“Ants, line up,” said Theanore. They had the plans for Crassus’s house, and they had the plans for the enchantment room. Crassus was carving an enchantment fountain from a birch.

“Ok, ants. Here are the plans. Make a house!” She said, and the ants began to surround the plans. They clanged their antennas together, confused and Marinus chuckled.

“They can’t possibly read a complex plan such as this, Thea. We have to make them a prototype house.”

Theanore smiled. They were going to play at making a house!

“Ants, crush numerous stone here and bring sticks.” Commanded Theanore, and she sat down next to Marinus. Maybe the house could remain for Bellchime when she came to live with them? The system had told Theanore that once she gets to level two in beast tamer, she would get another monster selection.

Not that Bellchime was a monster. Marinus and her father Crassus have both told her not to have high hopes of getting a fairy friend. But she wasn’t about to listen to them. If nymphs and mermen existed, then so did fairies!

The ants brought a giant stone slab and broke it into a fine dust. But the houses in the village weren’t built like that. They had bricks. Theanore had asked Ms. Oakheart countless things about houses.

The elderly lady had told her about bricks and roof tiles. They needed mud for the bricks. The stone was a connection substance. Taking a stick, Theanore placed it on the ground. But she couldn’t just wet the grass and expect that she could make bricks. She needed to get rid of the grass first.

“Ants, remove the grass and give it to the chickens to eat.” She said, and the ants rushed to follow her command. By nightfall, the marked area with the sticks was free of grass. Theanore wet it with water from the well, and she used sharp rocks to cut brick-like shapes into the mud. They were tiny, but Bellchime wouldn’t need a big house.

“Since the house will be made from mud and sticks and only have a stone coating, you would need to build it somewhere where the rain can’t get to it,” said father Crassus. He didn’t believe that fairies existed, but he still played along. It made his little nymph happy.

“I can place it near the quick shot raspberry bush. That way, the leaves of the bush can protect the house from the rain,” said Theanore.

“Yes, but what of when the winter sets in? Better build it inside the grotto. There is some space next to the pumpkin patch,” said Crassus, and Theanore nodded. That sounded better.

They returned to the grotto and Marinus relaxed in the pool. He took the time to be a merman as long as he could. Even though he could spend sixty hours as a human, he spends only one or two at the most. The sea called to him and his fish needed him.

The Eelacondas hatched their young, and he had even shown one to Theanore and Crassus. Theanore thought it was cute, and she even requested that it lives in the pool. But Crassus had been a sailor, and he thought that the Eelacondas grew too big to be kept in the pool. Marinus agreed, albeit reluctantly, and he returned the hatchling back to its parents.

The Mundyd fish also grew, but they hadn’t grown to maturity yet. Marinus didn’t hunt them, as they still had plenty of meat from their parents. The ice room was very useful. They even stored raspberries and vegetables in there for the winter. The ants were working on expanding it, but it was a slow process, and occasionally, they ended up frozen in the ice.

The deep wheat no longer needed to be grown with mana, as it reached maturity on its own. Crassus had harvested it with a sickle, and they had replanted half of the wheat in the tunnel to grow during the autumn and winter, so it could be ready to harvest during the late spring.

The original five chickens ended up butchered for meat as they became too fat to move, and so they were in pain. Theanore had been upset about this. Apparently feeding the chickens multiple times per day had been a bad move, even though they were Fatty Slowpokes.

The chicks were all upgraded into Colorful Egg specters. As it turns out, said chickens were not colorful. They were gray, and their eyes were an eerie yellow. Their eggs were the colors of the rainbow.

Theanore made sure she didn’t break the shells too much so that they could be used for decorations. Colorful Egg specters lived exclusively in caves, and so their eggshells were a novelty for the people of the village.

The little nymph had the ants make stone baskets, and she placed the empty shells inside. They sold for a golden coin per basket, and people liked to place them in their gardens.

Building a shop had become something that they did way before even planning Crassus’s house. They had a nice little stall where they sold gold, pearls, jewelry, and egg baskets.

Now that the deep wheat was harvested, Crassus had said that they could sell flour too. But both of the children had held firm that they had too little wheat and that their chickens needed to eat.

The murder muffins too had grown, and now they monopolized the pool for as long as Marinus wasn’t in it. What is more, they have taken to swimming through the underwater tunnel and out into the sea. They brought back the occasional lobster in their grubby paws for Theanore, but they never brought back anything for Marinus or Crassus.

The next day, Theanore woke up bright and early. She rushed to the brick square and began to take the bricks out. Marinus came soon after, and he began to help her. The two played at making a large house with columns made of sticks and with a stone sludge coating.

The completed product lacked a door, but it was a three-story-high house with a bedroom and a birdbath that could be renamed a fairy bath in a heartbeat. They placed the house near the pumpkin patch and placed some growing mushrooms inside for some good measure. Now everything was ready for Bellchime.

Theanore thought long and hard on how to advance her beast tamer skill, and she finally figured it out. The only animals she hadn’t tried to tame at all were the sea creatures of Marinus’ aquafarm.

“Mari, bring a baby Eelaconda to the poolroom again. I will teach it some tricks,” she said, and Marinus shrugged. If it worked, then the Eelaconda would be tamer.

Jumping into the water, Marinus felt the change between him being human and a merman as it grip him. It was slightly uncomfortable, for his legs to connect and for his scales to regrow over them, but it wasn’t too unpleasant.

Going to the underwater caves, Marinus picked one of the smaller Eelacondas and brought it to Theanore. The nymph was already waiting with a small bait fish in her hand. She had gone a long way, his little Thea. Before, she couldn’t stand the thought of eating meat. Now she was using a live fish for training.

“From today onwards, your name will be Henry. Henry, do you want the fish?” Asked Theanore, and the Eelaconda slithered out of Marinus’ hands and towards the nymph.

The glow mushrooms’ light reflected off the red scales of the serpent, and it gave them a purple look. Theanore waved the bait fish from left to right. Henry followed its movement with his head. But still, there was no message that the skill was increased.

Deciding to up her ante, Theanore jumped, and the Eelaconda jumped with her. Then Theanore began to sway in a slow dance, the Eelaconda following her movements. And then, finally, it happened.

Level to a skill gained: Beast Tamer, level 2.

Theanore the nymph has found a common ground with Henry the Eelaconda. They danced a nice jig together, and so they are now the best of friends. The new monster selection is available:

Fairy;

Goblin;

Worker Elf;

Sprite.

“She is real! Bellchime is real! I knew it!” Exclaimed Theanore as she jumped in place and giggled. She threw the bait fish to Henry and smiled. Her mana reservoir was full. She could definitely get Bellchime to live here.

“System, invite Bellchime the fairy to the grotto.”

Named boss of the front cavern created:

Bellchime the fairy. With her razor-sharp teeth and her poison claws, Bellchime is perfectly equipped to guard the most important room in the whole dungeon-the core’s cavern.

“Razor-sharp teeth? Poison claws? What? System, Bellchime is good! She is not a monster!”

Fairies, also known as forest terrors, are all monsters. I suggest you imprint your father and Marinus to the fairy before she attacks them. As small as she is, they won’t be able to defend themselves.

“Oh, no,” that was all Theanore could say before she rushed to the front of the cave. Her father was there!