Mind Demon's Path of Domination

A few hours passed and Mark found himself in front of an ancient tree.

"Is this enough?" he asked.

Yuri looked at it and gave the wood some flicks. Then, she gave him the thumbs up. "This is enough, and with it, we can check the wood out of the list."

Mark leaned on the tree and gave it a gentle push. He was strong, too strong for a tree at least. It tilted, the roots exploding up from the ground. Smirking, Mark assisted its fall and absorbed it into his World Space once it was on the ground.

Yuri had worn a pair of goggles, looking all nerdish. No, she was a nerd. She had a paper in her hand, listing all the needed material for her dream lab inside his World Space.

"Now we have stone and mud for basic construction," she said without looking up. "We also have wood for framing, support, and furniture. We don’t really need clay for containers since we can use your Alchemic Shapeshifting for most of those things."

He could do that with wood too, but they didn’t have to do that when these things were available on the ground.

"What else do you want?" he asked.

She mused aloud. "We need metals for making tools and instruments—copper, bronze, iron. All of that fun stuff."

"I will use Alchemic Shapeshifting for that," he replied.

"I know," she answered, not taking her eyes off the paper. "I also took the metal from the savage world’s villagers you absorbed so that you can study and clone them for me. So, metals can also be checked out of the list."

"What else?"

"Leather and animal products. These things could be used to make things like clothing and similar. And I’d like some biological samples from the unique wildlife of this world."

Mark nodded. "Can’t make life with Alchemic Shapeshifting, got you. So, a small hunt next, then."

She looked up, eyes twinkling. "I had seen a herd of weird sheep kin some distance away when you were sleeping. It seemed tasty for meat and also looked like a weird species. Let’s collect some of them into your World Space. It can be farmed by the villagers for dairy too."

Dona, who was some distance away from them, was squatted beside a flowery shrub, looking at a bunch of butterflies. The butterflies didn’t seem afraid of her and were even staying still on her hair and hand.

She said, "There is a weird bird that flies in the sky Mark, it comes only at night but it looks really beautiful. It dances when it rains. I want that."

Mark looked at Yuri.

"She’s talking about a peacock, I’ve seen it from a distance," Yuri said, spreading her arms. "Nothing unique by much but she seems to like it, so you have to catch that, too."

Mark sighed. Then, he brought out the hamster from his World Space and nudged it on his head. His wings spread out widely, kicked up the air, and he flew like an arrow.

Soon, he was amidst the clouds, beginning his hunt.

With his Soul Sense, wings, and strength, Mark was a natural hunter and in merely minutes, he landed back amidst the two women. The sheep had been absorbed into his World, and there was a bird that strangely looked like a peacock clutched against his arms, squeaking.

Yuri’s eyes widened at the sight and she ran towards him like a child seeing a new toy.

"It’s not a peacock," she said.

He raised the bird. "Yeah, kind of looks like one though. And its body is really warm, just like Dona’s. Reminds me of a mythical bird."

Dona came closer and grinned at it.

"You smug thing," she said. "You could fly away from me, but couldn’t do that with him, could you?"

The peacock looked at her with fright.

Mark was amused. "I noticed when I was hunting, but this creature is quite weird. At first, it was mocking me but when it knew it couldn’t run, it started being so obedient."

Its stats were normal—it was a very normal creature of this world. On the way, he had asked about the bird to Yasna and she had said this was a rare species. A mark of good fortune to even come across.

Dona snatched away the creature and stared at it admonishingly. It seemed scared, but obedient and submissive.

Anyway, Mark felt it was a uniquely intelligent bird and Dona liked it, so might as well give it a Dungeon Heart Seed and turn it into his new pet.

But on the other hand, the hamster on Mark’s head stared at the bird menacingly.

How dare another creature enter its sacred home?

"Give it to me, I’ll store it in for you," Mark said and absorbed the peacock into his World Space. Dona hummed a tune and went back to her butterflies and flowers.

The hamster scoffed.

Yuri’s gaze was back on the piece of paper in her hand.

She said: "Now we have mud, stone, wood, leather, and dairy. Next, I’ll need a lot of glass."

"I can make that, but not the kind you want."

She frowned.

The glass available in this world...

Although primitive glass existed, it would need to be improved for use in beakers, lenses, and other equipment. Mark could also create glass itself using Alchemic Shapeshifting, but he couldn’t improve that rough glass to meet the intricate needs of a lab.

She’d have to do that herself. It was fine, she was a capable scientist.

For melting and shaping the glass itself for more intricate purposes, there were artisans in the villages inside the World Space, she could teach them to do that. They were going to be talented in that kind of task.

This was the use of manpower.

"What would you need next?" he asked.

She looked at him. "I’d need energy sources. Firewood and charcoal for melting, water power—water wheels—for mechanical power, and basic windmills for mechanical work. It would also get me electricity."

Mark’s eyes lit up. That would also solve the issue of the world inside his World Space being eternally dark. The people there were getting depressed after not seeing the light for days.

"How do you make it?" he asked.

"I will show you the plan, just help me with Alchemic Shapeshifting when I ask."