I phased the bugs I caught into my subspace, splitting it between Rhannu's and the Flytrap's terrariums, then made a portal into my subspace as fast as I could.

It was as I feared. The neutral mana within my subspace manifested a monster. The once harmless Ostean Giant Flytrap has now metamorphosed into a more sinister being.

What used to be flimsy hair-like thistles were now hard, sharp teeth. The roots that used to be covered in dirt now stuck out of the ground, covered in thorns. Its green exterior was now covered in pink polka-dots, and raised from the ground by a long, thin neck.

The insects I had sent here were now all within its mouth, unable to resist its temptatious scent for even the meagre few minutes it took to portal inside.

The good news is that I'd already sent it outside of Rhannu's terrarium, and given the plant its own. I don't know what kind of trouble it would've caused in there, but it can't do anything mischievous in this confined space.

The bad news is that I now have to deal with monsters randomly popping up within my subspace. Maybe within Rhannu's terrarium next time.

I hoped this would take more time to be a problem, but clearly the threat is too immediate to postpone for Geistig's advice. I need a mana well, and I need it yesterday.

I did a quick checkup on the other two terrariums first. Rhannu was doing his exercise routines, the fox had eaten the frogs, the Spiderilla extended its web all over the terrarium, and the four Polypus were doing well in their absolutely enormous terrarium. I guess all the mana from absorbing them went into expanding this terrarium, as it's now several thousand square feet wide.

They're all still a bit barren, but I need to prioritize. Mana well first, everything else second.

I left the subspace in Owl form, flying directly to the Aurelia library again before reverting to Rhannu’s form. I walked on over to the book I had read the other day, and continued reading. An hour passed as I read. The book was more history at the halfway mark than methodology, but it did give me some leads. There were two main passages that interested me.

`

Mana wells were not the earliest attempt to directly limit monster spawns. During the early years of the Age of Monsters, there was an attempt to make all living things other than humanoids illegal to bring within a certain radius of cities.

Monsters were significantly more common as metamorphosed beasts and plants than aberrations, so it made sense to try to limit their spawning. The problem with this method was that it didn’t actually remove any neutral mana from the area. This led to three new problems.

Firstly, monsters from outside the cities were not even partially deterred from approaching settlements. Monsters are only deterred from entering mana wells due to the fact that they prefer high mana environments, which this solution did not provide.

Secondly, the decrease in neutral mana consumption by natural monsters led to a proportional increase in the number of aberrations.

Thirdly, people still needed to eat, and therefore brought in dead animals and plants to consume and process within their borders. This imbalance of life and death mana led to an increase in the number of death aligned monsters. This was the first conclusive proof that alignments are influenceable, which eventually became several entire fields of study, most importantly monster engineering and artificial monsters. Though, that is a topic for another book.

`

This idea is not entirely without merit for my circumstance. Since my terrariums are within a subspace, it is unlikely for outside monsters to come inside. An increase in death mana is frightening, but temporary and inconsequential on such a small scale. The main issue is aberrations. I can remove everything except for Rhannu from the terrarium, but so long as there is neutral mana, monsters will still spawn.

The second passage contains a solution more difficult, but far, far more helpful.

‘

Although it is impossible to prevent aligned mana from degrading into unaligned mana, it is possible to create an area where outside mana cannot enter, and periodically cleanse said area.

The most commonly known working example of this is Grisialwall. Griswall created a dome of mana crystal around it in 2828 A.C, which has stood to this day. Until the creation of mana wells, baby slimes were produced en-masse to siphon out the excess neutral mana. This was also the origin of the pet slime fad, though again, this is a topic for another time.

Since mana crystal walls were rather expensive, being literally made of money, other materials were commonly used. Labyrinth stone, for example, was much more affordable. Though it does not block mana, it can absorb a certain amount of mana, which the slimes could periodically empty. The deeper the stone is retrieved from, the more mana it can absorb.

`

This might be workable. Slimes are born neutral, and survive solely off of the mana they feed on. Additionally, they’re generally harmless outside of accidentally drowning their owners, which wouldn't exactly be an easy thing to do to a Dryad.

That still leaves the wall. I may be able to create a thin crystal wall once I learn how to, though I doubt I could afford so much of it. Or I could just purchase enough slimes from a monster breeder to eat neutral mana faster than it rushes in from outside the terrarium, but I'll still likely need some labyrinth stone, at least.

Regardless of what I choose to do, one thing is certain. I need to learn how to crystalize mana. I need money, same problem as always.

Before heading out, I went to rent out a book for Rhannu titled “Mother of Learning”. Apparently it just had its first arc officially published, and Rhannu was saying he was due for a reread.

I left the library, and returned outside the walls to find a quiet and secluded place to meditate. As soon as I started to feel the mana within me, I tried directing it towards one of my owl talons. But it simply wasn’t budging in the direction I wanted it to go, instead erratically flowing in random directions when I applied pressure to it.

It’d be a waste of time banging my head against the wall with that until something clicked. Instead, I kept my detection up, and started creating a portal to one of the terrariums.

As I concentrated harder on the portal, it took me out of my trance, removing my ability to sense mana. It might take a while to be able to sense mana and use it at the same time… I guess I’m not getting any sleep tonight, either.

---

The sun beaded harshly upon my head. What time is it? Is it noon? I’m far too tired to even lift my eyelids and check.

But my exhaustion is equally matched by excitement. I could feel the portal in front of me. How my own mana is slowly discharging out of me in an outward spiral pattern. How it hovers in the air in front of me. I can feel what’s on the other side through the portal, but only vaguely.

I don’t feel like I’d be able to do anything complex with my mana manipulation right now, but it should be enough to try the next step. What was it Geistig said about making mana crystals? Concentrate and stabilize. Was there something else? I can’t remember. Too tired.

I stopped focusing on the portal, and it destabilized and disappeared in a gradual puff of smoke. But I kept the feeling of discharging the mana going. I can use that.

Gradually, over the course of what felt like an hour, I was able to change the outward spiral discharge into an inward one. My mana, nearly exhausted from practicing the portals outside of a mana well, coalesced into a droplet, then a tiny crystal. Too small to be a viable currency, but still crystal. I need to stabilize it, but I don’t have enough mana left for that. I’ll have to let the spell dissipate, and try again after recharging my mana.

I dropped the crystalization spell, and the next thing I knew, I was back in my subspace, and the owl whose form I was just in had spaghettified.

Now I remember. Geistig said not to condense my mana without consulting him first. I should have listened. I’ll miss that bird. But not nearly as much as I miss sleep.

I wandered over to Rhannu’s terrarium, shifted into him, and promptly fell asleep without so much as a word.

I had a pleasant chat with Rhannu when I woke up about the book I lent him. I had to cut the conversation short to avoid spoilers, though.

---

It was night time outside of the subspace when I left. Fully refreshed from the neutral mana within my subspace, I went outside to gather more shellfish for the Polypus, then grass for most of the herbivores, then finally a bunch more insects in Ostean Giant Flytrap form phasing them into my subspace periodically when my mouth grew too full.

As I did so, I practiced my mana detection, and got used to the body’s new changes. I could smell for some reason. It felt like my skin itself could smell everything around me. Rather well, too.

My roots are a lot stronger and easier to move now, though I can only move a few parts of them. Perhaps they’re enough to move around with?

I was able to slowly pull the few roots I could control out of the ground with some effort. I moved them away from me and stuck them into the ground again and pulled as hard as I could. There was some force behind them, but not enough to move me with what little control I had. Disappointing, but if I could learn to move all my roots at the same time, it might be enough.

With that out of the way, I went back to mana detection. I won’t be trying to make any more mana crystals without Geistig until I’m more comfortable with the process, but I can get comfortable with the process a lot faster if I can learn to detect mana at a moment’s notice, or concentrate harder on moving mana without no longer being able to sense it. Perhaps it would help to practice more with detecting mana outside of my body as well?

I opened my mouth to let out the mana-infused scent I was producing, and concentrated on my mana detection. As it whafted outwards, I felt some interesting miniscule changes. There were moving pockets at the edges of my scent’s range in the air where my mana would change ever so slightly, and others where it would not reach. The erratically moving pockets would often move directly into my mouth almost as soon as they appeared. Perhaps they’re the bugs I’m eating? But some of the pockets are larger than others, or scurrying and flying faster than a bug would. Bugs likely aren't the only things I’m attracting.

But I can’t detect their mana, Only my own. Maybe my scent is changing slightly upon contact, which is why the mana is changing? Would that make this form scent aligned?

And what are those pockets of nothing? Based on their size, shape, and location, I think they might be trees and rocks. Interesting, it’s almost like I can see what’s around me, though there’s no color.

A few hours into this training, my scent stopped being detectable by me, and the bugs stopped approaching as often. Out of mana. I guess I’ll have to wait until morning to regain my mana through photosynthesis, or at least until I absorb enough earth mana through my roots. At least I can still practice mana detection, so this time won’t be wasted.