My mana manipulation practice is once again interrupted by my not-exactly-welcome guests. Thankfully this time, it’s for a good reason. I think.

One of them, I think it’s the ranger from the newbie group, somehow managed to get himself killed. By the looks of it, one of my toads managed to sneak past them and ambush him.

And while that may be important, being the first death in my dungeon and all that, what actually catches my attention is something much more interesting.

As he lays there, dead, I feel a bit of mana exit his body. Mana mixed with something else. Something I can’t quite perceive yet.

And that mixture of energies wastes almost no time. Part of it, a very small part, gets absorbed by the toad that killed him. But a much bigger portion hitchhikes on the already present stream of world mana.

Thanks to which it arrives at my core. Where, just like the rest of the mana, it gets absorbed by my crystal.

By this point, basically all of my attention was focused on the happenings in my magical perception. And yet somehow, the next event pulled even more scrutiny to itself.

Normally, when mana from that ever-present river flows into me, it almost immediately exits through one of the facets of my crystal (always the same one). But that’s not what happens with the mixture of mana and something that came out of the dead ranger.

Which is another point of difference. I was actually able to track the blob of energy the whole way here. At no point did it get mixed in with the rest of the stream.

Anyway, instead of exiting my core, the mixture remains inside. For a little while, at least.

Slowly, over quite the large period of time I’d say, it also begins to leak. But even an hour later, when I’m pretty sure it has stopped, the amount that entered doesn’t match how much got ejected.

Which is extra weird, because I can no longer detect it in my core.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I double, even triple, check, but there’s simply no trace of it. The only thing that could have changed is the density, or maybe how energized, of the mana in my core. But even that’s such a negligible increase that it could very well be my imagination.

This does, however, bring up an interesting idea that’s been brewing in my mind for a while. What would happen if I filled my last available slot with a monster?

I’m still not one hundred percent sure, but I think that the reason three of my facets don’t appear to let mana out is because my three monster patterns are bound to them. I have no idea how, or even why that’d prevent mana from leaving, but that seems to be it.

I mean, I am a tetrahedron. And I also have exactly four slots for guardians. And as if that’s not enough, every time I created a new one something did enter my core.

At least, that’s what I thought was happening, but apparently it was instead merging with the walls of my core!

All this to say, if I fill that one final slot, and all of the energy that mana river carriers stays trapped inside me, what will happen?

Will I explode? I hope not.

The mess of knowledge that was the only “gift” from the gods is telling me to only use those monster slots in emergencies. With no reason as to why it would be bad to use all of them up.

So, if I weren’t one to distrust those bastards before, which I was, then I sure as hell am now! What are they hiding behind that false piece of advice?

Yeah, I think I’ll risk it.

And luckily, I also already have an idea of what to make my final summon. It may not be big or flashy, but then again, none of my guardians are.

It’ll be a small little creature called an uropygi, also named the vinegaroon. Or perhaps even the whip scorpion. Not that it is a scorpion.

This little critter is closer to a spider than a scorpion. Still, it’s appearance is something in between. Sort of a spider with a scorpion version of lycanthropy, stopped midway through a transformation. Or vice versa.

But none of that’s important. What is important is one special ability of the vinegaroon. And unlike my other creatures, it’s not poison.

No, the whip scorpion can spray a weak acid from its tail. Which, among other things I plan to change, I hope to enhance to supernatural levels. That freeform nature of monster creation is truly the best ability I have.

Now then, let’s get to it. I sense the adventurers got a lot closer in the meantime.

Actually, I may want to keep them here just in case. Yes, let me just reseed the tunnels they walked thorough already with new monsters. And while I’m at it, I’ll also change the layout a bit. Now the way back is changed and they are, hopefully, trapped.

If that first death was any indication, whatever extra thing is mixed into their mana is super useful for me. I wonder how much more powerful of an enhancement it’ll give me if it can’t escape my core.

Oh yes, I feel like a huge power-up is on the horizon. Well then, let me not delay. I better summon this scorpion-spider.