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Entry 5 | Date Unknown | Paragon

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The darker thoughts of betrayal, or in this case, the potential of betrayal, filled my mind. I couldn’t shake it. The thought that even if Bea’Don was genuine in xer words of friendship, that one day xe or xer kin would betray me. It was the feeling of a creature crawling on six clawed legs that broke me out of that spiral. It was a new sensation. I went looking and found a small crab-like creature. It had a yellow body with orange-yellow-ish legs. The shell had the texture of moist mushrooms but seemed to be hard with two red eyes that peeked out.

It was the size of the peblings and seemed to have emerged from the sac that the mushrooms were hiding. It went over to the mana mushrooms and started using its mandibles to clean the stalks. After it was done, it seemed to count them. Deciding that too many were in one spot, it coaxed one up and placed it on top of its shell. Then moved it to the other side of the crystal. It repeated this process until it evened the mushrooms out throughout the parts of the passageway I owned.

I watched the little guy for a long time. Just enjoying watching it work. The little creature also seemed to be liked by the slimes. They would stop and produce a liquid to feed it. It reminded me of how ants would share meals. It was fascinating to watch. However, there was a feeling that I was forgetting something. I couldn’t shake it. I flew around and around, looking over my area. But, I couldn’t find anything, so I flew into my liminal space and pulled up my information sheet.

The Inhabitants tab now had a new sub tab named Fungaceans, and it was blinking. I guess some part of my mind named them. I just shrugged to myself and went to the tab. It was asking to name a Blank.

I focused on it. My instincts, or maybe my crystal, wanted me to name a leader for the Fungaceans. However, it did not have a name for what to call the leader. Which made sense, since the information sheet was my creation in order to understand the instincts that came with the crystal.

I mulled over it. I could just call them leaders. However, the word did not seem to fit. It wanted something that meant champion, perfect specimen, leader, and king. I floated there for a long time, trying to think of a name. Without the knowledge that my past undoubtedly would have given me, it was hard to come up with a name. I shelved it for the moment.

I flew out of the liminal space to look around. My flight range covered the whole of the passageway. From the T junction that was to the left of the crystal, to the other T junction at the other end, where Bea’Don came from. However, I only owned the middle forty blocks. Twenty to the left and right of the crystal.

I had roughly thirty-one frosted orbs. Based on the notes I took earlier, each cubic block of space cost me ten clear orbs to buy. So I claimed three more sections, thirty blocks in length, on either side of the crystal. Bringing me to one hundred blocks, in length, of the passageway claimed. From the map, in the liminal space, I could tell that I now owned half of the passageway.

It was odd. When the crystal rooted down, it was an unconscious thought that directed the roots to grow. However, this time I had made a conscious choice. The root lattice work still moved and grew on its own. More than likely reacting on instinct. However, it still felt…odd. As if I had told my hair to grow, feel it receive the command, and then grow to the specified length. I still can’t put into words the sensation of the roots growing. As I viewed the roots grow, it reminded me more and more of mycelium. I could see them. However, if I turned off the ‘root sight’ as I called it, one could not see them within the stone. They are so fine and thin that they were easy to miss. When they passed through a crack in the stone, you could only see them if light refracted off of them.

Simultaneously, as the roots grew, I could feel my breaths deepen again. The more I claimed, the more energy I brought in when I breathed. Which made me happy. Because it meant that I could gather more orbs passively instead of waiting on creatures, like the Goni, to harvest my mushrooms.

The fungacean and slimes seemed to be excited to have new areas to explore. The slimes cleaned the new areas. As the fungacean started to survey and mark out new plots for mushrooms. I absolutely loved watching them work. As I watched, a kind of calm came over my mind. A serenity that I had not known until then. It was refreshing. That is when the word Paragon came to me.

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It was a perfect word to use for what the crystal wanted. I flew back into the liminal space and pulled up the information sheet. Then pulled up the Fungacean tab. I changed Blank to Paragon. Then I looked at the map tab and found the one fungacean I had. I highlighted it and it gave me the option to select it as the Paragon. I did, and then it prompted me for a name. ‘A name? Really crystal?! I couldn’t think of a name for myself. Or I never really thought about it until Bea’Don? Either way, what would I name a yellow fungal crab?’

Again, I took a long time to mull it over. I finally settled on a name for the fungacean ‘Brunt’. But then I felt disapproval come from it. It did not like the name. So I went back to thinking. I came up with the name Ezi but it disapproved again. I tried several other names, each idea more desperate than the last. The fungacean refused all of them, and yet its insistence on me naming it really got to me. ‘Why can’t I come up with a name that it likes? The names are just appearing in my mind. Just like everything else. It’s not like I have any memories to pull from!’

The fungacean scuttled away from my crystal as the color flashed purple, reflecting my mood. I was scaring the poor thing. I took some deep breaths and tried to calm down. ‘It’s a big deal getting a name.’ I reminded myself. ‘It has to fit the person or creature.’

I took to just floating around my area as I thought. I searched the area for inspiration. I noticed that as the fungacean separated out the regular mushrooms; they had developed unique colorizations. It did not seem to be related to the light or the environment. I couldn’t determine what was changing them. However, when the fungacean picked up one with a white stalk and a red cap with white spots, it reminded me of something, ‘Toad’. It was short for toadstool and it invoked a memory of sitting with something in my hands and playing a game. It was a warm memory of time spent having fun.

The fungacean danced with the red mushroom on its head. It was adorable to watch. I went back to the information sheet and named it ‘Toad’. When I did, orbs broke and energy flowed towards Toad. They absorbed the swirling teal and orange energy around them. Toad grew to twice its original size and a circular pattern of lines appeared on their shell. It reminded me of those lines that appeared on Bea’Don’s shell when xe cast the Merge Minds spell.

The tab stopped blinking and then stated that Toad needed a home. It gave a description of the type of home that Toad needed. ‘A place with water and soil. It needs to be 3 cubic blocks in size and within 40 blocks of the core.’ I could feel the urge to build a home. I figured, as with everything else, it was an instinct coming from my crystal. At that moment, I was glad that I had set up the information sheet system. It also seemed that it took in account the measurement system I had put in place. It made it very easy to understand what my body wanted me to do.

I flipped over to the map and highlighted the area across from the crystal. I spent the orbs to claim the area, convert the stone to dirt, and make a three cubic block void. However, now I need to have water in the area. I looked around and all I had access to was the dripping water from the ceiling of the passageway. Which did not meet the requirement. That much I knew.

I stared at the Flamorels and wondered if I could do the same thing but make it water instead of fire. I flew over to one of the mana mushrooms and repeated the process that I had used to create the Flamorels. However, this time I held the idea of flowing water in my mind as I introduced the energy. It took several hazy and misty orbs. But when I was done, I had created a new Elemental Mushroom. Deciding to keep with the theme, I named it Aquarels.

It was a stout mushroom with a flared base. Inside the base was a bubble of water flowing up the veins into the cap. The undercap was white. However, the top of the cap had small thorns that held onto a half sphere of water. As the Aquarel finished growing, it released water in a small stream from its base. When the water touched other mana mushrooms of the same type, it converted them to aquarels.

I instructed Toad to move several of the Aquarels into the new space. It surprised me it cost several misty orbs to do so. ‘Thats odd? When I commanded the slimes to hide the crystal or to attack, it didn’t cost me anything. I wonder what was different.’

Toad moved the Aquarels. When they were done, I felt I had met the requirements. I watched energy flow out of me and into the new home. It swirled and then solidified into circular lines on the walls of the home. The lines formed a stylized mural of Toad tending to the mushrooms. A sign that invited Toad to enter their new home as they settled into the dirt. I felt happiness come from them as tiny yellow mushrooms sprouted.

Then a wave of exhaustion hit me like a wall. It was hard to keep my vision outside of the crystal. Returning to the liminal space, I saw that I only had three foggy orbs, a few misty orbs, and a handful of clear orbs. ‘No wonder I feel tired. I haven’t had this few orbs since I was in between the two boulders and I was a tiny crystal.’ I remarked to myself. Through the fog of exhaustion, I felt an unfamiliar foot fall at the edge of my area. I looked at the map and saw a tall creature with short silver hair walking in.