Chapter 31

More than a year passed, and we remained, for the most, confined underground. On the bright side, our community grew by nearly a thousand members. We expanded the cave entrance, built a mining museum, established campsites, and got the hot springs operational.

Currently, we’re constructing a new fueling center and an RV resort. The park, resort, and surrounding areas already appear lush and mature, thanks to the special soil we used, even though we completed the landscaping just eight months ago. Our team focused on planting trees on our side of the mine, intended for the park, and planned to move them once Karl’s team finished the major attractions. Meanwhile, the resort hotel remains in the planning stage.

Today was a day of celebration, as we were moving soil out of the mine and into our fenced-in oasis. Some members had laid out a 50-acre tract of land, a quarter of a mile from the rear opening of the expanding caves, to deter wild animals and human intruders. They created a square perimeter with rock posts and steel poles. We put our older equipment to work building the fence, both to test its functionality and to ensure we appeared busy in case anyone was monitoring us. Our plan was to haul the posts out, lay them around the perimeter, and follow up with the poles the next day.

Throughout the night, members looking to get some exercise would go out to the field and insert stone pillars into holes created by the spirits. When members transformed into certain animal-men, they could see almost perfectly in the dark. This enabled them to test their strength against one another, enjoy the outdoors, and contribute to building what would become the oasis. The poles resembled old pipes and scaffolding used in the mine, which we were repurposing.

The stone pillars themselves were large rocks from the mine that we had roughly cut into a square shape, each measuring twelve to fourteen feet long. However, that was not entirely accurate.

Although pipes and other metal materials were in the mine, we created the poles in the spirit world using resources brought there when we extended the mine’s tunnels into bigger openings. The pillars also originated from this process, formed entirely within the spirit plane.

We completed the fence a week ago. The spirits organized the members into four distinct classes. The largest group was the Bear-men, followed by the Boar-men and Bull-men, collectively referred to as Bears. Next were the members who maintained a mostly human appearance but were at the upper limits of physicality; these men weighed less than three hundred fifty pounds of muscle, as well as those who had a "dad bod," older men with a gut but still possessing significant muscularity. The last group included the nerd-twink types, who could be slim, short, or slightly overweight, and typically represented smaller animal-men such as foxes, rabbits, and dogs. Last, there were men who defied categorization, embodying traits from the other three types while also being distinctly unique. These individuals were amalgamations of either real or mythical animals, often featuring multiple limbs—primarily arms. Among them were centaurs, gryphons, and even small dragons, none of which approached the size of Omega.

Today, all these groups gathered to help or observe as the garden took shape. Despite their diverse appearances, each one was human. The largest among them worked to break up the dry crust of the soil after the tractors delivered load after load. With so many participants, they resembled a colony of ants covering the acreage, clearing a path for the tractor while consolidating the dark, rich topsoil with the lighter brown and gray soil. However, we overlooked how high the new soil would rise. As a temporary solution, the men heaped the soil into berms away from the garden’s perimeter, planning to move additional stones into place later to contain the garden. To not bring unwanted notice from the locals, we only sent a hundred out to work at a time and rotated the men as the day progressed.

After their labor in the field, the men returned to the cave, sweaty and invigorated. Once inside, they quickly transformed, their bodies becoming as clean as if they had just taken a long shower. Many morphed into the Bear types, some significantly increasing to become the heavily muscled daddy bears or Bull-men, with only a few from other types.

Joshua arrived with a group from Australia and Asia, including Karl and James, who opted to fly in and drive here rather than use the portal. They likely wanted to avoid being seen by non-members who were constructing the park, as it would have forced them to concoct a story about their arrival. Jose and the other recruiters were also present. Jose had blended in while away from America, appearing as the typical local man, perhaps because his "muscle bear" form was too imposing for those south of the border. When he caught my gaze, he transformed back into the muscle bear I remembered as he approached me from the cave opening.

"Mr. Keith, it’s me, Jose."

"Yes, I recognized you in your other form."

"I have a question, mostly because everyone is asking me to. Can we have some friendly competition among the men who want to... you know..."

"Oh, I understand what you’re suggesting—a show of strength, tug-of-war, lifting, maybe a display of who’s got the most muscles," Jesse chimed in for Jose.

"You mean a bodybuilding competition?" I asked Jose.

"Some men do, but not me. I would love to see one, though," Jose replied, his face turning beet red.

Ursus appeared beside Jose in his human form. "It would make a festive annual event, Master."

"Alright, here are the rules: no changing forms. Everyone must compete in their current body type. No one can get bigger just for the competition. The same applies to the tug-of-war—no one can be stronger than they are in their chosen form. This goes for any other events as well. You spirits know your followers and their usual size and strength, so I’ll hold you five accountable for any cheating."

"Yes, Master. It will be as you order," Ursus replied.

As the cave transformed, we pushed tables laden with food and drinks against the walls to create space for weightlifting equipment built for larger men. Instead of standard weights, the plates weighed 200 kg, and the bar stretched over 9 ft. A pool of water morphed into mud in another section, and a stage formed thirty feet inside the cave, complete with lights to showcase the competitors during the bodybuilding contest.

Joshua ran up to Jesse and me. "Hey mate, can we compete as either humans or, you know, bear-men?"

"Choose one form, and you’ll compete with others like you in the weightlifting and bodybuilding contests. I will organize tug-of-war into different groups. You can’t switch forms during any of the events," I explained to Joshua, who immediately transformed into his bear-man form. I had to admit, he looked even larger now—not just in muscle size. "Is this your normal bear-man form?" I asked him.

"It is," Joshua replied, looking at me as if surprised by my question.

"It’s not that I don’t believe you," I told Joshua. "To everyone here and those who will join tonight’s events: if you are going to compete, you must do so in your normal animal, human, or hybrid form. I will allow no one to become larger or stronger than they are in any of their forms. The spirits will recognize it, and they will punish you by forcing you to remain in your permanent human form for one week. Now, let’s have some fun!" As I finished speaking, the cave trembled with the sound of hooting, hollering, and cheering from the crowd.