Day 177 - Blue
Despite Ansaes eagerness, she was still trying to wake up properly and was willing to give a few hours, or so she claid I wasnt really certain how to read her at the mont. So instead I decided to get my traits. I ran the selections past Taelah before I actually bought them, but she didnt have any objections. In fact, she was looking forward to Climate Caretaker and Climate Biodiversity, to see what else it gave and her.
I decided to start with the one-point traits, since I figured theyd have the least effect and I could just move on. The bigger ones might throw for a loop for an hour or two, so Id do those last. Climate Caretaker was first and gave similar feedback to [Dungeon-Companion Linking]. That was easy enough, so I connected Taelah with the Grasslands and Forest Climates near her. Obviously, I wasnt sure exactly what it would do, thanks to the vague description, but I was confident Taelah could figure it out.
Ooh, that is interesting, Taelah said, standing still in her garden and stretching out her hands in the predawn light. Its like [One With Nature] got a huge boost. I can feel out everything here without having to actually see it. I bet that She trailed off, brow furrowing as she concentrated. Yes, I can use my Skills directly on plants without being there.
Oh, wow. Thats one heck of an expansion. It also ant that I could link her to Climates that werent particularly friendly, like the Swamp one, and she could examine things from a safe distance. Companion Adaptation would have been better for that, but I wasnt sure if a horrific sll was actually included in the negative effects of a Climate.
Climate Biodiversity was next, and while I wasnt expecting much from a one-point skill I still felt a bit underwheld. Here and there mushrooms popped up, moss grew on trees, and generally things Id consider weeds or decoration appeared. It had said simple plant life, and that seed to an both mundane and small. Though maybe if I got in actual animals at so point it would help there; real ecosystems needed an entire spectrum of life, not just grass and herbs and trees.
I told Taelah about it but even she didnt appear too excited as she felt things out with the Climate link. The best thing was, apparently, a type of clover that the scalehoofs liked. It stood to reason, though, that most of the important stuff would be either magical or cultivated already. No farr worth the na would leave a useful plant wild if they could bring it ho and ta it.
With that disappointnt I wasnt really expecting much from Efficiency, either. After all, it was a one-point trait and I already had mana to spare and all the mana flow anyone could ever want. Even if it was made better, it was hardly a surplus I could use. Though maybe Tarnil would benefit, and that was reason enough to select it.
When I purchased the trait, I could tell an imdiate difference as inefficiencies I hadnt noticed at all tidied themselves up, every little aspect of my mana workings becoming just a little bit tidier. That was what I had expected, more or less. What I hadnt expected was for the shifts that occurred in my overlay. Specifically, it beca suddenly much cheaper to make advanced materials.
Not the supermaterials, with the mana-anvils, but the ones I created by converting directly from raw stone or iron or the like. All the ratios improved not the mana, which was never a problem, but the actual raw material costs. Instead of each Adamant Stone taking one thousand ordinary stone, it took more like one hundred. Mana Iron was closer to twenty iron instead of fifty.
In a way it made sense. The advanced materials werent hundreds of tis as dense as their progenitors, they were just more magical. So of that magicalness ca from just adding raw mana, but so seed to co from converting the extra material into intent or sothing like that. The properties of stone and tal honed and exaggerated. There wasnt any real reason I could think of that the ratio couldnt be one-to-one, like it was for the Mana Diamond Anvils, but ultimately I didnt know much about magic so there was probably an explanation to be had sowhere.
The actual degree to which the material conversions improved varied pretty widely, but it seed that those which took the most material improved the most, like it was approaching so kind of asymptotic limit. Not one-to-one, not unless I was really inefficient to begin with, but better than the thousands-to-one I had before.
Now, that I could feel, Ansae said from where she was still relaxing in the chair Id given her, slowly working her way through another spice muffin. Not quite mana density but sothing close to it.
Yeah I think my mana just got more effective at doing mana things. What are the aspects of mana besides amount and density anyway?
Strength of intent, Ansae replied promptly. Though that doesnt really apply in your case. Precision of application and clarity of direction might, though. You can throw mana at sothing and it will work, eventually, but the more you know about where youre coming from and where youre going, the more you can do with less.
Considering the dungeon system did most of the work, that sort of made sense. It was clear that the dungeon stuff drew from my intent to make the infrastructure but, once it was made, I didnt have the ability to alter it. It was pretty clearly a tool designed to keep the controller separate from the mana they controlled, and was probably why I couldnt communicate, but that did make it fairly annoying to get so stuff done.
The Efficiency purchase had another effect, which was to push the Caldera that final bit to completion. My Spatial effects sort of lurched forward and settled in, finishing up the massive area at last. It was still mostly bare, since the areas around Ansaes tower and the Village were pretty much all that Id landscaped. Those were thousands of square kiloters apiece, but the Caldera was huge, and even combined they barely made a dent.
I didnt get any special feedback from my overlay, no achievent or the like, but it did seem that those got awarded at level incrents. Not every ti, of course, but often enough. Or maybe since Id gotten past the earliest levels it no longer awarded things ad-hoc. Either way, the only reward for making it was having it, and Id definitely start populating it with Climates of various sorts as soon as I got my traits out of the way.
I bought Designate ANATHEMA next, and of course nothing happened imdiately. Itd probably take Shayma doing sothing at a core to change it and she was still asleep after a late night. I did wonder about was whether it would require a sample, or if Shayma could just point at a random sothing and have it work. It would be interesting to see how specific it could be, whether she could point out a single person or a family or a country, or even a concept or sothing. Wed have to be careful experinting, but maybe just seeing what her interface was like would answer the questions.
The final purchase was the Habitation Specialization. This one I was braced for because I was pretty certain that itd end up with a bunch of notifications and maybe so undocunted changes. As before, the change swept through my unspecialized core in a matter of monts, so sort of weird phase change that was just too fast and too complex for to really understand.
Core Specialization: Habitation purchased.
Human-kin: All human-kin receive benefit as though possessing kinetic Affinity. Those already possessing such an Affinity benefit from an increase to ntal reserves. All regeneration fields gain additional Stamina cost reduction effects.
Scalemind: All Scalemind receive the benefit of significantly increased adroitness with ntal Affinity magic. Fields gain additional ntal effects.
Dragon: All Dragons receive the benefit of vastly increased Affinity uptake and conversion. Climates now generate Affinity pools.
I was a little disappointed that all the different human-kin fell under the sa umbrella, but I could hardly argue with the benefit they got. Id seen firsthand how much the addition of kinetic Affinity had increased Shaymas and Iniris energy levels, and the concept of the entire country having no problem with working all day was just boggling.
When I had been moving people back and forth during the mage-king attack I had noticed a few non-human-kin races in little enclaves. Nothing as alien as the Chiuxatli, but there was a tiny settlent of [Stoneborn] people against the mountains near Wildwood and so dryad-looking [Barkwalkers] up near one of the peaks further north, by the Nivir crossing. Apparently, they didnt count as proper inhabitants, since they looked like refugees or exiles or squatters, rather than proper citizens. Id have to tell Iniri about them, and maybe get more benefits.
The Scalemind benefits were less obvious, but that was probably my fault. I hadnt had any in-depth conversations about what the mind magic was like, so I couldnt tell how profound increased ntal adroitness was. That said, if it was of the sa scale as the human benefit it was probably sothing theyd really appreciate.
Obviously the dragon benefits werent anything that Ansae would get anything from. She already had her Affinity, and I couldnt provide Primal Affinity myself. That was uniquely hers. I could absolutely see how useful the Habitation bonus would be for any new dragons that ca around, though. Both parts of it.
The dungeon benefits I got were pretty clearly synergistic with the inhabitants benefits. Improved endurance with stamina reduction, ntal adroitness amid more ntal effects, and Affinity uptake coupled with pools of concentrated Affinity mana. Ansae would benefit more from the stamina reduction than the regeneration itself, and adding ntal effects to [Panopticon] and [Purgatory] would make them truly profound experiences.
I wasnt really sure what to do with the Affinity pools, since I didnt know much about them. The most I knew was that Lockert had turned into a Wind Beast by jumping into one, which ant they were sowhat dangerous. Dangerous, but if they were so kind of liquid Affinity mana, I could well imagine it was incredibly valuable for crafting. Taelah and Shayma would love it.
Obviously, the purchase ca with new trait options. I hadnt really discussed so of the new stellar traits with anyone yet, but I hadnt been so impressed by them that I felt they were worth adding to the shortlist.
Core Specialization: Habitation
Inhabitant Adaptation: Adapt inhabitants to Dungeon Climates they reside in. (10)
Affinity Attunent: Dungeon inhabitants gain governed Affinity Classes and Skills with less effort. (10)
Core Specialization: Companion
Pinnacle: Companions of Dungeon Inhabitant species are made an exemplar of that species. (8)
Inspiration: Companions of Dungeon Inhabitant species gain natural leadership toward that species. (15)
Affinity Infusion: Companions may infuse their Classes or Skills with any governed Affinity. (20)
Core Specialization: Ecology
Affinity Ecology: Add additional plants influenced by governed Affinities to Climates (1)
Stellar Transformation: Create a new stellar Affinity version of a selected magical plant. (2)
Stellar Region: Infuse a selected area with stellar Affinity mana. (3, repeatable)
Inhabitant Climates: Adapt Climates to suit Dungeon inhabitants. (8)
Core Specialization: Stellar
Field: Depths of Space: Reduced gravity and atmosphere. (2)
Field: Corona: Lashing tendrils of intense heat, light, and stellar Affinity mana. (2)
In hindsight I probably should have bought Habitation first, since it ca with new traits, but there wasnt anything in particular that I wanted and could afford. So of the options were interesting, like Pinnacle, but most of what Habitation unlocked was pretty underwhelming relative to what it actually had given .
The Depths of Space Field was the weirdest of the bunch, since it was the first thing that would let manipulate either gravity or atmosphere. Not directly, of course, but even in pre-programd Field form it would be cool. With mana overcharge and my ability to manipulate it, I might even be able to make a vacuum, which did have its uses. Corona, on the other hand, seed redundant considering what else I could do. Admittedly it sounded like an effective defense without much investnt, but it wasnt particularly high on my list of priorities.
Enough ti went by while perusing my overlay that I started to see the effects of the new Core Specialization. The additional kinetic boost was obvious by how many people were stirring out of bed and looking rested instead of sleepy, and all at the sa ti rather than staggered about depending on their Affinities and duties. Iniri was one of them, but she already had kinetic, which had folded into stellar, so shed been up early for days.
So, just to tell you that I bought the Habitation specialization and now everyone in Tarnil has the benefits of kinetic Affinity. Not the actual affinity itself, just the endurance boost. You should have so bonuses as well, since youve already got that.
That is Iniri was speechless for a mont, her eyes flickering as she considered it. Im sure a lot of people would waste such a benefit, but that ans that anyone can put in longer days and still feel rested. Youve just effectively doubled my labor force. She waved a hand dismissively as she continued. Oh, I expect in real terms its more like twenty percent or so, but thats still amazing. Not to ntion the morale benefits from feeling energetic and fully rested all the ti.
Yeah! Though I bet parents arent going to thank for making their kids even more rambunctious. Iniris expression flickered for a mont, then she laughed out loud.
Tell you what, Ill take credit for the extra productivity and you can take credit for frustrated parents.
That doesnt sound fair at all. Of course, I didnt actually mind. I was glad to hear Iniri actually joking with for a change. Generally she was more formal than I would have preferred, but then, shed only just started being able to talk to directly.
You should have thought of that earlier, Iniri said with a smile. Now its too late.
Darn it.
I could see a stir among the Scalemind when I was talking with Iniri, but lacking Shayma and One-Eye-Green, Id have to wait to ask how the habitation bonus affected them. The affinity pools started to form too, as the mana flows throughout the Climates started to create little points of focus. They werent visible without mana-sight, since they were fundantally just mana, but they did have a physical effect on the environnt.
The volcanic Affinity pool bubbled and spat like lava, scouring the bottom of the ash-covered depression it collected in without actually destroying any material. Instead it just hardened the ash into a permanently swirling pattern as the pseudoliquid mana piled up. The water Affinity collected like a brine pool under a deep lake, displacing the water above it, and the air Affinity acted like a thermocline, filling a small hollow with chill mana. Storm Affinity was a stationary vortex, whirling up in the air, and earth was like a geode, swirling around in a stone hollow under the ground.
Once the initial pool had ford, they slowly densified until each was physically visible, a sort of hazy outline. None of the pools were particularly large, maybe four or five liters at most, and didnt seem to be getting any larger. At least, not at a rate that was easily discernable. From what I could see the larger climates generated larger Affinity pools, but not so much larger that Id end up with lakes or oceans from the sizes I was planning for the Caldera.
From what Ansae had said about dragon biology, I could well imagine dragons would love those pools, and probably drink from them directly. It was a bit of a partial step toward sothing like a [Contained Star], mana condensed and potent enough that it had its own physical presence, but not so much that it actually generated mana of its own. A quick test showed that it did count as a liquid so I could actually handle it myself, which would probably be all kinds of absurd in the future.
Speaking of Ansae, the ntal component of my Fields beca evident as she visibly perked up, her ntal state being restored by the super-powered Rejuvenation Field I had going around her. While it probably wasnt the sa as [Light of Hope], which already had a ntal effect, it clearly did sothing similar. The dragon stretched and suppressed a yawn, then grinned.
Im ready, Blue. Lets see what you can do.
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