Status.
[STATUS LOADING...]
[STATUS]: LASAIR
[CLASS]: DUNGEON CORE
[ROOMS]: 1
[AFFINITY(S]): FIRE, MANA
[LIEUTENANTS]: [WILL-O-WISP]{APOLLO}
[ABILITIES]: SHAPE SELF, EXPAND, INSPECT, SPAWN, MINOR MANA DIRECTION
"Status."
[STATUS LOADING...]
[STATUS]: APOLLO
[CLASS]: [WILL-O-WISP], [LIEUTENANT], [ALLURING SONG]
[LEVEL]: 6
[AFFINITY(S]): FIRE, LIGHT, SONIC
[BONDED]: [DUNGEON CORE]{LASAIR}
[ABILITIES]: FLIGHT, MINOR PYROMANCY, BEACON OF LIGHT, ADVANCED SENTIENCE, MANA-DRIVEN SONG
Lasair watched as Apollo pulled up his [STATUS] next to hers. After a long day of training in his little box, he had managed to upgrade from [LESSER PYROMANCY] to [MINOR PYROMANCY], and was rightfully proud. It had turned out that his list of abilities had been just as extensive as hers. [FLIGHT], [LESSER PYROMANCY], and [BEACON OF LIGHT] had all been given just for being a wisp, while [ADVANCED SENTIENCE] and [MANA-DRIVEN SONG] were results of his promotion. It had been a busy few days of training, Apollo with his fire and mimicry, and Lasair trying to reach the next tier of [MANA DIRECTION]. Practice did seem to increase how much energy she could store, but it was a slow and painstaking process. Her hope was that leveling up the ability would push her over the edge of being able to [EXPAND] to the next room. And that training was finally bearing fruit, with Apollo glowing a bit brighter than usual to show his pride.
Nice work little guy. You're the best orb of fire that I know.
"I'm the only orb of fire you know!"
This declaration was followed by the closest thing to a giggle my lieutenant could achieve. He reminded her so much of kids back home, finding humor everywhere and in everything. If Lasair could, she would be grinning ear-to-ear. She had found salvation in this little wisp, if only because she had no one else to talk to. She had tried to promote another of her creations, but no prompt appeared. Apollo was all she had for better or for worse. At least until she unlocked another kind of creature. She had tried to force another unlock, but so far all she had achieved was a small orb of structured mana that had faded away before she could even pass it through her fire affinity. The main problem seemed to be the 'code' that made up structured mana. It wasn't all the same, and different code was used for different results. Just what the result would be was still a mystery, as the amount of 'code' in even a drop of mana was enough to make her head spin. She would likely need some kind of translation ability to actually make much use of it. Until then, she would improve what she could, and encourage Apollo.
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Alright, alright, settle down. My turn to train, you should go rest.
''All right, but tell me if you get the thing to help with the thing."
You got it little guy.
As the wisp floated back to his hole in the wall, Lasair looked over her home. [SHAPE SELF] had been used to set up a little plinth for her core to rest on, along with smoothing out the walls and making the floor more uniform. Her other wisps floated around her in two diagonal orbits, each having five wisps, which made an X if looked at from the right angle. Small patches of the wall and floor were blackened from Apollos training, and the entrance to his box was about a meter off the ground. Satisfied with her training grounds, Lasair began to bend the mana in the room to her will. Opposed to the past few days of trying to produce structured mana, today she would be practicing controlling more at once. Starting off as she always did, she solidified her grasp on the strands within the room, but not moving them quite yet. Then, deviating from her past practice, she took hold of her fire affinity. The feeling was like the warmth you feel in your stomach after a particularly hearty meal. Low, steady, and content. Taking it out felt less like the heat was leaving her, and more like it was simply spreading. Like on the very first day within the cave, Lasair directed a strand of mana towards her fire affinity and coaxed it through. The strain was equivalent to spawning two wisps, and only produced a single spark, but it was a direct influence on the world. Still rather full of energy, she tried again, guiding two strands this time. But one slipped through just before the other, and its transformation distracted her enough that the second was released from her grasp. After trying again, waiting for more energy, and trying again for a few hours. Every time, something was wrong. Either timing, her grasp on the strands, or Lasair's lackluster control of her fire affinity always thwarted her. But progress had been made. And finally, finally, she was sure this was the one. The strands were perfectly lined up, her grasp was tight, and the warmth of her affinity was stable. The mana slipped through at exactly the same time, and she was rewarded with a slightly larger spark. More like a lighter than a match. Just before she gave up hope that hours of work had only increased the size, the magic voice rang through her room once more.
[ABILITY UNLOCKED: LESSER PYROMANCY.]
Yes!
Immediately, Lasair tried it out. The ability seemed to allow her to automatically form and feed a patch of her fire affinity. same result, and the same energy expenditure, but far less focus required. However, the sparks seemed... uneven. Looking closer at the mana, she discovered that the ability had the timing for inserting multiple strands off, and was just brute-forcing the rest. Getting an idea, Lasair did something she probably should have tried hours ago. She threaded the strands over themselves, interlocking them for easier use. It worked like a charm, and the timing was perfect.
[ABILITY UNLOCKED: LESSER MANA WEAVING.]
Finally!
This might be the skill that pushed her into being able to expand! The freebie in her current room had looked like it was "weaving" mana into the walls, so this would probably be a huge help. Waiting for her energy to recharge took forever, but once she was ready she shouted a quick "wish me luck" to Apollos box and began [EXPAND].
Yes, finally! This skill is so useful, I can feel myself taking over. Takes a lot of energy though. Maybe I should stop here. This next room looks big. OK, i'll just come back later... Why can't I stop. WHY CAN'T I STOP. FUCK I'M SO LOW On energy...
The last sensation she had was a sound like shattering glass. For the first time in this new world, everything went black.
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Apollo flew out of his room to see Mama off. Sadly, she had already left. Oh well, she'll be back soon. Nothing could hurt Mama! As the music that Apollo has come to associate with Mama's thoughts slowly grew more distant, Apollo grew confused. Then, confusion turned to horror, and horror to the purest form of fear that exists. Mama's music was gone, and there was a crack in her crystal.