Tim and the team started digging. They weren’t so fond of this physical labor, especially since their goblin bodies weren’t cut out for big-time digging, but this was the best option that they were left with. They didn’t even have shovels with them, or tools of any sort, which was disadvantageous, so they had to make use of their hands, mostly.
Arvena eventually found an old, chipped stone from a ruined pathway, and then used it to dig through the mud. Though this wasn't as productive against hard gravel, this chipped stone was still better than digging with one's hands!
With her example, Skendus did something similar, he also found a sharp stone of sorts, but he didn’t exert as much energy while he worked, because he found more creative ways to get things done. Since he already carried a warhammer around, he used that to bash the ground with it, at a fairly vertical angle, which opened the ground up a little bit in exchange, it made things easier for him.
The warhammer was heavy, so he didn’t really have to swing it in order to get results. He just thrusted the hammer on the ground, vertically, and this was very effective against dirt, as well as gravel, and since the water pressure had hardened the sand a little bit, his hammer was useful against sand as well. After he hammered everything down, he then just scraped his way through the ground with a chipped stone, which didn't tire him much, as the ground broke apart as if he was cultivating it. Skendus managed to dig a one-foot deep hole near his feet in no time! Ortana helped him too.
Anyway, considering that it would still take a long time for them to dig like this, Tim was trusted to make most of the contribution here, because he volunteered to do so. However, he hadn’t been able to lend a hand yet, because he couldn’t figure out how to use his magical ability, he couldn’t use it efficiently at least.
Bone Multiplier, was a power that was considered pre-necromantic, it was almost an evil sort of power, but Tim didn't care to follow formalities regarding his arsenal. He had this ability at his disposal, and he intended to use it now if it would help him get the job done, it was only logical to use it. However, this didn't necessarily mean that he had mastered this power just yet.
Tim had neglected this new power for a while now, so it wasn’t a surprise how he couldn’t figure out its charming benefits. The system tried to help him, but her guidance didn’t amount to anything good, it only made things more complicated.
“Fucking hell, why can't I get rid of this toe!!” Tim lost his temper, he was pissed. “I have a fucking extra toe on my crotch as well…”
[That's not how you're supposed to use the bone-multiplier,] The system added, [Once again, you need to pour a lot of mana on whichever part of your body you want to modify, and then you must imagine every external and internal detail about that modification, or else this won't work. How difficult can it be to imagine arteries, and blood vessels, kid? It can’t be that hard, and yet your new toes are blacking out because apparently, you don't see it fit for them to be a part of your blood flow. This is a severe lack of detail from your side.]
“I'm not a biologist,” He added, and mostly ignored her.
After that, within the stress of failure and extra toes, he blurted a very important question! He was desperate.
“Can't I just multiply someone else's bones?” He asked.
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[Actually yes, but avoid giving your friends extra toes for now, as I have a better idea.] The system answered.
In cooperation, she then pulled all of the mana out of Tim's extra toes, and shot it out towards his surroundings. The mana shot out from his head, and they were visible to the naked eye, regardless of how thin it seemed. The several strands shot out like the water from a fountain, and then they slithered across the area as if they were on the search for something!
This was really interesting, but for the time being, Tim was just happy that his extra toes fell off, this caught a lot of his attention. The toes were very physical, so they may decompose here almost like real, severed toes would, which was very impressive regardless of how terrifying it sounded! It was new to him.
Anyway, the strands of mana continued doing their work, until they achieved something amazing. The strands had located a bunch of old bones from dead carcasses, and although most of these carcasses weren't whole and actually pretty small, their remains were still really useful.
The bones started floating, they headed towards Timothy at an idle pace, and then circled around him. The bones were old, fragile and gross, but they were bones nonetheless so the system then guided him even further afterwards.
[I'm pouring more mana on the bones, so get ready for a good show regarding the manipulation of your surroundings.] She said.
Tim had been fairly distracted, so it was good that the system called out for his attention, because he would've missed everything otherwise. He was more attentive towards the bones now, he eyed them down, and counted six big bones along the way, along with tens of tiny ones. There wasn’t anything significant about them, except for this one which featured a whole skull, it had likely belonged to a goblin before.
The system then poured more mana on all these bones, just like she said, about a hundred points of mana to be exact. It was expensive, but he could feel that this expense was a one-time thing, as he was certain that he wouldn't need to spend hundreds of mana points just to control these bones. That wouldn’t make any sense whatsoever!
After she spent the mana, the few random bones multiplied in number, they doubled, and they did so within seconds! Tim counted two skulls now, which was fascinating!
“Shit… I guess that's why this ability is banned everywhere? With enough practice and mana to spend, I can make an undead army for myself!” He blabbered.
[You’re quite right,] She added, [But on more important, present matters, you best use this pile of bones properly, for them to help you dig. You can manipulate and restructure them to your favor, so try to be a bit more imaginative this time.]
“Well shit, we're circling back to problem-number-one, then. I can’t bring myself to imagine a whole goblin, so can't I just use these bones as a shovel or something?” He asked through a thought.
The system did not answer directly, but he did not need an answer, because he suddenly got another idea. Through a bit of thinking, he commanded the bones to turn into a bunch of tiny daggers, they were very pointy, and would surely get the job done if one wanted to dig with them.
However, since this team only had four pairs of working hands, he had to command the bony daggers to float over the digging site, and scrape through there all at the same time through the use of his mana! There were twelve daggers in his disposal, as even the skulls had adapted to this form, so it was fair to say that the digging which he was about to do was fast, and effective, as they treated the ground the same regardless if the daggers were going through sand or gravel!
Tim had to spend three points of mana on these daggers after every swing, but it was worthwhile to have them float around. He had a bunch of mana to spend, and mana in exchange for physical labor was a cheap conversion-rate in this scenario, so he didn’t feel bad about even spending all of it now that he had to!
“Be careful with those,” Arvena eventually added, “Let’s try to dig a hole all the way around the building, so we can find a window to squeeze through, we don't have to dig all the way down. I think this thing is built like a tower too, it's round, so we don't have to spend too much time here, we could even get inside the tower today if you have enough mana to use.”