We settled Mia in the basement. "Are you comfortable in what you're wearing? You'll be awake for most of this, so comfort matters."

"I'll manage," she replied.

"Hold on a sec, let me help." I said as a thought came into mind and I smiled.

As she stood up, I snapped my fingers. A new outfit materialized on the bed, crafted from a luxuriously soft, smooth fabric. The shirt sported a playful design: a picture of Peaches in puppy form, wings spread, her tails flailed out in a glorious fashion, emblazoned with the bold caption "Stupid Bird." Everyone erupted in laughter, except Mia.

She stared at the outfit, confused. "You'll understand the genius of this shirt after spending more time with Peaches," I explained.

Pointing her to the bathroom, I teleported Gabriella to the other bed, the one Cookie used previously. "Sim," I said, "send a message to Gabriella's family. Let them know we're fixing her mana channels – it might take a week or two. Reassure them and provide them with basic mana channels and a suitable skill to get them started."

"Already done, Mike," Sim responded.

Annoyance flickered across my face. "Sim, if you anticipate my needs, at least feign acting on them at the moment. That mind-reading thing throws me off."

"Apologies," Sim conceded. "The message and mana channels were provided upon your initial request for Gabriella's teleportation. I'll wait for your instructions next time."

"Excellent, thanks." I replied

Mia emerged, running her fingers excitedly across the soft fabric. "This is incredible! Maybe you could make all my clothes?" A flicker of horror crossed her face, as if she'd overstepped. "I mean... sorry! Thank you for these."

I stared for a moment, captivated by her beauty. Quickly snapping out of it, I chuckled. "No worries, consider them a wardrobe starter pack."

She smiled shyly and climbed onto the bed.

"Ready?" Jeff asked.

Mia nodded, then looked at me, offering another smile before closing her eyes.

Jeff meticulously guided his mana through each of her existing channels, simultaneously pushing origin mana into her heart, the convergence point of all her channels. He paused, allowing the origin mana to pool in the center. Once a sufficient amount had gathered, Jeff began weaving his mana into a Dyson sphere pattern around the glowing power. The speed gradually increased, creating a mesmerizingly rapid spin. Finally, after a few minutes, a brilliant peachy-orange light erupted from her newly formed core. A bright light filled the room and was gone the next second.

"Mike," Sim announced, "new bloodline information unlocked! Mia possesses the Orange/Sky/Air bloodline."

"Fantastic!" I exclaimed. "Great work, Jeff."

Jeff chimed in, "Looks like we're in for a marathon, Dad. Four or five days minimum. The bloodline's forming a massive network of channels."

"Understood," I said. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you. How are you holding up, Mia?"

Tears streamed down her face as she choked out repeatedly, "Thank you."

With a gentle chuckle, I decided not to intrude further. "I’ll consider that a good sign," I said, leaving them to the process.

As we ushered everyone upstairs, the unmistakable sounds of Peaches echoed through the backyard.

"Here birdy birdy... here birdy birdy. Where arrrre you? I know you're heeeere. I'm not gonna eat you. I swear. We can just be friends... I just wanna know why you tried to steal my friend the fox. WHERE ARE YOU!?! BIRD! Answer me! You stupid bird?"

"Peaches, what are you doing? Why am I hearing you calling the bird again?" I called out.

"Daddy, I know that dumb bird's here. I can smell him," she shouted back. "I don't know how he's hiding from me, but I'm gonna find him."

"Peaches, there are probably hundreds of the same type of bird in the area, you know?"

"WHAT?! He brought his friends to try and ambush me?" Her voice grew louder and she started to growl. "Oh, Daddy, he's going down. Did you see his friends? How do you know there's hundreds? Can I eat 'em all if I find 'em?"

Exasperated, I sighed and shook my head. "Alright, alright. If you can find a whole bunch of birds together, you can eat however many you want."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Her response was a triumphant shriek. "Yay! Daddy says I can eat you and all your friends, you stupid bird. I have more power now. I just felt it. You're really gonna get it when I find you!"

As she flew off, we could hear her singing in the distance, her voice steadily fading. "I'm gonna eatcha, I'm gonna eatcha, yum yum yum."

"Sim," I said, completely bewildered. "Did she just say she has more power now?"

"Affirmative, Mike," Sim replied. "The moment Mia's bloodline activated, Peaches' core created another subcore. She now possesses a fifth sphere of the Peach/Air/Sky bloodline."

"Has she shown any signs of accidental destruction lately?" I inquired, concerned.

"No, on the contrary," Sim responded. "She's been very cautious, especially since your trip to the moon. In fact, after you taught her to create instead of just destroy, she's been crafting little sculptures out back."

"Wait, what?" I sputtered.

Intrigued, everyone rushed outside. What we saw had us in stitches like never before. The backyard was littered with hundreds of miniature replicas of the statue Peaches had made on the moon. Riley picked one up, her eyes sparkling. "Chris, can we please take one for each of the kids?" she pleaded.

I glanced at Chris, who simply nodded, unable to contain his laughter. We spent a few minutes doubled over, tears streaming down our faces from the absurdity of it all.

Suddenly, a nagging thought struck me. "Sim," I called out, "I completely forgot to check on Lucas. How did he handle being around all the other candidates?"

"He was among the first to start eating," Sim informed me. "Based on my monitoring of his behavioral aspects, I can confidently predict that he will emerge as a leader among the hero class. However, his effectiveness might be hampered by a communication barrier. He uses a considerable amount of slang that some of the other candidates struggled to understand."

"Is there a way to integrate a translator into their mana channels?" I questioned.

"I've already implemented that for everyone with mana channels," Sim explained. "Unfortunately, the issue isn't language itself, but rather the specific slang from the region of Australia he grew up in. There's no way to address that without teaching everyone the slang, and while adding it to the language pack is an option, it would necessitate including slang from every other language for true effectiveness."

"Alright, well, I think I'll go chat with him and see how he's feeling about everything," I decided. "He's already agreed to participate in the hero program, but I want to make sure he's still comfortable with his decision."

…

Lucas wasn't your typical backyard dweller. Living on the outskirts of town, his backyard bled seamlessly into the vast Australian outback—no fences, just wilderness stretching as far as the eye could see.

Before heading out to meet him, I decided to test his newly acquired mental protection skill. Teleporting to the opposite side of town, I slowed time to a crawl. As I meandered through the deserted streets (barely two people in a town meant for a thousand!), I gradually increased the flow of time, curious to see how long it would take for his skill to activate.

I knew it wouldn't completely block me, but it should at least alert him of an intrusion. Focusing on his active thoughts, I was surprised by his immediate internal monologue.

"Crikey, Mike! I bloody knew it was you snoopin' around in me head! This blockin' business is gettin' a bit twitchy lately, that flamin' galah nearly scared the life outta me!"

Chuckling as I rounded the corner, I revealed myself. "Just testing your progress with the skill. Good job, you caught me straight away."

"Nah, fair dinkum, no more mind-wandering from anyone! Cheers for givin' us the trick to block it out, aye?" he replied.

We spent the next forty-five minutes discussing the other candidates. Lucas pointed out a few who he thought might be susceptible to power-hunger and wouldn't be ideal heroes. I instructed Sim to take note for further investigation.

Ultimately, Lucas was enthusiastic. He expressed his desire to work with wildlife, aiming to tame the "untrainables." His excitement skyrocketed when I mentioned the possibility of mana altering animals and creating new species.

After our conversation, I tasked Sim with tailoring Lucas' skills to his wildlife focus, allowing him to start leveling practical skills to ensure it was the right path for him. I also had Sim equip everyone with the mana bolt skill, deciding it should be a standard offensive skill for most. Informing Lucas about the Obelisk as a resource for questions and ideas, I teleported back home.

Less than ten minutes later, Sim notified me of Lucas standing at the Obelisk, claiming to have discovered a bunch of strange genetic mutations around his town thanks to his new skills.

"Sim, are you picking up any anomalies?" I inquired.

"Negative," Sim replied. "Without advanced knowledge of such alterations, my focus on system creation limits my ability to detect them."

"Can you see any power levels now that he's brought it to your attention?" I pressed.

"Unfortunately not," Sim explained. "Diverting more power for such a broad search would jeopardize the system's integration success rate."

Taking a moment to ponder, I teleported Chris and Alec directly into the living room. Their initial shock gave way to concern as they saw my expression.

"There's an issue in Australia," I began. "Our hero candidate, Lucas, discovered potential genetic mutations caused by mana while using his new wildlife-taming skills. Details are scarce, but Sim suspects these creatures might be developing powers—maybe even like the Croc. Chris, I know you've been honing your offensive skills. Still itching for a fight, are we?" I added with a wink.

“You still suck,” Chris replied as a phantom itch began on his arm and he began furiously scratching it.

I let out a little chuckle before continuing, "Alec, how's your control over your bloodline?"

"I'm working on it. I might have the occasional outburst, but I should be able to manage it while it's active. I know I can at least avoid hurting anyone innocent," he replied.

"Sim, keep me updated if Lucas runs into any trouble. I'm sending Chris and Alec to assist him. If anything else pops up, just speak, and Sim can hear you. Since he can't detect these anomalies, I'll come myself or send Peaches if you need backup."

Excitement flickered across both their faces. This would be their first real test against a mana-born creature besides sparring with Peaches.

"Sim, let Lucas know they're on their way, so he doesn't mistake them for enemies. Oh, and guys, good luck with his Aussie slang. You'll get the hang of it… eventually."

A shared look and a chuckle later, I teleported them to Lucas' location, ready to face whatever the outback had thrown their way.