A few hours after she created the otter that was now peacefully sleeping at the bottom of the bowl she felt her divinity tick up once more. So it costs around ten divinity to make a monster cycle huh? A monster that returns to life after it dies needed a name she decided and no one was around to stop her so she felt that just calling it a monster cycle since it felt the most… descriptive of the process was a fair thing to do.

Divinity:

93/150

Ten for the otter and I am assuming fifty for the core? She could only really guess as she had no way to know for sure at the moment and that fact truly hammered in the task she was given. Since I am the original in this case I don’t have a guide do I? Sitting down as best as she could in the sphere room she inadvertently created she pondered what to do with her task.

If I am the base template for the overall project I need to be careful right? She felt sick at that thought alone and could only rub her arms to try and control her nerves. What was she supposed to do? How would the mortals react to something like this? Many many questions and worries flowed through unabated leaving only a very faint sense of dread in their wake. Breathing in and out slowly barely held her together long enough to cram the sick away like everything else, her breaths echoing in the cold silence of the room. She could feel a slight cold within herself once she stored away the dark feelings but no matter how hard she tried to push it away it never left her so all she could do was move on one shaky step at a time.

“Hey otter, do you think the mortals would appreciate a cave floor?”

She asked quietly hoping for some validation from her only company. After a few minutes though of complete dead quiet her face scrunched up before returning neutral after a breath.

“Yeah you're right! Mom needs something more grand than just a cave to bring the mortals around to the new changes.”

With a slight smile and a nod to herself she hopped onto her feet and funneled some of her divinity to her hands and started shaping the stone before her. The silver glow worked in tandem with her mind to make rectangular halls five meters wide and eight tall. She walked forward slowly and carefully to make sure everything was level and not a hassle to walk over; she did not want people to think it was shoddy. The bare stone walls left behind she would have to go back to later and do some finer details then add decoration and to add rooms.

The idea in her head was simple but hard to picture since she has never seen a castle before. Trying to remember what castles were from her fathers stories did not help as much as she thought and could only chuckle at the inane idea that it was just a bunch of halls and rooms. She figured that most structures were just rooms and halls for the most part but that felt incomplete and most importantly lazy. She understood that the essence of a castle was grand and she wanted to replicate that feeling in her halls since her cave idea fell flat in her mind. Pillars, fine stonework, and statues were probably needed she concluded but will that help with the vision she has in mind? Was that all a castle was? She felt that she was missing something as her walk continued absentmindedly carving stone halls that went straight, turned left and right sharply sometimes crossing each other. In the end many many halls were made as she continued making a labyrinth in her daze.

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Hurrik is a simple man with simple needs… Yet for some ungodly reason he was trudging through the filth under the city streets. What went wrong? Was his only thought as he stumbled around the corner that made the sewers under the city. His faded blue cloak stained in colors he very much did not want to think about along with his simple made leather tunic and pants. He would need new boots after this mission of his that much he figured was fact the moment he stepped down here. The man could only sigh as he took in his location and his unkempt brown hair and beard he felt just as disgusting as the slimy stone brick walls that made up this place. A glance at the slow churning river of filth made the man shudder as he could only mumble to himself as he looked around the corner.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Three days in and I have not found the source… Should I head up now?”

It was a simple job but one he did not originally take himself. No Cloe took the job only to learn that she had to trudge through grime for who knows how long to find some anomaly that shook the city days prior. The guards did not want to come down here for days on end and the nobles couldn’t give a damn even if they tried. Cloe though? A young girl who just reached adulthood by her temple's norms? There was no way she would be caught dead down here. Healers are always in demand though so when she walked up to him when they had their normal group meetings to discuss what happened during their down time he could feel some unexplained pressure in her eyes.

Am I just an idiot? Or perhaps a fool… All he could really do was lament his own past self as he trudged along making note of anything that was noteworthy to the guild. When offered the job he couldn’t help but think that the mental image of Cloe covered in filth possibly contracted some unknown disease down here to be a tragedy. Maybe he was a fool in other people's eyes but he could not bring himself to force the poor girl down here. They will laugh at him once he goes topside and give him a wide berth to avoid the stench he figured. NO! He was adamant that is what they will do.

Should I just be petty and show up to the guild like this and force the issue?

He had to admit the idea of the grimaces on their faces made him smile. It was a sweet feeling that lasted only a moment before an image popped up in his head. Guilt. Quite simply if he showed himself at the guild and was laughed at he was sure Cloe would wear a guilty expression for who knows how long. It was not a look he wanted to see again, not after last time. His smile crumbled and his steps quickened echoing around like a hammer to his ears.

A few hours later as the sewers slowly became colder heralding evening aboveground he finished his route finally. With another sigh he followed a path closest to the river. It will be cold… that was the thing that he was not looking forward to but washing himself before heading to the guild was something he needed to do to avoid that guilty expression. A bath house was an option if he did not look like some beggar who stinks to high heavens. He highly doubted he could make it to the merchant district gates let alone fifteen feet before getting stopped by some guard with a superiority complex.

As he rounded the corner to the metal door leading towards the river he saw the light of a magic lantern. It was easy to tell the difference even from where he stood as the light was uniform and not swaying with crackling orange hues. He had a sinking feeling he knew who owned that lantern and the fact he felt like he wanted to rush forth and greet them was definitely unwanted along with the creeping depression of his current appearance. With a mental punch to the face he pushed those thoughts and feelings aside and marched forward to the metal door.

It did not take long to see through the gaps of the door towards the owner of the lantern. The woman wore a blue cloak much like his except hers was well kept and had a silver lining. A nice cream blouse with a leather belt tied to her waist holding pouches and a sheath for a dagger and pants made out of some deep green material that looked soft to the touch. Her ensemble was not really enough for someone who works part time in the guild but she refused to neglect comfort for most jobs. His squelching steps and creaking of the rusted door opening made the woman jump slightly before turning his way. Her auburn hair, deep green eyes, and soft brown skin could be found in the kingdom so it was not out of place necessarily. Her pointed elongated ears and soft glow to her skin however marked her as something else entirely.

“Alissandra why- *cough* I mean Lis, why are you here exactly?”

Hurrik asked, cutting himself off abruptly at the slight frown that graced her face before rephrasing the question. That frown ran a cold shiver down his spine he still could not explain well to others a fact he knows Lis enjoys immensely. As the door closed behind Hurrik she looked at him like he was some brand new form of idiot.

“What do you mean by why? It was obvious this was the exit you were going to use when Cloe begged you to take the job in her place.”

Her soft tone held something close to exasperation but before he could open his mouth to ask how she continued in a questioning tone while raising a brow in his direction.

“You were going to throw yourself in the river weren't you?”

Hurrik could only look away as he passed by her at a slightly faster pace. He did not fail to hear her final remark and soft chuckle no matter how hard he tried.

“What an idiot…”