The Core tried many methods on how to initiate communication on its side. It figured it couldn't be that different from how it normally does things since The Foliage Shaper could communicate like that, it just wasn't open to such methods if an outsider did it.

  The Core couldn't help but feel indignant at the fact that its own dungeon monster's biology considered it an outsider.

  With some difficulties along the way, such as accidentally blowing up a chunk of the vines, it finally landed on a process that worked.

  The technique was simple in execution and, as it guessed, similar to the one it normally used.

  The standard was that it used its mana to convey messages, orders and the like directly to a monster it created, since they didn't have any mind protection and even if they did it wouldn't work because their mana was perfectly synchronised to its mana.

  The case here seemed to be that Qi wasn't acting as its own to protect The Foliage Shapers mind but rather was obscuring it by being so close to its mana, this only worked that way because of the fact that the monster relied only on mana-based communication methods, which is why it had no problem talking with the lined human.

  As a result all it had to do was simply use more finesse to connect itself to The Foliage Shaper's mind.

  The solution dismayed The Core because before it tried to do that it used way more extreme and entertaining methods so the fact that it didn't need to do them every time was not good for The Core who craved variety but good for the Foliage Shaper who suffered from these almost every time.

  , The Core couldn't help but say with obvious upset.

  The Foliage Shaper replied with a blast of her own emotions, mainly happiness and relief.

  With that done The Core decided to begin checking on the Qi within the monsters body. It wanted to know how it can harvest it so that it can use it to make the Problematic Organ, since as of yet, it hasn't figured out how to make it work with mana.

  Considering it couldn't sense Qi, The Core asked the Foliage Shaper to transmit everything about the Qi currently located in her body to itself.

  The Dungeon Monster obeyed.

  The Core looked over the energy inside the monster once again, wanting to find out even more but after a minute realised that most of the experiments it had in mind likely won't be possible.

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  The reason was simple: The Foliage Shaper didn't create Qi the same way it did with Mana, it just simply stored it in her own body, meaning it was finite. The Qi also leaked out when she was injured and didn't stop until The Core healed the wound.

  This shouldn't have surprised The Core as much as it did. Mana generation is a continuous process that every living experiences, some do it on a larger scale than others but it is generally a stable affair that doesn't change over the course of one's lifespan, so why should it be altered now just because foreign energy has entered the body?

  Although it would be nice if it did, sure would make The Core's experiments easier to do since it wouldn't have to be so picky with what it should or shouldn't do. Especially if Qi couldn't leak out from some minor cut, though The Core did realise it was simply being petty as this minor injury was a pretty sizable hole, not life-threatening but it was understandable why energy could leak out, mana did too but it could be regenerated so it wasn't a problem.

  The Foliage Shaper's doesn't know any spells and is generally a more psychical fighter so The Core considered teaching her an easy incantation to see if Qi reacts as disastrously when forced into Mana's position as Mana is when forced into Qi's. That is however now under revision since if something goes wrong and the energy goes haywire, injuring the caster, it could mean that Qi would disperse, the volume depending on the severity.

  The Core couldn't think of any truly safe experiments without any risks that could compromise further tests.

  It could however wait for an evolution.

  It was a process in which a being changed drastically through circumstances such as environment, mana density and the like.

  It happened rarely but when it did, it was usually inside a dungeon, a place brimming with mana and an overseer that could make sure the evolution didn't bring any undesirable changes that could impact the quality of life of the evolved.

  The Core didn't know how to induce an evolution but it did know that the level must be high for it to be possible and that it rarely comes without major consequences.

  A problem when Qi was involved since The Foliage Shaper couldn't send it feedback on what Qi was doing during the evolution process so the Core wouldn't be able to manipulate her biology to prevent unwanted changes.

  A problem for another time since The Foliage Shaper's level was much too low for that, now that The Core thinks about it, what is her level?

  It couldn't summon a system interface to see it so it decided to simply ask for this information.

  The Foliage Shaper replied with her usual concepts and The Core interpreted it as level 63, a major increase since her previous 36.

  Now that The Core thought about it, what level could The Only One have for him to die so easily? His injury, if he truly had one and wasn't born with an unlucky constitution, couldn't have been so severe as to make him incapable of slaying a level 36 monster. If it had been he wouldn't have breezed through every previous obstacle.

  Maybe if it was really specific? But that would constitute a curse rather than injury and those are easily dispelled. Actually, Qi-based curses could be hard to get rid of.

  The Core was starting to regret letting the Foliage Shaper absorb the corpse. If it had been quicker then it would know all the answers to these questions and there are more Qi sapients who could be eaten by her.

  After a moment of useless lamenting it decided that it didn't really matter and went back to studying the Qi in the image conveyed by The Foliage Shaper.