I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 16

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 16

I made my way back to my chair- a small pile of snow fell from my body as I sat.

Mr. Flippers and I ended up playing in the snow for a few hours, but there was still an abundance of time left before I needed to go back to the academy.

The actual time system in the academy operated on a 24-hour clock similar to Earth's. Since class only lasted from 7 am to 10 am, we were left with 21 hours a day to train, work on our realms, or do whatever else we needed. I assumed that our schedule would be busier once the competition started, but it was very open for now.

With this in mind, despite playing with Mr. Flippers, taking a bath with Julia, adding the pathways through the mountains, and dealing with the whole meeting with Tatton, I still had a lot of time to do the thing I was most looking forward to: introducing my first lifeforms to my realm.

I placed a few white cards onto my desk with various lifeforms pictured on them.

I'm so glad I got these approved before I got flagged.

A cold sweat dripped down my back as I pictured all of my lifeforms being denied by the sheep instructor out of no reason other than spite.

Well, I'm sure there are some rules in place to prevent bias... right? There has to be...

My eyes made their way back to the cards on my desk. At this point I had gotten all of my primary and basic lifeforms approved: phytoplankton, moss, fungi, earthworms, and fish. The only things I was missing were the moderate lifeforms that I had yet to decide upon. Although I wanted some type of fruit tree and livestock animal, the specifics were not chosen yet.

Hopefully she calms down by the time I verify my moderate choices. There's no point in worrying about it now though, I should get started on adding these babies.

One by one, I touched the cards while they were on the desk and the computer instantly began scanning them after verifying their signatures. Icons displaying the lifeforms soon appeared on the screen in front of me- small gauges were displayed next to them which I presumed would signify how many I could add.

I took another look at the realm that had only three colors making up its surface- the blue of the seas, the brown of the barren land, and the white from the glaciers in the north. Within a few days, one of those colors was bound to disappear.

With the mouse in my hand, I clicked on one of the lifeforms.

"Hypnum imponens moss. You will be the first life in my domain," I muttered.Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

My heart began to beat fast. Although it had only been about 5 days, it felt like it had been at least 5 months since I became a ruler.

All the effort, thought, and preparation led to this moment. I was confident that I made the right choices.

"Dye the ground green, my mossy boys! Spread your spores across the barren and desolate land. You have no predators, no worries, no competition. You have no limits- do not falter from the sun, the heat, or the cold. Adapt and improve and spread even further- you are moss, my creation, so there is nothing that you can't conquer!"

"Squawk?"

"Let me have my moment, Mr. Flippers."

"... squawk."

Settling back down in my chair, I began dotting the continent with small batches of moss. Judging by how fast the gauge was decreasing, there was absolutely no way that I would have been able to outright cover the entire realm, so I had to resort to this strategy to make sure there was moss in every area. With time, I expected them to fill in the gaps.

In spite of the fact that 4.2 days passed in the realm for every second in my domain, it would still take some time for the moss the spread. While I waited, I decided to add the phytoplankton.

There were mainly 5 places where I focused on adding it; the giant lake in the mountains, the eastern gulf, the oasis in the desert, the southern ocean, and the western ocean. I also sprinkled some in any other notable lakes that naturally formed. As phytoplankton was nearly invisible to the naked eye, it was difficult to see how fast it was spreading in my planet-wide view, however, I had no doubts that it was doing fine.

By the time I had prepared to add the first mushrooms, I could already see signs of the moss steadily advancing. This was good news to me considering how the mushrooms would be relying on the moss to grow. I introduced the first fairy-ring mushrooms in the areas that had the densest moss. Wherever there were small gaps in the ground cover, a few would be added.

This might not be the best strategy.

One of my main worries about choosing moss instead of grass dealt with the possible conflict between the moss and the mushrooms. Fairy ring mushrooms usually liked to grow in the grass as they naturally left gaps between their blades. Moss did not do this and formed in clumps instead. Finding spaces where the mushrooms could grow in the dense areas of moss was not an easy task.

Luckily I noticed this before it was too late...

There was one area that had moss present but also had a ton of gaps- the area directly on the edge of the moss cover. As the moss was still spreading in this section, there were plenty of places to add the mushrooms. With this new strategy in mind, I focused on planting the mushrooms alongside the moss as it spread throughout the continent.

After finishing with the mushrooms, the only lifeforms remaining were the two basics: earthworms and Atlantic Menhaden fish. The earthworms were extremely easy to add- all that I needed to do were put them on the dirt near the moss and they immediately began wiggling into the ground. The fish on the other hand were a bit more difficult.

The elf girl disappeared just as fast as she arrived, leaving the penguin and me still standing there in awe.

There is absolutely no way that just happened...

Although I was having trouble believing the scene before me was real, one look at my phone proved otherwise.

"...I think I’ll go with a cherry tree."

Mr. Flippers and I began to make our way to class still stunned over what happened. Although the room was empty upon our arrival, creatures eventually started trickling in.

Just as class was about to start, Julia slowly trudged inside wearing her usual outfit. She tried to hide her beat-red face by looking away but failed miserably.

So her ears get red when she's embarrassed... that's adorable.

She sat down next to me, still looking away.

"Kyaaaa?" I teased.

"S-shut up! Don't talk about it."

"If that's what you want... but you really are beautiful, Julia."

Just as those words leaked from my mouth, the sheep instructor finally entered the lecture hall. Despite looking in the teacher's direction, I could still see Julia in the corner of my eye. Her face was three shades redder than it had been when she sat down.

Upon reaching her desk, the sheep instructor finally spoke to the class.

"Good morning, Seedlings. It appears that I was a bit unclear about domain creation. There have been many reports of Seedlings attempting to bring what they made into the academy. For those of you who have not realized it yet, objects made using domain creation can not be brought out; the power of what you can currently make is far too weak to exist in the academy."

Bang!

"Squawk!?"

A loud bang was heard next to me as Julia slammed her head into the desk. A few creatures looked back at us but quickly lost interest.

The professor paid no attention to it and continued to speak.

"For those of you upset at me, it may please you to know that I was scolded by the Flower Garden for this... among some other matters," the teacher glanced in my direction, "but I will make sure to be more clear in the future. I apologize for the confusion."

With that last statement, the sheep instructor began her lesson which was about geography today, but I ignored it and slipped into thought.

I was half-joking when I said it before, but a cherry tree isn't that bad of an option. The wood itself is very strong and durable and it could probably thrive in most parts of the continent. The cherries themselves would be a good food option, too.

I reaffirmed my decision on choosing a cherry tree after a bit more thinking and decided to decide on my livestock animal while I was at it.

Oh my god, how did I forget about that?

There was a blaring issue that I immediately realized once I started thinking.

I knew I was forgetting something. I was so focused on making sure that there was food to support humans, but I didn't even think about food to support livestock.

Since I had not chosen to use grass, most of the major livestock animals like cows, goats, and even horses would not have a good food source. That being said, it was not as though there were no options- in fact, there was one really good one that could thrive in the environment that I had built.

Chickens would definitely be the right choice.

As chickens could eat moss, mushrooms, and even earthworms, there would be no issues with their sustainability. In terms of humans, these creatures would be an amazing source of protein through their meat and eggs. Their feathers being useful for clothing and arrows were an added bonus.

My mind was made up and I walked out of the lecture hall with two new cards after the class ended.