Unlocking the template made me feel happy...
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Fang Mole
Lv1 - 4 Essence
Lv2 - 8 Essence
Lv3 - 16 Essence
Lv4 - ???
...
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After killing the level three mole and getting its template, I could create a mole that matched its level, as well as lower-level moles. It was very intriguing, but the cost was very high.
Sixteen essence is a lot...
But four isn't.
I thought about my rat.
I could make a weak one and let it grow.
That seems better.
No... New creatures can wait.
I have so many options: expanding, testing, creating, but the best possible thing I could think of was to let the cycles pass and let my creatures generate more essence for me. It may be boring, but I'd rather not run into something I can't handle.
So I waited.
One cycle became two.
Two became five.
The moths fluttered, the beetles reproduced and died, my rat wandered, and essence flowed into me.
Ten cycles passed.
And then twenty.
The moss had grown across most of the cavern; the beetle population stayed at its maximum, with a few natural deaths.
Nothing tried to hurt me...
Waiting works.
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Available Essence: 10.3 → 19.3
Total Essence Absorbed: 41 → 44/ 100
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I could finally create a level three mole...
But if I did, I would have nothing again.
I chose not to.
The level one mole would be better.
Focusing, I felt some essence disappear, and the mole formed in my original cave.
Available Essence: 19.3 → 15.3
Upkeep: 0.3 → 0.5
The level one mole's upkeep was expensive... But it was strong.
I examined my rat.
Much stronger than my rat.
The rat rushed into the room and hissed at the mole. The mole growled back.
No... Be friends.
They both tilted their heads. Then slowly approached one another; after a moment of sniffing, they went their separate ways, the mole staying in the cave while the rat went to my chamber. The mole walked around the cave, examining it. The water trap piqued its curiosity, and it began to growl at the hole in the roof. Suddenly, a lizard jumped down and was impaled by the spikes.
Available Essence: 15.3 → 16.8
Total Essence Absorbed: 44 → 45.5/ 100
It tilted its head, then moved on. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind.
The other mole was great at digging... Can you do that?
Thinking about it, I commanded the mole to start expanding the cave. It listened. Its sharp claws dug into the walls and ripped the stone apart. It moved quickly, and after three full cycles, it had dug a tunnel's worth of stone.
Available Essence: 16.8 → 17.1
But it wasn't me...
I could sense it, but it wasn't a part of me; it was just like the cavern.
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Structure Acquired: Passage
Excavated Passage Detected
Length: 1 m
Claim Passage — 0.2 Essence
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It was much cheaper than creating a tunnel. It may not have the smooth stone, the stable roof, or the torches, but it was still an extra meter of controlled territory for much less.
Claiming the passage, my core pulsed.
Available Essence: 17.1 → 16.9
Controlled Territory: 39m → 40m
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Upgrade passage to tunnel - 0.5 Essence
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It takes longer...
But it costs less.
I have plenty of time.
The mole kept digging, and time passed once again. Five passage segments took fifteen cycles, and during that time two more beetles died naturally.
Available Essence: 16.9 → 19.4
Total Essence Absorbed: 45.5 → 46.5/ 100
I claimed the five passages.
Available Essence: 19.4 → 18.4
Controlled Territory: 40m → 45m
It worked on the next passage segment, then suddenly stopped.
Why'd you stop?
I watched it; its eyes fell upon the wall in front of it. A faint blue light emanated from the stone wall.
What is it?
Keep digging.
The mole listened and broke through the wall, revealing a small pocket of blue gems. They shone, and suddenly I felt the moths fly through the cavern into the tunnel, then my chamber into my original cave and then into this new cave. They fluttered and landed on the blue crystals.
Mana Detected
...
Again? What is mana?
Sensing the strange crystals, I examined them.
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Mana Crystal
Analysis: 0%
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Interesting...
They seem strange, but I can't feel them yet; they aren't me yet...
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Natural Cave Detected
Size: 5 m
Claim Cave - 3 Essence
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I had enough essence.
Be me.
Available Essence: 18.4 → 15.4
Controlled Territory: 45m → 50m
It was me.
The cave was around the same size as my chamber. The moths fluttered within it, and as one of them rubbed against one of the crystals, I noticed something. A small blue light entered the moth.
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Mana Crystal
Analysis: 0% → 4%
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What was that?
I want to know.
There were only six crystals within the small cave. Focusing on one of the smaller ones, I felt it dissolve and be absorbed into me.
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Mana Crystal
Analysis: 4% → 18%
Mana Sense Lv1 Acquired
Available Mana: 0 → 10
Passive Mana: 0 → 6 / Cycle
Mana Upkeep: 0
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As the screen disappeared, I could sense something unfamiliar. It was all around me, in my walls, in my floors, in my core. Blue lights floated through the air. Sensing them, I could tell that they were different than essence; they were unique. Focusing on the crystals, I watched as more blue lights seemed to be drawn to them; they gathered within.
Are they attracting the mana?
They are...
I feel it; it's like how creatures naturally give me essence. The crystals are bringing in more mana, and I'm absorbing the mana that is not absorbed directly into them. I can also sense that I'm gaining mana just from the world; my territory is naturally absorbing a small amount.
What can I do with mana?
Focusing on one of the small blue lights, I tried to get it to move. It didn't. Focusing even harder, it trembled before moving slightly.
You moved.
I pulled even harder until it reached the crystal; suddenly, it was absorbed into it. I tried again, pulling two at once now. It was harder, but as I focused, the process became easier. Eventually they met the crystal and were absorbed. I did it again, with three, then four, and even reaching ten.
Mana Manipulation Lv1 Acquired
As the words faded, the mana around me seemed to be more under my control; it would no longer fight my commands. I could move mana, but there was still nothing I could do.
Maybe I can force it into something that isn't the crystal?
I focused on the luminous moss; it seemed to have a slight amount of mana within it already. Focusing for a moment, I pushed a large amount of mana into it.
Available Mana: 10 → 9
Mana Upkeep: 0 → 1 / Cycle
As the mana flowed out of me, the moss brightened. It glowed with more power. The entire room shone a brighter green than before. I lost one mana, and my mana upkeep increased...
So I can enhance things...
But it doesn't last forever.
As the next cycle approached, I stopped supplying mana to the moss. Its brighter glow slowly faded.
Available Mana: 9 → 15
Mana Upkeep: 1 → 0 / Cycle
Available Essence: 15.4 → 15.5
Fascinating...
I saw my rat.
Can you absorb it too?
Focusing, I directed the mana into the rat; it squeaked for a moment before begging to move. It was much quicker; it scratched the wall, leaving a noticeably deeper gash than before.
Available Mana: 15 → 13
Mana Upkeep: 0 → 2 / Cycle
You're stronger...
Essence is like the foundation, while mana is the energy used to power it...
At the end of the cycle, I let the rat return to normal.
Mana Upkeep: 2 → 0 / Cycle
What else can I do?
I spent the next two cycles watching the mana move around my dungeon.
Available Mana: 13 → 25
Available Essence: 15.5 → 15.7
The strange thing was that they all acted differently... In some instances around the moss, I could have sworn the mana flashed green, and near my torches, it flashed red.
What is happening?
Watching the torches flicker, I saw it again. The mana that surrounded them turned red once in a while. I watched the red mana as it was sucked into the flames. As the next one appeared, I forced it away and isolated it. Examining it, I could feel something different; it was warm... Like a flame, but after a second the colour faded, but the warmth stayed.
Pulling in another sphere of mana, I examined it closely. It was blue like all the rest, but it was cold... I pulled on another; this one pulled strongly... I sensed another; it seemed to have a dark aura.
These are all mana... But they are all different.
Mana Sense Lv1 → Lv2
The words disappeared, and a new amazing sight fell before me. There was double the amount of visible mana in the air. The blue mana remained, but within each one there were tiny colours. As I pulled them closer, I felt them turn warm, then cold, and felt all sorts of feelings I hadn't before.
As it flashed cold again, a light blue light within the mana flashed brighter than the others. Focusing on it, I watched as the mana turned from its regular blue entirely into light blue. The mana sphere was now completely cold and remained that way. Faint lights were still within it, but it no longer fluctuated. Focusing, I tried to make it change into the warm red mana I saw earlier.
It didn't work. My core pulsed as I directed all my focus into the mana sphere. I watched as the light blue colour faded into a dazzling red. It was warm.
Mana Manipulation Lv1 → Lv2
I did it.
I swapped the colour back and forth for a while before stopping on light blue. I tried to switch it to another colour, but I couldn't.
Why?
Is it because I haven't felt them before?
Thinking about the moss and the green mana around it, I felt the light blue mana change.
That's it...
As I changed it back to light blue mana, my core pulsed. I left it alone and watched it hover toward the wall. As it attached, I noticed frost cling to the stone for a moment before melting away.
Frost? Cold?
Fascinating.
What if I use more?
I pulled ten of the spheres toward me, then turned them into light blue spheres. I pushed them into the wall. I watched as the stone turned frigid as more frost expanded across its surface. Small ice spikes formed along it for a mere moment before melting away.
More.
I focused, but the room was too large; I couldn't convert all of its mana.
If this room is too large, then I have to try it on something smaller...
I focused on the passage between my original cave and the new mana crystal room. There were only five segments, much smaller than the large cave. I focused on the mana within the passage and began to turn it light blue. I focused, straining as each one transformed. As I gathered them, I released them into the passage. Some entered the ground, the roof, the walls, while some lingered in the air.
Available Mana: 25 → 19
Mana Upkeep: 0 → 6 / Cycle
I looked upon the passage; ice crystals stuck to the stone, the air was cold, and the frost covered almost all of the floor. Light blue mana hovered in the air on its own. Now I watched as regular mana entered the room before turning light blue. The passage seemed to maintain the transformation on its own, as long as I continued supplying it with mana.
Structure Acquired: Basic Ice Passage
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Basic Ice Passage
Tier 1
Temperature: - 10 °C
Upkeep: 6 Mana / Cycle
Tier 2 - 12 Mana / Cycle
Convert To Tunnel - 2.5 Essence
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The passage was unique. I made the mole walk through it, and as it did, it shivered in dislike. The rat did the same, its small teeth chattering.
It's expensive to keep operating... But creatures react differently to it... They don't like it.
How do I gain more passive mana?
I want to experiment more.
Quickly, I stopped supplying the mana to the passage and watched as the frost began to melt away. The light blue mana returned to its regular blue colour. I felt as though most of the mana that I spent on it returned to me.
Available Mana: 19 → 24
It cost six to make...
But I didn't let it operate for that long.
So I got more mana back after deactivating it.
I looked at the mana crystals that I had been observing over this entire time.
Mana Crystal
Analysis: 18% → 26%
If I can create more crystals, I can gain more mana...
I'll wait... Until I've fully analyzed them.