Mysterious Apparition

As I feel my first floor being completed and start thinking of ideas for the second, I stretch my gaze across the mountain for the first time since my rebirth. It seemed warmer? The mountains were still as cold as ice, but the blizzards have stopped, and in the highland forests below, it seemed like the snow was starting to melt. The harsh winter is probably starting to end, and from it, sparks of life are starting to grow.

It seems spring is almost upon us. Considering how much the seasons have changed, I've probably been mining and building away for at least a month or two. Since the blizzards are gone, my vision is much clearer. I should take a better look at the mountain in which I reside. The mountain towered over the dense forests and would give any onlookers a sense of awe. The mountain was steep, the stone was an unusual dark bluish-grey, and It seemed it wasn't near any coasts as the horizon stretched on more miles. It seemed I rested quite high on it; if I were to guess, it was around 250–300 meters tall.

I guess that would add another layer of protection, and the hike up the mountain would deter any intruder. Though it seemed my mountain was simply one of many, as it was part of a greater, unassailable mountain, even I couldn't see what lay on the other side of it. Though It did seem like it was the tallest. After taking in the geography of the area, my gaze was averted by the variety of mana I could see. In the small creeks and rivers lied a deep blue mana, which ebbed and flowed as the water did. In the peaks of the mountains, where the wind blew the strongest, lied an off-white mana as it surged through the tempests, and in the dense forests, green mana was slowly sprouting off the ground.

It's the same kind of mana from the lizard that died. Perhaps it's some kind of life mana? I'm not a hundred percent sure, but that's what I'll call it for now. The flora and fauna here are quite similar from those of Earth, though there are some differences. The trees seem to give off life mana so any animal that lived there would probably be attuned to it. I wonder if that is the case for aquatic and the blue mana, or with aerial species and the off-white mana. The blue mana will be referred to as 'water mana' and the off-white mana 'air mana'.

As I look for any sign of civilization, I come across a ruin of similar make to my fortress. It laid deep within the forest; I would've entirely missed it if not for a faint purple glow. After closer inspection, the ruin was a tomb of some kind. The layout was quite simple, with only a heavy stone door, a hallway, and a stone coffin. Inscribed upon it were a string of undecipherable runes.

But that was not what interested me. As a pale white silhouette paced around the room. As I peered closer, it seemed like a feminine humanoid; it had ethereal scorched branches growing out of its head; it seemed to float in the air; and emitted a tremendous amount of mana, dwarfing even me in power. As I examined the strange creature, it looked at me; it had no face. my vision immediately returned to the safety of my fortress. What the fuck was that? I didn't command my vision to return; did it force me to return? What is the nature of that thing? It didn't seem malicious, but not quite benevolent either. It seemed to not even care I was looking at it. It looked transparent like a ghost, and it emitted death mana; perhaps it really is a spirit.

Though I saw something else other than death mana in it. Though it bore no resemblance to mana at all. Perhaps what I saw was that thing's soul or spirit? I'll think about this later; it's not like I can actively research the damned thing. As the cover of night encompassed the sky, I saw a broken moon; it seemed to have broken in two. That settles it; I'm definitely not on earth. Well, I guess I better get to work on the second floor.

I need a theme something to base the floor on. I intend to make each floor unique; however, I need to gather more animal species in order to do that. It would also do me some good to conduct more research on the mind. But I'm not sure how to lure any animals from out there here. Perhaps I should scour the caves some more; perhaps I could find something of use. As I scour the cave, I encounter a giant cave that rivaled the size of the cave the fortress resided in.

On its roof, covered by the persistent darkness of the cave, lied a swarm of bats, and in its centre lied a truly giant bat that seemed to be sleeping. I examined the swarm; it seemed all of the bats were of mundane origin except the giant one, it seemed to have a black mana core, perhaps an element I have not identified yet. Jackpot if I can subjugate this cauldron of bats, my physical influence could reach far further than it could before. I command the giant bat to fly to me, but instead of following my order, it shrieks and wails, awaking the neighbouring bats.

This one seems rebellious. I command it with more mana this time 'submit', but the bat ignores my order and shrieks in my direction, and my vision turned black. I couldn't see anything. At least for a minute or two, when my vision returned, the bat seemed groggy. Perhaps the last attack used up a lot of its mana. I tried once again 'submit'. This time it relented. Examining my new subordinate, I was pleased although it was weaker than my eyeless basilisk, it possessed a unique element of mana I had never seen before.

The mana seemed elusive, mysterious, yet insidious and dark. I'll call it darkness mana for now. The rest of the swarm was far easier to subjugate, maybe because they didn't seem to possess either high intelligence or a mana core which seemed to affect the difficulty of subjugation. I'll be making these bats my little spies.