Chapter 435: Evolving Rocks! … Maybe a Bit Too Literal This Time?

Chapter 435: Evolving Rocks! ... Maybe a Bit Too Literal This Time?

[Music Resonation (Major)] [Strength and Wisdom (Wisdom)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

As I open my hand, releasing the sound of searing hot metal.

But I tighten my grip, the pain that follows me with every single thought.

Regretting it all would only taint my efforts, or the dream that we hold.

Of course, brush it aside!

These tears will dry, and this rage will cool

As I realized that the world aint stopping for me.

A final stroke on this sin-stained page

The blood on my hands will fuel me

All while the sun watches me

I wont forget about you

Ill witness everything this path will show me

So I can relay everything to you later

Ill push forward with this fire burning inside of me

The strength to fight on, or the wisdom to accept life

It doesnt really matter now

Because this is my choice

Ill grin through this pain, because this leads me to the truth

So I can soar ever higher!

I weeped for sadnessI cry and cheer

For despair is also fleeting

Rise above it!

This pit wont hold me

For I will grasp hold of my dreams!

Huraaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Grimnir yelled from the top of his lungs as he swung his hammer at a superhuman rate, letting the sound of metal drown out even the sound of boiling magma in the background. My singing barely registered in his mind. Lad! How are the ingots? Monster materials?

Daichi, who was using fire spells to accelerate the melting process of the ore, paused at Grimnirs call and wiped away the sweat from his soot-covered forehead. Top-less, the fire mage looked slimmer with more defined muscles, but it was still nowhere close to Grimnirs muscular physique or even Tatsuya, for that matter. Even Ellaine looked stronger, from a pure muscle definition, but I couldnt help but praise his progress.

Starting to look like a construction worker, there, man. Hehe.

Once he took a swig from his water bottle, he turned away from the still orange-glowing liquid metal covering the ingot casting molds. Half-way through with todays ore ratio, Master! Barely got the first batch of claws, fangs, and carapace melted though, so Ill need time on those ingots later. Too much weight!

Got it! Grimnir responded, before turning his attention to the quiet sizzling to his right. Ellaine!

Armguard nearly rewired. Still need time to open it up fully for you to re-construct, she replied in a husher voice, far too concentrated with her artificer work.

[Uuuurgh why is this my life after I woke up? Cant we be do something interesting, Ellaine?] Meanwhile, Klea sounded totally bored from watching all the smithing day in and day out.

Her partner, though, barely gave her a glance. I am on a time limit, Klea. I need to get this done before I have to join Princess Fargryneill at the summit.

This was how the three-man crafters from our group worked inside their workshop. Grimnir on the smithing, Daichi on support, while Ellaine worked on the manatechit was the same well-oiled machine as always with these three, and it felt good to hear how much they were all happily working. Considering the mountain of ore, materials, and equipment pieces we gained from the Event dungeon, they had so much to go through.

The [Heart of a Thunder Lion], [Immature Carapace of an Adamantoise], [Slazzigula Ash Burner], and [Poison-Scarred Manticore Stinger] I got from the Event rewards were all here, including all the other special materials our expedition got. There were too many for me to go through, even if some caught my eye, and as such, I left the crafting to Grimnir and Tasianna. Our resident blacksmith and alchemist would know best what could be used and what should be sold.

Counting everything scattered around the room, I saw eleven large boxes full of various ore, seven barrels of materials divided into their categories, and a few tables full of armor pieces and weapons. Stuff like [Scale Helmet of the Staunch Defender] or the [Dragonkin Bone Dagger] I took from Hayato were all gathered here. As our expedition party for the Event Quest was mostly composed out of our people, it was obvious the table would be full.

And I cant even use most of them.

Whether it was armor or weapons, I couldnt utilize any of them, as I required armor made from rhytilic alloy and I was only good with halberds and polearms. Well, regardless if we used or smelt them, it was free money! That was the important part.

Lass! Music! Not even close to being done!

Yeah, sure!

Strength and Wisdom: A song created by the Idol [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]. Through the images of accepting the loss of ones loved ones, using it to fuel ones ambition and will, breaking through the trials and tribulations of despair, this song will become the rallying cry for those who climbed out the pit of despair. Those affected by [Music Resonation] may choose the effect that will apply on themStrength or Wisdom.

Strength: Increase Strength, Vitality, and Stamina regeneration by 25%. Increase effectiveness of martial Abilities, Stamina-related craftsmanship, and proficiency gain by 10%. Decrease Intelligence, Wisdom, and Mana by 30%.

Wisdom: Increase Intelligence, Wisdom, and Mana regeneration by 25%. Increase effectiveness of magical spells, Mana-related craftsmanship, and proficiency gain by 10%. Decrease Strength, Vitality, and Stamina by 30%

Yuuuup.

People I considered ally or enemythose were the only conditions my custom spells have been using up until now. Well, technically, I also had all enemies affected by demonic powers on [My Darkest Thought], but I considered it an addition to the overall condition. I still only had three song effectsdamage, buffing, and debuffavailable to use after so many [Idol] levels.

As Grimnir requested, I wanted a song that could aid him in his primary job, which made me remember how there were buffs that affected smithing, alchemy, and other craftsmanship skills in RPGs. When I finally settled on Strength and Wisdom as my song, I also figured it would be a waste to make another song for our alchemist and artificer, which made me try this type of song.

Duality of choices, songs can be interpreted however the listener wishes, was what I thought during the spell song creation. The song just came to me back during the Maagneil attack. It just felt right for Strength and Wisdom to become [Strength and Wisdom], while going all-out on the duality part and have people choose what effects they wanted.

The song was focused on crafting and skill training, instead of pure combat, as a 30% decrease in strength, vitality, stamina or intelligence, wisdom, and mana was pretty severe. I couldnt use this song in combat; I was a hybrid fighter, I needed every stat.

But it was good for the people here.

I need to go! Ellaine shouted before handing Grimnir the armguard she was working on, before rushing out of the workshop.

Sure.

Once I gave my confirmation, the boulder suddenly shook as the core lit up even further. Rita was ecstatic, writing everything down in her notes, but quickly stopped when this new golem stopped moving all together. The core looked like it was moving, but nothing else was happening. I guess this was what happened when we forgot to add hands and legs on the thing.

I created two obsidian legs, adding them onto the golem only to notice it was using mana to keep them together, acting exactly like the mimic golem our party killed to get this thing in the first place. It could telepathically control its limbs and regrow them through mana alone, and this mini one was doing it without any instruction. It was just instinct, I see.

Manatech-based, spell-created, and naturally-formed-monster golems were the three types of golems that existed in this world. The former were the giant robots the dwarves created which acted similarly to the spell variant, as in they acted only on their masters command. Tasiannas [Winters Golem] and [Slithering Frost Serpent], or my [Hydra], were good examples for the second type.

Meanwhile, natural monster golems were like any other monster that had grown a consciousness. They could think, fight, and level up all by their lonesome. I wasnt so sure which to call this mimic golem, but the System did consider it a monster, as I could see it was a rank F through its Profile. Like any other manatech and monster golem, its core was its heart and if it were to break, the golem would stop working all together.

Its current body was just a test, as I was a bit worried this thing would attack us the moment it awoke. If this worked, I could deem it worthy to join my cohort of obsidian creations. [Hydra] might not have a brain, but I bet it would enjoy the camaraderie.

Can you hear me? I asked.

It shuffled around, grinding its feet on the ground. It was turning its body, investigating something before it settled on my face and stopped moving completely.

Oh, maybe we can consider it something like an A.I.? Kyouya commented, causing me to nod in agreement. We actually got a chance to speak with one in a school presentation once. Our school hosts businesses to advertise themselves there, acting like a meeting place for our parents and any potential business partners. Daichi probably knows best. Yo! Daichi-kun!

The still exhausted looking PC nerd snapped his head up, waved at us, before coming over. After Kyouya gave him a quick summary, he gave me a thumbs up.

Ah, okay, machine learning? Im not an expert on A.I., just saying; my parents werent in that industry. Fortunately, its a bit easier to do than normal, since you dont need to program the algorithm for the machine to create its own. Treat it like a pet, he stated. A.I. learning is all about results and repetition, where the A.I. uses millions upon millions of tries to produce the correct answer or create an algorithm to use to find the answer. Its deep learning, you know?

Uuuh, okay? I tilted my head, similarly, Rita and Kyouya were baffled as well.

Daichi shrugged, acting a bit condescending. Whatever. You dont need to know the details. Just do what I said: treat it like a pet or kid. Have it do something you want and praise or admonish it, yeah? If this thing has any intelligence, it will understand what you want eventually and that is what we call deep learning. Creating lots of layers of information to use, so it can think by itself. Think like a human. Easy?

I grimaced, but nodded still to his delight. I barely managed to understand that I had to treat the golem like Rajah back when I first adopted him. I knelt down, causing the golem to angle its body down, once again looking at my face. I didnt know how this golem was sensing me, whether through mana or if this core had a sight function, but I understood it could recognize my face.

I pointed at myself, speaking softly, Hestia. Hestia. I am your dungeon master. If you understand me, nod. Like this.

It nodded.

Good. This is a shake. I am shaking my head. If I do this, I disagree with what you are doing. Do you understand?

It nodded its head. It can understand me!

I then pointed at Kyouya. Is this Hestia? Is he your dungeon master?

It shook its head.

Is this your dungeon master? I pointed at Rita, causing it to shake its head, before turning to Daichi, where it did it again! Finally, I pointed at myself. Am I your dungeon master?

It nodded.

Ahahah! With a wide grin, I clapped my hands, even pumping my fist.

The golem really must be equipped with a basic set of understanding, Rita exclaimed. Tamers arent able to tame golems, you know? Supposedly because its intelligence is too simple or there isnt one and it follows the Divine Systems directives alone. Ah, Master Grimnir, do you know anything about manatech golems?

The profession isnt that advanced, nor is something like a monster room core a common drop! I dont think anybody has one, aside from you, lass! No documented ones, at least, he shouted from a distance. He must have overheard us. Its even younger than the train station tech, so you cant expect me to know much. All I know is that they use runes with manatech to create them. Thats why they act like spell golems.

Take inspiration from nature, or whatever. Same thing.

In any case, I was now happy with this little golem and decided to name it Gravy, as it was part of the team right now. It probably would be appropriate to build a new body for it, but as it was a monster, couldnt it evolve? Well, I should give it arms, at least.

[Miniature Mimic Golem *] was given the name [Miniature Mimic Golem, Gravy] by [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Name: Gravy Level: 0 Race: Miniature Mimic Golem

Age: 0 Month

Giving it one thumbs up, I then asked it to open the [Monster Control] function. A blue screen appeared from its core.

Monsters created from this monster room cannot obtain a consciousness, remaining feral as long as its connection to its core remains intact. This cannot be overridden by the dungeon master, unless the core is destroyed.

Monsters can be spawned from a list of choices depending on the mana stored inside the core. Mana can only be absorbed naturally from the surrounding, it cannot be fed directly by anybody. The higher the mana concentration in the area, the more will be absorbed over time.

Monster List:

Rank G [Slime] 5000 Mana

Rank G [Loopabit] 10000 Mana

Rank G [Raccoon] 11000 Mana

WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE! I cried before looking at Gravys mana.

Total Mana: 1001

I stared at the screen with an open mouth, feeling as if I was looking at a recipe. I patted Gravy, before standing up. I looked at Rita, Kyouya, and Daichi, who seemed to share my grievance.

Ill evolve my unique Job first.

Remove

A note from AbyssRaven

Still vacation, but chapter! Also to note, do you guys remember that Chapter 5 is called "Evolving Rocks?" People thought I was literally evolving rocks! That's the joke, goodbye!

Also song today is once again "Again" from "Fullmetal Alchemist" Rawr

If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr!

For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.

Thank you for reading this chapter.