I let my hand drop.
"You haven't given me a name!" she exclaimed.
"I just haven't told you yet! Your name is Gaia, derived from your species," I replied. „Did you not read the notebook?"
She shaked her head.
I was honestly a bit overwhelmed. I wanted to examine my real body, but I couldn't leave Gaia alone in this room.
I noticed that I had a few more EC, so I relaxed briefly and conjured simple clothing.
I quickly wove many small plant fibers into a sack.
I held it out to her and said, "Here, put this on, then we can talk."
She nodded and put on the sack. I did the same.
"Let's start again! Good day, Gaia. I'm Isaac Stone, your creator. How are you?"
"Good day," she said and knelt down.
"Why are you kneeling? Stand up!" I told her.
"But you're my creator?"
"You don't have to! I haven't been a god for long!" I joked.
She seemed to take it seriously and nodded with wide eyes as she stood up.
"Finally, someone to talk to!" I said softly.
"What?" Gaia asked.
"Nothing! I was just talking to myself," I replied.
She tilted her head and asked innocently, "But you can talk to me now, right?"
I smiled and said, "You're right; it's just a silly habit of mine."
"Because you were lonely?"
"No, not at all. It's just a habit," I strongly denied.
Gaia nodded, and I signaled for her to follow me.
I showed Gaia around, introducing her to the small house, the Control Room, and our sacks rustling slightly in the rising wind.
The grass had already grown to the perfect length and was held in place by the [Chronit-Bedrock].
"Why isn't the grass growing?" Gaia asked.
"How do you know that?" I inquired.
"I can hear things like that."
"Well, it's because of a specific type of rock..." I explained, and she nodded, then asked, "So, am I useless?"
"No, not at all! You can keep me company, and we can give you a purpose!" I assured her.
She nodded again. I then led her to the sapling next to the house.
"I want you to take care of this tree. It's a special kind, so it grows a bit slower," I told her.
"Alright, I think you're confused, and I'm overwhelming you. So, I'll give you some time to orient yourself," I said.
She simply nodded and walked toward the lake.
I watched her go and tried to access her status, which thankfully worked.
Although she was intelligent, she was still my creation.
------
[Status]
Name: Gaia
Title: First of the Galatea Species
- Immune to aging
- racial skills are strengthened
Age: 0 Years 0 Months
Species: Galatea
Level: 1/4
Exp: 0/200
Mana: 80/80
Muscle Strength: 10
Muscle Agility: 10
Body Control: 9
Stamina: 8
Skills: /
------
"Incredible!" I said. "Looks pretty good, actually."
I scrolled through her status and noticed she had a title that granted her a cool ability.
"When will I ever get a name?" I wondered, as quite some time had passed.
Gaia had no skills since they didn't fit in the budget.
"Maybe she'll learn some on her own!" I thought. "Now, back to me."
I looked down at myself and finally saw legs again.
I luckily hadn't forgotten how to walk; it was like an instinct. It was what allowed me to walk even after 20 years of immobility.
I wondered if I had a kind of status, so I opened mine. It looked the same as before, but I searched a bit and noticed that I could now access the Avatars Mode datas under [Mode].
I did just that:
————
[Avatar Status]
Body: Collection of Mana (Non-organic)
EC: 26/1500
Muscle Strength: 23
Muscle Agility: 23
Body Control: 23
———
"Quite disappointing!" I remarked.
I was relatively strong, but I didn't even have an organic body. I had no name, no mana, no title, and no skills.
"It's a bit of a shame," I thought, "but it's not the end of the world. I'm just happy to have a body again."
I looked almost like my ghost mode, except I wasn't transparent and… had legs.
So, I ran my hands over my body and walked slowly barefoot through the grass to feel it.
I went to the water source and took a sip.
"Delicious!" I exclaimed.
I enjoyed having a body again. I did some push-ups and a test strike.
*Whoosh*
"Incredible!"
The strike had broken the sound barrier, creating a small shockwave.
"Crazy!" I repeated and tried various actions, letting my thoughts wander.
Now that I had a real body again, many possibilities opened up.
"I'll wait until Gaia settles in," I decided.
I was curious about her character, as I had noticed you couldn't choose it—it was essentially random.
Suddenly, I felt the urge to sprint.
I ran, but after 13 seconds, I had covered the 200 meters.
"I couldn't reach top speed because I had to slow down," I realized. "I should try it on Tempora."
I teleported to Tempora but was greeted with a message:
[You can only be in Avatar Mode in the Control Room].
"I can't leave the Control Room in this mode?" I muttered to myself.
I read the text in disbelief while floating over the grass of Tempora.
"Oh well," I sighed. There was no point in complaining now.
I returned to the Control Room.
For a little over two days, I relaxed and enjoyed my body.
Although I hadn't had much contact with Gaia so far, her presence helped me immensely.
She seemed to be finding her way slowly and had already started asking about a few things, like getting two sheep and food.
"I didn't think about that!" I admitted with embarrassment.
She wanted the sheep for their wool to make proper clothing, a capability she still needed to practice, but she had plenty of time for that here.
To solve the food problem, I created a small garden next to the house and stocked the lake with fish, which also received some algae.
The Control Room was now essentially complete, but I refrained from marking it as
[Finished] because I wanted to be able to make changes.
Despite her newfound hobby, Gaia still fulfilled her role as a gardener.
She enjoyed planting small flowers and even gave me some tips on improving the Control Room's appearance.
"She has a real talent for natural beauty," I acknowledged.
"Gaia?" I called out.
"What's up?" she replied without raising her head as she tended to the sapling next to the house.
"She needed some calm after my arrival," I smiled to myself.
"Would you mind taking a break? I'd like your advice," I requested.
She nodded reluctantly. I had noticed that nature calmed her and served as a sanctuary for her.
"Here, this is my plan for the three continents on the second floor. Do you have any ideas?" I asked, showing her the sketch and description.
She examined it and said, "It's a bit vague."
"Yes, the small details will come later," I replied.
"Alright, from what I see, the sketch and description look good. But what do you mean by black and white desert?" she inquired.
"As you can see, I've planned three continents. I wanted to create a specific landscape on each. A black desert is a hot place, where the black sand and rock get scorching under the sun. The white desert, on the other hand, refers to ice and snow," I explained.
"So, you want to create two uninhabitable places?" she asked, looking puzzled.
"Uh, no," I replied, realizing she didn't understand. "Just because a place isn't attractive for you to live in doesn't mean it's not for others. There's life almost everywhere, even where you least expect it. For example, desert foxes or polar bears."
She looked at me blankly after I mentioned the animal examples.
"Never mind the polar bear and desert fox; just remember the rest. Besides," I pointed to an information window on the sketch, "there are canyons with green life in the black desert."
"Cool!" she exclaimed. "And the third continent is just a giant jungle?"
"Just a jungle? Unfortunately, that will be the most challenging and expensive," I admitted. "I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew there."
"Okay, and what about those floating islands above the sea?" she asked.
"That's due to the core of the planet," I explained.
Although she didn't fully understand, she nodded. Then she asked an unexpected question, "Can you create my kind on the planet?"
I looked surprised and replied, "I think it should be possible, but on which continent? In the jungle?"
She shook her head and said, "In the black desert, please."
"If you want it," I agreed. „But I have to test some things beforehand!"
We continued to discuss the world, and she actually helped me make it look more natural.
A few hours later, my EC was replenished, and I decided to move on to the second floor to implement our plan.
"See you later!" I smiled.
"See you later!" she replied with a smile, but working at the sapling already.