I opened my eyes, confused. Looking over, the Kindlesprite was right where she'd been when I left last night. But... "Why am I back?" The words slipped out.

 

The only answer I could think of was that I'd somehow been too distressed to maintain the connection to my Avatar. Something of that nature, maybe... But I stopped caring quickly enough. Instead, I found myself conflicted.

 

It was embarrassing to suddenly be seen when I was wallowing in self-pity. Part of me wanted to straighten up and pretend nothing had happened. And a part of me I was unfamiliar with suddenly urged me to let everything out, to lean into the person in front of me and cry.

 

That bizarre urge suddenly felt so, so, unbelievably tempting. To give up for just a moment and share the pain. After wavering for a second that felt far too long, a surge of panic welled up in my Heart and thrust everything else away.

 

I sat up abruptly and looked away. I swallowed, clearing my throat, then concentrated on speaking with a calm tone. "There... were a few snags, but I managed to collect several shards. Enough, I think." A light shiver ran up my spine. Why am I such a-? I- I need to focus on preparing the Dungeon.

 

"Ah." I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. "I was gone for a while. Did anything happen?"

 

She was frowning at me, but she answered after a moment. "...The Air Fairy has been observing us, and Mica told me she's been working with some of the other Fairies. The space for the warehouse has been dug out, and the worms have been sent back to expanding this room. A few other things have progressed, but nothing that requires your immediate attention." A light stream of curiosity spread through her aura and lingered, unusual for her. "Will you experiment with the Core shards before making the warehouse or after?"

 

For a moment, I wasn't sure what she was talking about. Ah, the warehouse where my Creatures can do Market stuff. "I'll deal with the shards first, then the warehouse." I felt myself frowning. "But... is everyone getting along with the Air Fairy?" I felt like I needed to clarify what I meant, but I couldn't figure out the right words.

 

The Kindlesprite tilted her head, thinking deeply. "Mica said... The others haven't had any direct contact with it. It conveys its intentions to them by leaving notes and pictures where they're likely to find them. So far, it has collaborated with all of them in various ways, particularly in gathering their input on clothing designs. They seemed to have a favorable impression of it."

 

I sighed, more relieved than I expected to be. "Alright. Then, if there's nothing pressing, I'll start with the shards." It was a welcome distraction, though I was more curious about why the Kindlesprite was so interested rather than about the shards themselves. With that in mind, I explained everything I was doing aloud.

 

 

All twenty shards had identical descriptions. At a plus-two per shard, I should reach a hundred and twenty four CP... But that felt unlikely. It was regretful that they weren't the plus-five that the original description had said. All I could do was test it, for now. I pressed the Absorb button, and then accepted the confirm prompt.

 

Eighty-six CP. But now... The description was different for some of the shards. Eleven of them said they would increase the capacity by three, and the other eight remained at plus-two. That did not line up with the idea of diminishing returns. The number should get smaller every time, not bigger.

 

Well, the explanation we came up with was that there was a fraction the Interface wasn't telling us about. The eleven shards were slightly more potent than the other eight. The Interface wasn't telling us their actual capacity, just how much I could gain from using them.

 

Running on the assumption that the shards would get less valuable as I used them, I decided to use the larger ones first. But since the description said that the shards could be used for crafting, I set aside two of the larger ones and three of the smaller ones. I might end up using them anyways, but whatever.

 

After using the first large shard, the descriptions changed again. All of the large ones had returned to plus-two. However, two of the small ones had dropped to plus-one. I set those aside in the crafting pile, and absorbed one of the largest shards again.

 

Ninety-one Capacity, and the descriptions all stayed the same. I sighed. The Kindlesprite was writing every result down for me, but I was starting to realize how tedious this was. 

 

Several shards followed with no change except the increase in CP. The Kindlesprite helpfully pointed out that the shards most likely had exactly the same value as two capacity at this level. If I used one of the smaller shards, things might change, but I still felt it was best to stick with the large shards. 

 

Finally, just as I was about to hit a hundred CP, the descriptions changed again. The midsized shards were suddenly only worth one CP. I took a look at the Kindlesprite's list to see if I could figure out the pattern. A little something was missing though... Back when I'd first used the shards, I had sixty-five capacity. After using six of them, I had eighty-four. At the time, they provided either five or four capacity. After adding that to the top of the list, the 'diminishing returns' became apparent. 

 

 

At sixty CP, they were worth five or four. At seventy, probably four or three. At eighty, three or two. At ninety, two or one. After a hundred... They should all be worth one or even nothing. To test it, I absorbed one more large shard, bringing me to one-hundred and one Capacity. The descriptions for every shard now said they were only worth one capacity.

 

So. Every ten CP, the cost to raise the cap was increased. But... It still feels like something's missing. I was interrupted by the vibration of the Interface in my hand. I dropped it with a little squeak. I felt a flush of embarrassment and quickly looked at the Kindlesprite.

 

She was looking at me with her head tilted curiously. She opened her mouth, but I quickly cut her off. "L- Let's just see what that's about, huh? Yeah."

 

"Umm. A milestone, I guess?" I showed her the screen.

 

"Good work?" She mumbled softly. "What does it mean by stabilized?"

 

Distraction, success!~ Well... "I don't know. If it was unstable before, that's kind of ominous... But I'm more interested in the Rank Up thing." I brought the Interface back where I could see it. "In a game, a Rank Up or a Level Up would give you some kind of boost that makes you stronger... But so far my experience in all this hasn't been all that game-like. Something tells me it's meaningless."

 

I tried thinking really hard at the Interface about what Rank Up meant, and what the other requirements for it were. Unfortunately, it didn't automatically shift to a screen that would explain it to me. I sighed, realizing that I would have to keep blindly moving forward. Ah well. "I guess I should share this and what we learned about the shards on the forums now. Then we can go Create the warehouse. Sound good?"

 

The Kindlesprite nodded, and we shimmied our way off the bed, one of us more gracefully than the other. I still had twelve shards left over, but at one capacity per piece, I was actually considering selling them on the Market. Maybe giving them away. Not something I would do until I was absolutely sure I wouldn't need them though. Especially the idea of crafting with them was appealing.

 

We spent a few minutes typing out everything we knew about the shards and how to get them. A few other things we'd learned, as well, such as tidbits about the Evolution menu. I posted the info on the first major thread that seemed related, and then linked the post in a bunch of other threads. Hopefully, people would share the information on their own after that. I also left a quick note on the one hundred capacity milestone and the Rank Up message.

 

Leaving Corina's temple, I noticed that the walls had been pushed back noticeably further. The growth was kind of astonishing, considering I'd only been gone for one night. A little mental math later, and I realized why. "The Greater Rockworms hit their second repopulation cycle, right? So there's dozens more of them appearing every two hours now..."

 

The Kindlesprite nodded. "Mica mentioned that when she reported the warehouse area being cleared. Perhaps you'll be able to apply that Field effect to a room soon."

 

That was encouraging, but... Kindlesprites were supposed to be my Creature of choice. Yet, we hadn't triggered a single repop timer for the race yet. I... had the CP to make another one right now. If I made another now, I could start getting more of them sooner. A surge of impatience flashed through my aura, dense enough to cloud my vision. I can't afford to wait any longer! Afterimages of monsters stained my vision when I closed my eyes.

 

I breathed out slowly. The warehouse first. The Market would give us more CP. More CP would turn into more Kindlesprites. We were almost ready. Just a few more hours, then we'd have two or three whole weeks to prepare. I imagined the clouds around me diffusing into the air and vanishing without causing any harm, breathing in and out in a familiar pattern. By the time we reached the site, I felt much calmer.

 

I looked around briefly, checking for anything that required my attention. Unlike the rest of the room, it was just bare rock with no adornments. I lifted the Interface, shifted it to the 'Supply Depot', and pressed Display Blueprint. The entire space was suddenly filled with a holographic outline of the building. We toured the place for a while, and if we found something that seemed out of place, I just waved my hand and it fixed itself. Okay, it was a little more complicated than that, but not much more.

 

Eventually, everything seemed to be in place. Maybe I should've spoken to Corina or Mica first, or spent some more time thinking. But whatever. I pressed the Create button, and then confirmed the choice. Instantly, there was a familiar surge of CP. Unlike with Creature Creation, this was far more diffused. The energy spread itself over the entire area, and I was barely able to make out the way the structure came into being. Like... cake rising out of its tin in the oven.

 

Suddenly my Interface buzzed in my hand causing me to gasp and whip my head down to look at it. For a moment, I wondered what it could possibly be related to, before I read the message displayed on the screen.