Threat, Remy

"I know what you came running here for. I am not the Tower Master for nothing."

The woman then turned around.

"A boss monster has been born. Such a mana pulse is created only when a certain monster evolves past all other contenders, becoming highly attuned to mana... At least that's what we know anyway."

Muttering the last part under her nose, she brushed away her hair, which was previously partly covering her face.

The Tower Master was not young, wrinkles forming on the edges of her eyes, nor was she a country-shaking beauty in her past. However, her deep green eyes held the wisdom of her years. She, indeed, wasn't called a Tower Master without reason.

And said wisdom quickly dictated the course of action.

"Inform the Scout and Research team to move out, find the location of the nest, determine its' exact strength."

The man was doubtful, however.

"But Tower Master, what about the Hunter team? Shouldn't we nip the problem in the bud?"

The Tower Master immediately responded.

"We would only send them to their deaths with just them. You have felt that pulse, have you not? The mere fact that you did means that we are dealing with a powerful one, and without sufficient manpower, elimination of it is impossible."

She turned back to the window.

"And we don't have the manpower in question. While the new Monster Nest may pose a problem in the future, we have our hands full with the present."

The Tower Master seemed to focus on the distant horizon.

"We cannot remove those culling the monster hordes in the northern parts of the plains. Or else... This quaint little town will be wiped out like the other two that were previously there."

She once again glanced back at the messenger.

"We will deal with everything step by step. Inform the Team Leaders."

"Yes ma'am!"

The man quickly saluted by pounding a fist over his heart, and moved out of the room, leaving the woman to her own thoughts. She looked away at the setting sun, various things going through her mind.

'First, the northern Nests spilled out, causing destruction of two settlements, now another potential threat in the east?'

She humphed.

'Never let us rest, do you, Mother Earth?'

----------------------------------------------------

Back at Lan's Domain

Far away from the troubles of those living on the surface, Lan felt as if he was playing a certain game about crafting and mining.

With newfound effortless control over mana, he now could shape the ground however he wanted.

First, he started off slow. He tried to make some small hills, not unlike the one he made back on the surface.

In less than an hour, the First Floor now was no longer just a plain and flat Floor with only ferns growing. Now, hills and bumps of various sizes marked it. He raised the ground in some places more, and in some places less. Lan even lowered it occasionally.

...It was not that aesthetically pleasing.

'Is it just me, or does it look like a mix of moon's craters and random bumps?'

Lan was no land designer, and, as he had no idea what he was doing, it turned out terrible, not looking natural at all. Still, he left it as is, because returning it to the previous state would be a waste of mana.

He 'looked' elsewhere, though it was less of a conscious action, but something more like a flick of the eyes, one moment he was staring in one spot, the other he was elsewhere.

Lan checked out the changes that his Core Connection brought to the entire domain. Because all that he knew was that mana cycling sped up drastically, and the consequences remained to be seen.

He went from down to the top, checking out the Second Chamber, immediately being met with a surprise.

The last time he checked, the creature that progressed the most had at most 4/5 complete mana body, now however he found something different.

Inside a small burrow under one of the trees, a mouse was undergoing a mysterious process, mana converging around it. It was curled around a crystal that was emitting earthly-yellow light, emitting earth mana which was also being absorbed.

Lan was stunned for a second as he recognized the small creature.

'Is this mouse a protagonist?'

The reason was that that mouse was the only one he resurrected all the way back, and the crystal it was curled around was the first earth Mana Crystal that Lan left behind after experimenting with mana infusion. Truly, a series of coincidences led up to the current situation.

Lan began to closely observe the rodent, which could not be called small anymore, having grown to half a meter in length thanks to evolution, but having no other notable traits except for its' luck.

It was seemingly unconscious, and the inside of its' body was undergoing tumultuous changes.

A majority of its organs were disintegrating, turning into mana, mana which Lan hadn't felt before. It felt... Vibrant and lively for lack of better words.

It felt like the Sun's rays and smelt like lush forest and greenery.

However, Lan was distracted by the continuous internal changes of the small animal, as nearly all its' organs were gone.

It did not die, however, still breathing by some unknown means.

The mana released during 'Internal Disintegration' as Lan termed it, suffused the entire mouse's body, not dispersing out of it, instead circulating throughout.

The rodent also was undergoing external changes. It was slowly growing with each circulation, fur growing longer, becoming slicker, and even changing in color.

The previously unremarkable grey fur turned into an earthly-brown one, resembling the glow of the crystal.

The growth of the mouse's body stopped at one meter, and once it did, another internal change occurred.

As the 'life' mana circulated, it facilitated growth. However now that the growth stopped, it suddenly sped up in circulation. It was no longer spreading through the body, it now converged onto the heart, the only organ which was still intact.

Under the assault of mana, it turned into life mana as well, however, it stayed at the heart's place, not dispersing. Instead, dispersed life mana converged to it, as if it was a magnet. It soon formed a swirl, a large part of diffused life mana being sucked in.

That was not the end of it though, as surrounding mana began to get absorbed as well. The earth mana in the surrounings, and especially the one in the crystal, were absorbed.

Seemingly under the pull, the rest of the mana of the Mana Crystal got sucked out, it crumbling into nothingness.

Meanwhile in the place of the mouse's heart, in the center of the swirl, a crystal was being formed. It was quickly growing, absorbing and incorporating the swirling mana. With life mana being gone first, neutral and large amounts of earth mana were next.

Not long after, a crystal similar to the one that just crumbled, yet greatly different, was formed.

As soon as it did, it released a weak pulse.

Lan then saw that the rodents' mana circuits seemed to respond to it.

A startling change soon occurred.

Beginning from the 'Heart Core' the mana circuits thickened and grew, surrounding mana filling them out. On the exterior the mouse continued to change as well, yellow glowing patterns reflecting the circuits underneath formed, becoming similar to the Lightning Horn's horns.

The whole body of the mouse resonated with that pulse, growing and changing. The entire process, however, lasted less than 10 minutes.

After said time had passed, the changes seemed to slow down, the entire internal system of the animal being changed completely. It seemed like the mouse was now dead though, seemingly not breathing, its' heart being absent as well.

However-

*BA-DUMP*

A 'heartbeat' sounded, being so loud that the sound spread throughout the whole burrow and even beyond it. It originated from the Heart Core of the mouse, being the first pulse, and first beat since being created. As if it was shaking announcing its' presence, that beat spread not only through sound but also being reflected in the mana flow, spreading like a pulse similar to when Lan achieved Core Connection.

The mouse then opened its' eyes, which briefly glowed in yellow along with the Mana Patterns, soon settling down into a dimmer shade.

*Squeek!*

It let out a loud sound as if announcing its own survival, its' own success, mana reacting to it slightly. The mouse's mental link thickened greatly, amounts of mental mana increasing immensely.

Lan unconsciously let out a sigh of relief in the form of a weak wave of mana. He would be lying to himself if he said that he didn't cheer on the mouse during the whole process. The transformation also gave Lan insights for his future projects, especially the 'Respawn' one.

Meanwhile the mouse seemingly explored its' new body. Lan already knew that visible Mana Patterns suggested the ability to use magic, but he was still surprised by what he saw.

Small rocks floated up near the magical mouse, turning into pointed needles, eerily similar to claws, then flying away quickly with a burst of air, embedding themselves deep into a rock inside a wall.

The mouse seemed... Happy? Its' hard to tell a mouses' facial expressions. However, it seemed to notice a foreign presence, that being Lan.

Such a thing happened before with The Huntress, so he was not surprised. Still, it meant that the mouse developed a certain degree of perception after the Core Formation. As The Huntress had her own name, Lan, feeling sentimental decided to give a name to the mous-, no, to him.

'From now on, your name is Remy.'

Feeling funny from naming the mouse like a cartoon character, he didn't notice a sliver of mental mana being emitted by him, and then absorbed by Remy.

It was transferred through the mental link, embedding itself not within the Heart Core, but withing the Core of Remy's being, inside his soul.

And soon, deep within the underground, inside Lan's domain...

A certain mouse formed its' first thoughts.

'I... Am... Remy!'