Cipiteca396

I edited some of the story a tiny bit while rereading. Don't think it matters too much. However, I didn't like how rushed the last chapter was, so the changes there are a little bigger. Not totally happy with it still, but the Alseid has a name now at the very least.

This chapter was so unbelievably difficult to write, and nothing much happens in it. Thinking is so hard lately. I might have got brain damage from all the stuff that's happened...

Walking through the Rooms was a little bizarre. The edge of each Room was a sheer cliff pockmarked by Rockworm burrows and ramps, with a single tunnel in the center leading on. There was an odd, vertigo-inducing feeling when I tried to find the point where the cliff and the 'sky' met. I could sense some magic at work, but I had no idea what I was looking at even then. 

I hadn't had a chance to see the Fortification Room yet. It was significantly larger than I expected, and bustling with activity. Elemental Rockworms slid around and over one another, often ignoring the clearly marked paths. A chaotic mess of towers and defensive structures was scattered around creating an oddly cluttered skyline. Everything was in different styles, shapes and even materials.

As I watched, one of the towers was dismantled by a pair of Elemental Rockworms. The dissolving stone flowed down the sides of the tower and into a nearby 'moat'. The entire thing was filled with stone slurry, and I shuddered at the thought of how awful it would be to fall into it.

Passing between two different types of walls, I wondered what Corina was learning from it all. Raising the defenses was just one part of her workload, so the effort must have been worth something. But thinking back on the monsters Nyx had shown me... Will any of this help at all?

The Gate Room was barely visible as anything other than a crawling mass of Common Rockworms… The walls especially squirmed as they worked to expand the already sizable space. The area around the Gate was the only place clear of their presence.

Oddly, the rasping sound they made as they moved was accompanied by the sound of the wind rustling grass... Even though there was no grass in this room. Just featureless grey stone and the vast black crystal wall the Gate was built into.

Curious Rockworms turned our way, some even wriggling closer to investigate. It was... sort of cute? Vaguely. I patted a few that got close enough, but most of them left quickly. They were textured like smooth stone, so it wasn't even that unpleasant. It felt a bit awkward though since the Kindlesprite was just standing there and staring...

We picked a path through the room, aiming to settle down in the empty spot by the Gate. We stayed far enough from it that I couldn't sense anything from the other side. Not unless I really focused on it, at least... I shook my head and turned expectantly to my companion.

Without any small talk, she opened a laptop and started explaining. "I mentioned that I made some mistakes before. The first issue is that humans get a small discount on Evolutions, so everything will be roughly ten percent cheaper. It didn't show up before because you weren't designated as the target for the mutations. Combine that with the discount from taking similar mutations in the same set, and the cost can be reduced to just a few CP in some cases."

She moved closer to me so I could see the screen. "This is a list of the builds the forum has come up with so far. Each one has mutations listed out along with their price and effects, so you can choose to leave some off or add things that aren't part of the standard build. There's also a description of the observed ill effects, though those are never consistent from person to person."

We skimmed through everything, with her explaining each of the different options. Because the Kindlesprite had been working on this for a few days, she'd managed to get a few 'experts' to work out very specialized builds based on the parts I'd seen before. However, we also reviewed a couple more standardized builds that were popular, just to get a feel for the menu. It was still a little overwhelming, though.

For every choice I had to decide if it was really worth spending the CP on it. Trying to get everything that was recommended to me would cost between three and five hundred CP. I might have plenty available with the Mana Well, but that didn't mean I should waste it on mutations I would never use. Especially if those mutations ended up causing discomfort.

Even then... Some of the excitement I'd had over the Evolution menu came creeping back. I tried to push that feeling away. It was still an outrageous use of resources, and I was still wary of what could go wrong.

For example... One of the builds I noted was designed to enhance the Heart and the Spirit. However, my Heart was... not stable. If I started mutating it, the result could be another Tantrum or worse. If the enhancement was a success, but I couldn't control it...

I can't even imagine how badly things could go. I'm still so new to this. Everyone is. I don't want to lose control again. My nails dug into my palm, unable to damage the skin. I lifted a hand, intentionally relaxing my fingers and studying the fast fading red marks.

"What are you thinking about?" The Kindlesprite's voice startled me a little. I shifted to find she was staring at me intensely, as if she might see my thoughts directly if she looked hard enough. 

I flinched and turned away quickly. "Sorry. I spaced out a bit." But with my gaze back on the Interface, I couldn't really think of what to do from there. It wasn't like the problem had disappeared...

Unexpectedly, she brushed her elbow against mine to draw my attention back to her. "You don't need to apologize. But I'd like to know what you were worrying about. I want to help, if I can."

I squirmed in place, unable to respond for a long time. It was too painful. Too embarrassing to admit. But really, there wasn't a way forward at this point. I was in a corner. I couldn't Evolve, and that meant I had to explain my reasoning.

"I-I don't think I should do this..." It took so much effort, but my words still ended up barely audible. The truth is- "There could be a problem." -I don't trust myself enough for this. "What happened... before... might happen again." I'm sorry. I couldn't look at her.

Another long moment passed. But then...

"I think I understand." She spoke with an out of place joy. "We should take some precautions. But..." I heard her stand next to me, and looked up at her by reflex.

She smiled down at me. "There will be problems, but you're strong enough to get through despite that. I know you can make this work. And I'll do anything I can to support you. That's why I'm here." With the last statement, that strange mana in her aura suddenly became more energetic. A feeling came from her, a patient enthusiasm that welled up endlessly. Like she was looking forward to whatever came next.

I could feel it infecting my aura and brightening my thoughts. A ticklish pressure that sent a shiver down my spine. Too bright. It was painful like too sweet candy. I felt like I would wither just being near her, like the crystal shell around my Heart was starting to break. Chilly mana streamed out of the storm inside it, and I found myself teleported a few meters away. A simple Blink.

I shivered again, breathing in to try and calm myself a little. But... there was no damage to my Heart. That... warmth was still in my aura, and I found that- I didn't want to disappoint her. I spoke up in spite of my self.

"A-alright... I'll try."

The tunnel between the Gate Room and the Residential Room hadn't been filled in yet, since it was useful. We followed it back at a rapid pace. The whole way, the Kindlesprite radiated satisfaction. I didn't get it at all. But I couldn't bring myself to comment on it, so we just ran on in silence. 

We stopped by to talk with the others. I was worried about damaging the Mana Well if we stayed in my Core Room, so they built a- well, a containment chamber. It was located in a forgotten corner of the mineral field, with all of the Rockworms ordered to give it some space. Even if the warding broke, there shouldn't be any problems... Probably.

Once it was finished, everyone left and we settled into the chairs we brought with us, the room's sole decorations. After a moment of hesitation, I started selecting mutations with the Interface. Almost immediately, something strange turned up.

Adaptation, glitchy text and all. It was written out next to each entry I added, right above the discount for being human.

This is one of the Abilities that my Soul menu mentioned... But what are Abilities really, and what does it really do? Are there drawbacks? Does it modify the results of the mutations?

"What happened?" The Kindlesprite frowned over at me as soon as I paused.

"Uh, nothing!" I rushed to reassure her, before glumly continuing. "It's just... I'm getting another discount aside from the one I get from being human. It's from an Ability, but I don't know what all it does..."

She tilted her head and shrugged. "That's good. That means you can add a few more parts onto each set, and save more CP with the discount on similar mutations. Is it enough to reduce the number of attempts?"

Right... It's a good thing. Forget about the rest. I continued adding items to the list. "I don't think so. Some of the incompatible mutations are just too expensive. Four is the absolute minimum, if we go with the stuff we decided. But it does reduce the total cost a little?"

She nodded, but kept silent.

I spent a while comparing the costs of certain items together, trying to figure out the best setup for the first two purchases. The third purchase was mostly set in stone, since it was all fairly Body oriented dragon stuff. But the first two were a weird mix of Heart and Spirit enhancements. There were upgrades to my Mind spread across all three, but they didn't seem to overlap enough to get cost reductions if I tried to make a Mind only setup.

The last purchase would just be for whatever got left out of the others... Pretty much just the Draconic Wings. Even with the discounts, they were too expensive to be included with anything else. I could save about twice as much CP by including all of the other draconic parts together as I could from doing the wings and tissues alone.

I did end up excluding a lot of the parts that were recommended. Things like horns and the breath weapon seemed cool initially, but I wasn't sure I could use them. The horns would interfere with any helmets I wore, for example. And the breath... I guess I just felt more comfortable casting magic instead? Maybe if my lung capacity were the same as a full sized dragon, it might be worth it.

Eventually... I ran out of things to check over. I could save a little CP for the first purchase if I let my Core Capacity go up to one hundred and three... And it was pretty much there already. So I just had to wait for that. Which made me wonder if I should just let it sit at max for a day or so with the increased regen. That might even get me up to one hundred fifty, depending on how it actually worked...

When I looked over at the Kindlesprite though, she tilted her head. "Was there something else?"

I shook my head. "No... I just need to wait for the CP..."

We spent the time double checking the parts and patterns for ill effects. It was going to be quite unpleasant for a little while, since some of the parts wouldn't work as well until the entire build was in place.

As soon as the count finally ticked up to full, I immediately confirmed the purchase without really thinking about it. Didn't want to waste CP after all... 

There was a surge of energy just like when I was creating a Creature, and then suddenly I was being held up by the Kindlesprite. The whole room was spinning around, and the colors were running into each other. For a moment, I panicked as I thought it was being blown around by a storm, but that panic turned into a watery fog in my Aura Perception. I felt weirdly off-balance at the sight. I shut my eyes tightly.

Even then, I could still sense something around me. The feelings of the Kindlesprite, the mana in the air, the distance between me and the walls. None of it made sense though, distorted in random ways. I shivered at the strange new senses, but...

It wasn't as bad as I expected. Obviously terrible, but it didn't hurt or make me nauseous. I was mostly just confused. Will the next set make it better or worse?

"Are you okay, Selene?"

I flinched a little at the voice, but the movement just caused a new wave of sensation. Push past it. "I think so... Just really disorienting."

"I see. You stopped responding for a moment." She leaned back a little. "It seems like it went mostly as expected..."

There was nothing to do but wait for CP now. I tried to get used to the changes, but it was a futile effort without the rest of the parts I needed. So we talked for a while instead. At least until the Interface buzzed, creating a weird ripple in the space around me. I didn't want to look at it, so I had the Kindlesprite check it out.

"It's a message from someone called... LL?" Even with my eyes closed, I could tell she was looking at me uncertainly. 

I just sighed. "That's the person who called before. What does she want?"

"That person..." She nodded softly. "It says she wants to have dinner with you soon. An hour."