Day: 104

Days Left: 5376

Lives Saved: 0

Without even consulting the others, her mind too focused on her idea, Corinna rummaged through the shelves of Ivette's trading post. She scoured through the horde of objects, taking anything of use and shoving it into a large woven bag.

Harmony, Ivette, Sumit, and Rin watched the young woman in curiosity and confusion.

"What do you think she's up to?" asked Sumit, raising an eye at the assortment of items in the bag.

"She's going to construct something," answered Harmony as she walked over next to Corinna and asked if she needed assistance.

"Yes!" Corinna replied, still concentrating on scanning the shelves. "I need to go to the Land of the Lost and get some more supplies. I don't think I have enough here-"

"And what exactly are you planning on doing with them, my dear?" asked Ivette.

"Ah, sorry!" Corinna span around to face the trader, finally realising. "I'll pay you back." She gritted her teeth, looking down at the bag full of objects, wondering how much it would cost. "I was planning on... on making it easier to water the plants."

Ivette furrowed her brow, her eyes glancing back at the plant nursery. "If you can do that, my dear, you won't have to pay."

A big grin spread across the young woman's face. "To the Land of the Lost!" She grabbed Harmony's hand and dragged her outside with Rin and Sumit following closely behind.

With Corinna's instructions and guidance, together they scavenged enough supplies from the Land of the Lost, only returning until it grew dark. Ivette managed to quickly scramble together additional bedding for Corinna and Harmony to sleep on. However, Corinna could hardly catch a wink, her mind consumed with mental schematics and estimations.

When the others had woken up in the morning, they found that Corinna had already started construction. At either end of each aisle, she had placed coat racks, shelves, high tables, and other tall furniture to hold buckets. Currently, Corinna was occupied with piercing holes into a long spool of thin rubber tubing.

Harmony smirked. "Couldn't get to sleep?"

"Nope!" Corinna finished the last hole and then moved onto the next coil of tubing.

"Is there anything else to do or have you done everything by yourself again?"

Corinna pursed her lips guilty. "There's still more to do."

Rin and Sumit took over from Corinna as she and Harmony began running the finished tubing alongside the dirt beside the plants, then connecting the ends to the buckets. Once all of the lengths of tubes had been placed, they filled up the buckets with water.

"It's just a simple irrigation system," Corinna explained to Ivette as she showed her around. "However, you'll save a lot of time and water since it all gets distributed directly to the roots. All you need to do is fill the buckets occasionally. Do you collect rainwater?"

"Yes," replied Ivette. "That's what I've been using, but with such little rainfall and this many plants, I go through it very quickly."

"You shouldn't run out so quickly with this system. Of course, I could do a lot better. I'll improve it way more, but this will do for now. In the meantime, I can show you how to collect rainwater more efficiently-"

Ivette pulled the young woman's face down to her level and pecked her cheek. "Thank you, my dear. Perhaps you should have some rest before you start remodelling my whole house."

Corinna bit down on her bottom lip, hiding a guilty smile. "I wasn't planning on remodelling... all of it."

The trader smirked then wheeled herself over to a shelf of small potted plants and retrieved one, handing it to Corinna. It had fluorescent green leaves with flashes of purple that surrounded one large magenta flower in the middle. Hanging from one of the branching stems was a waxy black cocoon-shaped fruit.

"As thank you for all that you have done," explained Ivette. "This plant is another success just like the one I gave Harmony. That single fruit there will feed you for one meal. Very filling and nutritional, but not the tastiest. Harvest the fruit correctly, and it should regrow within a few days."

"Only a few days?" Corinna's eyes widened as she inspected the plant.

"You've no doubt noticed that the rules in this dimension are very different. That is because unlike ours, everything in the Eternal Abyss is made up of mana. The plants, the ground, it's in the air and in the rain. They are all made of mana and all feed on it. The desert used to be full of flora and life, but those wisps drained everything of its mana. They will eventually move on, and this desert will return back to its former glory. But that will be quite some time."

Ivette stroked the leaves of one of the nearby plants, caressing it gently with her fragile fingers. "The mana all around us is what keeps everything from dying. Though since we were not born here, The Eternal Abyss thinks that the state that we arrived is our perfect form and tries to keep us like that forever. If you had been imprisoned whilst injured, that injury would never heal."

Corinna rubbed her wrists, remembering the burns from the handcuffs and how Queen Corinna had healed them. If she hadn't had done that, Corinna would have had to endure that stinging sensation for her whole fifteen-year sentence.

"Of course, The Eternal Abyss only keeps anything with mana forever alive," Ivette continued. "Any food or other organic objects from our world wouldn't heal or repair themselves."

"Still... we're technically immortal in The Eternal Abyss." Corinna dismissed questioning why the Queen had healed her injuries for a later date. "I don't understand why anyone has not chosen to live here willingly. Why did they turn this place into a prison?"

"Well, my dear..." Ivette looked up at the young woman. "Because The Eternal Abyss was discovered by mages. Of course, it could only be discovered by someone with magical abilities, but it is highly dangerous to cast spells here."

"Is it because everything here lives off of mana?"

"Correct." Ivette nodded. "Casting any sort of spell draws out your mana outside of the body. You'll be lucky enough to even produce a cantrip before any nearby wisp, plant, or even the ground beneath your feet steals the mana. And in this world, a mage's mana replenishes very slowly. If all of it is depleted, your body will start to disintegrate." Ivette looked back at Corinna. "Not the most pleasant of deaths. Nor is it entertaining for the nobility to watch. That is why they cast that preventive charm on any mages to block their magical abilities before they are imprisoned." 

The trader paused for a moment, staring down in silence, then continued, "Salim can explain more if you are interested. He is the leading expert of The Eternal Abyss. I can just simply paraphrase what he taught me." Ivette cleared her throat. "But enough about the usual doom and gloom, my dear. That plant your holding is full of hope. One day, I will make sure that everyone will have their own, a sustainable food source so that we won't have to fight for it."

Corinna swallowed, remembering how close the food drop-off was. "Do you think Harmony will be alright without her mask?"

Ivette sighed and shook her head solemnly. "Some of the other prisoners might still be afraid of her without her mask, but you definitely won't be having first pickings any more. You'll most certainly have to fight for it, especially if it's after that fire demon has taken the alpha ranking." Forcing a smile, the trader held Corinna's hand and squeezed in reassurance. "But don't fret, my dear. Perhaps if you two work together with Rin and Sumit, you'll get enough packets to survive."