The sunlight's warmth stirs me from my peaceful slumber. Sighing, I stretch my limbs to their limits. The soft presence of the woman beside me puts a smile on my face. I lean over and embrace her from behind, basking in the early morning bliss.

  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

  Thunderous knocking upon my bedroom door wrenches away my content smile. I snap my eyes open, a grimace slipping onto my face. Sitting up abruptly, I turn to face the closed door. The poor woman lying with me shudders fearfully. She holds the blanket like a shield, attempting to cover her nude body.

  "What is it?!" I yell at whoever dares bother me.

  There's a brief pause before I get my reply.

  "His Majesty sends his regards, Prince Theobald."

  It's not one of the servants, but rather the brute who leads our royal soldiers--Captain Drake. Of all the people to be banging on my door bright and early in the morning, it has to be someone I can't influence?

  "What for?" I question, feeling uneasy.

  "Open the door and maybe I'll tell you, Prince."

  Sighing, I throw on what I was wearing the night before. I can't be bothered with changing into fresh clothes for something like this. I move to the door, strategically placing my body in between the doorway and the bed. Captain Drake is standing entirely too close to my open door.

  "Out with it."

  He chuckles "Well, Prince, His Majesty is sending you on a quest."

  My face contorts as if I've just bitten into an unripe lemon. I'm being given a quest?! Of all the bloody things Father could have done, he gave me something to do with myself? Perhaps I've been too relaxed with the flagrant drinking and the rampant lovemaking. Even a pushover like Father has his limits, apparently.

  "What could I possibly accomplish?" I ask, exasperated.

  "Word is there's something strange going on in Daywark. His Majesty wants you to meet with Lord Fredrick and figure out if there's any truth to the rumors."

  "Daywark? You mean that soggy little town out on the edge of the territory?"

  Shock and confusion leaks into my voice. Captain Drake looks just as suspicious of the information as me, but he's loyal to Father's orders. He shakes his head slowly as he continues to speak to me.

  "I don't believe it either, but it's His Majesty's orders."

  "Why send me? Why not Percy? That little snot is much more suited to gallivanting around like the knights of yore!"

  "I tried to dissuade His Majesty from electing you, but I'm afraid his mind is made up, Prince."

  Damn Father's stubborn moods! For such a spineless man he often won't budge on the strangest of things. I sigh, turning to move back into my room. Captain Drake cracks a smile, his low voice coming out as a cautionary whisper.

  "By the way, His Majesty said to stop sleeping with the maids. It's a bad look, Prince Theobald."

  My face burns with embarrassment as I slam the door in Captain Drake's face.

  ~

  Feeding Gu is a lot like feeding a very angry toddler. He doesn't want to sit still, and he certainly won't eat any veggies. He'd much prefer I give him a big hunk of meat and let him go to town on it like some kind of wild animal!

  "Gu, you have to eat your carrots. They're good for you!"

  "Gu!"

  The angry little grunt I get from Gu is disheartening, but I press on. I decide to use a trick I've yet to try, and start to steer the fork like it's an airplane flying through the air. Gu quickly grows interested in the way I'm moving the chunk of carrot.

  "Whoosh... Here comes the dragon!"

  "Gu gu!"

  Gu suddenly snaps up the piece of carrot right off the fork. I jump a little at the speed with which he went for it, thankful Gu isn't my enemy. I really designed him with the ability to kill, but that was before I knew how gosh darn cute he is!

  While I do have more carrots to feed Gu, I decide to let him have his fun. The little guy is quick to leap off my lap and start stomping around the play room. I have to wonder what he's imagining as he roars at his toys, perhaps he's imagining being a big monster?

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I leave Gu's area and make my way to my core room. Has my core gotten a bit bigger? I could have sworn it was the size of a golf ball, but now the blue glowing sphere looks closer to a tennis ball in size. Maybe I'm imagining things.

  Pressing my hand to my core, I leave my body.

  I'm met with quite the sight in Green Valley. Several great hawks have been killed, and a large amount of blood and viscera is painting Fair Plateau red. There's a discarded crossbow, which I have to assume came from the soldiers. I must have missed some things!

  Honestly, it comes as a surprise that the soldiers fought the great hawks. I hadn't expected them to come to blows for a while, considering the great hawks are fairly passive if you don't approach their nests.

  Moving up to the surface gives me a view of the soldier's encampment. There are so many tents now, and the forest has been beaten back in favor of expanding the fortifications surrounding my dungeon's entrance.

  In one particular tent--the medical tent--there are three soldiers with wounds I'm almost certain were caused by great hawks. One poor boy is missing his right eye. The leader looks to have fared better, with deep gashes but nothing permanent. The third soldier is... dead. He must have bled out after they did their best to bandage him up. They brought him to their doctor, yet nothing could be done.

  Maybe I should help them?

  My attention moves back down into Green Valley. I hadn't originally planned for it, but adding something useful for the soldiers to my dungeon isn't a terrible idea. If I gave them something to heal injuries more effectively they might be more willing to get hurt and explore my dungeon for longer periods of time. More time means more mana!

  A quick scan of Green Valley leaves me feeling a bit uncertain. I could put the treasure anywhere, but I want it to feel rewarding and believable. If I just stuff a bunch of treasure chests next to the gazebo they'll be suspicious!

  Thankfully, there is one area that has a notable lack of points of interest. Swarm Forest is the largest of the regions, taking up about half of the total space within Green Valley. Toad Lake's center focal point is the sealed ruin, much like how Fair Plateau's focal point is the gazebo. Swarm Forest has empty space alongside the sealed ruin within it.

  Stone fashioned similarly to that of the sealed ruins rises from the ground like self molding clay. A boxy structure is erected, before promptly being torn apart and eroded as if by the march of time and nature. Now there's a new square ruined structure in Swarm Forest, designed to appear long abandoned.

  Excitement bubbles up within me as I create a treasure chest, using a heavy sturdy stone. The thing's lid will have to be slid aside to reveal the contents. Speaking of the contents, it's time I make the helpful reward I want the soldiers to have!

  I move to the laboratory so as to not disturb Green Valley with my work. Here, I create a glass bottle suspended by metal prongs.

  My goal is to make the classic healing potion I often saw in video games and other media. One bottle being enough to cure your wounds and put you back on your feet seems appropriate. Of course, if I make them too strong it could seriously affect things like the world's economy and medical practices. I wonder if anything I've done has affected the world at large?

  Pushing aside that thought, it's time I got down to business.

  I push mana into water like I'm mixing sugar into tea. My intent to create something to heal those who consume it gradually colors the mixture, my own biases on how a healing potion should look make it a bright red hue. A healing potion's worth of mana poorer, I've got my prototype finished.

  Testing the healing potion is going to be a bit tricky. I could create and injure an animal, but I would feel guilty for directly harming it. It feels different to harm something with my own hands. Or would it be with my own core?

  The soft cry of a wounded great hawk grabs my attention. I move to it, eyeing the poor bird as it waddles along the edge of Toad Lake. These hawks aren't meant to be down here. It probably hurt its wing and crashed here.

  Seeing the perfect opportunity to test my healing potion, I create some just above the bird's injured wing. To my surprise, the great hawk squawks fearfully. It looks as if it's seen a ghost! Thankfully my healing potion has already doused the bird's injury.

  It's a little visceral watching the great hawk's wing snap back into place. Luckily, the bird doesn't seem to be in pain for long.

  I watch, delighted, as the great hawk tests its wings. Once it's satisfied they provide lift without any pain the great hawk takes to the air. It rises, its tail feathers suddenly being brushed by a lunging shape.

  That was close!

  Now there's a goliath toad sitting on the sandy bank of the lake. It was just a feather off in its attack on the great hawk, and missed its chance. The feathered snack is already flying back above Fair Plateau. The goliath toad croaks, and then promptly leaps back into the algae filled waters of Toad Lake.

  Now that I've tested the healing potion--and it worked--I can actually offer it to the soldiers who visit the dungeon. I go ahead and move back to the crumbling stone ruin on the far side of Swarm Forest. The stone chest is just as I left it. I create three small vials of healing potion, each one gently placed in the chest.

  Something is missing... Oh, right, the coins!

  I create a bunch of copper coins like I did previously, using the same symbols on each face. I move the potions so they're resting amongst the coins in an appealing fashion.

  Now this brings me to a point I'm not sure how to handle. I have this treasure chest full of coinage and useful potions, but I don't want the soldiers to just loot it once and leave. They won't want to come back as often if I don't restock it somehow.

  In the past, I replaced and moved things around freely when the soldiers weren't here. I could keep doing that if I wanted. Unfortunately, I'm big on whimsy, so that just won't do! I need something flashy, something memorable, something that can get those soldiers out of the area while I fix things up.

  I know just what to do.

  My mana drains rapidly as I start to work my magic on the entirety of Green Valley. Everything begins to shake slightly, leaves fall from the trees like rain. The animals and monsters all tremble as if wracked by seizures. The sky starts to turn red like blood, with the false sun being eclipsed by a false moon.

  Foam drips from the mouths of the rabbits. The bird's eyes turn a shade of red, their cries horribly guttural. The toads start to vomit and wretch as if they've eaten something too rotten for their stomachs. The swarmers move in erratic patterns, their legs propelling them around at unsettling speeds.

  At the same time as all this chaos unfolds, the stone chest crumbles to dust. The contents of the chest turn to ash alongside their container. Then a new chest begins to rise from the ground. Fresh coins and healing potions fill the stone container, as if they never left.

  The eclipse ends.