Layla

Book 1 - Into the Wilds / Chapter 2 - And out of sight

It was time to get down to business, and the first order of business was to get to know the surrounding environment. Layla had to know what threats were present around her. She had to figure out the local neighborhood and start mounting defenses as soon as possible.

So she sent Kalila on an expedition. It's not like the spider could defend the core a lot as she and the spider seemed pretty weak right now. Might as well let her go see the scenery and terrain outside. Still, she sent the spider only on a short excursion. Maybe she could catch some bugs, mice, and other critters and drag them back if possible.

While Kalila was gone on her job, Layla started taking in the environment around her. She slowly started taking control of the earth around her. Layla wanted to increase her territory. Two crucial things would happen with a growing demesne. One, she could get early warnings of presences. And two, she could also get flora and fauna that would enrich her database. The more she became cognizant of, the more she could create when she had the available biomass. This went for life forms, minerals, materials, and much more.

Getting more territory was surprisingly easier than she had imagined. Her dungeon creature list, dungeon plant list, etcetera, were all giving out notifications. She got a bunch of mushrooms and worms. Most were the mundane type, but some were the magical type. They were nothing rare, just some common organisms but exciting her nonetheless.

After some time, she realized she was in a small cavity underground with an even smaller hole leading outside to the overworld. The tunnel leading to her core was thankfully not straight. It was zig-zagging and randomly curving, but she was not visible at least.

She could feel she had to be accessible at all times. Meaning that at least one entrance always had to lead to her core. She left the narrow tunnel path just the same as there was no need to enlarge it for the time being. It was an open entrance, and Kalila could come and go from it. There was no need to make it big enough for more to enter and get near her core.

Instead, she started working on the cavity she was in. First in line was expansion into a cave with the core moving down and into hiding. She had to be careful, though. What if she bumped into some underground race or underworld monster in her rush and exhilaration? It would be a disaster she couldn't take right now. The subterranean world was as mysterious as the ocean, if not more.

She excavated the cave about two meters in all directions and stopped for now. It also had to do with her draining mana. She really had to figure out ways to get mana more quickly soon.

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After assimilating as much ambient mana as possible to speed up her mana regeneration, she started working on her cave. First, she lined the ceiling with the different types of mycelia she had absorbed. While she could prod them to grow in a certain way, she didn't want to mess with their mutation at this moment. She left that to random, but she did pump them with mana. They would hopefully surprise her when they develop. She didn't have any apparent needs of them at the moment.

Though she did pick out a few tens of each kind, magical or non-magical, and passed on thoughts of being poisonous or emitting poisonous gases to them. A toxic mist around her would be some sort of defense, right? She could spend the time to actually adjust their physiologies to match the change she wanted. Still, Layla felt she could do that when she was more safely secured.

Next were the worms.

She divided them in similar ways to the mycelia. But this time, she went even further and made sub-batches of the same type of worm.

Example: Worm Type I - Batch 1 - Sub-batch A (WTI-B1-SBA)

WTI-B1-SBB, WTI-B2-SBA,...

WTII-B1-SBA. WTII-B2-SBA,...

It was difficult remembering them like that at first. But Layla segregated their areas which made it a little more uncomplicated.

One batch of each type would similarly be poisonous or emit poisonous gases.

And the rest would be divided into various elements and affinities. Whether that be shooting lasers or freezing rays, Layla passed on all sorts of thoughts to them after pumping them with enough mana. She even passed them notions of being fast or becoming humongous.

The worms and mycelia would forget the thoughts she passed them soon enough if she didn't do it repeatedly. So she would do it multiple times a day when recovering her mana.

Layla was particularly excited about this one worm.

Lucidae Bombardeus Level 0

HP - 1/1

MP - 1/1

She wasn't excited because it was something rare. No, it was as common as they get. There were others of its type too. She was excited because the worm reacted when she passed on thoughts of becoming big, not just enormous, but so much so that dragons looked insignificant in front of it.

The reaction was incoherent thoughts, but she could feel it was trying to understand what she passed on the most. Layla was naturally happy. So she named it Jumbo.

She calmed her anticipation as her intuition told her that it would take ages to become so vast. Still, it would be fun to see what became of it.

This couldn't be done in a short period as her mana was finite, and the results would take even more time to show. And she was patient. The only thing she had in abundance was time, and the only other thing she needed was safety. The rest would come.

While musing her plans to herself and trying to keep a methodical and structured mental note of them, Layla felt Kalila return. Layla's thoughts of Kalila were to become strong. To blend in plain sight. To ambush and assassinate with one hit, one kill with potent poison and swift movements.

Now, obviously, Layla didn't think Kalila would change overnight. She only felt foundations should be laid early. Using trickery and manipulation to bring into play a machination of a performance. That would be her Kalila. Killing the innocent or killing without reason was not something she wanted but killing the vile and the scum of society she wouldn't mind.

This was overthinking into the future. Layla had to survive the present first. So her simple thoughts to Kalila were to hunt cleanly for food or self-defense, leaving nary a trace behind. Secrecy, caution, and preparation were vital to an assassin. Even this was complex. Nonetheless, she believed Kalila could do it.

It was a good start.