Chapter 12 Modernization

I woke up when the sun was already at its zenith and felt hungry. But I was even more thirsty. I felt a pleasant fatigue in my whole body, as if from necessary work, and a lightness of thought in my head. Before I even had time to open my eyes, I had time to think not only of a solution to the problem of light for spiders, but also of something else that made my hands itch to realize it. There was also the idea of creating a box in which you could collect interesting samples of magical plants to grow yourself. My magic coloring is good enough to feed plants in need — I've been able to figure that out and prove it in practice, so why not? If I continue with artifacting and alchemy — and I will, it's too interesting to twist the laws of physics into figments — I'll need a lot of stuff, and it's too expensive to buy it all. Okay, I'll steal it now, but what about when I run away from the clan? There's no doubt that I have to run away, but it's still early. I don't know where to go, where to hide so that the clan doesn't catch up with me. You can't go to China and Korea — they'll give you up right away, even tie a pink ribbon on you. Not an option. In the rest of the world, I don't know the situation, so it's too early to go, and there's no money at all... and the library isn't even half explored... I still have to figure out how to get my mother out... in short, it's too early to run. Meanwhile, I think I need to drink some water, my mouth is empty.

I don't think anyone is around. Just in case, I looked around, and indeed there was no one, but it was far away from the jug, and my body was still weak... and I was thirsty... and the jug was far away... Under the begging look of the lilac eyes, the glass carafe with a glass on top flew smoothly into the air and slowly flew to me, hovering next to the bed. Not being a fool, I picked it up and immediately drank the slightly cool water. I thought about the foul play and looked thoughtfully at the carafe, the bedside table, the carafe again, the bedside table... The carafe flew up again and returned to its original position. Interesting...

In the evening I had dinner with the others and listened to criticism about my behavior and compliments about my talent. There was no desire to prolong the conversation too long — my hands were itching to realize my ideas, and there was still much to do before going to sleep... ....

The Bird Brothers quickly brought the ordered mushrooms, which are grown on one of the islands. It's worth mentioning that for some reason all the islands are very different from each other, not only in relief, but even in climate. So that in one of the islands of caves — that in expensive cheese — holes. One of the workers of the nursery garden once told that in ancient times the island was considered forbidden, or rather — deadly for all living things, so they did not go there, and on the shores of other islands were arranged observation posts of magicians and subordinate spirits. The reason for all this was a colony of creepy creatures — reptiloids. These creatures stole women, girls as young as ten or eleven, and dragged them to their island. There, the poor victims were subjected to the most horrible things: the eggs of these creatures were placed inside them, naturally for them, and larvae like "aliens" grew inside the women, eating their insides. In general, there was nothing left of humans, even the bones were eaten. Reptiloids caught fish and sea creatures for their normal life, but human flesh was considered a delicacy. Three hundred years ago, the tearful pleas of the islanders reached the Emperor, and he ordered the Circle of Clans to eradicate the abomination from their lands, preserving the memory of what he had eradicated. It is not known how long the reptiloids were exterminated in Japan, or how many warrior-mages and ordinary people died, but the caves where the creatures lived are now actively used to grow magic mushrooms.

A book on magic mushrooms is freely available in the Mori family library, and there is nothing in the book that is not grown on Cave Island. Glowing mushrooms abound not only in fairy tales, but also in this world, and I pondered for a while over the choice of three colors: red, green, and blue. I decided to stop at the last one, and now, for the second hour in a row, I was explaining to the spirits through thought pictures what I wanted to get. By the way, I signed a contract with these workers, and now I don't have to look for them every time I need them. And it takes as much energy to pay for the work of the beautiful salad fireflies as it does for the "ghost light" — a simple spell of illumination, or for finding a way in the fog, for the dark night there is the spell "star sparkle" — a little more powerful light, without the scattered pale blue glow of a small ball, but a concentrated torch of bluish light. All in all, I can pay with it even if I am magically exhausted. I tied it to small beads on an enchanted bracelet I collected on this island.

Okay, my idea is to go back to the lichen. That is, I want the spirits to grow the central ganglion of the fungus around the crystal core, slightly changing the shape of the crystal bed. From the center in the cephalothorax to all the legs, a fungus will sprout, limiting it to destroying and absorbing wood, and eating from the earth or plants, or whatever else (this same "other" only with my permission, because the fungus can secrete organic acid — gastric juice, to soften the food), which the spider touches with its paws. The cap of the mushroom, on the other hand, is transformed into a "bell" that must grow on the spider's head, adding long cockroach whiskers to the spider, which can also collect moisture. The glow only occurs when the "bell" opens like the most ordinary flower bud. The fungus's food supply is collected in the nucleus and in two balloon-like projections near the head, where space is left. Stomachs of spiders are left under the place for further modernization — no matter what other heresy will come in the head. In the end, I want to finally get alive plant chimeras, with a hard block binding to me and my blood.

In general, the spirits understood me, and when they started working, they did everything with the inherent slowness of plant spirits, so I could easily correct their actions. While I was working on the first spider, I had another idea, which I turned in my head almost until the end of the germination of the mushroom, which is used for the production of various compositions of mental orientation. And deciding that it was worth it, I gave orders and instructions to the spirits. In another hour the spider had flexible claws instead of chelicerae, made of a mixture of extremely rough wood, stone chips, and mushroom shoots, with a particularly strong acid "gland" coming out. I went to bed around three in the morning, quite satisfied with myself and my inventions, because the spider had changed a lot, moving much more smoothly, more "alive". The spirit confirmed that the shell had become easier to control, especially — to hold on to different surfaces (I added "sticky" mushroom paws, so that they did not eat everything in a row, and glued when necessary). I fell asleep quickly, anticipating new discoveries, well, or just beautiful underground views....

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to check out the spider's design changes the next day or the day after, as I was taken for a ride. Mayuri-san was so burdened with ritual practice that there was little moral strength left, and I didn't even have enough to listen to the lectures about the poisonous jellyfish that grow here. The only thing I could do was mindlessly practice with a sword or spear-whatever I felt like and had the strength for. On the third day, I had a workshop in the gardens, and Mayuri-san and her family went to a neighboring island for an important meeting. I tried to finish quickly, which resulted in a strawberry growing on my flower bush. I don't know how or why, and neither did the curator, who was baffled by my antics. Not feeling threatened, I filled a cut-off bottle with the amazingly smelling berries and fled up the mountain — the spirits were supposed to change more spiders overnight, and I wondered what the result would be.

***

POV Miyazaki Clan Elder

— Report. — An old, full-bodied woman in an expensive kimono tossed her head with feigned indifference.

— Shark! — The middle-aged man, the head of the Mori clan, bowed once more. — The boy has an amazing talent, not even a talent — an artist's gift! — The man spoke fervently. — He fell into a trance and managed to create a masterpiece — "A Window to Another World", and then, while he was still recovering, he painted the entire house with amazingly beautiful paintings, no worse than the best masters of the brush. Even without special training, he is able to go into a trance and create great things. I believe he should be trained by a master of the brush, his gift can be cemented into a legacy! We can't miss this opportunity! — The man almost shouted, pushing himself forward with burning eyes.

The old woman grimaced like she had a toothache and turned away even more, even though she was sitting half-turned. She was not happy about what she had heard, and the man and woman sitting in front of her were irritating, which the old woman did not try to hide. But now was not the time to spit venom, it would take some time, just a few minutes.

— Mayuri-san, do you have anything to say? Is there anything you'd like to add?

— Arata-kun is doing very well in his studies. — The woman spoke in a calm voice, showing no emotion, and it was impossible to read anything on her face — a porcelain mask. — Everything agreed upon is being taught in full, and the boy shows no problems with mastery in practice. It should be noted that the sword master assigned to the boy does not fulfill his duties and does not respond to the words. I think he should repay the unjustified trust and wasted time.

The old woman listened attentively, and when she heard the last words, something evil flashed in her eyes, reflecting her attitude towards what she had heard.

— We'll take care of this bum, don't worry. — The old woman waved her hand nonchalantly, but the younger woman bowed low from her seated position. — What can one say about his long absences? — The squint again, the coldness creeping in.

— Observers report that the boy has made a few small invocations to the spirits, but spends most of his time in deep meditation.

— Results?

— No change at all on the islands. The magical background and energy levels are within natural norms. The spirit invocations had no effect on the world. I believe it was a training exercise, a test of one's powers.

— That's probably true, — the old woman said, looking out to sea. — But the observation continues. Is that all?

— Yes, Madam Elder. — Mori Mayuri bowed again.

— And what about the boy's training? — The man couldn't stand it.

Mori Goro met the displeased look of the elder, but waited for an answer. Grinning, the old woman replied.

— The new branch of the Miyazaki clan does not need the gift of an artist, its destiny is to be a blade, a weapon in the hands of the clan. Is that clear to you, Goro-kun? — The old woman gave the man a hard, expectant look, and he had no choice but to bow low in agreement with the clan's decision. — Well, you can be free until nightfall, when the time of the ritual comes, you will be called. — and the elder turned away, signaling that the audience was over.

Bowing once more, the couple left the large room.

***

POV Sora Hoshino

The dungeons were fascinating, a completely different experience than being in the sky (the Brothers had shown me how to fly in the sky) or on the ground. I had not yet had time to be underwater, but that thought could be put off for the future, but that is not what this is about. It is about the sullen silence, pressurizing, shocking in its power. Each new meter, snatched from the claws of darkness by the blue light, revealed something new: amazing patterns of rock, multicolored interlacing of lines and threads, executed in the geometric correctness of straight lines and curves, the variety of shades of stone and the shine of facets polished by water and wind. All this was beautiful, and the general atmosphere of darkness and silence only accentuated it, greedily hiding the beautiful details from the stranger's eye. There were very few of the expected stalactites and stalagmites, and only in the largest caves, which were very rare. Mostly, the spiders made their way through narrow crevices, like cracks in the rock, going in different directions for many dozens of meters. Magic puppets prowled in the darkness, exploring hidden corners. Those who had time to acquire new additions moved more slowly, more thoroughly, exploring every crevice, trying to look everywhere. In this way, a small crack was found that revealed a view of the underground stream. The new devices quickly proved their worth: three spiders gathered at the crack, and within twenty minutes, with the help of acid and claws, had widened the passage sufficiently for themselves. The pipe of the stream was an elongated oval, with marks at different heights, showing how the water had sharpened the stone. By the way, it was quite an interesting view, and one should probably think about taking cameras and video cameras with lights into these caves to record what they see. However, the movie is not able to convey all the sensations of the deep underground. The spiders continued to explore, and after an hour, they came upon another passage that was even deeper: at one point, the water had washed a small hole into an almost perfectly round pipe of molten stone that ran from the bottom to the top. Such an interesting sight could not be missed, and the magic puppets widened the passage again and began to descend down the stone pipe, going deeper and deeper at a slight angle. Along the way, they encountered stone bubbles, not very strong, not always spherical in shape, hollow inside. The spiders broke them easily and quickly and continued their descent until they reached a small room, ten meters in diameter. All the surfaces showed signs of volcanic activity, such as molten rock, and in some places, entire frozen "drops" the size of a football were immediately noticeable. A few spiders went up the stone pipe to explore a direct exit to the surface, but it turned out that after about sixty meters, or a little more, the pipe is covered by a solid layer of frozen basalt, and you can pluck it for quite a long time. There were only "drops" in the chamber, so only one spider remained in it, the rest went deeper. The remaining one was under control, and I suddenly had a strange desire to try to crack those frozen drops, which I did. To my surprise, the stone shell revealed a brilliant scattering of small stones that flashed in the blue light. The sight strongly resembled a grenade fruit — a shell and a bunch of dense, juicy seeds inside. The spider carefully picked up the larger stone with its pincers and lifted it higher to get a better look. The dark stone shimmered with irregular facets, creating an irrational urge to pick it up. The spider lowered its gaze back to the rest of the pebbles in the frozen blob, and the cameraman thought for a moment, then the claw lowered one of the largest stones back down, and the spider moved on to the next blob stream. A few minutes later, another spider, which had not had time to upgrade, crawled into the chamber. Picking it up with its chelicerae and locking it in place, it moved briskly to the surface, carrying the stone it had found. The Operator waited impatiently, his hands itching to examine his find more closely, but he did not rush his creature — the doll was already moving at the acceptable limit for such conditions. All he had to do was wait.