Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Leveling skills

Skills cannot be leveled, only acquired and evolved. Training one's skills is the person's responsibility. The more you know about something related to a skill, the more powerful said skill becomes. Archive skills are an exception. Skills will always tell you how to do something related to the skill in the best way for the situation based on your knowledge.

 

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Argul had a lot of time in the last 7 days to develop a plan for his next floors. He mulled a bit over his options for his second floor before he accepted them.

 

Floor 2

Natural caves

Cave size: medium to large

Eternal night

Temperature: 25°C to 35°C

Balancing events:

Earthquake

If less than 5km³ of soil matter is on the floor than optimally there would be, the earth will quake and cause cave ins, returning the missing matter.

 

Tunneling

Caves form randomly with a minimum distance of 50m and a maximum distance of 1000m between each other. Each cave has to be at least connected to one other cave.

 

Random events

Earthquake

There is a chance of 5% of small localized earthquakes to happen each month.

 

Heat wave

For 5 to 15 days the temperature will increase to 45°C. This event has a chance of 10% to occur each month.

 

If you wonder why Argul didn’t decide on a numerical value for the cave size, no two caves are ever the same. A large cave for Argul meant it could house up to 5 four story buildings. Also the caves would be built after his intended image of a cave, so Argul didn’t worry about it.

 

Argul’s core moved again, but this time he was too occupied with something else to notice. The space inside of his entrance to the second floor shifted and a portal opened in the last cave. This one didn’t show the moon but was a swirling pool of different colors. Argul instinctively knew that you could choose if you wanted to go to Luna or his first floor and that it would add more options if new portals formed or if someone has already been to a higher floor. 

It still wasn’t the most important thing for Argul. Sure he had a portal, but as far as he knew his domain just brutally punched a hole through time and space to create it. But this time space shifted in HIS domain and now he knew. It opened a lot of possibilities for him. He couldn’t just create fancier ways for entrances to lower floors, no, he could manipulate his portals and if he really wanted to, he could become a space mage. And let’s be honest with each other, if you could become a space mage without having to sell your soul to some demon or god you totally would! No questions asked.

 

Argul immediately got to work, he had to wait for his second floor to grow anyways. First of course you could just manipulate space, but this would require a lot of power, power Argul didn’t have. He had to sense weaknesses in space, irregularities, like he sensed mana. It was so hard it took Argul’s all, he even had to take his WIS capabilities from the first and second floor and then it still took him 10 days to finally achieve his breakthrough.

 

You created a skill Sense space

You can sense space, its irregularities, traces of space magic and weaknesses in space. This takes a lot of effort and concentration. Through more knowledge of space and a lot more training this skill may become better and easier until you can use it passively. 

 

Argul gave back his WIS and continued to grow his second floor. He was really tired and wanted to sleep a bit.

 

“Mom! What you just did was insane! All the knowledge of your last life is a drop of water compared to the ocean of information you and I just learned. Thank you!”

 

A happy and excited Alyra interrupted him, but he didn’t care. Him being able to give her something this huge and make her happy made him happy. Also he didn’t really care about the mom part. He wanted to leave his last life behind and start a new one. While he addressed himself as male, he thought of himself as genderless and since Alyra started to call him mom, he sometimes thougt that maybe he was both genders.

 

“I’m happy I could give you something new and complicated, though I don’t think I will be able to do anything other than training this skill for a while. I don't have the power to manipulate space yet and I’m really tired after that training session.”

 

“That’s okay mom and thank you again! We have enough time to learn new things anyways, so you don’t have to stress about learning more for me. I’m still going to give you quests for it though. You should still get rewards! Have a nice nap, I am going to wake you up when your second floor finishes growing, if you want me to.”

 

Alyra was still happy. While she couldn’t do a lot with it now, later she could award people with knowledge that might enable them to create something unbelievable. For her living was largely a give and take of knowledge and the more she got the happier she would be.

 

New Quest: Space Mage (1)

Requirements: Sense Space

You took the first step as a space mage. Learn or create something new related to space magic!

 

“Thanks Aly. If you could wake me up that would be nice of you. You also might want to make progression quests such as this one a common thing, that would motivate many people and you could create special quests that need specific knowledge as ‘side quests’.”

 

“That’s an awesome idea! Good night mom.”

 

Argul slowly fell into his sleep like tranquility. He still perceived the things that happened in his domain, but his mind just rested. After 3 days his second floor finished growing and after 5 days Alyra woke him up with an army of different colored wake up messages. He didn’t care about the extra 2 days, as his caves needed a bit more time to form anyway.

 

Argul looked at his second floor and saw nothing. He could feel where everything in his domain was, but he still wanted some form of light and as the ever creative mind he was, he went for glowing mushrooms.

 

He wanted them to be able to grow anywhere, but especially on the ceiling. They should be able to survive the heatwaves and be toxic. He only created them at level one as they would attain level two naturally on his second floor.

 

The mushrooms grew in his portal room. If Argul had to describe them, they looked like the ceiling had leaked pus at some point which then started to dry and glow. He already regretted his decision to go for mushrooms and dubbed his new creation as Pusshrooms. Maybe later they would have some use other than looking horrible.

 

Pusshrooms (rename?)

This is a small plant. These mushrooms grow in warm caves and especially like ceilings and dry spots. They glow orange and are highly toxic to most creatures.

During heat waves their toxin denatures into multiple acidic substances and they change their color to green.

 

Argul took a day off from creating anything else to train his sense space and to let his pus time to grow. At the beginning of the day he only managed to use sense space for about 5 seconds before he had to take a break. At the end of his training he managed to use his skill for 15 seconds. Argul hadn’t learned anything new during his training other than that he did not see everything he should. This realization seemed to spark an idea in him as well as the system.

 

Quest completed: Space Mage (1)

You realized that human senses limit your ability to perceive space. Int +1

 

New Quest: Space Mage (2)

Requirements: Space Mage (1)

Learn or create 3 new things related to space magic! You have realized that you might have more success if you go beyond the capabilities of human senses.

 

Now Argul had a little problem. As a mana core he might be able to perceive more than 3 dimensions, but as he didn’t know what it would be like to perceive more dimensions then 3 he would have to stumble on how to view more than 3 dimensions through luck.. He could try to only perceive 2 dimensions, that was a lot easier in his opinion and might lead to a result. He noted that idea on his mental try out sheet and looked at his second floor.

 

The Pusshrooms had spread a lot. Anywhere he looked, far and wide, up and down in nearly every cave and tunnel there was at least one of the shrooms. He really needed something that was wet. There are some water streams here and there, but not a lot. Still enough to start operation WAP (stands for wet as Pusshrooms) against the shrooms. Moss was a good option in his opinion. Moss already liked to soak up water like a sponge, so the only thing he added was the ability to distribute water, enabling it to grow further away from the streams.

 

The moss was red and had a wet sheen to it. Otherwise it didn't seem to be all that special so Argul identified it before he decided on a temporary name.

 

Plant (unnamed)

This is a small plant. This moss likes to grow in warm enclosed places with access to water. It soaks up water and heats it to accelerate the evaporation process. This heightens the water concentration in the air and ultimately makes the whole place a suitable growing place for the moss.

You are reading story Reincarnated as a mana core at novel35.com

 

“Nothing too special this time, let’s call it humid cave moss.”

 

This time Argul waited the hour it would take to get his mana back. What he was going to create next wouldn’t be anything special, just a more or less normal plant as mana makes them a bit stronger, but he needed this one plant for one of his animals.

 

What he created basically looked the same as a peace lily that had dark red leaves and a violet blossom instead of the white one. It was all that he needed it for too, but he was surprised that it took the role of some kind of mediator between the Pusshrooms and his red moss.

 

Violet peace lily

This is a mid-size plant. This plant grows in humid warm caves that have some sort of illumination. They are often found growing between Pusshrooms and red cave moss.

 

Argul took another day to train his ‘sense space’ after creating his lily. The longest he managed to activate the skill for this time was about 50 seconds, but it took him all just to have the skill stay active, so there sadly wouldn’t be any experimentation for a while. After his training he took another day long break for his mind to get fresh again.

 

The plants had spread around the cave system somewhat. It was enough for him to create his first animal. Argul wanted to create a cricket, half the size of a human fist. It would be dark red to black in color and its diet would be moss and lily for now. Argul created 10 in one go of them and identified one.

 

Cave cricket (rename?)

This is a small animal. These crickets live in dark and humid caves. Their chirping masks their position as the sound rebounds from the cave walls and ceiling. They can use their mana to jump really high and far and are able to use their wings to glide.

 

The caves got really loud after Argul created the crickets. To be honest it was acceptable, his floor was just silent until now. He waited for another hour watching the crickets before he changed his view to a cave that only contained Pusshrooms. It was time for the second animal giving them time to procreate before he introduced a predator.

 

Argul wanted a worm. Every good fantasy cave had worms, so there really was no option around a worm for him. He intended for them to move around in the ground, but they had to come out to feed on the Pusshrooms. They would be as long and thick as a human arm.

 

Large cave digger (rename?)

This is a mid-sized animal. This worm lives in the ground around caves and uses mana to move in stone. They only come out to feed on the Pusshrooms or other mushrooms and often remain hidden from prying eyes.

Though they only feed on plants they have dangerous sharp teeth and a large mouth for self defense. In life threatening situations they spray the toxin of the Pusshrooms out of their mouth and try to flee.

 

Argul had to be honest, they looked as disgusting as only a large dark brown mass of flesh can look. Fact is, if he ever manages to create an avatar for himself he isn’t going to be looking for them.

 

“What do you think of them, Alyra?”

“You knew I would say disgusting, so why did you even ask?”

Argul had to agree, he knew she would find them disgusting and they were disgusting. Did he already mention how absolutely disgusting these worms were? No? Well good thing he did it now!

“Do you want anything special for the last two plants?”

“Make them part of the camps you established. One that takes water out of the air to make it more arid for the Pusshrooms and one that holds the water in the air creating a dense and humid fog for the cave moss.”

“Noted, those are some nice ideas!”

“What type of predator are you going to make?”

“I’m going to make a spider.”

 Argul said happily, knowing full well his daughter wouldn't like the answer. Alyra would give him a look if she could.

“A large spider.” 

He added maybe a bit too cheerful. As long as they didn’t have bodys he was safe so he had to use the opportunities sometimes. 

Argul checked his quests before he got back to waiting for his mana to regenerate.

 

Quest completed: Don’t eat that! (2)

You created 5 animals, don’t make it too crowded! 

Animals are more likely to procreate in the first 3 days after being created. Str +1, Int +1

 

New quest: Don’t eat that! (3)

Requirements: Don’t eat that! (2) | floor 5

Create 25 animals

 

A new cave system formed on the first floor to house the entrance to the second one. The old cave system remained, which was good as there were now Pusshrooms on the first floor.

 

After waiting for another hour Algur created what looked a lot like a flower with a wooden stalk and thorns. The stalk was a bit thicker than what a flower normally would have. The petals were red thick hard leaves. What were now leaves looked a bit like the blossom of a rose. One of them, let’s call them fake roses, had a branch with its own leaves at the end. They were beautiful compared to the Pusshrooms.

 

Fake roses (rename?)

This is a small plant. This little tree grows in warm caves, but also loves the light. Why it would ever evolve to grow in caves even though it loves the light nobody knows. Nature sure does the weirdest things. Fake roses take water out of the air instead of the ground to make the air more arid and thus making it more likely for Pusshrooms to grow near them.

 

“Nature my ass!” That sure as hell wasn’t nature doing its thing.

“Whut?”

“Sorry just talking to myself.”

Well, the less they know it was Argul who created all these weird things, the less he would get blamed for it.

 

Argul already planned the next plant while he waited. It was going to have a thick trunk that was about 30cm large. The trunk would be notably thicker on the bottom then on the top and from the top fern like leaves would grow in every direction. After the hour was over he created the plant exactly like he intended. The stalk was a dark brown and the leaves became more gray the further away from the trunk they got. Otherwise they were the same red as the cave moss.

 

Mist fern

This is a mid-sized plant. This fern grows in warm humid caves, especially around cave moss. It holds water in the air to create really thick fog around it, making it even more humid around this fern. It is unknown whether the one who named the fern didn’t know the difference between fog and mist or realized that mist fern just sounds that much better. Hopefully it was the latter.

 

Of course Argul was fully aware of the difference between fog and mist and just put a lot of thought behind it (cough). He had no idea, but nobody will ever know, at least as long as they don’t ask him while he is drunk. As Argul mused about how to hide his secret, fog already started to form around his ferns.

 

Algur got back to finishing his second floor and moved to a mostly empty cave near his crickets. His spiders were going to be the size of a human head. While the children are going to be fluffy and hairy, the adults will have less hair and chitin armor. Of course as they are spiders they have eight legs and eyes. Argul’s spiders won’t build nets but instead be able to jump really well. After creating them he nearly lost sight of them, as they were black and immediately hid themselves.

 

Lunarian cave stalker

This is a mid-sized animal. These spiders Live and hunt in caves. They are extremely good ambush predators as they are equipped with natural poison, heat vision, the ability to blend in with the shadows and an extremely quick jump. The only reason prey would ever know what hit it is that they wanted it to. When lunarian cave stalkers find something they don’t know, they make sure their prey knows it isn’t alone. Based on the creature's reaction they can gauge if they caught a threat or a meal. Beware, for they also eat threats.

 

“Maybe I overdid it a bit with the spiders.”

“Not maybe, you definitely overdid it. You are likely going to find them on every floor in some variation.”

“Whoopsie?”

“Not accepted! If you ever manage to create an avatar I’m going to punch you for the spiders. Also I’m going to make the avatar a quest.”

“Sigh. I earned that punishment.”

 

New Quest: To walk the world

You might be immortal, but you can't move around and interact with the world around you freely. As long as you are unable to walk amongst mortals your ability to enjoy the world is greatly limited. So go forth and create an avatar!

 

You finished the floor!

Level up!

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