[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 84: Magical Mahjong

Back on Sil’mara, Sam sat beside the [Sourcestone] in all its glittering splendor. The [Dune Tile] had been pulled all the way into the Skyshard and was simply awaiting his approval before it was socketed.

Apparently, since his Skyshard was so hilariously small, he could socket—that is, place—any Tile in any direction.

In keeping with the practice of his Settlement Core being at the center of his Skyshard, Sam originally figured he would place the Tiles in a cross formation. One for each cardinal direction, but then his plan of using the water from the [Lake Tile] for farming or planting on the [Plains Tile] would be much harder.

He’d probably have to find a way to route the water through his Settlement Core Tile, and he had no idea how to even go about doing that.

Sam reached out into the [Sourcestone] and was met with an overlay of Sil’mara. Though the Skyshard was rounded in a rough circle, he could see the colored overlay showing the four attachment points where he could place a new Tile.

Tentatively, Sam reached a hand toward the edge of his Skyshard, to the glowing lines, and grasped. The lines of light reacted and tethered to the [Dune Tile].

With another thought, Sam released the Tile from the chain’s anchor and with a motion of his arm, the Tile drifted to the west.

As soon as Sam released his grasp on the [Dune Tile] it adhered to the western side of the Skyshard. He could feel the mana from the Tile flow out, turning the grass bordering the Tile into a sandy scrub.

He quickly pulled it away and speared it back on the tip of the [Source Chain] before it could fully bond. He wasn’t sure about its placement yet.

Reaching into his Inventory, Sam took out the [Plains Tile] and saw the same overlay appear again. Only this time, he could socket the Tile onto one of the three sides of the [Dune Tile] as well as the three available sides of his Settlement Core.

So I can either completely surround the [Sourcestone] or build out in a specific direction?

Which would be best?

There didn’t seem to be any need for supporting the Tiles from below, so he could build in all sorts of strange and unique ways that would have been impossible otherwise.

Obviously surrounding the [Sourcestone] would be ideal, but he only had 4 slots. He’d need 8 to fully surround the thing, but on the other hand he could combine a series of Tiles branching off in one direction to do something far more interesting.

It was an idea that began germinating once he realized just how different the Tiles were at their borders.

What would happen if he joined a [Dune Tile] with a [Lake Tile]? Would it turn into a beach? What would grow there that they might not be able to otherwise find?

Would plants and animals spawn on the Tile over time?

Sam had an endless series of questions and no way of getting any answers apart from trial and error. And, to the best of his knowledge, once he permanently placed a Tile, he would have to Break it to remove it.

Maybe there was another way if his [Sourcestone] was stronger, but he didn’t see one.

Sam pulled out the [Forest Tile] and gave it a closer inspection.

He hadn’t seen anything pop out at him from looking at the [Forest Tile] before, but now, in the presence of the [Sourcestone], Sam was surprised at the information presented.

Representing the greater Tile, this small cubic foot of soil contained trees in miniature as well as grass so small and fine that they resembled tiny threads woven between the finger-thin trees with their glorious green canopies waving in the wind.

Komachi walked across his arm, balanced effortlessly, and peered into the Tile’s miniaturized beauty. Overtaken by curiosity, she tentatively reached a paw towards it.

Much to Sam’s surprise, her paw actually went inside the diorama, touching the various mini-trees. “Cool!”

[Forest Tile]

(Tiny) (F-Class)

(★Common)

A tiny forest, home to many plants and animals. Abundant in resources of wood and forage, but dangerous too, as many creatures that live and thrive within do not take kindly to interlopers. Forests stabilize nearby Tiles, spreading their roots deeply and enriching those nearby with their mana.

Curious, Sam reached into his expanded Inventory and pulled out one of the extra Tiles he procured. He still lamented that he had not been able to save the others.

What sorts of animals and creatures had fallen into the abyss because of his weakness?

He shook his head. Not weakness. You pushed yourself too hard as it is. You saved what you could.

The words rang hollow in his own head. After Komachi gave him a look, he pushed them aside and lifted up the gray cube. Little boulders and tumble downs of rock appeared scattered about the top of the cube.

[Barren Tile]

(Tiny) (F-Class)

(★Common)

A barren and rocky landscape prone to caves and canyons where valuable ores may be found. The land itself is difficult to work with, but with proper amending, may be suitable for certain crops. Spacious with few deviations, the Barrens provide ample opportunities to those with creative minds. Grants the [Better by Comparison] trait.

[Better by Comparison]: All adjacent Tiles gain increased EXP.

Now that’s interesting. A Tile that increases the EXP of other Tiles?

Even more intriguing, was that Tiles could gain EXP.

He didn’t exactly want a [Barren Tile] right next door to his [Sourcestone], but what if the [Barren Tile] could increase the EXP of his [Sourcestone] as well? Wouldn’t that be useful?

Even more importantly, it suggested there were modifiers that the Tiles could gain. He didn’t have any other [Barren Tiles] to compare to, but he wondered if they all had the [Better by Comparison] trait.

If they did, and if they stacked, he could put [Barren Tiles] all around his Skyshard, boosting Sil’mara’s EXP four times, as well as enhancing any further Tiles that he added on.

It would be a short-term loss for a long-term gain. Wasn’t that what Sam said he wanted to do all along? That a little pain now was worth future progress?

“Easy to say,” he muttered to himself. “It’s not like I have any other [Barren Tiles] to socket.”

“Komachi wants kitty litter Tile,” his cat told him, then deepened her voice to an almost supernatural degree. “Gotta take a monster dump.”

Sam looked at her. “You never used the litter box back home.” It wasn’t quite an accusation, but it was close.

It had come as quite the surprise that Komachi never used the litter box. At first, he thought maybe she was hiding it under something like the carpet.

The more he looked, the more he became aware of two things.

One, Komachi, really didn’t like him looking for where she went to the bathroom. She yowled and got furtive about the whole affair. Often looking over her shoulder back at him if he dared to follow her.

Secondly, Komachi was the champion of stealth pooping.

She eyed him askance. “We all got secrets, man.”

“You do go, right?” he asked, skeptical.

For some reason, that just made her nervous.

Deciding, once again, that it was best left alone, Sam reached up and scratched Komachi’s chin instead of continuing the interrogation further.

“We all have secrets, indeed,” he agreed, doing his level best to push it from his mind.

“Yeah, like Raiko pretending to be your blind date… five times. She real bad at romance.”

“I don’t think that happened, Komachi.”

“You do you,” she said simply.

“Do you need the litter box Tile, Komachi?”

She fussed with her paws. “I’d like it.”

“An entire Tile just to use the bathroom seems like a bit of a waste.”

“Maybe I wasn’t being serious about the monster dump part.”

Sam looked even more skeptically at her. “Sure, Komachi.”

Was Komachi sweating? Could cats even sweat?

“Anyway!” Sam said with forced cheer. “You want the [Dune Tile]? What if I told you that if we found three more [Barren Tiles] we might be able to boost the EXP of the [Sourcestone] fourfold?” Sam held up the [Barren Tile]. “This gives an EXP boost to surrounding Tiles, and it looks like each Tile can attach to four others.”

She sniffed the [Barren Tile]. “I’d tell you that somethin’ would happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you got all four of ‘em. Something more than just sweet EXP.”

“How do you know that?”

“Cause I’d take a dump in it.”

“Komachi!”

“I’m kidding!” His cat snickered. “Maybe. You dunno. I just… know somehow that something would happen between those Tiles and the [Sourcestone]. I got a feelin’ for it. Seeker isn’t all that bad.”

Sam thought about that for a moment. She did have an entirely different Legend than him. “Is it better to wait for more [Barren Tiles], or not then?”

The enormity of what he was doing dawned on him and it was a somewhat chilling one. He was asking his cat what to do. Granted, they were on a flying island and his cat could talk, but still.

It was quite the scene.

“You’re not sure if it’s permanent, you mean?” she asked, scratching herself. “Placing Tiles.”

“I know I can Break the Tile again if I need to, but I also feel like that’d be… bad somehow. I imagine most Tiles can’t be Broken infinitely without issue. I would prefer to keep the damage down.”

“Only you can unga-bunga Break. So, there must be a different way to manipulate Tiles. Maybe if the Skyshard levels up, it can do more. Or we’re missing a skill of some kind.”

“Right, and putting down a Tile that gives more EXP will get us to a higher Skyshard sooner.” Sam shrugged. “At least, that was my hope.”

It was also possible, Sam feared, that having a Tile that did nothing but added extra EXP might be a detriment with so few Tiles available to him.

At least a [Forest Tile] could provide food, wood, and maybe even some EXP from fighting whatever spawned within.

But if the [Barren Tile] gave nothing, it would take up a valuable slot, provide no resources, and in doing so provide no manner of gaining extra EXP.

“Put ‘em down,” Komachi decided. “Just like the way you founded this Skyshard. Work with what we have, and when we have access to more, do somethin’ about it.”

“I have over a dozen Tiles, Komachi. And only four slots. Raiko’s Skyshard is obviously beyond capacity, so there are a lot of options at play here.”

“Yeah, well, make a combo. See what happens, do what you want to do. You never used to have much choice in your life, and now you have it. Can always talk to Raiko if you want.”

She was right. He was so used to having nearly no choice at all that choosing was something of a new thing. It was too easy to get caught up in the “what ifs” and be paralyzed.

He also didn’t want to ask Raiko for advice. Not only because she clearly had her own issues, least of which being currently unconscious.

He wanted to do this on his own.

Sam reached out through the [Sourcestone] and set the first Tile. As he did, a deep rumbling echoed through Sil’mara as Sam set the [Barren Tile] down.

When the rumbling ceased, Sam could hear a new sound. Sam made his way to the edge of Sil’mara and looked down in surprise.

Below, a dramatic change rippled across Raiko’s Skyshard. Rivers carved themselves through the bamboo thickets and rolling hills, snaking towards the Skyshard’s flattening edge.

Most of the Tiles the Skyshard could no longer support were dust in the wind.

Broken ridges flared out, forming a sharp incline. Water spilled into the channel, slowly encircling much of the Skyshard in what was practically a winding moat.

He searched the Skyshard. No new Tiles seemed to be placed down. Instead, the land itself was moved and shaped like malleable clay.

The terraforming—what could he call it, really?—radiated outwards from Raiko. Glyphs blazed a golden pattern across her outstretched arm. Pieces of those symbols leapt onto a carved cube, bringing it to life.

It darted about the landscape, releasing bursts of concentrated magic that caused the effect, or even accelerated it. It was difficult to tell, both from the sheer distance and the style of magic.

It felt primal, in some way more solid than anything else.

Like a bloodline. But those glyphs, that wasn’t how his bloodline worked.

The tactical utility smacked him right in the face. Those that assaulted the Skyshard would have to make it past the sharp rocks, drag themselves through the water and then climb. Where defenders could all too easily position themselves and fend off the invaders.

Couldn’t invaders just fly over the Skyshard and drop in like I did?  Though not everything can do that. Sam wondered to himself as he pulled away and went back to setting the three other Tiles.

If Raiko was working on her Skyshard, he would too.