Chapter Seventy-Four


    I was a bit surprised to get a notice to be a Mentor, but I epted it without difficulty. What I had Teemo propose really was a mentorship, more or less, and Violet epted. So now I have a Protege, which is interesting. I can take a look in on Violets territory, and it seems like any denizens and even dwellers are seen as friendly, so they can wander in and do stuff and generate mana. A couple ratkin have already gone and picked a mushroom or two. Probably looking to expand their options with their mushroom beds? Oh, and while I can leave little suggestions around, or offer quests (like the two that Ive already given), I cant make any decisions.


    If I had to guess, Id say thates with the next option I have. I havent floated the idea to even Teemo just yet, but he probably knows its an option and Aranya probably knows its a thing, too. I could take Violet as a Vassal. Yeah, not really interested in that right now. I have enough on my te running just <em>my</em> stuff, without having to try to run a <em>second</em> dungeon. I could probably delegate a lot of stuff, but I dunno. Maybe if Violet asks, I might.


    But speaking of my own stuff, I think I managed to miss the trio figuring out the water jar puzzle. I guess they finally stopped trying to cheese it and actually used their brains. Or they just started pouring one jar into the other and realized theyd get there if they keep doing that eventually.


    Either way, theyre on to the final challenge, and theyre doing about as well as I expected: steady but slow progress. I get a lot of satisfaction listening to them chattering away as they try to figure out the bigplex puzzle in their own corridors, and I get a lot of mana from it, too.


    This lever do anything for you two? I cant see anything changing here, says Hark. His current section has a bunch of different levers, as well as a slot for something.


    Mlynda hums as she moves a peg in the wall along a track. She can see itll eventually be able toe out, once she gets to the end of the track, but theres a lot of hidden blockers between where she has it, and where she wants it to be. I cant tell anything different over here.


    I might have something, speaks up Vnarl, his own puzzle involving pressurized pipes and needing to get the pressure just right to get it to spray into a specific hole. These two valves are acting different, I think.


    I might actually miss them when theyre gone.


    Leo wont, but I dont me him. I get a sh of loathing from him whenever he sees the halfling in the group, but hes a good Warden and hasnt been sabotaging their efforts, which Im d for. Hes also been busy with Jello trying to convert a mole


    Theyve managed to calm a couple down enough so they stop braining themselves trying to escape, but something in what Jello does seems to pull all the fight out of them or something. As far as I can tell, they all just want to be let go once theyre out of Jello. Leos getting a bit frustrated, but I do my best to encourage him. Theres plenty of moles to try.


    I also have him try with a couple gremlins, just to see if maybe moles are just weird. The gremlins dash themselves against the walls if they dont get purified by Jello first, and also just want to be let go after. Maybe I need to try a different approach? Getting them calmed down feels like the proper first step, so now I need to figure out something to make them want to work for me. I need some incentive, but I have no idea what to offer moles or gremlins. I could try to bribe the gremlins with ore or gems or something, but that doesnt feel quite right. I dont think I need to pay any of my other denizens? Maybe a little mana, I dunno.


    I think I might have something to tempt the moles with, though. If they like digging, I can offer them the metal transmutation on their ws, which should let them even dig through the stone. I bounce the idea off the empathic bond with Leo, and he seems to approve, which is great.


    Especially since Queen should be able to make bigger batches of stuff now. Theb is nicely expanded, so all she needs is something to be able to store the stuff. The ratlings have managed to make ss in the forge, too. Its ugly and lumpy, but still seems to be ss. At the very least, dipping it in some of the metal transmutation doesnt change it, so its good enough for me. I spend a bit of mana to get a couple aranea toe help, and they get the test barrel up on some webbing, and should be able to rotate it easily as the ratlings pour the molten ss inside.


    They have to work in batches, but they have everything set up so that the previous section shouldnt be <em>fully</em> set before the next section gets poured. If they do it right, the entire inside should get a single coating of ss. I hope.


    They start to work, and the forge fills with smoke. Its a delicate bnce to keep the wood from just burning out of control without cooling it so quickly that the ss just shatters. I tell them to keep pouring water on the outside and just let the inside char. I dont want water inside, because that will <em>definitely</em> shatter the ss. I probably should have asked Rocky toe and try to help,e to think of it, but its a bit toote now.


    Its smokey, dirty, hot, dangerous work, but it seems to be sessful! I let my denizens take a break and ask Queen to inspect the barrel to make sure its still sealed. Once she gives it the go-ahead, she can get down to some serious alchemy.


    Coda has finished with the surveying, so now its time to actually do some stuff with the caverns! First thing: sh, please go help Coda and the ratlings with the ess tunnel. Thats probably going to take a bit, which is fine. Theres still the normal tunnel to the caverns, I just want to give a more direct route to thergest cavern in there.


    This cavern over on the side, though, should be a great spot for my new Enve! Im a little nervous about making more intelligent people, but it worked well with the ratlings, so I think pitfalls can be avoided and hurdles ovee without too much issue. I designate the enve.


    Interestingly, only about half of the aranea get the progress bars. When I did it for the ratlings, all of them got it. Though,e to think of it, I have a lot more aranea than I did ratlings at the time. The ones with bars are nowbeled spiderkin. I guess theyre not suddenly going to be half elf/half spider then.


    Much like with the ratlings, the ones with bars start gathering things. It looks like spiderkin are going to be a bit more martial than the ratkin, because they grab a lot of simple spears and a few picks, though they also grab a few things from my couple underground herbalism nodes. Do mushrooms count as herbs?


    As they prepare to go to the enve, I also notice the ones that go are the ones that seemed to have the least to do. The ones with signs and the ones that have been organizing the warehouses and such all seem to be staying. The exception seems to be the one that weaved the sample baskets for the wolves. Im actually surprised none of them managed to convince a wolf to go with them now, actually.


    Either way, with an Enve getting settled in there, I poke Teemo to let Aranya know. She did a great job with the ratkin, so her help would be greatly appreciated with the spiderkin, too.


    I think thest thing Ill spend my mana on for the moment is to specialize my slimes. The oozes with their im for resource specialization have a grip on my curiosity and wont let go. The spawner immediately spits out a copper ooze. Its mostly clear, but it has some green flecks throughout, which are probably oxidized copper? I think the name is a good hint for what itll do, too. Sure enough, the thing oozes its way to the nearest copper vein and does something. Im not sure if its purifying it or adding more copper or what, but the node ticks upwards a tier.


    Instead of moving on, the ooze just kinda absorbs into the node, leaving it looking a little wet, but otherwise fine. Maybe itll help deal with gremlins and stuff, too. Between oozes and the stctsprites, maybe I can get the gremlins to join me just so they dont have to face those terrors to be near my resources. I doubt thatll be all it takes, but a dungeon can hope.