"So sleepy..." I mumble to myself as I reach out to grab my pillow."Where is my pillow?" I murmur, groping around——but I feel only thin air. I don't even feel my bed.
Suddenly, I sit up and look around.
All I see is a cave… and a glowing ball that radiates a warm, soothing light.
"It feels... nice," I whisper, walking toward it."I'm so sleepy..." I yawn, lying down beside the glowing orb.
And just like that, I fall asleep.
Meanwhile, a strange creature stirs.
"My lord is sleeping... must protect... must bring mana."
It reaches the edge of the cave and looks outside. A bright, lush forest stretches before it, bathed in golden sunlight. The creature squints, shielding its eyes as it steps out of the cave. At once, it feels its already weak and fragile connection to the core begin to strain.
Still, it moves forward.
Among the trees, it spots something—vines, yes, but more than that. A thin, green line made of tiny orbs floats in the air, guiding him. Without hesitation, it grabs the line and wraps it around its body. It tightens its grip around a jagged rock taken from the ground.
It trudges through the underbrush, slow and deliberate, each step pulling it farther from its core… but closer to something else.
Then it sees it—a bird.
Small, perched on a low branch. But more importantly, it sees the orbs—so many of them. Bright, shifting colors glow within the creature's delicate form.
The strange being smiles.
"Make the Lord stronger," it thinks—just before it leaps.
The strange being smiles——and smashes the bird's head in just as it flutters its wings to escape.
A short burst of mana flows from the broken body into his own.
He frowns.
"No... mana for Master," he says clearly, disappointment echoing in his dry, raspy voice.
He kneels and picks up the bird's limp body, still glowing faintly—still containing most of its mana.
He turns and begins the slow walk back, pushing through the low bushes and tangled undergrowth. Each step grows heavier as the pull of the core grows weaker… then stronger again as the cave comes into view.
He enters the darkness, the soft glow of the core greeting him like a distant star.
Carefully, he places the bird's body and the vine near the glowing orb.
The core pulses.
The bird and vine dissolve into wisps of light, absorbed into its surface——and the glow brightens. Just a little.
Just enough to matter.