Chương 106: 2-4 Domain renovation

"How long was I out this time?" Josef grimaced, lying limply on his cot. He squinted his eyes against the candlelight, looking at his new teacher.

"Too long." Onyx growled at him annoyedly.

"Not as long as before, though." His last attempt inside the domain had been yet another failure, the second in a row. But he wouldn't give up on his plan, feeling it in his bones that it was going to work sooner rather than later. In the end, asking the wyrm for help with his domain had not been his worst idea. He honestly believed that the reptile could teach him a lot more about fighting, but his insights into what was definitely a delicate mental art?

The instructions were eye-opening, even though their contents were rocky at best.

"Well, I'm gonna need a break now. This headache is killing me," Josef complained. They had been at this for most of the last two days, getting a little more than a handful of attempts in total. Changing anything within his domain was mentally taxing in a way that only the final, extra long day of the dungeon had ever strained him. While he couldn't check his status for the numbers, he knew that neither his health nor mana was being used as fuel for it.

"If you can complain, then you still have more to give," Onyx was giving him a gaze he had grown to fear more than anything else. It forced him to keep inflicting that experience on himself, again and again. He could have taken a break at any time, but the unconcealed disappointment in Onyx's eyes egged him on every time he wanted to. Maybe he did have the pride of a dragon, even if it was only a small portion.

That, or he was pushed onward by Zippa's pallid form right next to him, who didn't appear to get better at all. Which made sense because he was the only one with a natural chaos affinity, and that was the only way to counter the Stillness caused by the order affinity. Be it his scaly friend, Cana, or any of the other afflicted, no one else was going to recover on their own. It was a terrible thing, and his reason to heal his heartstone as quickly as possible.

"Fine, fine!" he grumbled.

"Just stop nagging so loudly." His mind and temper were strained, but Josef tried to stay somewhat amenable. At least as far as entering his domain was concerned, Onyx's advice had turned out to be golden. The wyrm had described his own method of accessing his domain as an act of force, using all his might to push open a massive set of heavy doors to gain entrance. He even showed off his meditative posture, which looked more like some oriental kata, as his arms flexed along with the explanation.

That wasn't really his cup of tea, but the idea behind it got him right on track. Closing his eyes, he let himself drift off by just a smidgen. He couldn't fall asleep if he wanted to enter his domain, but a certain level of relaxation, as well as tuning out his physical body, helped. Next came the visualization of the entrance. The first time he entered through meditation, he had accidentally achieved this by focusing on his heartstone, letting himself slip inside.

It had required him to forcefully squeeze out some mana to get a feel for it, which was actually a waste of the currently limited resource. Well, it wasn't as sparse as before these meditation sessions, but still less than a trickle. And none of it was needed to use the meditation skill. Instead, he now pictured his heart as the literal, stylized shape. A big rock in his chest, with a large old keyhole right in the middle of it. Then he imagined slipping inside the lock.

With a twist and a click, unlocking his own heart, he entered his desert oasis. Josef's little collection of palm sprouts was a work in progress, and lacked the most essential part to be called just that, but it was the thought that counted. Literally. Because doubting the possibility of the intended change just made it much harder to achieve. Shaping a domain was a lesson in will, belief, and stubbornness, or so Onyx had taught him. Especially at the start, any kind of change was slow and small.

Getting a boulder rolling wasn't easy, but once it got going, you could set off a whole rockslide. That reptile really loved relating things to his main affinity. Still, that was the point where his teachings got rocky, so to say, as domains were extremely personal. Onyx had, somewhat hesitantly, shared imagery about creating houses, temples, and monuments to commemorate things of significance, as well as parts of his status, strengthening his own foundations.

Which had given him the inspiration for his current domain project. At first, he had simply created more palm sprouts, each expressing a person he had formed a connection with. Except for the very first, which was mostly symbolizing his ties on Aurum as a whole. That one had grown a little higher with every other palm he added, now reaching almost up to his shoulders. He had grown them for both Cana and Coco, the first ones to welcome him to this new lease on life.

Dizzy and Zassa, who had given him a home and kindness when he was all alone, had also received plants of their own. Bezzo, driven towards him alongside his brother, by Sanctum's foul play. Linda and Aifreed, whom he had saved while pushing his own moral boundaries. Even the old herbalist Charly had found a place, though her sprout was notably smaller. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Neither Zippa nor Onyx was represented by vegetation, though.

Somehow, the image just didn't fit well enough with them. Or rather, he had already formed a distinct impression, forcing him to change how he handled them in his domain. The wyrm received his even before his closest friend, because it felt easier to make it happen with the example right in front of him. It was, for all intents and purposes, a cold, dark rock. Josef wasn't even sure if it resembled the reptile's actual namesake, though he felt the color was close enough. And that was all his domain needed.

That rock was also large and flat enough to serve as a platform of sorts, creating a clearing between his palm trees. There, he created a simple bonfire, the only source of warmth in his, ironically, temperate desert. Creating that one had been a lot more draining than anything else, even if Onyx's rock had come in as a close second. Maybe that was because Zippa's current condition was completely opposed to his usual image of him, diluting his impression.

But he rather wanted to think it was caused by creating actual heat within his domain. Even the palm trees appeared to be leaning closer to the warmth, as if seeking a hotter climate. And since that was his impression, this place would probably acquiesce to it to some degree. It wasn't exactly cozy in his domain, but it was a massive improvement from before. Naturally, Josef had also tried this approach with his familiars, but that one had turned into an entire wasted session.

If he could create something for them, then the amount of willpower he needed for it would be utterly insane. That was his impression when he first tried with Dusty, and Pretzel was only marginally better. Then, Nibbles had shown him something critical he had completely ignored. He simply joined him in the domain, once there was nothing to do in the clinic. After all, weren't these bodies already their own representation within the domain?

Which gave him an approach to try to integrate Sprout, though he pushed that one off until he got around to visiting his plant dog in person. It may have been superstition, but it felt important to him. Lastly, he had also tried to do something for people he didn't know as well, like Marik, Chris, or the late Chip. However, he never succeeded at that task, unsure if he had even created a seed in the ground that he could nourish. He just didn't know them well enough, he had to admit.

All these efforts weren't in vain, either. Around Josef's creations, the sand had slowly regained its former color, though pointing out the exact boundary between white and yellow sand was a strain on the eyes. Which, in turn, had caused an increase in his available mana. An amount as negligible as this yellow spot was within the grand scale of the desert, but a substantial improvement from before.

At least he no longer had to fear his limbs immediately dying off, should the Stillness recede before he had the energy to sustain his body. That would have been an agonizing thing to happen. Today, he wanted to finally create the most essential part of an oasis, the water. And it was to represent the one thing he was most thoroughly lacking right now.

He would have expected the resident dragoness to come knocking at some point, demanding priority treatment for that vital image of her own element, but surprisingly, Lapis had remained entirely quiet since the last time she spoke up. Was she patiently hoarding mana, or perhaps avoiding him? Maybe she just didn't want to interrupt while he was submerged in the work he was supposed to do. The last one was immediately thrown out of the proverbial window. As if the ancient lizard had that much consideration for others.

She was more likely to come up with a plan to break his neck for mouthing off.

"Boss ready?" Nibbles squeaked beside him. His familiar could approach completely quietly, surprising Josef every time he snuck up.

"Yeah, now or never." He nodded determinedly. For the biggest change yet, he had asked his familiar for help. While the rodent couldn't directly create things in the domain, they tried it, his presence still added a certain… weight to his own will. To borrow some metaphors from Onyx, it would be like gaining an extra pair of hands to push a boulder, even if only one of them could steer the direction. Or something like that. The earth affinity was great, but Josef just wasn't much of a rock guy.

Then, he freed his mind from those ramblings and focused on the most important thing in the world. Mana. The fuel for all magic, and an essential part of all life on Aurum. He remembered how he had first gained the ability to sense it flow through him, an entirely unfamiliar feeling for someone who didn't have any magic before. Then there was that upgrade to his body, turning him into a vessel for mana. From there, the sensations had become so much clearer. And his dependence much greater.

Mana had become a truly essential part of him, and he could no longer live without it. It had taught him how horrible the absence of it felt, but also the pleasure of refilling it from the brink. He had found his hunger for mana… The magical energy flowed and churned just below the surface, ready to be unleashed, but blocked entirely. So he dug, like a miner trying to coax profits from the earth. He swung his will like a pickaxe over and over again, throwing his mind against the blockage.

Nibbles was right there with him, digging with his small but undeterred paws. Nothing would stop them from succeeding. Josef could almost hear it, the refreshing splashes of water erupting from the ground like a geyser. Just one more swing, and it would be his. One more swing, and it would be free. One more swing… Again and again he repeated that belief in his mind, forcing his will to render it into a reality. Every time it failed, he felt his vision swim and his brain throbbed with pain.

Until at last, something gave in. He fell face first into a deep mound that had formed under the duo's relentless assault, adding a brand new crater to the desert. But Josef knew that this one differed from all the others. It wasn't just some random hole, but his life-giving oasis. As he slid down, too weak to even move a muscle, the last thing he noticed was the sensation of wet sand on his cheek. That and the sound of a torrential downpour.

Not one made from water, but from notifications that had waited to find him.