Generations, Mana bodies
Lan was drilling deep into the underground of his domain yet again.
This time, fueled by his newfound ambition and newly gained domain space, he didn't plan to make yet another simple chamber or 'room', no, he wanted to make something more... Grand.
The tunnel leading into the depth from the second chamber this time was much longer and deeper, spiraling all the way until the total depth from the surface reached two hundred and fifty meters.
This took a significant toll on Lan's mental mana resources, so he quickly checked what else he could do with what remained.
First, he checked on the entrance chamber yet again.
There, to his surprise, he found a rather heartwarming scene.
The previously pregnant female wolf had given birth and was currently feeding the litter of puppies.
Though the insects and small creatures of his domain multiplied and procreated constantly, he didn't pay them much attention, as Lan was usually busy with other things. This time though, he was able to take a closer look, and thus, made yet another discovery.
First of all, the puppies were already connected to his mental network, needing no further infusion. Thus it could be surmised that the offspring of the already connected creatures will stay the same as their parents.
That wasn't only the first half of the discovery though, it was the second half that especially interested Lan.
The bodies of the little ones differed greatly from their parents, and the difference lay not only in size but on a more fundamental level.
A significant part of those puppies' tissues were made not of matter such as muscles and bones, but rather concentrated mana replacing them. Half of the total mass to be exact.
The reason this discovery excited and interested Lan was because of the problem of recreating bodies a while ago. He couldn't exactly recreate matter to make those bodies from...
However if a full mana-body replacement is possible, and he could learn the principles of how mana may replace the organs and tissues, then a full-body repair, or better yet, creation from zero is possible.
And that would open the possibility of 'respawning'.
All of that made Lan check yet again the dwellers of his domain.
The ones living on the surface didn't change that much, the ones living far away from the entrance to the underground only having around one-twentieth of the body turned into mana. The ones living closer to the entrance though often had one-tenth, sometimes even one-fifth of the body turned into mana.
The dwellers of the exceptionally mana-dense underground though had it the best.
Most of those living in the entrance chamber, just like the wolves' descendants had half or more of the body turned into 'mana flesh'.
As for those living in the second chamber though, they once again surprised Lan, as he recently hadn't paid them much attention.
First, the most noticeable was lush vegetation now suffusing the entire chamber. Trees were stretching all the way to the ceiling, bushes were brimming with leaves and berries (some once again having small skeletons buried under their roots. The quiet stream of water ran in the middle of this small piece of forest, dividing it in two.
Amidst all this, in the very center of such a scene, stood the pillar with the mana lamp in it, spreading light throughout.
Currently, amidst such a paradise, the familiar herd of deer stood out, being overlords in this area thanks to their earlier evolutions. Some of the does were pregnant, the herd guarding them.
Though they hadn't had any descendants yet, their bodies changed, slowly integrating the mana into them.
As Lan quickly 'scanned' through them, he confirmed that their physique did indeed change as well, even without being born inside of the mana-dense environment.
Some smaller creatures have reproduced in that short time however, their offspring possess bodies composed mostly out of four-fifths mana flesh, and one-fifth of living tissue. And the progenitors had around two-fifths of mana flesh.
From all of this, Lan was ready to make a few conclusions.
The creatures that lived amidst high mana environments, even without procreating, their flesh would convert to mana-flesh as well. This process however seems to be much slower than just being born in a high-mana environment. However, this option may be better for creatures without mates or those with long gestation periods.
Also, obviously enough, this process accelerated proportionally to the amount of mana in the environment.
Still, having found out all that, Lan observed how the amount of mana flesh influenced the life of creatures. So, he started comparing a mouse living on the surface, and a mouse living underground.
...
After observing them for six hours, he made several answers to his own questions.
First of all, the need for food and water decreased. Mana flesh seemed to replace nutrient intake with... Mana intake. Creatures with mana flesh passively absorbed mana, replacing the need for feeding. They still did hunt, however, as the accumulation of mana still served as a way to evolve.
Second, the creature grew stronger proportionally to the amount of mana flesh. The regions 'manatised' were also seemingly not random, usually being symmetrical muscles, whole muscle groups, or tendons. The manatised regions of the body were far more efficient, having higher levels of fatigue resistance and output.
For example, the mouse living in the domain underground was faster and stronger than the one living on the surface.
'...Ah, the possibilities. The more I learn the more ideas I have... I would have to learn how the whole process works though, and how to recreate it. For that, I would have to wait for a creature to have a complete mana body. I don't think I will have to wait long with sped-up reproduction rates though.'
Putting the solving of the 'respawn project' to the back of his mind, Lan returned his attention back to the end of the newly dug tunnel, as his mental mana was greatly recovered.
Quite a few small creatures were already skittering about, seeking more mana. The Lightning Horn came to check it out earlier as well, however deeming it unfit for habitation, he returned back.
Lan didn't know about that though, as he was already making a plan of the third chamber in his mind.
Although he was ambitious, he was still lacking some means to achieve his dreams. He didn't know how to make an artificial sun that would be emitting warmth, nor how to make day-night cycles with it.
He would work with what he could though.
So, he approximated the initial size in proportion to available mana, in order to make good mana density.
Finally, after a short deliberation, Lan settled on a rather 'humble' size.
A chamber eight hundred by eight hundred meters in width and length, as his domain allowed it due to the proximity to the core, and nearly a hundred meters in height.
Lan deliberately made this 'chamber' if he could call it that in its size, far deeper than the second one especially for making it... Big.
The amount of mental mana to dig the whole thing out was no joke though, as this was easily the biggest project of Lan's yet.
As he was working on it, it gradually became easier and easier. Considering his attunement to earth mana was on par with neutral mana, it was to be expected.
Still, digging out such a chunk was impossible in one go.
However, considering the amount of creatures living inside his domain, Lan had gone a long way from when he just saw the surface.
Now, even with his current mana capacity, he didn't need for a whole day to replenish it. Only two hours would suffice.
As such, Lan spent the next whole day, or so he assumed, as he counted the replenishment cycles rather than hours, digging.
In the end, after spending fifteen replenishment cycles on digging, he succeeded in carving out the chamber he wanted.
Soon after that, he cycled the neutral mana through, and it began flooding into the new space. The mana concentration was incomparable to the previous chamber, being nearly doubled by Lan's estimations.
A different problem became apparent, however.
'...With how big this place is, isn't it even more likely to collapse? Don't tell me I need to infuse the walls with earth mana now, c'mon...'
Still, the Core didn't wallow in his tiredness for long, getting back to work.
'No one's gonna do it but me'.
As such, Lan now had a new source of mental mana investment.
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A cougar was running through the undergrowth.
It wasn't chasing nor stalking any prey this time however, it was rapidly moving in the direction of mana.
Suddenly, a pulse of even more intense mana swept from the direction it was moving to.
It was more dense, more concentrated, more desirable.
Feeling that the scent of mana intensified even more, the predator nearly growled in anticipation.
Soon after it ran up an elevated slope, and from there a wondrous sight opened before its' eyes.
Not that far in the distance, just about a kilometer away, there stood a clearing, a hill in the middle of it. On top of that hill grew a small yet visible from this distance tree, already having spread out its' leaves and branches.
It didn't attract the cougars' attention though, no, its' eyes were drawn to an opening radiating mana, inviting all living beings.
The hunter didn't linger. She quickly set off in that direction with newfound speed.
Those grand hunting grounds would be hers.