The female wolf looked as if it had been pregnant for a month or two, even though a week ago it was still not. It did not take much effort to guess that it was because of mana, as during the first mana-infusion Lan did, many insect eggs were instantly hatched.

'Well, at least with this I guess I won't have to worry about lacking the population down here.'

After the wolves moved in, they did not remain the sole dwellers of the chamber for long. Lured by dense mana, various rodents, insects, and even a snake moved into the small chamber. At least the wolves wouldn't starve.

Some animals though were hesitant to move in despite the promise of mana, and some among those who rushed in, were now looking around haplessly, disoriented.

At first, Lan wondered what the problem was, but noticing their disorientation, understanding dawned on him.

'Damn it, how could I not think of that, they can't see in the dark. The deer and wolves possess night vision, but not every living being has that trait. While the light does shine through the entrance, further down there is none.'

That problem seriously stumped Lan, as he hadn't the slightest clue how to make a light source.

'Damn, unless I figure that out, the majority of animals won't be able to live down here.'

Still, some rodents such as mice, did not need light to move around, having other methods of feeling the surroundings. Those who could do things like that gladly settled inside the cave, some already evolving further.

A small part of them though, were not satisfied with just that, rushing through the tunnel further down, moving towards the lower chamber. Among them, surprisingly, was the mouse Lan resurrected.

As for those left behind, they were already establishing their dwellings, digging into the walls and making burrows, or piling together moss and leaves to form a nest.

Still, the fact the animals could so easily dig through the walls gave Lan a concern.

'Doesn't that mean that the walls and tunnels are still easily destructible? Doesn't that mean that all of this could quite easily collapse? That would be bad... Not just bad, that won't do at all!'

Somewhat distressed about this issue, Lan quickly reviewed what he could do.

First, using earth mana he could disintegrate and move stone, soil, and various other earthly minerals. Then, he could manipulate neutral mana in the air, concentrating it, and creating mana-dense locations. Lan didn't really have a ready-made solution, but reviewing this made him think.

'...It would seem I didn't use mana manipulation to its' full capabilities. I only move around and focus neutral mana in the air, but why didn't I ever infuse it into something other than animals? Also, if neutral mana could be infused, who's to say earth mana can't? And what if I try to infuse both? The possibilities are endless!'

Feeling enlightened, Lan immediately executed his idea.

First, he tried infusing neutral mana into a pebble that was lying around in the second chamber, because mana there was more abundant. While it didn't change visually, mana did stay inside of it instead of dispersing. After trying to infuse more, again it didn't change. Still, he kept going.

After infusing one-tenth of his cycled neutral mana, the stone gradually started changing. It began to crystallize, turning from an ordinary pebble into a pure crystal. What Lan likedy very much about it though, was the fact that it was shining with a soft glow.

'Hahaha! If you have a problem, the solution is probably right by your side! That's illumination problem solved!'

Now having found a solution to a recent problem, Lan continued the experiment. Now that the pebble turned into a... Mana Crystal, for lack of a better definition, instead of infusing ambient neutral mana, he started pulling on earth mana hidden inside of rocks and stone.

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The process this time was much less smooth, as earth mana was harder to manipulate, so the infusion was happening much slower, but still, there was change.

The crystal which was originally shining in pale-white light, slowly changed its color to yellow, and then brownish, the color of the ground.

Now Lan could vividly feel how the concentration of earth mana inside the crystal was increasing, feeling it much better than when it was hidden inside of rocks. This caused him to have a realization that mana crystals may not only help in illuminating dark rooms, but also in attunement, improving the mastery over the elements.

Eventually, with the continuous infusion, the mana crystal lost its transparency, now resembling a pure piece of agate. Soon, it seemed to reach its capacity, which was in and of itself impressive for such a small piece of stone.

Satisfied with the outcome of the experiment, Lan left the stone behind to its' fate, now focusing on the entrance chamber.

Now, with the knowledge of mana crystals, he wanted to create lamps of some kind. But soon, Lan realized a problem, if he infused a regular wall with mana, it would probably take a lot more in both mana and time to crystallize, and it would be a glowing wall instead of a lamp. So, just like the pebble, Lan needed to make a separate piece of stone.

At first, he tried to carve it out of the wall, separating a mixed ball of rock and dirt. Then, he started infusing neutral mana into it. Just like the pebble, it soon started to crystallize, however not completely. While the stone crystallized as expected, the dirt started being covered with moss. As such, the end result was a mix of crystal and moss, not really the lamp Lan wanted.

Lan didn't like the result, so he tried a different experiment at the same time, reabsorbing mana from the crystal. It worked surprisingly well, with neutral mana being sucked away from the crystal, followed by it crumbling. The ball of moss was left behind though, not that it mattered.

Following the first attempt at carving and infusion, Lan tried to make a lamp using this method several more times, all ending with similar results. While observing the failed lamps, Lan found the problem.

Different minerals reacted to mana infusion differently, and without having a piece of the same material, it would be impossible to make a consistent and pure lamp. Finding a piece of pure material would be troublesome in the immediate vicinity of the chambers, as the walls, ceiling, and floor were made from the compression of various materials.

So, Lan needed to either find a source of pure material each time he wanted to make something mana-infused... Or he had to make the material by himself. Lan liked the latter option.

Having a target, Lan once again started to experiment.

First, he attempted to raise earth mana into the air, but this failed, as the result was the rising of the minerals along with the mana, forming a pillar made of stone and dirt. Then, Lan tried to use neutral mana in the process, but that formed a mana-infused pillar. After these fruitless attempts, Lan finally focused on the earth's mana itself.

'I don't want to raise up the minerals along with the mana residing in them... I guess I'd have to focus on it at first... Alright then...'

'Earth Mana.'

Solid. Stoic. Unshakable.

Lifegiving.

The foundation of growth.

While Lan, along with his entire being, his entire Core, focused on the earth mana, the feeling of it, the essence, outside of his perception, the earth mana shook, forming ripples with his Core as a focal point.

And the Core was soon brought out of his trance by a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling.

Familiar, because it was an unmistakable feeling of earth mana that he was just focused on. Unfamiliar, because he felt more of it. It was not an increase in quantity, no, he felt it slowly forming and flowing in lazy currents, permeating throughout his domain, slowly flowing from the depths below. The same as neutral mana.

Curiously, he once again reached out for it, not needing to focus on the ground, not needing to tug and pull it out forcefully. No, now it responded to his will as easily as neutral mana, swirling like dust picked up by the wind.

Then, focusing back on the entrance chamber, he focused that swirl of earth mana into a circular ball.

And that immediately showed results. At first, dust gathered in the center of the swirl, then forming a clump of dirt, then enlarging to the size of a ball, until it looked like the perfect sphere he imagined it to be.

As the mana continued to be infused, the dirt gradually solidified, soon turning into stone. At that point, Lan stopped controlling the earth mana. The sphere, which was previously suspended midair, landed on the ground with a thud, not a crack forming on it.

As Lan examined the sphere, it seemed to be made of pure stone. Remembering his previous objective, he started infusing neutral mana into it.

And then, under the infusion, the sphere of stone slowly turned into a sphere of crystal, now shining in a light that continued to brighten as more mana was infused into it.

Not long after, that single sphere's light now illuminated the whole entrance cavern.

In the end, Lan did succeed in making a source of light, inadvertently further attuning to earth mana.