27: Misty Crystal and Magic Beans

I discovered that the vibrations caused by the Tass Creatures had exposed a fatal flaw in the already rudimentary wall foundation—a clear gap had appeared where the base of one side of the wall met the soil.

At this point, the system issued me a new task:

“Task Five: Improve the Wizard Shack

The Wizard Shack currently has no bottom. Add a stone floor to make the shelter more complete.

Task Reward: mist crystal

Time Limit: None”

Improving the Wizard Shack was indeed urgent, but where was I supposed to find flagstones?

As night fell, inside the dark shack, Sphere Professor was testing my language fundamentals.

But as an otherworldly visitor who had only studied language for a few days, the Professor immediately categorized me as illiterate.

The Professor pointed at my nose with his Mage Hand and scolded, “You stinky brat, you are the worst student I have ever taught!”

What could I say? I wanted to curse back, but I couldn't open my mouth; I genuinely didn't know many words.

The Professor began teaching from the very basic alphabet.

Every time I mispronounced a word, I was met with a roar from the Professor.

The next morning, the Dragon King and I traveled a short distance west, reaching the edge of the coastal cliff.

The last time I crossed over, I was chased by Mad Apess, accidentally struck by Lavinia's lightning spell, and finally fainted by the cliffside, the sensation of my fingers touching the rock still vivid in my memory.

Returning here, I could indeed see many exposed rocks not covered by soil and vegetation.

I took out tools like an axe and an iron pry bar, trying to find and pry loose rocks.

Large rocks were immovable, but along the long coastal cliff, I could always find small, loose stones.

I returned to the shack and persuaded Sphere Professor to help, bringing him along.

Then, the Professor and I used the axe and iron pry bar to loosen small stones, which I then collected into my system space.

The Dragon King was even more efficient.

It used its claws and tail to loosen small stones, then swallowed them.

Later, it even flew down to the fog-shrouded cliff bottom, acquiring a large quantity of small stones and pebbles.

In one hour, we had collected far more materials than needed.

After some thought, I had the Dragon King swallow a good amount of sand and store it in the system space as well.

The thin mist dispersed, and the sunlight shone on the sea, creating shimmering ripples.

The surrounding seabirds chirped, occasionally diving into the sea to hunt fish.

We were by the sea, yet we hadn't eaten any fish until now.

With the Dragon King here, we would surely feast today.

The Dragon King did not disappoint; in a short while, it hunted several sea fish and stored them in its space.

Given the tragic experience of the Dire Wolf attack triggered by grilling meat last time, today's fish grilling was conducted inside the shack.

After a hearty meal, I put all the indoor items into my space or moved them to the material pile.

Then I began the “floor tile” project.

First, I used an iron pry bar to drill four holes in the ground at the four corners, then had the Dragon King continue to deepen these holes to a depth of about ten meters underground.

Then, the Dragon King and I together laid crushed stones and sand into these four holes and on the ground.

I aimed the Qiankun Ring on my left hand at the ground and the holes, and with a thought, tiny pebbles fell from my palm.

Subsequently, the Dragon King spat out white sand, filling the gaps and surface of the pebbles.

We worked in tacit agreement, finishing the entire indoor floor in a few minutes.

The top layer was fine white sand smoothed over the entire floor, with sand and stone underneath, and four ten-meter-long thin columns of sand and stone deeply embedded in the earth.

With such a structure, once the system assimilated the energy, the entire shack would be firmly anchored to the ground like a nail.

Even if yesterday's Tass Creatures or even more powerful beasts attacked, they would not be able to easily overturn this shack.

“Host has completed System Task Five. Reward has been issued.”

As the mechanical voice sounded, a silver crystal wrapped in flowing mist gradually appeared in the center of the shack, suspended in mid-air.

When I reached out to take the crystal, its related information also appeared in the system information panel.

【mist crystal

This crystal is a hard shard from an astral plane, with silver mist flowing on its surface.

Place the mist crystal on a stable flat surface. The caster uses the mist crystal as a center to create a spherical dense fog outside, with a maximum radius of 60 feet and a maximum height of 10 feet.

The dense fog fills all corners within the sphere and causes heavy obscuration.

Creatures entering the mist must make a Perception saving throw each round.

Those who fail the save will lose their sense of direction and may wander endlessly in the mist until death. Those who succeed are unaffected.

The dense fog is ineffective against the caster and creatures he designates.

The caster can adjust the form, density, and color of the mist within the range. Without stopping the effect of the mist crystal, the dense fog will persist, but it can still be dispersed by a gentle breeze or stronger winds (at least 10 miles per hour).

The higher the caster's level, the larger the area the dense fog can cover.】

This reward item came just in time; with the cover of the mist, I believe the Wizard Shack will be much less bothered by wild beasts and monsters in the future.

At the same time, the system issued the sixth task.

“Task Six: Defend Outpost Two

The host and the familiar will jointly resist potential enemies and protect the Wizard Shack from being overturned.

The host can activate the mist crystal to keep most creatures outside the mist, avoiding unnecessary battles.

Within one hour of the Wizard Shack's completion, the system's energy will gradually assimilate the bottom structure of the Wizard Shack.

Task Reward: Bag of Magic Bean

Task Time Countdown: 1 hour”

I placed the mist crystal on the box and began to activate the mist effect.

Soon, I saw the outside of the shack covered in a silvery-white dense fog.

I could easily see through the obscuring effect of the dense fog myself.

After expanding the mist to its maximum range, I then cleared the dense fog from the area around the shack, specifically the ground within the branch fence.

This was equivalent to adding another circular white fog wall outside the fence yard.

Finally, I set it so that both the Dragon King and the Professor were unaffected by the mist.

I went outside and saw the outermost edge of the mist constantly trembling from the sea breeze; in the direction of the wind, the dense fog circle had thinned slightly.

But thankfully, new dense fog was continuously replenished, and there was no sign of it being blown away.

With the mist wall blocking, the wind around the shack felt much weaker.

Over the next hour, the Dragon King, the Professor, and I worked together again to add many more traps around the area.

One hour passed quickly, and the system once again issued a reward:

【Bag of Magic Bean

This heavy cloth bag contains 10 dried beans.

If you pour the contents of the bag onto the ground, the beans will cause an explosion with a radius of at least 10 feet.

Every creature within the explosion radius, including yourself, must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, they take 5d4 fire damage, and on a successful save, they take half damage.

If a single bean is taken from the bag, planted in soil or sand and stone, and watered, after 1 minute the bean will grow into a 2-foot-tall plant. A plant that is touched will randomly produce one of the following effects:

· Scorch Cloud, causes a Scorch Cloud with a 10-foot radius that lasts for 1 to 10 minutes.

A swirling cloud filled with scorching ashes appears and spreads in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on the plant.

The Scorch Cloud spreads around corners and heavily obscures the entire area, and it persists until the spell ends.

When the smoke cloud appears, every creature within it must make a Dexterity saving throw. Those who fail the save take 10d8 fire damage, and those who succeed take half damage.

· Thundercloud, causes a Thundercloud with a 10-foot radius that lasts for 1 to 10 minutes.

A swirling thundercloud filled with lightning appears and spreads in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on the plant.

The Thundercloud spreads around corners and heavily obscures the entire area, and it persists until the spell ends.

When the Thundercloud appears, every creature within it must make a Lightning Resistance saving throw each round. Those who fail the save take 10d8 lightning damage, and those who succeed take half damage.

· Poison Mist, causes a Poison Mist with a 10-foot radius that lasts for 1 to 10 minutes.

Creates a 10-foot radius spherical yellow-green highly poisonous dense fog centered on the plant.

The Poison Mist spreads around corners and heavily obscures the entire area, and it persists until the spell ends.

Any creature entering the spell area must make a Constitution saving throw each round. Those who fail the save take 5d8 poison damage, and those who succeed take half damage.

· Poison Vine, causes a Mana Vines with a 10-foot radius that lasts for 1 to 10 minutes.

Creates a 10-foot radius Mana Vines centered on the plant.

Any creature entering the spell area must make a Dexterity saving throw each round.

Those who fail the save will be restrained by the Mana Vines, and those who succeed can escape.

Those restrained by the Mana Vines must make a Constitution saving throw each round. Those who fail the save take 1d4 poison damage per second, and those who succeed take half damage.

The plant disappears along with the spell after its effect is triggered.

If left untriggered, the plant can survive for up to one year.

The plant will bear 4d6 new Magic Beans in July and August each year. Ripe Magic Beans can be put into the Bag of Magic Bean for future use.】