Chapter 284: Lighting Fixtures (2/2)
Mike tensed at the unexpected action, but when nothing happened after a few seconds, he relaxed.
”Seems safe.” Reber commented dryly while slapping the pillar a few more times.
”Stop that.”
Running a finger over a few of the runes, Mike noticed that there was a slight response in the ambient mana flow. With a little experimentation, he was able to determine that certain runes, whose original purpose was unclear initially, functioned as some kind of interface that could influence the way power was circulated through the pillar.
”These look like some kind of control panel,” He explained while indicating the areas in question. ”Based on what I can figure, I think I can manipulate the demi-realm to some extent by interacting with them.”
Reber shrugged. ”Sounds about right, but I haven't got the faintest idea on what to do with that information. Try pushing some buttons at random and see if it does anything.”
”Are you nuts? That could endanger everyone here. What if I accidentally turned off the air, or converted the ground into lava or something?”
”Here.” Lily broke in, pointing at one of the interface sections in particular. ”This controls lighting.”
”Really? How do you know?”
”Layout.” She replied dryly, and then indicated the complex scrollwork that surrounded the figures she was looking at. ”The runes here are involved in manipulating the Light Element. Based on their alignment, I figure that it's meant to create one of several preset illusory backdrops. However, disabling some of these settings will probably free up enough energy to allow the demi-realm to mimic natural sunlight. If you deactivate these three runes, and then activate this one, it should work.”
Mike stared at her for a few moments like she'd grown a second head. [Where in the hell did that come from?]
After several seconds of silence, she glanced up at him. ”Anything else?”
”Huh?”
”Was there anything else you needed to do with this thing?”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. ”No...no, that should do it for now. I might have some more questions later.”
”Alright. I'll go back to what I was doing now.” She announced calmly before standing up and walking back into the experimental hall.
Mike watched her go, feeling like he was seeing a new side of her. One that it never occurred to him to look for.
”Gotta admit it, buddy, you have an interesting taste in women.” Reber muttered quietly once they were alone.
”...” He shot the tree man a dirty look.
”Don't get me wrong, they seem like a fun bunch, and I can tell they are all pretty skilled. It's just that they have somewhat eccentric personalities…”
”I feel like you might be misunderstanding something. Also, I don't think you have any room to speak when it comes to eccentricities.” He shot back acidly.
The tree man nodded sagely. ”Keeping it on the down-low. Wise. Let me just say that I recognize game when I see it, so I'll give props where props are due. It's definitely something I couldn't have managed myself, even before the whole plantification thing. Between you and me, I wouldn't have the guts to even try it in the first place.” He paused to give Mike a thumbs up. ”So, very impressive.”
”Listen. That's not at all what I-”
A muffled explosion from the next room prevented him from saying anything else. Rubbing his temples and applying a bit of Healing Magic to ward off the oncoming headache, he walked to the door to deal with the situation.
Lily had somehow managed to combine the desiccated remains of a glowing mushroom and the oily extract of a commonly found weed to produce something that burned like phosphorus on contact with air. Fortunately, Mike's command of Fire Magic was sufficient to prevent any undue damage to the rest of the cabin.
After a few minutes to clean up the charred remains, he activated the control pillar following Lily's instructions (while keeping her under strict observation to prevent any further accidents), and then headed outside to observe the results.
Strangely, the disabled features seemed to be solely those responsible for creating the illusions inside the area of the demi-realm itself, while leaving the background applied to its edges in place. The result was slightly disorienting.
A stretch of blank, grayish dirt stretched for hundreds of meters in every direction around the cabin, which was placed on the only real terrain feature inside the area, a small hill. This space ended at a shear wall that took on the usual appearance of an idyllic forest, save that it had a slightly artificial semblance to it in light of its surroundings. If that wasn't enough, a glowing, door-shaped portal was embedded into one side of that wall, roughly where the waterfall used to be.
”Much work.” Tal commented while examining the soil. Even to his untrained eye, Mike could tell that the dirt was in poor shape.
[I might be able to do something with some combination of Healing and Earth Magic, if it comes to it, but I should probably let the experts figure out a solution.] He thought before turning his attention to the next task.
While the others were still looking around at the changed landscape, he channeled his mana and began constructing what would be his workshop.