The Apple Grotto Nymph (Dungeon Core Fairy Tale)

"System, can I use my own mana to help Theanore?" Marinus asked as he watched the nymph as she slept with the two murder muffins curled at her side.

You can. You have 100/100 mana. Your species can grow a mana reservoir up to 1000 mana with age. What do you wish to spend it on?

"Hm, let us see. Well, maybe to upgrade the bait fish into something else. Can they be upgraded into salmon? Oh, oh! Into tuna fish."

Silver bait fish can't be upgraded into tuna fish. The pool is too small. Salmon needs to migrate, and it needs a freshwater body of water to breed. Would you like suggestions? Yes/No?

"Yes." Marinus was slightly disheartened that he couldn't breed his own tuna. Salmon also tasted great. But surely the system would have good suggestions.

Here are the choices for the upgrade of the silver bait fish:

Sharkworm;

Obsidian sleeper behemoth;

One-eyed razor snakehead;

Mundyd;

Eelaconda.

Well, the Sharkworm was out of the question, Marinus thought to himself as he looked at the pictures the system was showing him.

It was just a very long sea serpent-like shark. The Obsidian sleeper behemoth liked to jump and throw itself at its victims. It could even breathe outside of the water.

What if it attacked Theanore?

Marinus shuddered. No, he was not going to go with that one, either.

The One-eyed razor snakehead wasn't very tasty. Not to mention, it had venom sacks with deadly venom. It could actually slither out of the pool, and it would definitely eat the murder muffins.

That left the Mundyd and the Eelaconda. Both were harmless, and both ate bait fish and plankton. The Eelaconda could take less space as it could get out of the pool.

In the end, Marinus made his decision.

"System, how much mana would you need for five Mundyd and one Eelaconda?" Marinus asked, and words flashed before him.

If they are fully grown, then I will need fifty mana for the Eelaconda and fifty mana for the Mundyd.

"Ok, do it," Marinus said. He felt slight fatigue at having his mana drained. The giant Eelaconda and the Mundyd immediately began to feed on the remaining bait fish.

One of the murder muffins, the ginger one, woke and stared at the new inhabitants of the pool hungrily. Marinus waved a finger at it.

"Hiss, don't you dare!" He said, and Hiss earned her name again. The Eelaconda got out of the pool and showed itself to the murder muffin. The kitten hid in Theanore's side.

Marinus chuckled with approval in the direction of the Eelaconda.

"If the fluff balls try to bother you, go back to the pool," Marinus said to the Eelaconda which bobbed its head up and down in a nod. As the Eelaconda was a sea creature, it could easily understand Marinus.

He grinned at the superior to the murder muffins being, and checked the Mundyd fish.

He only needed one breeding pair. Marinus could easily eat the other three. Besides, the Mundyd was twice as big as the silver longtails. The pool wasn't big enough.

But then again, why should the fish be restricted to the pool? There were underwater caves outside of the cavern! Why couldn't the Mundyd live there?

"System, is there a way to keep a population of Mundyd fish outside of the pool?"

The skill you are looking for is called "The creator's will." With it, you can command any animal you create. Just like a dungeon core. Reduce your mana regen by half to acquire it? Yes/No?

Well, this was a serious investment. Marinus had to be careful.

"System, can I be able to grow to 1000 mana even with the reduction?" He asked.

Yes, you can. Nothing can change the potential of a species for mana acquisition.

"Then I want the creator's will," he said, and he felt weak.

 As if something vital to him was taken from him. He turned to the Mundyd and then looked at the Eelaconda. He needed a breeding partner for it. He would need to wait a day to get another fifty mana, though.

The Eelaconda was harmless, but it did look formidable. With its ten-meter-long body full of muscle and its bright crimson scales, it could frighten Theanore.

"Follow me, all six of you," he said, swimming outside of the pool. The six animals followed him, and he showed them a coral reef in the underwater caves that hug to the main cave.

"Ok, you stay here and breed. Well, not you, Eelaconda. Unless you find another Eelaconda nearby? If you do, then feel free to have lots of eggs. Now I'll be off. You six stay safe now."

Marinus didn't take the five Mundyd with him, and he returned to the pool, certain that the animals would follow his orders. By the pool, there was a new anthill. He stared at it with confusion.

"System, why are there ants here?"

The ants have pledged you their allegiance after you spend your mana for their Queen. You can command this colony as you will.

"Neat! Ants, line up," Marinus said, just as Theanore had done so many times before. A single ant got out of the anthill, and it greeted him with a shake of its antennas.

"Begin to expand the pool. Store the stone in a different tunnel for future use. Make it into blocks."

Marinus had seen human houses before, and he knew that they were built with stone. He could easily live in the pool, but Theanore needed a roof over her head. And if the ants expanded the grotto, then all the better.

An army of ants exited the anthill. With terrifying precision, they began to cut into the stone of the pool. They were builder ants and so their teeth were very sharp. When the first stone block was done Marinus worried that they were going to drown as they got it out, but the ants surprised him by easily swimming.

Then the entire colony picked up the stone block and it went down the tunnel. They returned and worked at the same spot to make the pool deeper.

"System, can I upgrade the ants to use magic?" Marinus asked.

They are creatures of the earth, and you are a creature of the sea. Incompatible selection. Only Theanore the nymph can upgrade builder ants into magicians.

Well, at least Marinus tried. He didn't have any more mana, and so he could only wait. As he waited, he remembered that Theanore could absorb pearls for a bigger mana reservoir.

"System, can I absorb pearls to get more mana?"

Yes, you can. But remember: You can only go up to 1000 mana.

Happy that he wasn't going to waste time, Marinus swam back to where he had seen the pearl oysters. He wasn't going to eat the oysters themselves, rather he was going to let them grow more pearls.

When he found the oysters, he got one, shook it next to his ear, and then opened it and got the pearls out.

"System, I want to absorb these pearls," he said, and the pearls disappeared. Closing the oyster, he placed it back where he found it.

You don't need to open the oysters to get to the pearls.

Marinus grinned, and he took another oyster, this time he didn't shake it.

"System, absorb these pearls too."

He repeated the action many times until finally, he got what he wanted.

Mana 50/100.

Create another Eelaconda? Yes/No?

Marinus broke the surface of the water, and he grinned as he said yes. Another Eelaconda appeared, and he guided it to the previous one. The two sea serpents tangled into each other, and Marinus blushed.

"You could have waited until I swam away, you know?"

The Eelacondas watched him with amusement as he swam back to the pool. Catching a silver longtail he quickly killed it and cleaned it.

The two murder muffins approached him, and they sat down before him, tails tucked over their front paws. Marinus planned for this fish to go towards a fish and mushroom soup for breakfast, but the murder muffins were hitting him with their big, sad gazes.

"Go get some rats," he told the cats as he moved away from the edge of the pool. The gray murder muffin looked at him with a betrayed gaze. Marinus felt guilty suddenly.

The little fluff balls had received only a bait fish from him the previous evening. He sighed and split the fish he was holding into two parts.

He threw it to the murder muffins, a smile on his lips.

"No growling or hissing," Marinus commanded, and the cats listened. Or maybe they understood that Theanore was asleep by themselves?

Marinus wasn't a murder muffin expert. He was just grateful that they weren't too messy.

Deciding to wait for Theanore to wake up before he caught a new fish, Marinus went to the bottom of the pool and settled into a deep and peaceful slumber.