Athena says "For now yes. Once it grows for a few years it will extend to cover the cavern. Why?"

"Alger, how many of your people are still living in the city below?"

Alger says "About half of our people."

"In that case, as long as there is room in the city, we should move them up here. We only need to have enough warriors down there to explore and keep an eye on the barrier."

Alger says "There are still plenty of empty houses. I will discuss it with Core immediately."

"Alright, good. Athena, can you be more specific about how more people will help the tree?"

Athena says "You already know about lifeforce, right?"

"Yes, I do."

Athena says "Well, as living beings live they expend their lifeforce. That energy returns to the world around them and allows new life to be born. It is the circle of life. The tree assists that process and at the same time benefits from it."

"So, the more life around it the better. Does that only apply to sentient life, or all life?"

Athena says "All life."

"So, if I turn this square into a park full of plants, that would help the tree?"

Athena says "Yes, it would. However, keep in mind that as the tree grows it will cast its surroundings in shade. Other plants will struggle once the tree grows to that point."

"That's not a problem. There are plenty of types of plants that prefer less direct sunlight. Besides, it will take a while for the tree to grow that large, won't it?"

Athena says "Yes. It will take decades."

"Then it will be fine, we can plant normal plants for now and then change them later as needed."

Athena says "That would work."

With that decided, I head back to the palace and order the golems to make the changes to the square. Then I return to the castle and issue detailed orders to the gardener golems. After that I return to Core's room and fill her in on all of the changes I have made.

Core says "Well, that is certainly more than I was expecting you to do. I should have known that that was going to happen. So, what's next?"

"I want to take a look at the barrier enchantment and see if I can at least make it so you can move around the city. I don't like leaving you trapped in just this single room."

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Core says "I won't get my hopes up, but just that you want to try makes me very happy. The spell core is in a compartment beneath my bed."

I watch as Core moves her bed aside and opens the compartment beneath it. Then a pillar rises up and sitting on top of it is a spell core that looks like a gem. It is nothing like the other spell cores that I have seen, but that isn't too surprising.

When I move closer to take a look at it, I quickly realize why it is so different. It is because it is only a small part of the core, Core herself is the rest of it. She and the gem are tied together, very intricately, and that is why she can't leave the room.

If the gem could be moved, then Core would just need to carry it with her. Unfortunately, that isn't possible, trying to move the core would disrupt the barrier. As I am studying the core, I find myself being confused, but that is because there are two types of enchantments.

The majority of them should be the ones the elves created originally and the rest should be the work of the dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon's enchantments are of a type that I can't decipher. That isn't too surprising since I already know that the dragons use their own language for magic.

It takes me quite a while to get even a small idea of how everything works. That is mainly because it has been changed several times and a lot of the enchantments are entangled. I already see a lot of things that I can fix and improve, but I don't do anything yet.

Before I change anything, I need to fully understand how everything works and what changes I will cause. With both Core's life and the integrity of the barrier on the line, I won't take any risks. So, despite finding things that I want to change, I still spend hours studying everything I can.

My biggest worry is that I can't see what the dragon's spells do, only where they connect. To prevent any problems, I have to make sure none of my changes affect those areas. It helps that the barrier is smaller now, so the spell isn't running at full capacity.

"Core, I am ready to make some changes. I am going to be as careful as I can, but if anything feels weird you need to tell me right away."

Core says "Alright, I will."

After getting Core's permission, I start with the first change that I have planned. I do it slowly and watch carefully to make sure nothing unexpected happens. Only once it is done and I am sure that everything is stable do I move on to the next change.

As I am working I hear Core talking to someone several times, but I can't spare any attention. Luckily, I am able to fix all of the mistakes that I found without anything going wrong. This frees up quite a bit of mana and should allow me to make the change I want.

My plan is to take the part of the barrier that surrounds the column and extend it to cover the city. Then I just need to boost the connection between Core and the core and she should be able to leave the room. She will still be restricted to the city, but that is still a big improvement.

Unfortunately, there is no way to free her completely until the barrier is no longer needed. Even then, it will take the dragon's help to disable the barrier and free her. However, that will also free Kechara, which is one of my main goals before I die.

Once again, it comes back to me needing to kill the controller, which I don't know if I can do. For now, giving Core a bit more freedom is all I can do, so that is what I will focus on. However, right as I am starting to make the first change to the barrier something happens.

A force grabs my mind and drags it out of my body to somewhere completely different. I instantly realize that I am in a soulscape and I even recognize this specific soulscape. I am on a mountain top and when I turn around there is a red dragon watching me.

Dragon says "Ash, I should have known it would be you. What are you doing messing with the barrier spell?"

"I am trying to make it so she can move around the city. I feel bad for her being trapped in just that one room."

Dragon says "Just how do you plan to accomplish that?"