Marinus swam away from the pool at midday. Theanore returned to her seed sack. She had learned many things from the merman. Such as that her grotto connected to the sea outside of it.
There was a web of tunnels going from the seafloor to the pool, and Marinus had swum around until he had found her home. It had been her fish who had betrayed her location, and thus they had sealed their own fate.
The nymph decided that she couldn't begrudge Marinus a fish per day. She, too, needed to eat, although she ate the minerals from the soil around her apple tree. She understood his needs.
Before he left, he had promised her he would bring her more things for her pool. Sea stars and corals so she could have a reef for her fish.
She didn't know what a reef was, but Marinus had told her it was pretty and alive. That was all the nymph needed to know to agree to welcome it into her home.
"System, which of my plants can grow in the cave itself?" Theanore asked and she received an answer.
The cave nettle will thrive in the tunnels. You can make soup out of it and use it as feed for your fish. I will color the bag yellow.
Theanore searched for a yellow bag and found it at the bottom of the sack. Taking it out, she chose a different tunnel than her wheat and mushroom ones, and she quickly planted the seeds.
With that done, she went outside to check on her quick shot raspberry bush. There were five ripe berries, and she took them. Instead of giving them to her fish, she saved them for Marinus. They were as vibrant as his hair.
Perhaps he would like them?
She felt her mana reservoir fill again. Grinning, she spoke:
"Dear friend, how much mana do I have now?"
Twenty mana. Spend it on deep wheat? Yes/No?
Theanore thought about that. She could keep her fish fed with the berries. They seemed to be in season. But she knew that the weather would grow colder. Her wheat was needed for the colder months.
"System, on what else can I spend my mana?" Theanore asked.
You can grow twenty cave nettles to maturity.
You can speed up your apple tree growth, so the stem is shown above the soil, and you receive your own body.
You can grow five mushrooms to maturity.
You can grow all your herbs, per herbal species, to maturity.
You can spend one mana to grow all your flowers.
Or you can upgrade your fish again.
Well, Theanore didn't want to make her fishy friends any bigger or tastier. Then Marinus would eat more, and she will be left with only him and the system as friends.
The nettles sounded tempting. She could make some soup for Marinus, and perhaps he would eat one fish for two days? But she knew what she really wanted.
Her own body.
Theanore's father would return one day, and she wanted him to be able to see her. And not just her reflection in the water, either.
"System, grow the apple tree!"
Light enveloped Theanore, and she found herself standing in front of an apple tree sprout. It was adorable! She brushed the dirt from its single leaf so it could eat the sunlight that streamed from the hole that was above it.
Theanore could feel now. The light was nice and warm, but the cave was damp and slightly cold. Theanore felt a pang of hunger in her stomach.
Oh, no! Did she have to eat fish too now?
"System, how much mana do I have left?"
You have five mana left.
"Then make five nettles to grow up. I will make some soup."
Theanore didn't wait for a response. She rushed to the nettle tunnel and saw five big green plants with purple blossoms. She reached to grab one and then pulled her hand away only seconds later.
The plant had burned her!
Achievement unlocked: To be alive.
Theanore has experienced pain for the first time. As such, she is granted five new mana to her regen. Pain is life, after all.
How was Theanore supposed to eat a plant that burned her? Gripping the stem, she found that there were small needles on it. They hurt less than the leaves, but the sensation wasn't pleasant.
The nettle plant was big and so, to the nymph, it looked like it was enough for a single helping of soup. But she didn't have anything to put the plant in. The water was going to be spilled.
"System, can you please help me? I want to make some soup, but I have nothing to make it with."
Hint: Pots and jugs go round and round. You add the water and then cook the clay and bam.
"Cook?"
With fire.
Theanore shuddered. Fire was dangerous! Her worst enemy! Maybe she could eat the berries she had set aside for Marinus instead? A loud yell came from the entrance of the cave, and the little girl ran in its direction.
It was her father!
He was calling for her, and he was admiring all the plants that were now planted. Theanore ran up to the man and hugged his legs. The nettle brushed against his naked arm, and he yelped.
"What is this here? What are you doing here, child? And isn't the nettle hurting you?" Crassus said.
Theanore smiled up at him.
"It is I, father, Theanore! I planted a lot of grains and mushrooms and some fruit. And I even met a merman friend!"
The merchant nearly teared up when he saw his daughter. She looked just like she had looked in the reflection of the water the day before. Her feet were bare, and her father worried that she will get a cold.
"Theanore, you need socks. Let me get you some of mine. They will be like leggings on you, but they will provide some warmth. Are you hungry?" Crassus asked, suddenly understanding why the girl was holding a nettle.
"Thank you, father. Yes, I am hungry. I wanted to make some soup, but I didn't have anything to make it with. Apart from this nettle."
"Well, you need a pot and a fire. Then a bowl and a spoon. Fortunately, I can get you all these things, my little nymph."
Crassus made a fire outside of the cave after Theanore told him she feared it, and quickly made some soup with seawater from her pool. He had wanted to catch her a fish as well, but she had said no.
They shared the nettle soup and a loaf of bread between them. The merchant told Theanore she could make her own bread with the deep wheat and water from the pool. Crassus even told her he would make her a crushing stone with a wheel so that she could make the flour at any time.
As they ate one of the quick shot raspberries ripened in front of their eyes and Theanore gave it to her father. He savored the sweet fruit and praised Theanore for planting and upgrading such a thing.
"It seems that you are not only a nymph, you are a dungeon core too, Theanore."
"What is that, father?" the nymph asked.
Crassus petted her hair.
"A dungeon core is the mind behind a dungeon. You can expand the boundaries of the dungeon, and you can even create monsters to defend yourself. Theanore, listen carefully: There are bad people out there who will try to enslave you. I will plant trees to hide the entrance of your cave, but you must do your best to stay hidden too. Promise me."
Theanore had never met a bad person before. Her father was nothing but kind. Marinus was too. When he wasn't eating her friends, that is. Still, Crassus looked at her with fear shining in his eyes.
Fear for her, she realized.
"I promise, father Crassus!" the girl said, and she received a hug.
"I will leave the pots and everything else I carry with you. My home is not so far away from here. Tomorrow I will come back with some maple saplings. You will help them grow, won't you?"
Theanore smiled at the potential of getting more brothers and sisters. Even if the pears and mulberries hadn't given her any, she was hopeful.
"I will, father!"
Getting up, the merchant pointed at the pot.
"You eat the rest now. You are a growing girl. You need plenty of food."
An ant passed by Theanore, and she wondered where the anthill was. The ant went to the quick shot raspberry and picked up a fallen green raspberry.
Theanore followed the insect to its home and found that the ants cut up the raspberry in smaller chunks in order to get it inside their home.
Theanore needed this efficiency. She needed an ant farm.