I failed in my first attempt. I had shaved too much off and the diameter was thus ruined. I set it aside, and cut another block. I began again with the same objective. A 6in by 6in by 6in sphere.

  The second attempt went better, but still resulted in failure. So did the third. On the forth, I was successful in my sphere creation.

  Cutting rounded edges by hand was... severely difficult. I had found that planting my sword in the dirt and manually rotating the ball to be the best solution for an even, smooth cut.

  With one successful ball made, I set it aside, away from the failures. I set out to repeat my success at least 100 times.

  I sat, and layer in some cases, carving stone balls until my 100 were done. When I had gotten one right, I had the memory and experience to repeat the action. I loved this body sometimes.

  Next, I would create a person. I had multiple to chose from. Myself, numerous crypteks, warriors, immortals... even Anibeli was an option.

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  I decided to start with an immortal. I would focus on a stalwart pose. Something saying, 'I will stand against all until the end'. Right and proper stoicism, with a dash of rugged heroic flair.

  I had the image in my mind, and kept it at the forefront. That had helped me with the balls, and I expected it would help now. I expected to fail a large number of times, but that was always the plan.

  Occasionally, throughout my carving saga, I went up to the surface. I had a small flower garden I had made because being stuck underground was... well, it was fucking droll, cold, and lifeless. A little bit of life and color helped keep that away.

  I had made sure that they had enough water nearby, and even created a small, shallow pond for the soil to be properly moisturized. This kept everything stable, and I even saw some pollinating insects around the flowers.

  Each time i came up, there were more of the flowers. It really was lovely. A small field of purples, blues, greens and other colors. They must have been breeding. How did plants breed? I didn't know...

  But, I cycled between tending my flowers and working on my sculptures. When I had finally made a successful figure of an immortal, I decided to bring it up, and plant it I my bed of flowers. It would guard my flowers most courageously.

  I admit, I chuckled audibly when I did that. What made it funnier was me. Who would expect an assassin to make small figurines and have a large, pretty bed of flowers? Not I, assuredly. I didn't expect to be doing this.

  Between these two hobbies, I kept up my practice. Sword forms, shooting (a ways away from my stuff), and anything in between that I thought might help me. I was... content. Not quite happy, but content.

  One day I would get bored, and I would find a new hobby to burn time on. But, that was the nature of immortality, I suppose. I am doomed to search for the interesting and new. But for now, my statues and flowers held my gaze.