The Dungeon of Earth

****************************

Unnamed Dungeon, Day Three

****************************

Staring at the grey-brown string-like plant, Nellie had an idea.

She scooped up some of the loose soil that was lying on the ground and placed it delicately on one of the largest ice shelves in the cave.

For Nellie knew the basics of plant growth, and while she couldn’t provide water or sunlight yet, she could provide the soil.

Gently, she wrapped the tiny plant into her hands, carried it to the ledge, and set it down on top of the soil. In preparation, Nellie grabbed a bit more soil and laid it on top of the plant. And then she stared at it.

Mhmm. Contemplated Nellie as she grabbed and fiddled with a mana string.

With the basics of an idea, Nellie inserted the mana string into the plant. She pushed a bunch of her purple sparks, but not to claim it, no. Instead of trying to overwhelm the plant into becoming part of her territory, she tried to maneuver the purple sparks as best as she could into different parts of the plant.

She waited for any sign of change or growth. But nothing happened.

It led her to consider that the plant might not grow in the soil. And that may be why she only found one strand of this plant.

It probably doesn’t grow solely in soil.

So, she scooped enough of the soil off of the plant so that only one end of the grey-brown plant string was in the soil.

Nellie stood back and sat down. Willing to spend a bit of time to see if it works.

Minutes passed.

And just as Nellie was about to take the soil completely away, she noticed that some of the little hairs that were submerged in the soil began to grow.

Within seconds, the hairs grew into roots half a millimetre long. And that was not the only change.

It seems all she needed was to find the plant’s preferred setting before Nellie could influence any growth changes.

The plant strand larger, until it was half a centimetre wide and ten centimetres long. As the strand grew, the hairs along it grew with it. Some grew into the ground, and some grew over the top of the soil. But they were all connected to each other.

Where the once single tiny grey-brown plant lay was now a shaggy carpet of bendy branches that began to drape over the ledge.

As Nellie stared at the plant, she realized it was not actually a plant. The grey-brown colouring and the branch appendages reminded her of lichen she would often see hanging or growing on trees.

Hmmm, what to call you… what to call you… Pondered Nellie as she began to think of a name.

With a smile, she decided on one.

Let’s call you Bryoria. Spoke Nellie as she stared at her newly named lichen.

Nellie wasn’t happy with the newly named bryoria lichen who was happily staying just on the ledge.

She wanted that growth to completely overtake the room. But as she stared at the content fungi, she knew she would have to do something else to populate the cave’s floor, crevices, and ledges.

Eh, well, why not try again.

And with that, Nellie took her mana string and once again pushed a bunch of her purple sparks into it.

But sadly, all that happened was the fungi simply absorbed the sparks.

It was curious, really, that it kept her sparks and did nothing with it, but it told Nellie something. That single act showed Nellie that not everything could be solved by overloading something with her purple sparks. This was not a game where one could simply repeat a simple action and expect it to work repeatedly.

No.

This was life. A new life, to be sure. And life is never simple, especially learning how to be her own species under the System.

While Nellie knew she was just starting out, she had to figure things out quickly. The time limit of a year before sentients started returning loomed above her, but she pushed it to the back of her head and continued working on her task of trying to populate the cave’s surfaces with bryoria.

****************************

POV ???

The Shards, Day Three

****************************

The jellyfish was just enjoying a delicious fish that it luckily caught with its tentacles before something new appeared before them.

A blue screen, the same one that has appeared in front of every living being, appeared. But the jellyfish didn’t even register that the screen was there and continued eating its meal.

The jellyfish would have been more concerned if it had been aware enough to register the blue screen.

Congratulations, Planet Earth 4.74532.12!

After billions of years, enough mana has condensed within the universe to allow the System to activate.

Like a vacuum, the jellyfish was sucked up, bell, tentacles, and oral arms of the jellyfish before it was plopped into water that was rapidly cooler than where it was before.

Any flailing of the jellyfish was stopped as its survival skills kicked in. By slowing down its movement, it can survive in cold temperatures.

Congratulations!

You have won the draw for non-sentient beings to be brought to the Shards and gain sentience.

You are one of five Chrysaora Fuscescens to be chosen.

Due to a lack of the required sentience, the beings’ sentience has been increased far enough to survive.

You have one year to survive until you are brought back to Earth 4.74532.12.

Good luck, Chrysaora Fuscescens.

?????? Questioned the jellyfish, as suddenly it became more aware of its surroundings and began to process the words displayed.

I…… think……???

I…..Chrysa????

I .. where???

It’s… cold.

Food!!! Thought the newly named Chrysa as its basic thoughts strung together to name itself before being distracted by a small fish that brushed against its tentacles that held tiny barbs and quickly inserted a stinging venom that quickly killed the small fish. Its oral arms slowly pulled the fish into its mouth.

And as Chrysa began to consume its food, another blue screen popped up.

You have learned the skill: Temperature Adapting.

As soon as Chrysa gained the temperature adapting skill, their movement quickly freed itself of trying to conserve energy to go back to its normal warm water energy levels.

For the last three days, Chrysa has gained more and more awareness of their environment.

While the water was cold, there was a large amount of sunlight piercing deep into the water. This allowed Chrysa to perceive the shadows of the environment and what was around them.

Tall, maze-like corals surrounded them. But Chrysa didn’t really notice it. Over the past three days, everything that they encountered didn’t attack them and those that brushed against them got caught in their tentacles and were either stunned long enough for their oral arms to bring the creature to their mouth or died from the venom.

The full belly of the jellyfish didn’t stop it from continuously eating those that got stuck in its tentacles.

As it digested its meal, a delicious scent permeated through the water.

Good… Yummy….Go too. Thought Chrysa as they opened its bell and used propulsion to swim itself toward the delicious smell.