Growth, Expansion

So, Lan kept on using what he called the 'Power of Will' or Willpower, as he called it, to grow his humble gemstone self. It was a slow process, sure, but any progress is better than no progress.

He decided to set doubling his own size as a goal. He thought that since domain size might be related to the size of the gemstone, the bigger the size, the bigger the domain, right? Double the size equals double the domain.

'Heh, and they say size isn't everything. Try living as a... magic rock then!'

As Lan kept on 'willing' himself to grow, he was starting to feel tired. Which was new, considering he didn't feel tired ever since the 'steel beam crushing self to bits' fiasco. He hadn't felt tired all this time, which was weird in and of itself, as he was sure, even though he couldn't measure time, that a considerable amount of time had passed. 

'I guess I have 'mental energy' or there is a limit to my willpower. Okay then, wouldn't be fair otherwise. Feels the same as when I pulled an all-nighter for an exam that one time.' 

Lan felt that his head would hurt if he still had one.

'So, how do you deal with headaches? You sleep. How do I sleep? Now that's a mystery I can't figure out right now... So now I gotta sit still and do nothing... Not exactly new to that I suppose.'

Still, being idle got old real quick. So, with nothing else to do, Lan began to reminisce.

'Wonder how Mom and Dad's now. Hope they're still alive. Even though I dunno where or when I am, hope they're still out there. Maybe we'll meet again someday. Damn, my death must've been 'crushing' for them... Pftt! Look at me joking on such matters...'

The lad did leave his parents behind, which kind of depressed him, no parents should bury their child... Not that there was much left of Lan to bury anyway.

After some time, the human-turned-gem started feeling as if his 'head' was 'full' again, as if after a good night's rest, which felt weird, as he didn't sleep at all. Not that he knew how to.

So, he immediately continued his growing operations. Initially after 'filling up' his domain, it had a range of around 100 meters, which, in his opinion, was quite big. Lan was curious, whether the increase in the gemstone size will expand the domain linearly or exponentially.

And relatively soon, he successfully grew to 20 centimeters in diameter, from his previous irregular shape to one that looked more refined and polished, in fact, it was a bit circular.

Although the size increase didn't bring any immediate changes to the domain size, he guessed he needed to complete the needed 'cycles of breathing' to 'fill it up again'.

'Come to think of it, I'm not really breathing, am I? I don't have lungs that's for sure, and I think there's literally no air here to breathe. But still, I'm cycling something guess I'll just call the whole process 'cycling' then. Simple and concise.'

'Another question comes to mind then. What am I breathing if not air? This something lets me see after all, and putting aside that I am somehow a gemstone, I am sure that gemstones aren't supposed to see.'

'But hey, I did call myself a magic rock recently, but what if I really am one? Considering my recent experiences don't exactly disprove the existence of magic... So what if what I am cycling is magic? Or mana, as it is usually called in all those novels and animations. Now that would be fun!'

As soon as such a thought popped into Lan's mind, he got incomparably excited, as magic usually meant almost infinite possibilities of fantasy realization!

But what did dim down his mood a bit was the fact that he was probably in another world, never to see his parents again, as the guy was pretty sure that magic didn't exist on Earth. Not that he knew of that for sure.

Still, if he did indeed have the ability to wield magic, which he probably did, considering that the 'air' he was cycling was magic, that opened up a lot more things to do.

'Yeah, magic IS cool and all... But I don't really know how to use it?.. Bah, whatever, I'll do what I know I can do, and I'll figure it out eventually! I don't have much to do right now anyway. Speaking of stuff to do, I still have mana to cycle!'

Lan's excitement briefly overshadowed the fact that he hadn't yet expanded his domain to the limit, which he promptly continued doing as soon as he remembered it.

And so, the domain steadily expanded, it was quite a bit quicker than the '1st expansion', as Lan dubbed it, he guessed that the more mana cycled, the faster the expansion of the domain. And since his 'mana capacity' grew, he was able to do it faster. He didn't know exactly how much faster it was, but it was at least double what it was before.

From 100 meters... To 150... To 200...

And it then stopped, which gave Lan the answers he sought.

'So, my guess is it is a linear increase. That's a bit disappointing, but easier to calculate.'

It felt good to be able to 'see' so much after being confined in absolute darkness. Quite a novel experience too, not one he could experience as a human.

As Lan started checking out the contents of the newly gained domain grounds, he found something that excited him.

'Hey, is it just me or is it less rocks and more soil now? I think this means I am getting closer to the surface, right? Oh, I am so excited to see what's up there! Are there two suns? Two moons? Dwarves? Elves? Wait... Am I going to ever see the sun again if I can't see past my domain? Guess not. But hey, at least I will see some of that sunlight again, the darkness is getting boring. Not that I need light to see, it would be nice anyway.'

'But I haven't reached the surface yet, so I better brag about the fish after I caught it. Gotta grow again.'

'Alright then here we go... Haaaa... SUMMON GROWTH SPURT!'

Lan started pouring his mental energy, as he decided to call it, into himself, yet again facilitating self-growth. However, he noticed that past the 20-centimeter mark, the efficiency of increasing the gemstone size dropped, and now he needed more energy to grow the same amount.

'Is it the same as the games? Each level requires more Experience. That's going to get annoying in the future. I don't know whether magical crystals can age or not, so whether I'm going to die of old age is uncertain, but still, just sitting here for centuries, wishing myself to grow, just to grow for a millimeter will NOT be fun. Oh well, time will tell.'

Finally, after around 5 cycles of mental depletion and recharge, the crystal grower managed to increase his own size to 30 centimeters, which although didn't seem all that special in comparison to the feat of doubling to 20, did manage to bring his domain radius to 300 meters.

Finishing up his 2nd expansion, Lan immediately checked the upper reaches of his domain, and as soon as his attention reached the top, he felt that he would cry, if he could (which he couldn't).

'It's... beautiful...'

What greeted his 'sight' was a field of green grass, with flowers peeking out their bright-colored heads above it, and at the edges of what he could see was a towering tree.

'I've finally touched grass again... Ah, sunlight, my lost friend! Ah wind, I'm finally able to hear you again...'

As Lan was getting all sentimental, something else caught his attention.

'...But why is that tree as thick as 5 people, why is this grass so tall, and that butterfly, on that flower... WHY THE HELL ARE THEY SO BIG?! Is this the norm over here?'

Lan was greatly confused by the standards of the world he emerged in.