Cipiteca396

I really had a hard time keeping focused the last few days. I spent a while finally exploring Inazuma in Genshin Impact, which is something I put off for a long while. Despite all that, I'm oddly confident in this chapter being good?

"Hey-hey. Are you awake yet?" 

I opened my eyes to see Geni fluttering around just out of my reach. I gave a small snort at her. Technically I never fell asleep. Without any drowsiness, I swung my legs out of bed and immediately Withdrew the things I'd bought. They appeared on top of my bed, everything neatly packaged in boxes. 

Geni squealed and dove into the pile of parts, literally passing through the packaging and extracting things from inside. Though she quickly changed target and disappeared inside the boxes for the intact computers. 

I turned my attention to the Kindlesprite. She was watching me while also dealing with an invasion of pests in her game. It definitely didn't seem to be a challenge for her. She gave a small smile and said, "Welcome back, Selene." Well, the smile seemed forced, but she didn't seem upset. Maybe she just needed to practice a little.

I was reminded how strange it was to be interacting with people again. Which was kind of ironic, considering the thing that should have stood out about this situation was that they weren't human, rather than just being here at all. My own smile was just as forced as hers, even though I was a little happy to be greeted. "Good morning. Did anything happen while I was away?"

The Kindlesprite responded, since Geni was still inside the boxes. "Corina says that she's nearly prepared the river area for a Water Nymph, but she'll need you to make the final touches since she can't control the flow of water mana. The forums have also had a surge in activity on the topic of magic. There's a claim that magic was used in the lower world. They are debating over whether it's a 'hoax', and how people can take advantage of it if it's not."

Oops. At least there wasn't any video evidence. It wasn't the first thing I'd personally discovered and shared with the forum, but it might be the first thing that had a direct effect on Earth itself. I didn't really have any reason to hide it, but better to change the subject. "That's... Interesting. I suppose I'll go help Corina while Geni sets up the other computers." I was too curious to walk away right away though. "Are you enjoying the game?"

The Kindlesprite tilted her head marginally. "It is an acceptable source of knowledge. However, I believe whatever satisfaction I might obtain from it would be better derived from my duty to you." She paused the game and stood up. "I will come with you to deal with Corina."

Ah, right. That was probably for the best. I nodded and the two of us walked into the - well, residential room. It was still a work in progress, but the room was now divided into two parts by a deep, sand-lined ditch. The half closer to my Core had the enchanted buildings Geni and Mica made, while the further half was a chaotic mix of dirt and stone of various types. On the right the ditch led to a large pit right underneath the hole in the ceiling, and on the left it disappeared under the ground.

Corina's marble temple-like home was much as I'd left it in the center of the room. The light grating sound of my boots on the stone became a satisfying clicking once we crossed the threshold. There were a few new grooves running through the floor; for water from the 'river', most likely.

Corina quickly noticed us and approached with a big smile. "Hey cutie. Were you here for the water or... Something else?" She was halted by the Kindlesprite, but she didn't seem fazed in the least. She just leaned slightly to the right so she could look at me.

I shook my head weakly. Taking out the interface, I went to the Room menu. I had thought about this before, and my instincts told me just dropping a few tons of water from the Crafting menu wouldn't be the best idea. But part of the Room menu allowed for features for rooms like furniture, stairs, and terrain. It didn't take long to find a lake and river feature. 

It was odd though. There was no price listed at first, and the method of 'designating' a target wasn't as clear as elsewhere. I sort of had to sweep my awareness across the area I wanted to affect, and then a price appeared. Cheaper than I expected, thankfully. Maybe because most of the work was already done. It was two CP for the river, and five for the lake.

Hopefully this would make the Water Nymph cheaper as well, but I was going to make the Water Fairy first. When I made Mica, there was just barely enough earth mana to sustain them. This water would be a source of mana first and foremost, and maybe a defensive and recreational feature second.

I confirmed the changes. I felt the usual surge of power as CP was drawn from my Core and into the river banks. Then... Nothing?

I stood there for a moment, wondering if water would suddenly appear, but nothing so obvious happened. All that power didn't just vanish. I stepped closer and focused on the river banks. I could just barely sense the presence of water mana, flowing in rigid patterns all throughout the stone under the sand.

I nodded to myself in sudden understanding. Rather than dumping a set amount of water into the area, the feature created a mana flow that would generate water over time. Eventually, it would fill both the lake and river. Though looking at it, it was clearly different from what Corina had done with her earth mana. It looked very artificial in comparison. Or maybe precise would be the kinder way of putting it. It didn't seem bad, just... inelegant.

For now, it was enough. I turned my attention back to my creatures. "That should be ready by the time I have the CP for a Water Fairy. Please tell me if it looks like it'll overflow, though." Unlikely, but I wasn't exactly an expert.

Corina's expression had been oddly neutral, but now she smiled at me again. "Of course. We've also made some progress with the ore veins, but it'll take a few hours for them to grow sufficiently." She paused a moment, pushing some of her dark curls behind an ear. "If you want to relax a while, you can stay here with me. I can make you a beautiful desk for your computer with my magic, though I haven't quite figured out how to make a cushion yet..." Her voice slowly fell into a mumble until she stopped talking, looking away and brushing her hair back unnecessarily.

I blinked at her. This obviously had an ulterior motive. My instinctive response was rather hostile, but I felt a little conflicted. A part of me wanted to reward her for her hard work. The same part of me sympathized with the idea that she might feel lonely if the only person she knew kept pushing her away. My pragmatic side thought that could lead to dangerous conflict. But... I was scared that she might misinterpret it if I was too nice to her.

I took a breath, then forcefully made my tone casual. "That's alright, my Core is oddly calming. For the time being, it's better to rely on that than to spend time moving everything around." Waiting for her reaction, I felt a light wave of guilt.

There was little physical change, but her aura tightened in a way that made her look small and weak. "Right. I'll focus on my domain for now then." She looked up with a small smile. "Do drop by if you need anything else. I'll always be here."

I suddenly felt like crying, but I clamped down on the feeling and my eyes remained dry as always. I nodded wordlessly. I spent a moment wondering if the conversation would continue, then turned and went back to my Core room. The pleasant tapping of my boots and the old sandals the Kindlesprite had borrowed once more became the grinding sound of leather on natural stone.

The computers were already set up, and Geni was in the process of fiddling with the spare parts when we arrived. She fluttered up and waved gaily. "Everything's ready to go. I learned a lot, too. Making new computers shouldn't be a problem once I have the materials from Mica and Corina."

The Fairy started to babble about other inventions that she could make with the parts on hand, but I tuned it out a little. I sat at my computer and stared at the screen. I didn't want to think anymore for a while. But my own words from earlier came back to me. A distraction. I wasn't supposed to be using games to distract myself, but as a way of reaching out to my Creatures. Then shouldn't I have accepted Corina's offer? We could have played together, in a normal sort of way.

To do that, she would need a computer. I was sure either Geni or the Kindlesprite would have given up theirs easily... But then again, we had another option. "Hey, Geni..." I interrupted the chattering Fairy. When I knew I had her attention, I continued. "Do you think you can make a computer for Corina?"

"Hmm?" The Fairy took an exaggerated thinking pose. "Sure, if Mica helps out." She giggled quietly. "Asking Corina to help make a gift for herself is no good, after all. But they're busy with other stuff right now, so I'll start after we play. These children also need attention after all, or they'll be sad." She landed on top of her computer, patting it gently.

"Right..." I said while furrowing my brow in confusion. She was a little weird, sometimes. 

I played different games with them for a while. Obviously we started with the farming game. I'm certain Geni looked up a guide or something based on her playstyle. The Kindlesprite was also really good at it, never wasting time on extraneous tasks and never idling except when the game literally offered nothing to do. But she remained bored, or at least she never got excited. It may have just been in her nature to remain detached, but I kind of wanted to see if there was more to her.

With that in mind, we switched to a similar game with a more RPG style to it. The game was very combat focused, but still kind of relaxed. When we encountered enemies again, just like before, the Kindlesprite concentrated heavily. This time though, the enemies managed to offer a fight. I was dumbstruck, watching her carefully manage her cooldowns and dodges to completely overpower them without taking damage. Once the last enemy was defeated, she gave a brief nod and went back to her usual self.

Neither Geni or I could match that, though we did well enough considering the game didn't expect perfection. Watching Geni play was both confusing and entertaining, however. She stood on her spacebar, occasionally flicking her hands around like a conductor in front of her orchestra. And somehow that was enough for her to play like a human would. The mouse didn't even move, yet the cursor fluttered around on screen in a way very similar to the Fairy's own flight patterns. I could only shrug and dismiss it as magic.

When the Interface buzzed in alarm, I took a small break to move my Core room to the end of the tunnel the Elemental Rockworm had finished making. The poor thing had been working all this time(wait, lucky thing eating all this time?) to reach the corner on the far side of the Dungeon from the Gate. Unlike the last time I moved a room, I was inside this one so I was able to observe the process.

Like before, it was only one CP. This time, that CP flowed out into the walls of the room. Then, there was a disorienting feeling as the power shifted into a strange combination of unknown mana and energy. I felt like I was standing in four places at once, and then the feeling faded. The disorientation remained, however. It was fortunate I was already sitting or I may have fallen over.

The other two didn't seem to be as strongly affected, so I came to the conclusion that moving my Core wasn't the best of ideas. Which wasn't surprising. The flow of mana throughout the whole dungeon was based on the Crystal Core. Moving it was like swapping the location of the physical heart into another part of the body. I probably made more work for Corina... Though it might have been for the best that it was done now instead of once I had multiple Nymphs and their domains around.

I felt a mild chill and turned to look at the walls of my Core room. I could feel the strange necrified stone just a few centimeters behind them, along with a flow of death mana directly into my Core. That... might make it hard to relax here, after all.

Cipiteca396

I discovered another story set in this same world. It would be a lot shorter to write than this one, and more action packed since I wouldn't be writing out all the world building. The only problem is that it would probably take a month or two to finish, likely longer if I tried to write both at the same time. Anyone interested, or should I focus on getting to the end of Volume I of this story first?