Mari took a moment to think, and really imagine the floor she wanted to create. She wanted a truly massive floor filled with adventure and unique islands and the only way to do that was with a large floor.
So she pictured a vast expanse of ocean, she remembered the seas of earth and how they stretched farther than the eye could see, she recounted the documentaries she had watched and how even now the ocean depths remained a mystery.
She focused on the images in movies of ships sailing an unexplored sea, and dolphins dancing in and out of the waves. She recalled the sound of seagulls and whales singing to each other with the haunting melodies.
Mari felt a wave of exhaustion crash through her and fell to her knees, she opened her eyes but was greeted by darkness, she struggled to stay awake for a moment before she gave in and passed out.
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Mari was woken up by the cries of Nuit as the young fox pawed at her face and licked her cheeks.
"Nuit," Her voice was rough and for a second she struggled to remember what had happened. "Did I pass out?"
Moving slowly and with squinted eyes Mari pushed herself up to a sitting position and rested against the leg of the table.
The lights of the workroom dimmed and the pounding headache she had faded slightly. Nuit jumped onto her lap and licked her fingers, "I'm okay," Mari reassured the fox and herself.
"What happened," She frowned, "I was working on the new floor and I wanted to try to expand the space by myself..." She trailed off and tried to remember.
Suddenly she jumped up and dislodged Nuit, twirling around she struggled to stay up as another wave of nausea washed over her, but she pushed through it and focused on the table.
It took a second for the changes to register but when they did a strangled sound halfway between a whimper and a yelp escaped her throat.
The entire floor had changed and was filled with life, dolphins jumped through the waves and Mari could count at least 10 islands scattered about. "How," She asked confused.
Warning!!
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* 'Guardian' attempted to use magic beyond their current abilities.
Mari, you almost destroyed your physical form and I had to intervene and bond your soul even closer to your forge. The RealmForge exists for a reason, it handles your magic in ways your body can handle. It will tell you when you are ready to do it without help, don't try this again it took far too much effort to keep you alive.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
-The Observer
+Guardian has massively expanded the space on the second floor.
+Guardian has filled the second floor with basic creatures.
+Guardian has added 7 new islands in the basic configuration.
Mari reread the message from the Observer several times and swayed a bit feeling faint. "I almost died," She whispered and sat back down returning to the floor.
She picked up Nuit and held her close hiding her in the fox's soft fur and allowed herself a moment to cry.
Unfortunately, she didn't have much time as an alarm went off and Mari watched as a small rowboat with 7 people made their way over to her island.
"I guess we're about to get our first Warriors," she whispered and watched as they got close enough to pull their tiny boat out of the water and onto the small sandy area on her island.
"Wait, when did our little rocky island have a beach?" Mari asked Nuit as she stood up, of course, Nuit couldn't answer beyond a single bark and tailwag so she moved on.
"I think I'll make one monster and then watch them, what do you think Nu?" She asked her young fox assistant. Nuit licked her cheek and settled onto her shoulders with a small yawn.
"Right, let's pull up the Monster Core screen."
Monster Cores!
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Common Monster Core 100c
Uncommon Monster Core 1,500c
Special Monster Core 3,000c
Rare Monster Core 10,000 Crystalized Credits(cc)
Unique Monster Core 20,000cc
Legendary Monster Core 40,000cc
Mythic Monster Core 80,000cc
Divine Monster Core 1,000 Gold Credits(gc)
Current Credits: 2,045
Mari frowned at her Credit count, that didn't look right, where did she get 500 credits?
Create Floor 2!✔️
+1000c
"Oh, right," Mari waved away the finished quest screen and went back to the monster cores. "With over 1,500 credits I could buy an Uncommon Monster Core, though it would use the majority of my credits."
Mari thought about it as she watched the group of Warriors climb up the rocky expanse and get closer and closer to her forge.
"I might as well, I mean I'm about to complete that 5 warriors quest anyways so..." With that decided Mari bought the Uncommon Monster Core and winced at the drop in her credits.
The new core was bigger than the Common Monster's Core, and instead of gray, it was white. Mari gently placed the core onto the pedestal and sighed at the large list of basic creatures she could choose from.
"Thankfully, I had already thought about this." Mari selected the hunchback whale and gave it the Water Affinity, but instead of changing the screen prompted her to choose a minor affinity to give the whale as well.
"Huh, I guess there's a reason Uncommon Monster Cores are expensive." There wasn't much reason to give a whale a Nature affinity so Mari instead added a minor Space affinity.
It only took a second for the whale to begin to change and when it did it truly became a sight to see.
A truly massive whale with a shimmering white and blue form. Whales were always large but this new monster was at least 3 times larger than the normal whale.
"The Serene Leviathon, protector of the seas, gentle giant, and warrior for the weak," Mari declared and smiled, she had finished just in time as when she turned to check on the approaching Warriors they had finally arrived outside her entrance.