I sit down on the floor in my heart room and reach for the nearest pile of stone. First off, I place various stones in front of me to form a large spiral. the more stone I place the more I start to feel that a spiral won't work. it will just end up either having large gaps when expanded or not being small enough to put in place. I scrap the idea, gaps would give the swarm weak points to attack.
I go through trialling several other variations and trying to come up with something when the idea hit me. what if it opened up instead? Kalos used to love talking to me about the flowers and plants on the surface. The way their “petals” folded outwards from a bud and produce the most mesmerising displays. I think back to some of the sketches he did for me of them as a child. The memory is hazy but once I got a general image I began to work. With the spiral, I was only thinking about the shape of the door. If I made the door like a flower bud with large sections that open out to form layers that would both solve the issue of getting it there as well as giving me something thick enough to stop the swarm. I work on a prototype and skip using just stone from the get-go. I would not be able to make tight layers with oddly shaped chunks of stone.
Quickly, I get to work mixing a batch of the red-grey dough. using my hands, I form it into large sheets, then, cut out thin water droplet-shaped tiles. finally, I make a small bowl out of the dough to house the core and give it a rim that will protect the tear points and cover the gaps where the petals meet the core.
It doesn’t take too long to dry, the thickness and size mean the petals made first were already dry by the time I got to the last. I assemble them around the core and once it drys I use my skill. The new defender comes to life like the others but the way the petals spun around it as it began to float made me think of something else. Could these be used for combat as well? I'll follow that thought later.
I send imagery over to the new 'Flower' defender, showing it positions I wish for it to memorise. the First of which is the form of a “bud”. I ask it to take the bud shape but it doesn't go exactly as planned. I didn't take into account the fact that the petals are too rigid. It made me question my decisions that I thought the stone would be able to bend. However, the way it got around the problem was just as good. Instead of folding the petals, they move to one side of the core and stack themselves on top of each other. This means as long as the door is not as wide as one petal it should be able to pass through.
Next, I tell the defender to bloom. The petals fly into action sliding outward from both sides like a fan to form a multi-layered circular door. It may not be the most colourful but to see this defender that resembles a flower made me smile inside even if my face cant show it. The prototype was a success. so the defender isn’t wasted, I tell it to follow me who knows it may come in use and even if it doesn't after the reminiscing to make it, it now feels kind of like a reminder of my goal to find them.
“I finished prototyping the door design we will use. Would you like to look over it before I start making them in the larger size?”
“Of course, Elysia!”
I sit and crush rocks ready to mix more dough while waiting for Oberon. The flower defender decides to spend the time floating around me. its petals spinning in a series of circles behind it like the rotors of airships. It doesn't take long before I see Oberon float through the entrance. I mentally nudge the flower defender to go over to him. Oberon stops and watches the new addition as it flys to reach him. I send over the commands to bud and bloom while it's in front of him. he circles it as it repeats the motion.
“ I.. Must say I am impressed. This wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“Ohh? What did you think I would have done?”
“Two halves of a circle that interlock with the core on one side.”
“That… would have been a lot simpler.” I really should ask for his opinion more often. “I wasn’t thinking about it like that. I thought of flowers and ended up copying them rather than being inspired by them”
“What you have done still works Elysia! Also, the petals are a lot more modular. the defender might actually be more effective like this as it can swap damaged petals with ones that are not.”
“Thanks, Oberon”
“You welcome, Elysia… will you work on the full scale now?”
“Yes, I just hope that the supply of red moss grow doesn't run out. The doors will use a lot more of it than what the making the other defenders did.” Saying that I could always make the other doors later… “I will make two, for now, the rest can wait until there has been more growth.”
“Very well. I will continue with building the entrances” with a small tilt of his body he leaves my heart room to go back to his work.
The flower defender comes back over to me. I'm unsure if the larger size will be able to float quite like this one can but hopefully, it will be easy to get into place.
Time to get started on these doors.
Relief fills my body as I take an imaginary deep breath, the last petal of the second door in its place. I quickly get out of the way - A mistake I made with the first - before turning it into a defender. The petals spin around the core before settling on top of each other on one side.
That's two doors done. and not enough material to make another without compromising the farm, I decided to check on the progress of the others. I look around my heart room that's starting to look dramatically different with the shades of red that now coat its walls. While I was making the doors, my twin defenders have filled most of the wall space of my heart room with red moss. I mentally ask them if there’s any left to which they send over images of roughly a quarter of the old farm's contents that has still not been moved. I in return, tell them to plant any excess in the hallway that connects directly to the heart room.
I make my way out of the heart room and into that very hallway before passing through the first entrance Oberon ever made. from there I then to the left into the tunnel that my defenders have been working on. When I get there I find that work has finally stopped the tunnel they were digging intersecting with a more natural one.
“Oberon the digging team have found a new tunnel system. I will go and explore”
“Be careful”
“ I will”
I grab my sickle knife in hand and call the mantis defender amongst the group to follow me before telling the rest to stand guard of the entrance. We take the left route, floating through caverns of various shapes before we reach a large circular room. this one is different from everything else we have found so far though. The walls glisten under the light of my and the mantis defenders cores. I go over and closely inspect it. small translucent shards are embedded across the entire surface.
“Oberon we have found something…. Unusual. There are shards that reflect light embedded into the walls.”
“They could be anything unforunately. Is there anything else you can tell me about them?”
I think for a moment before trying to pull one out from the wall. But stop. “Oberon it's filled with mana?”
“Really?! You might have found crystallised mana, Elysia. For most, it is useless, but it may help you increase your rank”
"what do I need to do?"
"Mine it, and bring it to your core. you should be able to absorb the mana in your soul realm."
I quickly check the room to make sure there is only one entrance before floating my way back to the defenders guarding the entrance. When I arrive I tell all but one to make their way to the chamber and start digging out the crystals. While they focus on that, I start to explore the other side of the tunnel with the mantis defender. maybe we will find more of this crystal?
