Chapter 6: Preparation

Aquamarine

It is official, after running it through my mind hundreds of times there is only one solution to this problem. Murder. Either I liquidate them or that monstrosity will freeze me solid. There are no other options, that fear was primal. Whatever that thing is it is an existential threat. We can not coexist, and even if we could I simply refuse to on principle. I refuse to be buried under a sheet of ice, to live in the shadow of the cold. As I stir I failed to realize that the Humamanders had returned. Plopping down they set aside a portion of their spoils. They eat and play all the while I relive the encounter over and over in my mind. When I finally come to notice the food laid out before me I'm intrigued. A few black orbs and strangely shaped yellow berries were placed next to my core. Seeing these things filled my heart with joy.

A plan comes to mind, since I can create these creatures, perhaps I can spawn enough of them to attack the cold gem. Images of the Humamander army getting frozen solid by cold spells dash my hopes a bit. I hurriedly think back to the water mages that used to control me in the past, the armor they wore was not a traditional mages garb, they wore fur coats to protect themselves against their rival element cold. The scenario plays out in my mind once again, a group of armored Humamanders rushing into the chamber of the ice gem, surviving the spells meant to freeze them solid. They reach the gem and try crushing it with their bare hands, failing.

They would obviously need weapons as well, that much is obvious. I created these things with human hands so they could wield tools after all. With the matter settled I reach out and speak into the minds of my creations.

Creation

"Creation, Too. I shall be gifting you more members of your own kind. I task both of you with a mission in the mean time. Find the materials for some weapons, and try to craft them." The voice booms in my mind. This time it speaks of things I am unfamiliar with. I had learned that Too seems to be much younger than I, lacking the innate understanding I had of the world around me for a reason I cannot explain, and even still I had never heard of a weapon. As if in response to my objection my creator once again demonstrated his power.

Images began pouring into my mind with many sticks of wood and stone of many different sizes and shapes. They seemed strange and impractical at first, but then the images of the things in use began to play. It was all capped off with a hammer smashing a snow white gemstone. So that was his goal, there is another. What I had failed to notice while I was distracted by the blur of images and actions a blue mist had crept around me and seeped into my mind.

I tried to rip away control like last time but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't resist. "Relax Creation, I merely want to test if I can use magic in your form." At these words I thought back to his promise to protect me with the smoke. Is he really saying he didn't know if it would work back then? I don't get another chance to resist however as he takes control of my very will and begins to move it through a particular pattern. He drains me of a large portion of my energy and brings it to my hand, before releasing it in a stream of water.

"Interesting" The voice says, "And it even used your mana instead of mine." I can feel the second mind sitting atop mine, ruminating but letting no more of its thoughts reach me. "I shall teach you how to do this yourself when you get back, for now I have things to do." the weight atop me finally lifts and though I am tired I rush out the door. Maybe if I leave a bigger offering he will leave me alone.

Aquamarine

Ok, now I know that even if I can't get them weapons I can teach them magic. That is good. Now if only I could figure out a way to make my water attack lethal. I could just keep adding more water and more power but at as I am now it will be such an awful trade off it wont even be worth using. For now though, I need to speed up my progress. I didn't see any signs of creatures in the white gems domain, so if I make 3 more Humamanders I should outpace it by enough to get the edge on it and destroy it.

With the fruits in front of me I should be able to give each of them enough mana to put them on par with Humamander. After I finish off that white core my next priority is definitely thinking of a better name for those things.

So I grabbed one of the fruits and begin consuming it as I summoned a Humamander. This one was slightly smaller than the original when he was born. Repeating the action I summoned another, this one the same size as the original when he was born. I then summoned a third, this one being as large as the original is now. I named them three four and five respectively. I would think off names later, but the existential threat at hand has hampered my creativity.

I use the remaining fruit to summon fish for the new arrivals to eat while I wait for the other two Humamanders to return.