Mewtwo awakes two hours before dawn. He finds me still outside, reading the Lexica Botanica. I am almost done reading the basics. If all that is written in this book can truly be made, then this will be a huge step in greater capability. New powers, new tools, and strange new things. As Mewtwo joins me, I excitedly shove the Lexica on his face. He frown at first, asking me where and how I found such an ancient book. I decide to keep the existential discussion for later, I am more exited about playing with these flowers than contemplating my existence at this moment. But the time will come before we leave this sanctuary. That much I assure myself.

I recount my little forest exploration and my latest discoveries. How I can just move flowers, Princess strange vine puppets powers and how I found the mystical flowers. I give him the reward candies and then he start to read the Lexica as well. I can see as he delve into the future possibilities as his eyes open wider and wider and his three fingered hands grip the book tighter and tighter. After a couple minutes of reading, he looks up.

If half of what is described in this book can be done, that could change our situation immensely. He declares once he is done reading the first half of the book. Damn he reads fast.

"I know right? But we need to experiment first. Step one is the petal apothecary." As I speak, I am already crafting it. A single petal, surrounded by a V of three cobblestones and three more at the base. I use a purple flower to get a petal, seeing as it is the flower I have the most at the moment. With a whir, the petal apothecary comes to rest in my inventory. I get it out, but instead of the item, I get an holographic representation. Uh? Oh! The builder suite!

Indeed, what looks like a square bowl on a large pillar with a stone base appears before me in red light. It floats above my hand, turning slowly. As I orient my hand to the ground, the structure half sink into the ground. Uhuh? "Mewtwo you're seeing this?" I ask him, because if he is not, I must look like a fool trying to understand his hand.

I am. New capacity?

"Yeah, I had to stack blocks of cobblestone to get out of the cave and I unlocked this." I slowly raise my hand, and the hologram shoots to the other side of the clearing. "First time using it..."

He nods, trying to come up with either encouragement or advices.

After finagling for a couple minutes, The hologram suddenly changes color. From red, it turns green. Does that mean this is a valid position? How do I set it down then? I try concentrating on thinking 'put it down', but it does nothing. I am starting to get frustrated. Rapidly moving my arm does nothing but move everything once more. I clench my fingers in annoyance and something changes. A little anchor symbol appears next to the hologram. I move my hand, and the hologram stays where it is. Oh... Good... I locked it. IN A RED POSITION! Because I must have moved my hand slightly, the hologram moved into the ground once more, so now now the position is invalid.

Mewtwo start snickering. I send him an annoyed look, and he turns around, trying to hide his smile. Stupid upright cat face alien looking pokemon.

Alright, so I can lock it with a move of my fingers. Let's try and see if it's the same... Something just occurred to me. I can't be that dumb right? I think to myself as I open the tutorial section. I quickly find the entries on the builder suite, and I almost scream as I hide my face in my hands. I am that dumb. Mewtwo starts laughing loudly and I cannot fault him.

So... There is a control panel... Ahah... Also? Here is the list of all the shortcuts if I want to avoid using said control panel. Moving my hand around let me move the position, that much I knew. Closing my fingers in themselves locks or unlocks the position depending on its current state, that's what I did. Rotating my wrist left or right rotated the object left or right, and finally, FINALLY, I just need to extend my fingers slightly forward and then backward to place the object I wish to place.

On the control panel, beyond finer setting controls, I also find a little option: Avoid Clipping. I activate it and the hologram jumps up from the ground, turning green once more. I can see the validate on the control panel, but I would like to try with the hand shortcut. I extend my metallic fingers forward and then bring them back quickly. With a fizzle sound, the apothecary takes the place of its holographic counterpart.

Dear Trio, that took longer than it should have. After Mewtwo recovers from his laughing fit, we look closer at the apothecary. Just like it appeared as a hologram, it is a large stone bowl supported by a singular thick pillar. Within the bowl is an intricate pattern of sculpted roots.

"So, the first thing we need is water, and then petals. And then seeds? A seed? Multiple?" I ask aloud as I look at the schematic in the Lexica. The drawing seems to indicate multiple seeds, but the text only speak in singular when referring them. Maybe it's just the way they looked where the guide was made. In the recipe menu, the seed kept changing every seconds, so I am unsure if it was a one seed or multiples.

For water, we take a look at the basket of food we received yesterday. Inside are multiple water skins. We empty three and maybe a third of a fourth before the apothecary is finally full. Okay step one is done. I quickly craft four white petals from my two white mystical flowers and put them in the bowl. They sink in and start to shimmer gently. A little holographic display pops up above the apothecary. It just needs for me to add some sort of seeds.

Seeds... Seeds... Where can we get these? We both look around at the grass surrounding us. Seeds... Mewtwo calls me over. Hidden beneath a bush at the edge of the clearing, is something I had not seen in a long time. A garden! Good find Mewtwo. I collect what is within. Cauliflowers, some brocoli, and most important, a handful of quinoa. Now these are cereals, but they might be used as seeds right? Just in case I put them all in my inventory and look at the uses for quinoa. Oh... That makes it easier. Most of everything vegetables and fruits I gather can be turned into their respective seeds. Again, no idea how that would work. I quickly turn everything into seeds, and turn my eyes on the food basket. I can convert more things into seeds... Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. With what I made, I should have enough to get started.

Taking the quinoa seed back out of my inventory, I let it drop into the apothecary. The moment the seed touches the water, the carved roots on the side of the bowl lit up. The seed starts to sprout and the white petals join with the growing stem. The water slowly drains, and soon, only the flower remains. I have made a pure daisy. The quest validates, and the next two unlock.

Livelier materials

You now have a cute little flower with you. Time to see what it does!

Obtain 'Livingwood logs': 0/8

Obtain 'Livingrock': 0/8

Rewards: 25xp; 1 Exp. Candy S

ALL THE FLOWERS FOR POWER!

You'll need to make at least one of those to get started, the rest you can make at your one pace.

Craft an 'Endoflame': 0/1

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Craft a 'Hyrdoangeas': 0/1

--------------------------[+]---------------------------

Rewards:5000xp; 1 Exp. Candy XL

And the list goes on and on. No I'm exaggerating, there are only 15 flowers in total. A quick read in the Lexica makes me decide that I will go with the Endoflame to start. I do not have a renewable source of water, and the decay will drain my reserves of petals real fast. But first, let's set up the pure daisy. As the name indicates, it looks like a daisy, except for four larger triangular petals growing behind the crown of normal ones. It seems to be radiating light slightly. I plant it down a bit further away from the apothecary and then look at what I need to get livingrock and livingwood. Any logs of wood will word for livingwood, but I need actual blocks of stone for the livingrock. Blocks of cobblestones are not a valid target for the pure daisy.

And I need to remake my furnace chip to make stone blocks. Damn... I quickly do so and start the stone cooking process. I am slowly but surely running out of logs. I actually have no idea how I can get Princess to agree to let me cut a tree or ten down... Later. I still have enough to advance right now. While the eight blocks of stone are cooking, I get out eight logs and surround the pure daisy with them. Immediately, roots start to travel within the soil and slowly penetrates the logs. Where they do so, the wood slowly start to change color. From gray-brown, the logs slowly turn a vibrant red-brown. After about a minute or so, it is done. The roots retract, and I am left with eight livingwood logs. Alright! And the stones are cooked!

I place the freshly cooked stone blocks around the pure daisy, and once more roots shoot from flower and borrow themselves within the rock. The grey stone slowly turns whitish in color, almost looking like marble, but with less of a sheen to it. Once more, after a minute, it is done. The quest completes, Mewtwo gets his candy and I look at the next quest.

Mana manipulation 101

Here are the tools, read the book for more details

Craft a 'Wand of the forest': 0/1

Craft a 'Mana spreader': 0/1

Craft a 'Mana pool': 0/1

Rewards: 30xp; 2 Exp. Candy S

Alright... Ah shit. I take out my remaining logs and put them around the pure daisy. I am now officially out of wood. Why does it cost so much to make a single livingwood stick? Two logs for one stick? that's a robbery! Grumbling, I get to work in crafting next set of tools. Ah... I need copper for the mana spreader. Well... I have copper... In raw ore form... I sigh. Good thing I already assembled the portable smeltery. Knew I would use it soon enough.

I do so, make some sand and fire the smeltery. Soon enough, I have three ingots. And less coal. Which is a problem because I kind of wanted to use that coal for the endoflame... Oh well. While that was happening, the last of my wood has turned into living wood. I recover it and then makes all three of the required items. The wand of the forest requires three living wood sticks, which is the equivalent of SIX livingwood logs, it hurts to see them go so quickly, but that wand will be central to my future foray in magical botany. It also requires two petals and I chose to use another purple flower. I still have more of those than the rest. Next is the mana spreader, which also requires six logs, a petal and the previously stated copper ingot. I use my remaining purple petal from when I crafted the apothecary and assemble the spreader. Finally, I assemble the mana pool. It turns to be the easiest by far. Five livingrocks in a U formation and voilà.

With everything prepared, I realize I have a problem. I need a light gray, a red and two brown petals to make an endoflame. I only have the red. FUCK! Wait! the 'But that's the wrong color' quest! How do I make this floral fertilizer thing? Okay petals and one bone meal for one. Bone Meal? Bones. Okay. I rush back in the house and gather some of the bones we collected. A bone gets me three bone meals, and I sacrifice both my blue and the final purple flower to make one floral fertilizer. What I end up with is a mass of greenish dust with bits of color sticking through. I look at it. How do I use that?

Throw it around? Mewtwo suggests. He has been silent most of this time, observing what I did with curiosity.

"Eh, why not." I go to another part of the clearing, and throw it around me. the green dust flies in an arc and gently lands on the soil. The entire space shines for a few seconds where the dust touches, and flowers start to rapidly grow. One, two... three... Four... Four flowers appear. And I wince. A red, two yellow and a white one. Not what I wanted. I use the yellows to make a new fertilizer and repeat the process. This time I get only three, and none of them are the color I want! Only two pink ones and a magenta one.

I use a both pinks to make another ball of fertilizer. All three turn out the same color. And it's brown! Awesome. black and green flowers turn into another ball, come on I just need a light gray one. Please... I use a third ball, but no light gray.

I repeat the process three more times before finally getting the light gray flower! "YES!" I cry out in happiness. Fucking random fertilizer. Well at least I have more flowers now. In the end, after all the fertilizer I made, I end up with one light gray, one cyan, two purples and one green.

Also, I should be able to get more petals from flowers later on. I mean, I can do it now. I just need to plant a petal and fertilize it with bone meal, but the problem comes from recovering it. I need shears. The flower grows too big to be picked up by hand.

So that will be for later. Right now? We are making an endoflame! Mewtwo is curious to know if the process needs me or not. I hand him all the ingredients and look at him add them to the apothecary. The moment he adds the seed, the process starts and soon, he is holding the endoflame.

How to describe it... The flower is an orange brown coloration, with a yellow pistil at its center. The petals rise up all around the pistil, undulating like flames. We both look at the flower in curiosity. Also The quest validated even if I have not touched the flower. Mewtwo can contribute to some quests as well it seems. Good to know.

I plant it some space away from the apothecary and the pure daisy. I not am dubbing this space the botania space, but it is starting to be a botania space. Eh. With the flower put down, I go to install the mana spreader and have to place it the same way I placed the apothecary. Except I can place it on top of the endoflame? Uh? How does that even work? I do so, curious.

The mana spreader gets placed. It is a cube of red-brown wood, with an strange glowing green spots on its side and an opening on its forward face. Within the opening, a little cube of copper with a green spot on each side turns slowly. However, the spreader appearance is second to its current location. It is hovering right above the endoflame, slightly a meter above the ground. And it is just... Floating there... Mewtwo eyes are as wide as mine. What the fuck is this? This just... holds in the air? HOW?

Hold on, is it just the spreader or...? I go to place the mana pool, right next to the mana spreader. The builder suite does consider it a valid position and let me do it. I do so, and the pool just... floats there. I- uh- Eh- WHAT?

We both stare at it for long minutes. This is insane. Absurd. Even Aster is completely dumbfounded. I can feel him sputtering at what I am seeing, making me sputter in turn. WHAT! THE! ACTUAL! FUCK!?

I want to touch it. Mewtwo says in dazed thoughs.

"Not the spreader, or let me pick up the flower first." I tell him almost instantly. I still have enough to remake it, but I would like to avoid wasting materials.

Mewtwo's hand slowly approach the floating mana pool. His rounded finger trembles slightly as he goes to make contact. He touches the mana pool. Nothing happens. He touches it again. the mana pool continues to float. He grabs it, it remains unmoving. He pulls, he pushes, nothing changes. the mana pool remains stationary where I placed it.

Now I have a new question. Both items were made of living material. Are they the reason for these gravity defying properties? Or is it something else? I select a block of cobblestone, and place its hologram above the mana pool. And immediately hesitate. The mana pool is a square bowl, one meter by one meter, about a third of that in eight. The cube of cobblestone I wish to place will be floating about two third of a meter ABOVE the mana pool.

"Nothing risked..." I start.

Nothing gained. Mewtwo finishes, his though almost fearful at what is about to happen. I place the block.

"Eh..."

Mewtwo snorts.

"Eheh..."

Both Mewtwo and I explode in hysterical laughter. It's not the blocks, or the materials. It is the builder suite. It has to be.

As we both bend over in laughter, the cube of cobble stone remains above the mana pool, floating in defiance of gravity. This is absurd, insane and just... just... an absurdly insane tool! I... I start experimenting. I place a block next to the mana pool and then another on the ground, just in front of the second floating block.

"STAIRS!" I declare as I climb on the one meter step. I then continue. I have so much cobblestone it barely make a dent in my reserves. I extend from the top block, and soon a line of ten blocks extends above the clearing. "BRIDGE!"

Hysterical laughter grips me once more and I slip, landing on the ground, still laughing. We both laugh for long minutes, before finally calming down.

"Don't know if I need to hide that one," I say, breathing heavily.

It will be less taxing than having to convert entire barns of produce.

"True that!" I agree, getting up, and meeting the wide opened eyes and gaping maw of a zoroark. Oh yeah, that must have been us five minutes ago.