I have mana to spare and I’m expecting the adventure lady to come back. I need to evolve., Beyond just a tiny shed and into a proper dungeon. Right now, I don’t even have enough room for proper sword swinging. If I double the length of my wall, this should be enough to stretch your arms. Given the height of this girl, this might not be enough, but for now it will have to do.

Second thing is, both my rat and moth population took a hit. I am keeping up with pest control, but I will be halting expeditions for now. Either way, a second spawner of each sounds like a solid plan. I expect her to come with extra gear. Hopefully this will be a mutually beneficial relationship.

Speaking of benefits, the third use for my new mana influx is going to be: chest upgrades! Last time she got 44 days worth of loot, and I'm expecting the second visit to not take this long. She knows I am a dungeon… hopefully she knows something about recovery rates. With a second spawner, it will be 7 days to replenish my garrison to the previous levels, but of course, double the spawners, double the limit.

Now one more thing to prepare; I leave some strawberries on the bush. Perhaps this too can lead to some mana. Then I can evaluate gains from her against feeding them to rats. Regardless, she will be my source of income.

10 days. It took her just 10 days to return. I immediately noticed her new boots. A layer of chain mail impossible for rats to bite through. It also came with a new trick. Lightning zapped from the boot directly. Meaning, even climbing to her unprotected shins wasn’t too viable for rats. Few tried jumping, and while it seemed like the best strategy, they weren’t the best at it. At this rate, she will chew through my available troops without breaking a sweat, even a moth swarm won’t help much.

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I need a new trick, a gambit. Something to surprise her. It can be risky, just anything. Here is an idea. First a moth swarm surrounds her, just a moment of disorientation. She closed her eyes, and started chanting… odd, but it works for my plan. Now the big one flies straight at her face. There is a thud. The force is just enough to throw her off balance. She takes a step back, leaning against the wall. She screams, an angry, ear-piercing scream that carries electrical discharge. All my moths fall, all dead, except the big one. Regardless, it’s burned and dazed. I have it crawl into a mouse hole and hide. She has done enough for this fight. Now rats can use the fall and jump on the girl, get a few bites in.

Of course, she recovers fast enough, lashing out with a flurry of lightning. She is mad, striking harder but more carelessly. This is good. I keep my rats moving, narrowly avoiding some hits. She is still hitting more often than not, but her accuracy is down. Each bolt she casts with violent motion and a loud crack of thunder. Her hair flows into her face, yet she doesn’t care.

Eventually the onslaught has to stop. She could possibly handle more rats, but I need a defence force. The girl looks around suspiciously for more rats, but eventually calms down, and realises the battle is over. Then I hear her laugh, a happy, wholehearted laugh. Seems she found the challenge fun. This might be the start of a beautiful rivalry.

After a moment to collect herself, she took the loot, ate the few strawberries, and left. I was alone once again, sitting on a big pile of mana. Feeding her does indeed produce mana, way more than rats. However, the majority seems to come from how hard she fights. In that case, I better prepare for our next battle. No doubt she will have some new tricks by then, so I better prepare a few of my own.