Cipiteca396

SO much to do, so little time.

It was easier than I expected. I started in my Core room, and simply studied the energy that was flowing into it. Most of it seemed to be a creepy, cold feeling mana or weak earth mana flowing in from every direction. However, there was a steady flow of a more complicated mana. It only came from a single direction, the direction I'd been thinking of as left or west. 

It was a little tricky getting the worms into the room to start digging in that direction. I could have had them dig from the other room, but I knew it would bug me later if the tunnel wasn't straight. When they started, I noticed another problem. They weren't very good at working together...

The two Common worms were able to collaborate a little, but they were only really able to dig enough space for themselves. After about five meters I gave up and told all but the Elemental Rockworm to dig a new room out. They split up and dug in different directions. Much better.

As for myself, I'd already started studying the Excavate spell, and it wasn't difficult to start using it. Supposedly, all the fun little hocus pocus associated with magic, like the hand waving and the chanting, was possible, but not necessary. It was a trick to help the caster better visualize what they were doing. I still felt like it would be embarrassing to run around shouting 'Excavate!' over and over again though... The pointing was bad enough.

Unlike the worms who ate up the stone they dug out, my spell left piles of dust behind. I could probably feed it to the worms later, but for now I wanted to prioritize reaching the gate, so we continued to dig and left it laying there. The worm seemed to be able to sense the gate just as well as I could, so it would be possible to leave it alone, but I wanted to see how long I could cast before getting tired.

...

It was a while. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep up with the worm's seemingly infinite enthusiasm. It was boring work in the end. No strong emotions meant no mana recovery, so I eventually reached a point where I was zoning out and gave up. I checked my Interface and realized four more hours had passed. Not bad, considering the spell had been listed as 'High Strain' before. Now it was actually listed at low, just like Ice Lance and Gentle Clean. No, I think Lance was listed at moderate before, so it was easier to use now too. Voices was still listed at High. I wouldn't really need to cast it rapidly though, so whatever.

I sat down and read through the forums, writing a comment about the gates and the incursion priority. Again, I made sure not to explain where I got the info, while still providing my understanding of it.

Interestingly, there was an update on repopping. Creatures wouldn't get pregnant or lay eggs, the new creatures would just appear fully grown. After some study, people had found that when a creature would normally get pregnant, a bit of their mana would be stolen by the dungeon to cast a spell. Most likely teleportation magic. It was still unknown where the baby went or why it matured so fast though. I wonder how that would interact with the Kindlesprites?

It was convenient for us for the coming fight. Not having to look after children or eggs or anything, and getting fully grown and educated creatures nearly for free. But it did make me a little sad somehow. I enjoyed being a kid, I think. That was denied to these creatures. I shook that thought off and continued reading.

I finally found info on the Spellbook, though oddly enough it came from the crafting threads instead of the magic thread. Certain items could be made, either through the Interface or by crafters, that allowed creatures to learn and cast magic. It wasn't necessary for it to be a literal book, just that it was carefully prepared to hold sigil work. Adding a spell to a 'Spellbook' cost the same as Teaching a creature directly. However, the Spellbook could be studied by multiple creatures, thus making it a far better option. As long as the creatures were capable of studying a Spellbook, that is. 

As I was reading, some new posts popped up, and new people started circulating. A lot of new people. I was confused until I found a video that was attached to a new pinned post. Some government people had found the forum and officially suggested people check it out. The number of people browsing the site jumped by the thousands in a matter of minutes...

I was a little proud of finding the place before everyone else did, in a stupid way. But mostly, I was annoyed that it would be harder to find good information, and to recognize users who were good at digging through the Interface. I stopped posting as much, except for a few moments where I could link some newcomer to an already discussed topic. But there was very little new information being uploaded now, most of it being the same old thing over and over...

I spent the rest of the time studying magic again. I knew right away when the gate was uncovered, though. The amount of mana coming from it skyrocketed, along with a heavy flow of the creepy mana I didn't understand. I called the other worms and started walking down the tunnel. It took me a long, long time to reach the end.

Cipiteca396

I've had a rough time getting back into this. I'm so tired...