"This feels so much better it is like I was in pain and I didn't even know it.", as Nike was talking, I looked around at the creatures in my area. " Well, let us start with the basics of how to grow your area of control. First, as you have somehow gotten lucky with acquiring a title which affects mana, you should be able to sense your capacity."
"Um, and how am I supposed to do that.". After a second, It realized something, " Why can't I see you, you said a name gives a form to the formless.".
After a short pause, "Well, how should I put this, I am different, but I do not know why. It is not something that is bothering me, so why should it bother you."
"I don't understand... But how do I know you are not lying to me". It asked confusingly.
As they were talking, a snake started to slither into the stream. Almost as soon as it entered the water, it was attacked by a lizard.
Lower water lizard has killed a water snake. A water snake has been added to the dungeon's matrix.
" This is good to learn; our creatures will automatically defend our dungeon. If it were something bigger, then you would have something to worry about; however, Now let us focus on the matter at hand; focus in towards yourself." Nike said to distract the core.
"Okay." I started focusing on my self and felt the energies within.
Fire mana 16/100 Earth mana 85/100 Air mana 53/100 Water mana 68/100 Dark mana 71/100 Lightning mana 12/100 Light mana 40/100
" What does this all mean?"
" The higher the number means the closer to your maximum capacity for that particular element. You accumulate mana passively depending on your environment when you are formed. Afterward, you acquire it through creatures in your domain, producing it, so I would recommend you not use your lightning or fire mana until you have a way to get more. Before you ask you use mana to expand your reach and to create or alter creatures.", Nike quickly explained.
"When you say, creatures, what about the ones already inside." It quickly asked?
"The creatures inside us produce mana but in smaller quantities than the ones outside us. While we are talking about mana, we use it to create monsters or alter those inside us or to expand our domain in different directions. We do this to protect us while we grow." Nike responded.
It decided to think about this as it looked around their domain. while taking a closer look at the creatures, it realized everything that evolved looked like its counterparts that did not change. "Why do the evolved monsters look like their animal counterparts Nike."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"They do not just change because mana entered them. Mana alters things, whether inanimate or animate, but it takes time. They gained a mana core when you got a notice that they changed, which will slowly shift them into their new forms. As they grow into their evolved state, they will produce more mana. The other option is for you to force mana into them to cause a change, but that is wasteful at the moment, and I would advise against it."
" But if they are in their evolved form, they will produce more mana, so why should I not forcefully evolve them?"
"They would still produce less mana then animals or plants coming into our domain. If you wait a while, you will see which monsters change faster."
"Why can you not just tell me."
" You are assuming that I know the answer. I have some information that has to do with ourselves but not the monsters inside us. I can tell you the difference between a rock and a plant or an animal, but that does not mean I know what that water snake was before it came into our domain." Nike ranted, sounding very annoyed.
The Core remained silent for a couple of seconds, thinking about its situation, and it was confused because it had all this information pushed into it. Yet, the Core did not understand why it was trusting Nike who appeared after it was born, and it couldn't shake a feeling that Nike was trustworthy. " Nike, I am sorry if I am annoying you, but there is all this information in my head, and I don't understand how it connects."
" I am sorry for snapping, but you need to learn these things for our benefit. If you don't have a good understanding of how to use mana, then you could cripple us. However, I understand how you feel there is all this information in my head and the instinct to tell you the information, but it is mixed up like multiple puzzles with missing pieces mixed into each other."
" What should I do then?"
" Now, if you recall, I asked you to feel for the mana inside of you that mana is used to do everything you plan to do. Whether from creating things from your matrix or making something new or altering your domain and extending it. Your mana pool is limited, which requires to be refilled over time. As we grow, your pool becomes larger naturally. I understand that it does not sound like a lot of information, but there are a lot of nuances to those things. If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them."
" I am going to assume from your answer that I should choose what I want to do but be aware of what I might be doing to my future growth."
" Yes that would be correct I guess nothing is stopping you from not listening to me."
" I will just play it safe for now; nothing is bothering me at the moment that would make me do anything with my mana."
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One week later
Throughout the dungeon, some of the animals started changing, becoming more aggressive attacking the other animals for sport rather than for food. The changes were more apparent on the smaller animals as they turned faster into monsters. By the end of the first week, physical changes could be seen on most of those animals.
During this period, the core watched with Nike as the dungeon slowly changed with nothing entering its domain for awhile. It finally lost its patience," Nike, how am I supposed to get stuff to come to me."
" You are already doing that passively the stream coming out of your cave has mana in it that is better at attracting things than air leaving the dungeon. It is a waiting game when some of your mana tops off we can start playing around with things, but for now, it is only a matter of time before a monster, animal, or plant comes into our domain."
" I noticed that the animals became more aggressive and are eating more, but how come they seem to not disappear with how many got eaten."
" They are either appearing passively, or they are breeding aggressively. If its the first one, then do not worry. It won't cost you mana to replace the rats or eels and smaller things, and the lizards are too big for the cat to hunt, so most of your animals are just trying to be the first to evolve without being eaten."
" Okay, I understand, but the tediousness of waiting is bothering me."
" So tune yourself out, and I will let you know if something is happening that you would like to see."