Seems like my thinking is still too complex for my own good. I want to create a well, so I already dig myself a hole where I can at least mine in multiple directions. Might as well create a cistern down there for keeping water at the ready.
The dig site is further away from the entrance, way behind my first dwellings. The reasoning is to be careful of a cave in. Twin could get hurt if something happens.
Digging down is rather easy. First take away the soil, as it is rather useful for my gardens, then layer the hole with bricks while fusing them together. The next thing is just turning the Rock down there into powder. It is still rather interesting how the rock is porous, but it benefits me right now more than it hampers my excavation. I will find the water level easier that way.
…
Well there it is. Beyond the ten meter mark I found finally moisture, that replenishes itself. Now it is time to dig in multiple directions to search for more ore. Hopefully there is some kind of vein, but even small pockets would be nice, as I really want to start a metallurgy study.
Going in different directions at the same time I imagine some sort of web structure for the tunnels, as I am in no way an expert in how to dig. I know, there is some sort of necessity for structural integrity to not let everything break into itself, so I start fusing bricks inside the tunnel walls to hold everything up.
Bringing out the dust, or rather now mud is becoming more and more challenging with the water rising, but digging is still possible. As I do not need to breathe down here I can just relax and let the water fill the tunnel, while I am working. Occasionally I watch the entrance for any movements, as I am still scared of any intrusions from another creature.
I could close the door, but why should I, as there is more benefit for catching things than demerits to let something snoop. The forest is getting more noisy around my place, so just waiting for new ‘residents’ is better than being too secure.
…
Digging tunnels in water has brought me new insights. At first Mana mixes with water very well. Too well to be honest, as it washes it away from where I put it. Second is Miasma does nothing with water. It just moves through it as if it were not there. There is some current but it pulls way less on it than Mana.
Next thing is my Garden. It is rather nice to see things grow slowly. At least I can work with plants way more than before, as I am now able to cultivate my own. Gone are the times I have to bring them back myself. Well that was a lie, as I still want way more variants of plant life.
The third thing is, I am building a village. An empty village with different housing, market center, storage buildings and what you all need for a village. I even started to fuse small pipelines for a kind of waste disposal, but that is more for my vanity than making it believable.
The reasoning is easy. Make more places to search before the intruders have time to escape. Most of the houses have even a cellar, and every cellar has hidden doors to a tunnel system connecting them, to hide any of my bodies and be able to make search parties ‘vanish’.
I am in no way overcautious, as getting Red was a fluke. He was weak, an idiot and totally full of himself. Hurting monsters and speaking ill of others showed that in full force. The harsh punishment might even be meant to bow his head and apologize before dying, but who am I to understand the thinking of the Roots and their philosophy.
Taking into account, that a dead village is way more eerie than seeing some kind of living things I decided to let simple monsters like the mouse roam the village. It is the least I can do to remember the brave mouse, which opened a whole new World to explore for me.
Anyway, I put some herbs in different houses to dry and create more furniture mockeries as a way to make things look homely. With a little dust out of rock on them they will look more abandoned than never used.
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…
A change in my positioning of my Portal is necessary. I remember how any creature thought of it as the ultimate horror, and should be hidden somewhere to be revealed at the end, not be right there at the start. While I am happy to see it grow large enough to nearly let Twin through even without stretching I have the feeling capturing someone by just hunting them with it through my village is impossible. So hiding it is.
The best place would be the underground tunnels, but As I need the Portal to make Mana, it can not be in a sealed area. Bummer.
Perfect would be finding a way to make Mana without the need of my Portal being there, but that would require more knowledge or a monster farm, maybe both.
The next problem would be my steady resource transport. I have to move everything inside my Realm to effectively create what I want. Making bricks outside is still impossible for me, as I can not will the dust enough to become bricks. There MUST be some knowledge I can use. Is there anywhere a Mason or Builder, that might not mind me reading out their brain?
It is frustrating to know I am some kind of all powerful abomination from beyond the stars and not even be able to create the simplest things without cheating. I need books, and I need them last year.
…
The best I came up with was a hidden room below the back of the mansion. As I can move the portal through solids, I can just pull it down when people wander into my Domain. The walls down there are porous and lead to the tunnel system so I can still work on Mana conversion but not on materials. For now no hidden door is installed, as it would be nice to have it mostly secure in a kind of sealed area, to not be accidentally found while I search other places for prey.
The hidden tunnels are also connected to the canalization, but as it is just a mockery, it should still be clean. I could create a permanent flow of water into the septic tank with water to make it more believable. More for the ‘to do’ list.
While I am at it the gardens come quite good along. Although I can not force them too much with Red, but it is enough to create the initial batches for the different beds later.
The initial testing place is one huge garden for growth of new test plants, one reference garden, where I do nothing, one Mana infused garden, seven different miasmic gardens and one large garden for splice work.
With splicing I want to try to fuse different plant spirits together. Disassembling live ones gave me a extremely faint and simple one, so fusing should be possible. There is the whole backlog of combining identical plants, similar plants, different plants and later Monster with plants. I can not wait to see if I can create something incredible, as fusing different life might really be possible as I can see it on Red already.
…
The first time for Boost to be taken out of the crater. It is rather remarkably how much he changed by absorbing so much Miasma. His body got sleeker and his pelt is extremely silky and flows with its own wind. Although someone can still see the wolf in him I would even say a bit of greyhound is within him now. His head has become sleek too, and resembles now a slightly hairier Anubis. His essence is inundated with wind and not only the Miasma inside him is now flavored, even his Mana and in some aspect his whole being.
The first thing I notice is a new sense of Boost. He can feel the wind and anything it touches in quite a radius. It is a strange feeling of touching everything without touching. I would say it resembles me touching everything with my essence, but then again, it is way different, as the wind is not only Boosts, that tell him where what is, rather all the wind around him just seems to love to tell Boost what is around him.
There are more transformations in his body I do not understand. One is the change in its paws, as the front paws are more agile and have better digits. Even the small claw on the side of the paws, whatever they are called again, got further down and slightly extended. Is this to climb better? Would make sense as further up the trees the wind must be even stronger and should help them out.
…
Boost is quite a mage. One slicing wind and he cuts far and deep. There is not even that exhaustion Alpha had, when he did it. The regeneration of Miasma still hurts, but is a slight bit tamer, as the Miasma is mostly filtered outside his body now. The aura takes over the rough part and filters it first before the body absorbs it. Effectiveness got an upgrade and way more Mana gets created through the process. Even my own way is only more effective, because it breaks down every Mana and not only wind. If I could learn the aspects of breaking Miasma down how they do it…
Oh, I am in the forest, as I need more food for Twin and Boost. Both are more or less permanent residents now in my village. Twin more, Boost less, but more often than not. I tried different kind of Miasma absorption on Boost and the best was without a doubt a fleshly body with full rest periods exactly inside that body of his. Miasma wrecks havoc inside the spiritual body way too much and the physical body stabilizes both absorption and refinement better than without, so he technically is now required to stay assembled. Lucky fluffy wolf, you are.
…
The fauna seems to really diversify around here. New creatures look for new nesting places right where the whole Miasma expands. I even saw some of the storm wolves in the memories of my subjects, but they stay rather distance and just fletch their teeth at him. Don’t care, there is enough to hunt for everyone here. I myself just killed a kind of gigantic mole which came out of the burrow at the right time for me and the wrong time for him. One cast of my cutter cut the head open and showed all his thoughts to the rest of the world in the worst way possible.
Right now I transport that thing back. It is heavy, I give it that but Boost is stronger and can throw it on his back while applying heavy updraft to cushion the weight. Still I need to hurry back, as the high Miasma cost is rather alarming and I want to have some backup for some ambushes. Not losing any more of my wolves to stupidity.