How did one grow Moss in half the time while also having twice the growth? Well… the answer was to have four times the sources of energy. Two ants currently standing on the [Moss] could only do so much, but what would the result be if eight did it instead? It was quite the potential just lying on the ground, ready to be used by all. Or, well, ready to be used if the requirements to fulfil it had been up on the table.

For there weren't actually eight ants ready to stand on moss and not much else. The Core could technically take the last ant tending to the normal [Moss] and increase the speed of growth by fifty percent, but that would hardly be enough to work. No… eight ants' worth of energy being constantly [Siphoned] was exactly what was needed. But how would that work? Since there weren't enough creatures to fulfil the requirement, even if all the creatures in the entire domain were stopped in their tasks to stand on the [Blood-Moss]. It just wasn't possible with the resources currently at hand. This was why the Core needed to thin out of the box once again.

What was the balancing of [Siphon]? Well… the target that’s being siphoned has to be in direct contact with the [Blood-Moss], lest the skill will be impossible to activate. There was a maximum of energy that could be taken each second from one target, making it extra important to have more.

Now, these requirements seemed rather limiting. The Core certainly knowing that the latter was more than a little annoying to work with. It was more than able to give a single creature fifty Health every second for hours on end, as long as the [Siphon] would take the same away at the same time. But, no such thing could happen since the Moss just had to have completely understandable limits on a skill that could activate way higher than its paygrade.

No… while there were some quite hard limits on what could be done, the Core was believing it had found a way around some of them. There wasn't the chance to drain a single target of over five Mana per second? Well, what if the target in question wasn't actually a target but a piece of constructed Mana? And what if that Mana was touching the Moss? Would it be possible for the skill to drain, as an example, a piece of Physical Arcane? It was a simple question to test out. With a little skill, the Core hurriedly took some of the Mana in the air and turned it into a perfect square. With a bit of additional help, this square was reinforced with five Mana. Just enough to survive for a single second and perhaps a few more milliseconds for the outside as well.

Putting it on the [Blood-Moss] the theory was quickly tested out, though the Entity made sure not to damage the box on the way down. If such a thing had happened… a small bit of embarrassment would certainly have been felt. But, alas, there was no damage to the box. It settled down on the Moss without issue.

And then when a full second has passed, the square cracked and burst into a million pieces, most of the Mana being sent out redirected into the maw of the [Blood-Moss]. It had taken in the Mana without issue, seeing the constructed piece as the perfect meal. That was fine with the Core, though it wasn't too happy about it not being needed to be asked. The Core had technically ordered it to not harm its allies without specifically being told, but that apparently didn't account for Arcane boxes. Who could have guessed?

The Core could have done so if it actually thought about its own actions for a bit more time, but that was neither here nor there. Instead, it was time to move on to the next question. Would several boxes of Arcane count as one entity or more? This test was rather easy to complete, making two boxes this time where each had been reinforced with five whole Mana. If it took two seconds to make the boxes fracture, it would make it obvious that the [System] saw it as two entities. However, if it took one, then there would be much grander things to think about, a cheat found that would make them prosper within the hour.

Creating the two boxes in question, each carrying enough Mana for a second, they were gently placed on the Moss. There hardly was time to count to one before they both went up into a thousand shards yet again. It was a beatify to behold, the Core happy to have tried it out. Possibilities were raining in as the time flew by. With the Arcane working as substitutes, was there even a need for the two [Infested] to stay on the Moss any longer?

Oh, yeah. The one [Infested] had turned to two, the other regular ant that had been ordered to stand on the opposite side of the entrance had long ago completed its transformation. It turned out that it really was that easy. The only thing required to improve the creature being the constant torture of having energy sucked out and reapplied in a period nearing two full weeks. It was quite the discovery to make, though the Core wasn't sure if it wanted to use it for the others. While the benefits were nice to have, the [Infested] seem to have the idea that shedding their Moss and growing new layers over time was acceptable behaviour. Letting a lot of them go around the Core’ domain would also require that they could refrain from dropping Moss everywhere. When the time came where it could show off this skill, it would allow them access. Until then, there was not a single chance of another being made in the foreseeable future.

However, there was one thing that would be done in the foreseeable future and that was to remove the two infested from their spots. Their replacements had been created coming in at the count of eight complete boxes of Physical Arcane. Each was placed carefully on the Moss while also having a tether connected to their bodies. Each would put in exactly five Mana every second, keeping up with the [Siphon]’s ability to take. It would also allow for the two other creatures to step out, even if the Core could visibly see the growth slowing down because of it.

There would be enough at the current rate. Anything more would mean that the Core would be forced to remove it from the living. Space needn't be taken up by all others, after all. Eight creatures being activated and ready to get their energy sucked out was more than enough, even if those supposed creatures were just boxes of Arcane. It still worked, so there was no real reason to care. And… there was also the problem of more boxes requiring more effort. For with those boxes, it wasn't just the pumping of Mana into them that was required. No… something more needed to be done, that being the reinforcement techniques. They were quite hard to hold together, just enough to make sure the Core constantly needed to focus on the eight boxes. It could still think easily, but there wouldn't be enough space to multitask on much else at the same time. And increasing the boxes further would only increase the workload.

Sending the two [Infested] ants down to help dig out the new room, the Core realised that the main domain was quite… empty. Ignoring the fact that the [Blood-Moss] was a living mind, there was still the singular ant maintaining the normal Moss. And no other living beings except for the Core. It wasn't too bad, in some sense. The Entity very much enjoyed the calm, since that allowed it to focus more on the tasks at hand. But it also created some level of unease, since it meant that there would be problems if the enemy attacked. While the Entity liked to think that the ants from below could get back up before they breached the front entrance, there would still be some delay. Who would kill the first? Well… that the Core’s job. And it didn’t really have anything at hand to do that with.

Which meant it was once again time to look back at previous techniques used to kill [Wild] creatures. What had the Entity done the last time more of them needed to be taken care of? It had used spread created by Physical Arcane, spending more than a little focus on keeping them up on a massive amount of acceleration before then throwing them into the skulls of the ants, moving them in such a way that they went down the throat and body as well. It had been quite the murder marathon, but it had likewise been extremely effective, to an degree where the Entity considered trying it out again.

But not to the level of before, that more than taking up the remaining capacity for action. Speeding up the weapons now would be quite foolish anyway. There was no need to fire them all at once when the enemy could only get in through a single file. Instead… other options were available.

The idea of spears wasn't even close to being removed, the Core still using Physical Arcane to make more than a few. With there being no need to limit its arsenal, something close to fifty were created, all having a reinforcement of something close to ten. It hadn't paid too much attention throughout that phase, more focused on what came next.

As said before, the act of accelerating a multitude of objects was much too difficult to do on fifty spears at once while also maintaining eight different Arcane boxes that were constantly being drained of their Mana. So instead of accelerating them all too ludicrous speeds, one was kept stable at such a speed while all the others were at something much lower. It was quite ingenious if the Core had to call it something. The first spear would, of course hit the first creature, the weapon being attacked with within the first half-second of the enemy stepping foot into the sacred grounds. This would allow for the second creature to advance forth, though that would likely take some extra time because of the first lying in front dead. If possible, it would even mean that the creature needed to be manoeuvred, which would require quite some time. That would be more thane enough of a grace period since it would allow for the second spear to have reached peak velocity as well. And since that point would have been the longest of them all, the remaining would have reached it as well. There was nothing wrong with the technique as long as the time between the first and second creature was lengthen by responding within the same second.

The Core thought it a good enough idea to let the spears rotate in the middle of the room, at least. They would be a valuable weapon when the time for their use came. Until then, the Core had to make sure their rotation was close to the roof lest it would accidentally skewer one of its own. And that would likely be awkward to apologize for, even if the hit creature in question likely wouldn't understand it.

There were very few things that those creatures understood honestly. They could eat, run, bite and stand still. That was about all that came from those creatures, no matter how much one wanted more. They could technically spit water on plants as well, but was that really a talent worth talking about? Those mandibles of theirs was just about the most useful thing they had at their disposal, the things giving them the possibility to bite… in different ways. Truly innovation at its finest. At least the [Infested] had some more utility, being able to [Heal] and [Drain], though the latter skill wasn't official. It still worked fine and all, though it had some different requirements to work. And it wasn't really a burst-like Heal like the traditional skill, instead of being a constant flow instead. But it was still close enough to the real thing that it should have had a name.

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Congratulations!

You have levelled up and reached level [8] You have been granted [1] attribute points.

… That was not something the Core had thought would come so early. There was still just… oh, they had been going at it for five hours now? How time flew ahead with no warnings at all. The Core was getting nervous about how often that was happening recently, yet no mind was paid to it. There were other things to worry about. Like where to put the new attribute point. For a while now, it hadn't actually looked at its won [Status-Screen].

Never had there been a direct need to look at it or anything. It was just there if it needed it, though it hardly did. The other screens of other creatures had been much more interesting than anything it could show off. It was brought forth with a mental push. And the response from the [System] was quick, a blue set of words and numbers coming along.

Character Screen

Name:

-

Gender:

-

Level:

9

Class:

Core

Race:

Core

Title:

The Ancient One

Health:

160/160

H-Regen:

0.15/sec

Mana:

21/130

M-Regen:

0.13/sec

Stamina:

-/-

S-Regen:

0/sec

Basic Stats

Strength:

-

Wisdom:

13

Vitality:

15

Intelligence:

12

Dex:

-

Willpower:

14

Available points:

1

And there it was, having the acceptable level of nine. It was quite the achievement if the Core had to give its opinion about the fact. There were so many possibilities that had grown because of it as of late. The extra [Willpweer] constantly being added had certainly caused a significant amount of joy when it came t handling many things at once. But, other things could work just as fine, which stopped the Core from instantly putting the point into the same old place as before. [Intelligence] was ranking quite low when compared to the different scores, to where it was two behind the one below it. While no real consequences had come from it yet, the Entity was scared that it would.

What effects would a willing mind have when the Wisdom was low on the other side of the scale? Over-confidence perhaps? There had been signs of that as of late, but not to where it had gotten too serious. And, if there was such a thing as a stat-imbalance, it was sure that the [System] would have made some dumb statement about it happening. There certainly had been no range of quietness when the [Maximum Creature Capacity] had been reached last time.

The thoughts being made were not very productive in making the Core get a good choice. Nor was it making any kind of choice spending more time just thinking about the various choices having no kind of solution. The only stat not being talked bad about was [Vitality], making the Core think that the only solution left.

… Just kidding. Even the Entity had standards about that, not seeing any real gain from having more Health. Yet… having more Mana wouldn't be so bad. Since the revelation of creature creation had come back to haunt it as of late, the Core had been very unhappy about its lacking focus on the subject. There was no larger hate than the one it had for itself for not focusing more on making the Mana-Container grow. The fact of the matter was that it had more than a little trouble for letting the stronger creatures be spawned.

Looking at the costs, the first level of a regular ant had cost a whole ninety Mana. With how much was in the container at the current time, and due to how much there might be, it was more than possible to spawn it without issue. The second level was… already at the point where one was pushing it, costing one hundred and twenty-five Mana. That was an increase of thirty-five Mana. Taking that as the minimum cost for an increase, the third level would likely cost a minimum of a hundred and seventy Mana. Knowing how fair the [System] was with growth, there was a chance it could even reach the two hundred.

There was only one way to know for sure, yet the Core had little to no desire to do such a thing. The third level ants were much more useful than its inferior counterparts, being able to topple creatures normally quite the fight for those below. If it had to wait to know the true cost but be allowed the helping hand of one more level three ant? Well… that would be something it could accept rather easily. But, one step towards not fearing the risks of losing the more powerful creatures in its repertoire was a step that shouldn't be avoided. So with no further thinking, the chosen state to upgrade was [Wisdom]. That put it at a whopping one hundred and forty total Mana to have in its container. If forced, it could likely even reach the dreaded one hundred and seventy Mana-Points.

It would likely suffer from some quite brutal side-effects at that point, however, which was why it still wouldn't be attempted. When the Core finally had the misfortune of losing one of its creatures that were higher ranked while they were on its domain, it would not be too unhappy about finally knowing the cost. Until then, it would wait for a chance to get the Pattern.

Wait… wasn't there another Pattern that should have gotten quite a while ago? Yeah, there was. Another variant of the second level of a regular ant. It had been the [Undead Giant-Ant]. Quite a mouthful, even if it wasn't the worst thing that could be heard. The Core had certainly heard worse. But, no, there was definitely supposed to be a Pattern lying around somewhere.

Had it gotten into the soil without the Core realising? Making a form of shovel with the Physical Arcane, it dug down and see if there was anything to get it. Yet… nothing could truly be found. Was that not meant for the Entity’s eye or had the lack of a Pattern been something else? Perhaps it was simply because of the Black Mana not working that well with the Entity’s ideas about-

A [Skill] has been improved!

You have understood [Arcane-Manipulation] more deeply

Well, that was most definitely not something that the Core had expected to see that day. Where exactly had it started the supposed new branch of Arcane magic? Or was that not something meant to be known in the first upgrade of the skill?

Apparently not, the Core had to conclude. The information received from the upgrade was mostly a list of smaller changes to the basic Physical Arcane and how to make the improvements work. A few had already been used, though, which might have been the reason for the Core gaining the skill. Making a shovel and using it while also maintaining fifty spears and letting eight different squares be drained of Energy constantly was seemingly the way to improve. The Core would certainly not have guessed that to be the case but no matter. The last thought was if the description had changed or not. It would certainly be interesting if it had. Opening up the Skill-List, the Core was determined to check if it had.

Skill-Name

Rarity

Description

Cost

Mana-Sense

Rare

Allows for the user to sense [Mana Currents]

Passive

Mana-Manipulation

Rare

Allows for the user to manipulate [Mana Currents]

Passive

Appraisal

Rare

Allows the user to gather information regarding items or entities

10MP

Healing

Uncommon

Allows the user to heal a specific target

20MP

Arcane-Manipulation

Rare

Allows the user to manipulate the Arcane branch of magic with more skill. Can be focused onto a sub-branch later on in its development

Passive

Pain-Tolerance

Uncommon

Allows the user to bear through pain more effectively

Passive

Stamina-Recovery

Rare

Allows the user to increase another creature Stamina-Recovery by several magnitudes for a longer duration of time

10MP

Can be focused on a sub-branch later on in its development. Just what was that supposed to mean? The Core wondered as such before thinking back to the hints gained on the first attainment of the Skill. There had most certainly been parts that pushed towards the idea of [Arcane] being used for many different things. It would certainly make sense for a more single user to only focus on one of those in the later stages since it would take so much time to improve on them. Yet the idea that the [System] was prepared for such a thing… it was quite peculiar to think about. Just what were the limits of this? How many skills could be branched on? What were the requirements for each branch, if there even were any? And, lastly but most importantly how many upgrades needed to take place before it could be done?

The Core noted them down for later, hoping the [Queen of Hollows] could answer them. If they ever were in contact again, the Entity had hoped to ask questions about the system. They were enemies, yes, but the intelligent ant had been much more forthcoming with information than expected.

It was of no matter for now though, other things needed to be thought about. With the defence of Arcane Spears set up, and everything else seeming to work just fine by itself, the Core could take a glance down at the progress on the new room.

And, it was safe to say that the recent developments were quite surprising. Another [Variant] had emerged without the Core’s notice.