I o make a decision on the crystal projebsp; First, it seems like it might be dangerous to make the crystals rger than they already are if someone uses them tee mana. The existing artificial crystal clearly is already on the precipice of that being an issue. So, what I o check is whether the existing crystal will deteriorate at the surfabsp; In case it deteriorates, I'll embed it in a vacuum tainer, like the previous crystals were. It'll have to be a bit bigger than those taio house this crystal though. It will be quite the bor loss if it deteriorates, but it will be very important to inf the projes moving forward. As such, today, I'll get the special vacuum tainer made for it as well as getting the smallest crystal groaratus set up to start growing another crystal. If it deteriorates, I'll want to melt it down as quickly as possible, and start the re-growth process.

  As I carry the tainer up to the surface, I periodically check it with teise. Initially, it seems to be holding stable, at least, it makes it further than previous tests did, but I'm still quite a ways from the cave exit when I no longer detect the crystal in the tainer. Which means two things. Ohis crystal obviously didn't make it, but it implies that, two, I'll need a much rger crystal for it to actually make it to the surfabsp; Well, time is of the essence, so Zeb and I start the furnace up, and begin the process of melting this crystal material down. It'll probably be at least ten days before we get a crystal that size again.

  While I actually overestimated how many days it would take trow the crystal given the rger apparatus was still charged with a det amount of the gas from st run, it still ended up taking ten days because we spent one day making more charcoal. While I'd like to say we keep this pace up, we'll actually need more charcoal again soon enough, so we'll still have to keep up the periodic breaks where we make charcoal and build some stairs, or work on other areas that .

  I've actually taken to doing various small tasks while waiting for crystal material to cool to a usable temperature. We tried a test this time where we only heated the crystal material to the temperature that we at, and it ended in failure, so we've beeing it to the high temperature and waiting for it to cool some before use, which takes a det amount of time. Sometimes we spend the time extrag lightstone, and sometimes it's breaking down that metal ore into powder. I figured it was a good way to pass time, plus I'm helping Zeb get used to using his own stone shaping while we wait, since he helps me with these processes. It reminds me of back when I was healing from my near death experience, and just sat refining lightstone all day, which actually did help me get a more precise grip on the magibsp; As I tell from his first works of lightstone refi still having some patches of dark in it, whieeds further refio remove.

  I've made the executive decision to make a third, rger apparatus. A finished crystal from this will be almost two feet tall. This should octuple the crystal's volume, while only squaring its surface area. I've e to suspect that the ratio of surface area to volume is likely pying a role in how quickly the crystal deteriorates when it gets he surfabsp; As I recall, when I'm on the surface, I have an ambient mana regen rate, which is somewhat higher during the day than at night, and is severely limited during an eclipse. My guess is that the crystal's volume dissipates mana at some fixed rate, and when the ambient mana exceeds that rate, the crystal structure falls apart. Given that the crystals glow when charged, my guess is that it dissipates the mana as light. Which is why as I approach the surface, and my mana regen rate slowly increases, I'm actually just abs the higher amount of ambient mana. Then, by extension, there should exist some level where the crystals are capable of surviving on the surface, where their volume dissipate all the mana they absorb when they reach a certain amount charged.

  The biggest with a crystal of this size is the dangers in using it. Given the unfortable feeling that the rge crystal gave us, I'm a little worried about what a crystal this rge might do. I'll hope that a small test using only a few missing mana will be a short enough time that I won't have any sting effects from whatever happens. All that will likely be after Zaka returime. I'll voice my s with him at that time, and see what he thinks.

  Well, Zaka is supposed to return tomorrow, and the extra rge crystal is only 75% done, so he won't be getting any demonstration this time of it. We're alsh almost 25% of all the extra small crystals that we had on hand from all our known crystal deposits. If I lump in the small sized crystals as well, then we've probably only used 10% of the total volume rather than 25%, but its still a w amount, and I'm starting to sider looking for more crystal deposits. In theory there should still be quite a bit avaible if I survey the side tunnels and use an eveeise ping using my rger mana pool. If push es to shove, as long as we preserve the gas, I start using the recycled material for slains, and that will st a signifit amount longer.

  The good news, is ohe apparatus is charged with enough gas, the rate of crystal produ increases to a det pace, a signifitly less leftovers than we were getting before. All that said, it took quite a while to charge the rgest apparatus to that point, and we've increased our number of recycled crystal material tainers by quite a lot. At this point st month, we had 8 tainers. That has ballooo 33 tainers now. I even had to extend the room onow to make room for all of the new tainers, and am sidering another extension now.

  Zaka returned with a goblin again, and the whole iio very simir to st time, save for any crystal testing. We had a brief discussion about the dangers of a rger crystal, and Zaka had ahat I thought wasn't half bad. He asked if it would be worth trying to put hide between the crystal and the body part that touches it. So ime, he's going t some hide from one of the rge lizards so that we'll have something we test with. I wonder if leather would be useful, although we'll have to wait and see if the hide even works first. That said, actually, I should probably teach the gobliher w when I'm ba the vilge. Especially if Zaka is killing all these rge lizards anyway.

  The two foot crystal was finished yesterday, and there are still 22 days until Zaka es back with the hide. The weight of the crystal is actually incredibly heavy at this point. It is well over 150 pounds, and as such, to actually move it, we'll need multiple people's help. It's so heavy, that holy, if we o make a rger crystal, it's going to need a cart to be moved. Holy, making a cart system to allow the transport of goods down to the goblin vilge wouldn't be a bad idea, but first, the stairs would need pleted. That said, there isn't anything preventing me from making an inid rail in the cave here. Holy, given how often I move ro here, having a tral cart line up to the house sounds like a pretty good idea. For the remainder of the month, I think that might just be what I work on.

  Well, the cart system isn't quite ready and Zaka will be baorrow. I did some basic testing with a simple cart down in the cave to get the sizing of the rail right so that Zeb could push a lightstone cart with materials in it. It might take two people to get it uphill still, but if push es to shove, we always attach rope to the cart, and have multiple people help haul it.

  The biggest hold up oire cart system was actually modifying the area he entrao the cave. I've had to widen the area behind my house, and make a receiving area o the ste area. The receiving area is the hold up, since I've o dig the whole thing out, a rid of the stone. The smoothing of the ground down into the cave and the inid rail embedded in it are actually already done. There isn't a finished end to the rail down in the cave either. However, the basics are in pce.