Chapter 284: Lighting Fixtures (1/2)
”Behold! I have created life!” Reber announced once they'd arrived at the backyard. He was motioning towards a tiny plot of land, roughly a meter square, that looked to have been converted into a garden. Growing from the recently tilled dirt was a small plant.
”Congratulations, I guess?” Mike replied, at first a bit confused why the tree man seemed so excited, but then the realization hit. ”Wait a moment...did you get this to grow while the portal was closed?”
Reber nodded proudly. ”Hell yeah I did. I was playing around with some of my Druid skills and discovered that my ability to manipulate plants has been dramatically improved since my transformation. I can now do things I never thought possible while I was still human. This little beauty is a tomato I managed to cultivate from a seed scavenged from the cold storage room.”
”How did you get around the problem of the soil and the lack of sunlight?”
Planting his hands firmly on his wooden hips, he announced. ”Haha! I didn't!”
Sera was rubbing her forehead as if this whole process was giving her a headache. The rest of the group waited patiently until he explained himself.
After a few moments when it was clear that no one was going to ask him for more details, Reber shrugged and then continued. ”Well, I picked up a title and an inherent skill that dramatically improved the efficiency and power of my magic when it involved plants. Anyway, one of the things I discovered I can do is substitute mana for their basic needs. I can artificially keep a plant alive, even in hostile conditions, so long as I keep supplying it with energy.”
”Interesting. What else?” Tal asked, obviously curious about the applications of such an ability.
”Haven't gotten too far in my experiments, since I had to spend some time preparing my amazing water, after all. Are you sure you don't want some?” He asked, indicating the glass by his chair. ”It's pretty good...no? Alright. Anyway, besides keeping plants alive unnaturally, I can also speed up their growth with mana, and get them to move.”
”Really?” Mike asked. ”Could you show us.”
Reber gave a big grin. ”Sure thing. You ready?”
He cracked his wooden knuckles, which didn't really accomplish anything, and then began to mutter a chant in a strange language. Mike had some trouble making the words out, but the parts he did hear were translated by his Communication Magic as, ”Grow, grow, grow, you plant. Get very bi-ig. Merrily, merrily, merrily, I could use a drink.”
[...That can't be a real chant.]
Despite the odd spell, the small tomato plant began to shiver and, at an almost imperceptible rate, grew a few centimeters. After it had gone from barely being little more than a sprout to being slightly more than a sprout, Reber lowered his arms and looked back at the rest of them proudly.
Trying to keep his face neutral, Mike commented. ”That's pretty cool, I guess. Can you make them grow more than that?”
The tree man nodded. ”Sure...although not right now. I'm plum lum out of mana at the moment, I'm afraid. That little trick took nearly half a day's worth out of me.”
”...Really?”
”Yep. I don't think I mentioned it, but the efficiency on the base spell is ridiculously low. It's meant to be used over a long period of time to gradually increase the growth speed of plants. Of course, I modified it a bit, but the basic effects aren't that impressive.”
”So, what use does it have?” Sera asked, obviously trying to prod the conversation in the direction of a conclusion.
”You mean besides getting a slightly faster harvest? Not much. Still, it will give me something to while away the hours between your visits.”
[Note to self, try to keep the portal open as often as possible.]
”Well, in any case, that doesn't really change what our goal is today.” Mike broke in before the Oracle got angry at Reber's flippant attitude. ”It's good to know that there are a few other options when it comes to growing plants, but we should concentrate on making the natural way possible first, before worrying about anything else.”
With that in mind, William, Tal, and Sera set about moving the fertilizer to the cabin while Mike and Reber headed into the control room to try and figure out how to make this thing work. Lily, in her typical fashion, had wandered in the experimental room and was poking through the remnants of Fatima's research with keen interest. Although it worried him a bit to leave her to her own devices, he figured that she couldn't do too much harm in the short period of time she was alone. Or at least he hoped so.
”Try not to touch anything, Lily.” He admonished her while heading into the control room. ”We don't know what most of this stuff does yet.��
She nodded as if she'd heard him, but then promptly began picking things up and examining them.
[Well, whatever. I don't think there is anything too crazy down here. I mean, what's the worst she could do with a bunch of plants…and some specialized alchemical tools of mysterious purposes...and hybrid technological marvels...On second thought-]
”Actually, Lily, do you think you can give me a hand with this? I believe I could use your expertise.”
For a moment he feared he was too late, but surprisingly, she put down the vial of greenish sludge she'd been examining closely and moved to join them, giving him a blank and unreadable look in the process.
[I can't tell if she's actually listening to me in this instance, or is just curious about the control room.]
Deciding that it was better to not think too deeply on Lily's actions, he led them inside and faced the unusual pillar once more. The three of them stared at it in silence for a few moments, before Reber spoke up, ”Yep, still have no idea what any of this means.”
”Is it safe to touch, do you think?” Mike asked. He could tell that a large amount of mana was being circulated through the structure, but was having a hard time determining exactly how it was doing so.
”Not sure...let's find out.” The tree man replied while walking over and slapping the side of the pillar with one hand.