"I want to... I want to show you something" Dowmy says to the soldiers guarding the doors of the core room. The imp flashes a smile, clasps her hands close to the chest, and shows the biggest and most tender eyes her facial features can allow. The imp follows the instructions given by Jimbo.
"You look different..." Comments one of the soldiers, not deciding exactly what's strange about the imp. So far he didn't pay too much attention to her, low level demons like Dowmy are despised and usually go unnoticed until they commit some evil or mischief.
"What do you want to show us, you little devil?" asks the second soldier.
"The crystal wants to give you... A gift"
The soldiers exchange glances. Dowmy keeps talking:
"The crystal knows that you fought bravely against the dark elves, and that you are now working hard to protect him. The crystal is grateful. The crystal be good"
The soldiers exchange glances again. They are not there to safeguard the core, but to warn in case they notice any dangerous signs, or to arrest the curious who want to know about the things in the basement. But for the moment the guards decide to play along with Dowmy, ask exactly what the gift is, and the imp points to the doors behind.
The men frown and mutter words of suspicion. One of them reaches out and opens the door. Immediately heat and steam escape into the laboratory.
The soldiers gawk at the hot springs that now take place instead of the core room. They were about to turn and run to raise the alarm, but Jimbo goes ahead and summons the beings he had prepared.
A lot of tedium and many hours it took him to gather the necessary ether to start the plan. But it wasn't dead time, Jimbo took the opportunity to study the summoning catalog and find out exactly what it can bring. He discovered that, as with objects, he has a number of 3D models, and what's better: if he concentrates can change the shapes of the invocations, just as he modifies and designs battle units in Kard10k.
Jimbo has no talent in modeling 3D figures, when he was competing in Kard10k, he would rather release instructions to the AIs to get more or less what he was looking for. But now he no longer has AIs, the good thing, is that he can modify the appearance of the summons with thoughts.
It can't turn the caveman into a six-meter tall giant, but it can change the gender, enlarge certain parts, and shrink others. There are features that resist him and are impossible to replace, for example the bulging muscles, the roughness of the face, or the primitiveness of the clothes. Limitations of the Age, Jim supposes.
Jimbo feels a knot in his non-existent stomach. If the soldiers don't fall under the charms of his creation, or one of them happens to be gay, his plan could fail, and even bring forward his predicted end.
Cross his ethereal fingers and invoke.
As the guards prepare to run and alert their companions, they encounter two peculiar but lovely-looking women, their generous flesh covered by scanty skins of mysterious beasts. The men hesitate, especially when the women grab their arms and pull them into the steam. They are stunned, not understanding what is happening. Dowmy goes behind and tries to bring some clarity.
"This water is special. It will relax your tired muscles and eliminate stress. Like I said, crystal is good, it's generous. There's nothing better than crystal, yes"
«The skin, Dowmy. Don't forget the skin»
"Huh, it's great for skin too, yeah. Rejuvenate!"
In a minute the men are already in the water, lying with arms outstretched on the shore's edge, enjoying with closed eyes the massage of the water and the rustic but attentive hands of beautiful women.
Jimbo maintains a big smile, not directed at the scene, but at his status screen. He nods slowly as watching the ether dots add up one after the other.
Using Dowmy as a messenger, Jimbo asked that they keep the existence of the hot springs away from the king's ears. The excuse he gave was that the place is unfinished, but granted the guards the possibility to invite their friends. In less than three hours, all the squadrons in the castle were aware of the existence of beautiful women and miraculous waters in the basement.
A gift from the magical crystal.
With the ether obtained, Jimbo created a second and third area, and connected them using cavernous tunnels to the main chamber. He was even able to inject more ether than necessary into the green area, so that the plants would grow faster. The first fruit to appear was the mango, perhaps because Jimbo deep down longed to eat one. But since he couldn't, instead offered it to the soldiers. At first the guards hesitated, but after taking the first bite and being surprised by the sweetness, they gladly accepted all the fruit that followed.
Tasty food is a happy source, and happiness for Jim is a ether fountain.
Jimbo was determined to level up, and everything pointed to him doing so in a few days. But then the Arrax female disciple appeared, who, after peeking through the doors, fled as if she had seen a fright.
«Oh, oh. This is going to get complicated»
Just in case Jimbo sent Dowmy to gather more mangoes and have them ready to sugar soften up whoever shows up looking for trouble.
Dowmy hands a linen cloth to Lynel so he can dry off. The captain is sitting on the stone bench, unable to lift the head in embarrassment at being subdued by the beauty of strangers. Hilda was still serious, glaring at Dowmy with her one eye. The imp tries to communicate, between stammering, Jimbo's words.
"Are cavemen too"
"That's not the problem!" Hilda bursts out with no room for jokes. Jimbo meant what he said about the males, though.
"The master only wants to help," says Dowmy, speaking out of her own free will.
"And how would something like this help my troop?!"
«For crying out loud, those guys were tired - I'm trying to boost the spirits of these people! It can't all be about training and patrolling!»
Actually Jimbo was just trying to flood himself with ether. But if he can satiate his greed and help people, it's a twofer. Dowmy conveys the words, though without the same intensity as Jim. Hearing the argument, Hilda's face softens slightly, though her lips are still curved downward in a nonconformist grimace.
The embarrassment in Lynel subsides enough to allow him to look up and speak.
"Dungeon Core is right. Our soldiers are very tense about what happened, we all are. But still, he should have asked before bringing in... These ladies"
"And especially ask before modifying the castle basement!" Hilda says, and Lynel nods in agreement with her.
Jimbo rolls his eyes.
«Please, would you seriously have let me do all this if I had asked?»
Dowmy blurts out the question. Hilda and Lynel exchange glances, Lynel flashes a bitter smile.
"Possibly... No"
"Of course not, and with serious reasons," Hilda says. "The king must be notified. Get these women back to wherever you took them from, dungeon"
Jimbo urges Dowmy to continue with the next step they discussed to convince the captains. The imp gets in the way and prevents Hilda from leaving the thermal area. The woman gives the girl an unfriendly look.
"There is another place... Another place the crystal wants you to see"
It is clear that relaxation is not a language Hilda speaks. But the challenge...
The challenge might convince her.