Lin says "You are talking about the body modifications you offered before? What good would they do for a mage?"

"Your thinking is wrong. A mage only needs mana is wrong. All mana use puts strain on the body. The body limits how much spellcasting a mage can do before being exhausted. A stronger body allows a mage to handle channeling more mana for longer."

Lin says "Is that why men tend to be stronger mages than women?"

"It is part of it, yes. It also has to do with hormones and emotions, but we won't get into that."

Lin says "I don't exactly understand, but I am going to trust you. You have my permission to enhance my body."

"Alright, but we are going to do one at a time. You already know the side effects, so you know what to expect. First I will enhance your physique to improve your energy. It will make the future enhancements easier.”

Lin says "Whatever you think best."

First I take a couple of desserts out of my pouch and have Lin eat them. While she is eating I put a couple of days worth of meals into my pouch. Then I give the food pouch to Lin and take her hand once she is done eating.

Sending my mana into her body through her hand, I begin making small changes. In order to improve her body's energy the first thing to enhance is the digestive system. Next is to enhance the efficiency of the body's use and storage of the energy.

There is more that needs to be done, but that is all I am going to do for now. Since Lin doesn't have a core to provide her energy, I have to stick to small changes. I know I can't give her a core without making her into something other than a human.

However, I wonder if I can do something else that would have similar effects. I have experience with creating new organs and adding them to my body. I could probably do something similar for Lin, but I am not sure she would want me to.

I will wait to talk to her about that until all the other enhancements are done. For now, I retract my mana and let go of Lin's hand to allow her to eat more. The hunger shouldn't be as bad this time, especially since she ate right before I started.

"How are you feeling?"

Lin says "I am hungry, but nowhere near as bad as last time."

"That's good. It shouldn't be all that bad from now on as long as we take it slow."

Lin smiles and says "Are you still talking about the body enhancements?"

"Yes I am, and you know it. We can discuss other things more once I return. A few days alone to think things through is just what I need."

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Lin says "Alright. I will hold you to that."

I just smile at that and watch while Lin satisfies her hunger before heading to bed. Once she goes to bed I go over and spend some more time working on the model of the ship. I spend a few hours experimenting with different designs and modifications.

Every time I think I am done and have it the way I want it, I come up with another idea. Eventually, I have to force myself to stop and leave the design alone or it will never end. I can think about the design more while I am mining gems to pass the time.

After meditating for a few hours I wake everyone up to have breakfast together before I leave. Lin takes a minute to figure out the food pouch, but no one complains about extra food. Mulan and Mushu have a lot of fun tasting various dishes for the first time.

Some of their reactions to things are absolutely hilarious, which makes breakfast take longer. The babies are upset when I try to explain that I will be gone for a few days, but they calm down once they know Lin is staying with them. Nala and Albion are used to it and don't cause a fuss, but that makes me feel guilty.

"Lin, would you be okay taking care of Mulan and Mushu if I take Nala and Albion with me?"

Lin says "Yeah, I should be fine. Why the change of plans?"

"I haven't been spending enough time with them and they could use some fresh air."

Lin says "Then why don't we all go? I can watch them while you do your mining."

"I am not sure if the island is safe or not. Last time I was there, there were zombie dinosaurs!"

Lin says "Then why not go scout it out first and then bring the rest of us?"

"Alright, why not. Although, you should change, we will be camping rough. I will go scout it out, I should be back in an hour or two."

Lin says "Okay!"

I walk over to the platform and open a gate back to the cave where Brightfire and I camped. It takes a lot of mana because of how far away from the island the ship is. As soon as the gate opens I rush through and let it close as soon as I am across.

The cave looks just how I remember it and nothing seems to be living in here. Although the cave does feel smaller than I remember it, but I was smaller back then. The cave is cool and damp, so the babies might not like it very much, but it should be safe.

Leaving the cave I take to the air and start flying around above the treetops. It only takes me a few minutes of flying around to cover a quarter of the island. However, I don't see a single dinosaur, either living or dead, which feels odd.

When I freed the maker I put the portal down where she was imprisoned. The undead dinosaurs shouldn't have been able to get down to where the gate was. Not only that, they wouldn't have been able to fit through the gate that I created.

So that begs the question, where did all of the undead dinosaurs go to? It makes me wonder if the maker destroyed them to reclaim the energy, or if she has a way to summon them. The only way for me to know would be to go back to the elves' island and see if they are there.

While I am curious, I am not curious enough to go back there and find out. At least, not until after I am done with my gem mining and everyone else is back on the ship. Since I don't see any threats I head back to the cave and meditate to recover my mana.

Once my mana is full I open the gate to the ship and stick my head through to tell the others to come over. Nala is the first one who comes through quickly followed by Albion. Then Lin comes through the gate carrying Mulan and Mushu in her arms.

Once they are all through I allow the gate to close and then watch as they all look around. Lin is in what I would call adventurer's clothes, leather pants and a shirt, but she still looks good. Mulan and Mushu just look shocked at the change in scenery, but this is their first time out of the cabin.