’s project.

“Is this the VR, Cael?” Rana asked.

“A bit better than that. Lily, I volunteer you to try it out.” Caeldaemos led his daughter up to an open box attached to the side of the chamber.

“Put any weapons you might use in here.” He spoke.

Lily put her daggers, a short sword, and throwing knives into the chamber.

Caeldaemos closed the chamber. “Now, this box is a scanner that will add any personal weapons into the system you are about to witness.”

He ushered her into the chamber. “Kneel down to the ground. Alright, now say the command ‘System On.’”

“Okay. System On.” Lily said. The inside of the chamber lit up and began scanning her. After a moment, a screen popped up in front of her. It had multiple choices: Play, Easy, Medium, and Hard.

“For now, choose ‘Play’ mode.” He spoke.

She selected it.

“Play Mode Selected. Pain reception 1%. Private or Public Mode?” A recording of Geon’s voice sounded out.

“Select Public mode,” Caeldaemos instructed, and Lily selected it.

A solid, transparent barrier walled an area in front of the chamber. An open platform within the zone connected to the chamber began to glow.

“What monster do you wish to fight?” The system asked.

“Um, oh! A worg!” Lily stated.

“Worg. Is this correct?”

“Yes!”

“Quantity? Rank?” The system asked.

“Um, Dad, what did you face over there?” She asked.

“Rank 14.” He replied.

“One Rank 14, please.”

“Confirmed. You will now face off against: One. Rank 14. Worg. Good luck in your battle.”

The light in the chamber became blinding, and a Lily appeared on the glowing platform in the play area.

“What is going on?” Lily asked, confused.

“You are controlling a Hard-Mana form, Lily. Your real body is inside the chamber. Say ‘Equip Scanned Weapons.’”

She stated the command, and her weapons appeared on her body.

“Now command, ‘Begin Battle.’” He spoke.

Lily did as he said, and the worg formed in the play area.

Lily charged forward to begin battle with the worg.

Caeldaemos turned to the amazed crowd and began to explain how the system worked while Lily fought.

“I haven’t come up with a catchy name for this yet, but this is a Hard-Mana Simulator. What you are seeing is Public Mode, where a play area is made for people to battle in, and others can watch. This system can be used for training or just for fun. My co-creator and I will be making more simulations and games for this. Right now, it only has a Monster Battler simulation. Both the monster and you will consist of hardened mana pulled from the air. You are more than welcome to look through the viewing window and see what it looks like inside for Lily.” He invited people to come forward.

Inside the chamber, motes of mana could be seen floating around Lily, creating what she was seeing with her avatar.

The worg dashed past her, body checking Lily backward. People observing her inside the chamber saw her fall over inside and quickly roll back to her feet. A mana field at her feet kept her a few inches from the ground and centered in the chamber.

“This is amazing, Cael!” Liara cried as she watched Lily inside the chamber.

Rana jumped on him, wrapping her arms and legs around his neck and torso, licking his face.

“This FAR exceeds what I wanted, Cael! Not only will people be able to experience entertainment safely, but even mercenaries and soldiers could use this to train against monsters!” Rana tried to squeeze him as hard as she could.

Caeldaemos laughed while hugging her back. “I’m glad you like it.”

“What other things do you have planned for it?” Mayor Toto asked.

Caeldaemos placed an excited Rana down so she could watch her daughter’s battle.

“I was thinking of maybe something like allowing people to experience different things. Like for instance, Yanni’s kids like flying through the air. How many of you would want to experience the feeling of freely flying?” He asked the crowd.

Many voiced their approval.

Caeldaemos smiled over their energetic reply.

“I was also thinking of introducing racing, fighting matches, maybe epic adventures with a story narrated around you.” He looked toward the chamber. “There are a lot of possibilities. We are only limited by our collective imaginations.”

The crowd cheered as Lily defeated the worg. Before long, Lily’s Hard-Mana form dissipated, and the winded girl stepped out of the chamber.

“I’m next!” Liara rushed into the chamber.

“Aww…” Listamati pouted.

“Hang on, Lia.” Caeldaemos headed over and added three more units next to the original. “HMS, scan for nearby units.”

“Additional units found. Do you wish to link?” The system asked.

“Yes.” He called out.

“Linking… … … Units linked. Party Mode is now available.”

“Have at it, guys.” Caeldaemos motioned for them.

Listamati rushed to one of the units and got some of her weapons scanned for use, and entered the chamber. Two soldiers from town went into the other two units and began a separate public session.

“Hmm. Perhaps an arena might be a good idea.” Mayor Toto mused.

“A what?” Caeldaemos didn’t catch what he said.

“Nothing, my lord.” Mayor Toto smiled.

“Dad!” Lily hugged him.

“Did you like it?” He asked.

“That thing is so awesome! I also thought of a name!”

“Really? Let’s hear it.” He pets her head.

“How about Dalemo System?” She offered.

He laughed. “You used Dale and Lemos from my old name, huh?”

“You did create it.” She added.

“Geon had a big hand in it. So how about… LemoGeon System. LG for short.”

“That sounds great!” Rana shouted from her observation spot at Liara and Listamati’s battle against two ogres.

Both Lily and Caeldaemos laughed.

For the next several days, the people of Hallibrush played in the LGs whenever they had a chance. It became so popular that Caeldaemos had to make several more and made some specifically for the town guard.

But the day that Caeldaemos returned with Geon to Hallibrush, he finally found out what everyone had been working on the whole time.