For the very first time, I'm doing something nice not only for myself but for everyone.

I've invited Ropert, Bomber, and Ivy all down into the dungeon.

The effectiveness of our traps has always been high but the low amount of stragglers makes it easy to justify giving everyone a break. Ropert's work to round up the bodies has also been going swimmingly; he not only deboned the Omega Ranbi the other day but he even cleaned its bones off using the other bodies.

So, to combat the rotting smell on him from handling corpses, I'm going to let all of them use the washroom.

But first off is watching both Bomber and Ivy cautiously navigate their way down the stairs. While they can walk, it's obvious that their legs still being similar to an animal's creates some complications for them.

Last night had been refreshing, though, and I refuse to not give the pair some extra luxury if Ropert is getting his cleaning.

It also gives me a chance to highlight the fact that the Washroom is stylistically matching everything else; a Japanese-styled wide bathing pool.

Now, I say Japanese but it's probably better to just say that it's a low-situated, high-rising tub perfect for sitting in. It's a few feet big, too, so you can fit a few people or clothes into the pool with ease. Pairing its ledge seating and the residual heat chaining off from the Mana Bonfire's warming aura, it's honestly pretty comparable to a tame-temperature bath.

Out of everyone, I'm the one best adapted for relaxing. Although I'm not joining everyone this time, I find it pretty easy for my Creeper body to slip in or out.

Similarly, Ropert can enter or leave the pool with ease; just like a snake, his vine-like body is also pretty buoyant and lets him float on the surface. The only issue is that the water's heat clearly isn't that nice for him; whereas I can sit in it for an hour before I get bothered, I can't help notice him having to slip back over the edge and relax every few minutes.

Don't worry, Ropert; one day, you'll evolve too.

Even if he isn't going to talk to me yet, I can at least talk to him.

But let's focus on the true stars of the show: Bomber and Ivy. Ivy had her first experience with water at the pond, so she has no issue clambering into the pool.

Bomber outright refuses to even get near it.

Bomber, come on; it's just water. You've dealt with far worse.

The male ranbli looks at me with what looks like a scowl but not for very long; as fast as he tries to give me sass, Ivy splashes water over the edge and drenches him.

[Warning] Water spillage detected leaving Washroom.

Activating barrier.

Bomber turns and flails, thumping fast-first into a mana barrier that's sole purpose was to keep water from spilling out of the Washroom. The ranbli stumbles backwards and trips right into the bath, squealing in worried confusion while Ivy snickers.

Summon Bomber has sustained 1 HP damage.

I feel bad but I can't help joining her in laughing, watching Bomber's struggles end and the disgruntled hare stand upright. He shakes his head and ears, spraying water all around while Ivy merely splashes more water.

After that, though, Bomber at least grumpily accepts water's cleaning qualities. All three of them had been dirty but being able to see his and Ivy's yellow fur almost surprises him.

Part of me wonders if he thought all that blood was just part of his coat by now.

For now, though, I'll leave them to their wholesome slice-of-life bathing.

Once you all feel clean, feel free to leave. I'll be in the Toolroom working.

...

Staff complete.

Not my finest work, though. My prior life's memories come and go but I recall points in my childhood where I fashioned staves from construction materials or sticks I found, yet all of them felt much better than this one.

It isn't spindly but rather thick, boasting a rounded-out top with holes to run Creeper Thorn vines through. In its current state without something on its top, it might actually qualify as some sort of specialized combat cane for a taller person. The five-foot-long log had shaved one of its feet off, making it a four-foot-long pole without anything special to it.

If I grew as tall as I had been in my previous life, it'd be too short... but part of me thinks its current size will be just right for a long time.

Hell, if anything it might end up being too big.

But no more critiquing my work; while everyone bathes today, my goal is to test my theories.

First up: using a Favor light crystal. The one in the Toolroom is necessary for the utmost lighting inside, so I brought over the one I put in my bedroom. The Mana Bonfire's light shining through the doorway was plenty of light for me currently since I don't sleep or rest much in my plant body.

This light is just a back-up that I don't need.

Now, the feeling of pushing my mana isn't easy to explain but I've already come close to explaining it before. To do it, you need to have two things: a point to focus on and an image in your head.

For example, using magic is very similar to the process. When I cast Thornshot, I need a target and the mental command associated with the spell.

So, using that logic... I just need to stare at the crystal and imagine pushing all my mana toward it.

[Notification] Ability detected...

Tracking progress...

Another message about abilities getting tracked? That's three times, I think, that I've seen that pop-up. Maybe it's four?

Honestly, right now, I take it as I'm on the right track. It isn't just the notification that's giving me a hint.

The Favor crystal's light is shimmering between its faded yellow and a washed-out green.

When I did the Mana-to-Lumber conversion yesterday, the mana turned into green energy before solidifying into the log.

[Notification] Ability threshold reached.

Granting ability Mana Mover Mana Mover Learned Personal-type Becoming a mage has many steps, yet few as fundamental as learning how to properly direct and control their mana.

You can control and move your own mana.

... Wasn't I already doing that? Why did the ability track-

Wait. It's not just moving but controlling.

Then... does that mean...

Turn off.

The re-colored Favor crystal in my tentacled grasp turns off.

I didn't repurpose it as I thought; this crystal didn't become a magical focus but instead simply became attuned and fully under my control instead of belonging to the dungeon. Anyone would call this a failure in my hopes that I could easily adjust something's purpose purely on mana alone.

In ways, that already was obvious. Just because you graft a tomato onto a plant doesn't mean the plant will help the tomato grow.

But this is also a fantastic discovery. A quick check of my Dungeon Manager confirms that I'm indeed down a Decoration within my Dungeon. Yet the Favor crystal is still here and still illuminates. The only difference is that it uses my mana instead of relying on its connection to the dungeon. It absorbed ten points of my MP, so maybe Favor is comparable to MP?

Or maybe that's just because my INT stat is so high that my MP translates into more rich mana?

Either way, all I know is that the crystal is storing MP in it for use and I can control its functionality due to it being mine.

If I break this down to half its current size, that'd logically mean it has five points of MP still inside of it, right?

...

Do I really want to try that, though? Mana is a type of energy and right now, it's stored inside of a crystal. What happens if breaking it causes that mana to have some sort of volatile reaction?

...

I'm going to take it outside and throw it into the clearing. That should be strong enough to break it.

...

It didn't explode but it did crack into two pieces. And after I tried to turn it on, it looks like it still works. Both ends of the crystal also work on separate commands, which means that I can use them independently.

So for now, I've bound the pair of crystals to the staff. The smaller of the two sits in the base of the spot meant to be the staff's main fixture, wedged into place with a vine wrapping the staff tighter to hold it into place. As for the larger piece, I fitted a slot through the bottom end of the staff, slipped it inside, and bound it with the vine.

For now, my staff is a justifiable glowstick meant for beating people. The light that the crystals let off is strong enough to reach out to five feet and I run them dark after keeping them on for around five minutes. Assuming each one has 5 MP stored or so, that explains the timer.

Staff... light!

The crystals hum to life.

Turn off.

Both turn off.

They're synced. Good.

Even though my experiment didn't result in me creating a magical staff that isekai mages would kill for, it did at least provide me with another tool to navigate the darkness with.

Not to mention that I could actually use these crystals to my advantage. If I could get my summons to obtain Mana Mover, they could create lights around the upper area and feed into it. While Ropert is technically the same species as I used to be, all three of them didn't inherit a destiny nor a stat growth similar to mine. For them, learning magic is probably not the best move... but with their MP, they could easily sustain lights and just keep giving their MP without any worry about losing combat effectiveness.

But that idea, great as it is, isn't a good one to pursue. Just getting all of them bathing is a chore... and in the future, I'll need to have a lot more strength. Teaching even one of them magic might make me grow lax in my own investigative pursuit of it.

Instead of focusing on the idea of making a magical staff, I'll have to turn my attention to studying magic more broadly.

So far, I've only learned about the Nature element and only have its alignment. My quest's bonus reward says I can choose any element. That choice definitely would be random, the more I think about it, and wouldn't be able to teach me anything.

I'll need to use Grey Man's card.

Since coming here, I've had 10 Random Choices the card has a [Use] option written on it that blinks when you look at it longer than a few seconds.

A quick glance back at the washroom reassures me everyone else went back to the surface.

I'll leave my body in the storage room and activate the card while I'm in my ghostly form. It should be safer to do it that way.