I gaze at the Red Gem initially, and I can sense a familiar energy emanating from it. I channel my mana into it, and as expected, the mana transforms into fire upon leaving the gem. Now, I want to understand the process of how mana turns into fire. I infuse my mana again, and it appears to condense to the size of a pea. Then, it shatters into countless pieces, scattering in all directions, only to be drawn back to the centre and recombined into a small ball of mana. The process repeats, getting faster with each iteration until the mana moves so rapidly that it begins to collide, generating sparks like my minions did when using rocks. However, this time, it's the tiny bits of mana moving so fast that they appear as a line of mana to the naked eye. Eventually, the sparks increase until only a small amount of mana remains, which then integrates into the fire, essentially becoming mana fire. It's fascinating, but manipulating the mana at such speed seems crazy, akin to moving water so fast that it causes collision and sparks. I'll have to try this on my own later.
Now, onto the Green Gem. I insert my mana, and it produces healing mana. Strangely, it isn't green like that of the humans. Nevertheless, I test it on one of my minions, and it works effectively. The process involves condensing the mana, splitting it into two, four, eight, and so on until it appears like dust. Then, it becomes even smaller, emitting a blue glow, before finally being expelled from the gem. I decide to try the healing process without the gem, and after condensing and repeatedly splitting the mana, I manage to produce the same blue glow. When I apply it to a minion, it demonstrates rapid healing. I don't fully comprehend the cellular mechanisms at play, but it seems my mana is feeding something, facilitating the healing process. I'll have to study this further in time.
Now, about the wood on which the gems were placed: when I infuse my mana into it, it flows effortlessly, unlike other materials like the stone in my cave or anything connected to my body skill. However, it doesn't appear to have any significant use for me.
Once I finish with the staffs, I give them to my mage, Vexa, who has now awakened. She uses her mana to tidy up her space, and it looks much better than the rest of the cave. Nevertheless, I focus on my task and hand the staffs to her. She's ecstatic to use them, resembling a child receiving their favourite toy. Considering she's only been alive for about an hour, I suppose her excitement is understandable. She experiments with the fire staff, creating various objects like a fireball, arrow, hammer, axe, and a wall/fence. It seems she ran out of mana at some point, and after realizing this, she just went back to sleep.
I don't entirely comprehend her actions, but there's not much she can do for now. I decide to let her sleep, as waking her would serve no purpose. I wish I could sleep too.
Now, with nothing else to do, except for making more Gobwolves, which I currently don't need as I already have an army of them, I contemplate expanding my territory. I choose to expand downward underground, as I don't want to attract anything too powerful outside. I infuse mana into the ground to prepare for future floors. I continue until my mana depletes, and the usual alert appears, prompting me to stop and wait.