Chapter 12 Part A

  "Hello? Is someone there?" a voice called out to me.

  "Hello? Please..." I heard the voice again.

  It woke me up right at dawn, the voice had come.

  I'm sitting up in my blankets. I was startled and looked around but nothing is there.

  "I could have sworn I heard something,..." I mumbled.

  I got up and got my boots on.

  My pit house is warm.

  I'd crafted it well enough to be dry and fully enclosed, so the night mountain cold doesn't freeze me out.

  By now, its hard to tell its a pit house because I have log and wood paneling caging out the inside to make it look just like a real cabin and look stable. I have a have a hard wood floor even. Not to mention, it has a hidden look with a roof over it that's camouflaged also.

  But in theory someone could figure out how to spot it if they knew what to look for. But with a rejuvenate spell its easier to hide the door to it.

  It looks also to be quite simple but yet functional and solid.

  I got my coat on.

  "Hello? Someone...please help," I heard the feminine voice again.

  So it is a woman's voice.

  But there was something strange about the voice. And I couldn't see anyone near my perimeter. I looked around and can't see anything. When I look around, nothing there.

  (I even checked around my traps to see if I'd snagged something I shouldn't have in them. But there was nothing there either.

  Well...

  I should say there was nothing that shouldn't be there that isn't.

  Tonight I'd slept pretty well.

  My traps had captured over 19 different types of monsters during the night. All of them held solid and unable to break free. Some of them had tried cutting at the vines with some of them almost getting free.

  I just have to finish them off now for free xp! Its an XP feast. One by one I dispatched them.

  By 7 AM, I'd harvested quite a bit of XP! My xp bar went up by quite a bit also.

  If its like that, every day it might be fun.

  But that means that from 7 AM to 7:20 AM I had to go around checking my hedge traps and feeding mana into them to replenish the most damaged, via rejuvenate. I also can't wait to check the traps in the morning because by the time I wake up they've been trying to get loose all night.

  "Interesting...the rejuvenate program is a perfect complimentary duo to go with the improved Root Trap!" I said in awe.

  I had to repair 6 improved root traps, but this didn't take too much mana. So much XP gain from that though.

  At 7:21 AM, I set down 4 new squares of improved traps also.

  'My current mana bar is now at about 540 mana...'

  'My health bar is good, and topped out...'

  Then I grew those improved traps into full blown walls; like everything else. I also now have my hidden underground cabin room completely covered and protected by the trap walls now. (Feeling very relieved...)

  But this area is so dangerous that I don't dare use too much mana.

  I cooked some fish for breakfast and ate at ~approximately 7:24 AM to 7:55 AM, including clean up. I'd also reset the fish in the brook. I'd used the creation spell to actually put live fish in the stream to replace what I'd eaten. It was fascinating to watch. And the spell did work to create live fish.

  I wish I'd thought of that before...

  Then I began to start hiding more inside my small but expanding maze. The rejuvenation spell had grown the vine traps into very large hedges after putting the mana into them. Of course that wasn't instantly; I had to feed that mana growth. But with a mana tank as huge as mine was I was able to do that within a couple hours. The hedge 'walls' were also sufficiently high to hide behind, which I found delightful as I liked hiding places.

  Is it a maze yet?

  Actually its premature to say that. Right now its just a set of defensive formations. It is a good start and I intended to make it a full maze now after thinking about it. It would be fascinating to have miles of hedge wall vine traps in the shape of a corn maze where I could hide out. And then I'd be able to cull the enemy eventually without them even being able to touch me. Eventually. I have to get more hedge walls up before it will be a full maze.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  And thinking about it, I also still have a lot to learn.

  Its still time consuming and a lot of work to check the perimeter constantly. But worth it.

  The defensive hedge is vulnerable to flying monsters and fire monsters both. I have to grow its strength enough that when they try to attack it that the wood branches will be so hard that the damage will be resisted; to a point. So I'll keep working at it. But it gives me the chance to also not get attacked while they try to hack up the hedge walls in place of me; in theory. I only have an edge on things that walk in here on 2 legs or 4 legs that can't fly. So even though it feels perfect now, its actually got a lot of vulnerabilities.

  Although I haven't seen flying monster types yet. I have to think they'd be possible. And fire monsters being possible; any goblin arsonist or maybe a shaman goblin with fire magic is possible too.

  And I still can't find any sign of whatever that voice was that was crying out for help. I find this confusing as hell since I'd really looked all over them. Its not that easy to search a hedge maze full of green bush walls now though. I literally have to go throughout the perimeter looking at each section to check where this person is that I'm trying to find.

  (Although I haven't finished the maze, I have finished the outer hedge maze four walls with the entrance.)

  '?'

  The monster encounters started pouring in also. In the first hall sections of my maze. Momentarily they are confused and looking around, probably trying to find me.

  But I also have new experiments to try out today.

  I'd been underestimating how much I can do with my set of skills. Much of what I can do is item create, but also life wizard skills. Although... I wasn't negligent or stupid before, but just I'd had to focus on self defense so much. A LOT of my day is beating off monsters and trying to survive.

  This means I need to be trying to create those things. And also search for that voice that was calling out to me (still a mystery).

  I'd had this interesting idea this morning,...

  If I can create swords, armor, and equipment, what would happen if I tried to create small animals? And what kind of mana cost would that be like? Is that possible?

  Let's try it...

  I clicked on the item create skill. Then instead of picking a weapon, armor, tool, or resource, I said openly, "creat live rabbit."

  At first, the code garbled up, the way it does when your connection to a TV input device starts to get scrambled. But then suddenly it fixed itself after a few seconds.

  As the rabbit isn't very much mass, it will cost me 60 mana to 'create' a live rabbit. However, its not giving me a choice on the color and type of rabbits. The rabbit is alive and worked, but it looks like it gave me a type of rabbit that was already in this area.

  I guess that's fine. I have no doubt it will cost less than 60 mana to create more rabbits if I practice and level up the skill and type of 'item' created though.

  Its making my mind bent, trying to figure out if it actually created new life or just summoned it though? Or is it a clone? Which is it?

  Why can't I choose its traits?

  Or maybe I need to level it up first?

  But...its a risk.

  What if the mana cost is a lot because its alive?

  But there isn't much simpler than a rabbit. And I wouldn't want to create mice. Plus, if the rabbits are living in the hedge maze system, its a natural food production system! Nothing like live rabbit cooked in a potatoes and gravy stew! And if I had them reproducing and living in the maze that's a food system that can work with me long term!

  Yeah, let's try it.

  I cringed as I clicked the "OK to confirm," button.

  Whoooshh...

  There's a huge burst of energy.

  Ping!

  My system is active now with a new pop up notification with exclamation points!

  [Advanced Life Wizard skill created! Congratulations on advanced wizardry's first attempt to create life!]

  [The system has granted you +3 bonus stat points, and +10 max health!]

  Wow...

  So I guess this means that the Life realm attribute is pretty powerful, despite it not having destruction?

  But that means also that it may be harder for me to acquire destruction skills I realized. And its possible that it let me have the minor fire wave skill only because stuff like volcanoes and other events often have strong regeneration afterwards because of the fertility brought in by said destructive events bringing new nutrients into the soil?

  And I can't imagine it would let me have EVERY advantage out there. It would probably confine me to my element mostly; so far what I'd seen hints that's the most likely scneario. I don't have any complaints though.

  At any rate, I think it will possibly limit how many destructive skills I have possibly.

  But it is possible attributes attributed to granting life and life support may inadvertently give me a few skills to access?

  This is quite interesting.

  Oops! The gray rabbit I just created is trying to get away!

  I chased after it, but then lost it. So much for loyalty... sigh.

  But in the end, the rabbit helped distract goblins in the maze long enough for the traps to gnatch them up and imprison them in twisting vines. That was my intention anyway. Although now I have to make another one if I want to make a rabbit stew for dinner.

  I actually hadn't been prepared for this to be successful. If I'd planned it better I might have had a cage or two ready.

  I can see my current mana bar is down by -60. I also see that there was a 20% mana cost penalty that showed up in the window, also because I'd never used the 'Create Life' skill before. So it won't cost as much next time.

  I wonder if I should put up rabbits to use as bait for the goblins and put them in the maze? Although they will probably run from me too.

  !

  "Awesome!" I cried out in joy.

  I felt excited for where this was going. I now have a working defense strategy. I can use rabbit bait and the hedge maze walls with their vine trapping skills. And I can avoid getting myself cut up in the process now as they go after the bait; though that will be dependent also on growing the maze larger. As large as possible ideally.

  When I had used the create item skill, the system registered it as different enough of a process from the original skill and altered the create item skill to create a new skill entirely! The [Create Life] skill has been granted!

  Still...I should be careful now.

  If I'd tried to create something big I would have died. I mean a rabbit is about 6 to 10 pounds of weight. And it costed me about 60 mana points to create this? Imagine if I'd tried to create something of several hundred pounds...that means I would have died.

  I frowned.

  So I need to level up some more don't I? In theory that's how it would work. I'd lowered costs of other spells so it should be the same.

  I guess I should expect that. Creating life is special and unique.

  So it shouldn't give that to me so easily for nothing.

  And that means creating more skills. And items. All while building up my power. Getting more mana efficient and mana powerful.

  I've also decided that I could easily work this out to my advantage in other ways.

  What if I created motion detectors to set up in the maze also?

  These types of creatures wouldn't have any idea what such devices are. But I'd also have to try to conceal them also, so that they aren't attacked to be overcome.

  And another issue is also creating a battery system that such devices would plug into. But this would also let me sleep more safely also at night, without having to worry.

  I also intend to create more houses and pit houses to alternate hiding into, and for some of them to be used as bait.

  I feel more devious now.

  The maze is growing.

  I wonder...could I use the create life skill to create followers?

  !

  Continued in Part B