We were able to gain more of the metal that exceeded orichalc.u.m, and gave it the name of Avalon Jewel.
It had impressive lightness, receptiveness to magic power, durability, magic resistance, and more.
It was so light in fact that its specific gravity was 1.5, which was less than a quarter of iron"s.
Moreover, it had other special characteristics according to Rorono.
While it was a mineral, it offered a similar function to that of an ultra-high grade information integrated circuit and data processing system that converted emotions to a proportional amount of magic power. When Rorono said that it was like a or a , it suddenly became easier to understand.
Additionally, by pouring in magic power of a specific wavelength, its ma.s.s could be increased. If we were to apply this, we could make a usually light and easy to wield weapon that would turn heavy the moment it hit its target.
…and then, Rorono whispered Or we can also make a Black Hole canon.
I didn"t react, but making such a terrifyingly dangerous thing could be interesting.
At any rate, we came to the [Mine] room today as well to redo what we did yesterday.
That said, even though it was fine yesterday to just wait for the reset time and do nothing else, a second round of that was quite wasteful of our time.
And so, I brought the necessary paperwork and worked on them in the simple tent that was set up. When it was time for my appointment with some merchants, I intended to return to Avalon. If the reset happened while I was away, there was nothing else to it than to try again the day after.
Meanwhile, Rorono had various tools and machinery, and did her research here.
"Master, I have a proposal."
"I"m listening."
"If you"re going to use [Awakening] anyway, rather than this troublesome method, why not use [Create] on lumps of orichalc.u.m as well as Avalon-Ritters to obtain a large amount of Avalon Jewel?"
"Oh, I haven"t thought of that."
If the three knights, which were golems made of orichalc.u.m, turned into golems made of Avalon Jewel when I used [Create] on them, it was reasonable to think that even regular Avalon-Ritters would become made of it too.
Moreover, it might also be possible to turn orichalc.u.m itself into Avalon Jewel.
Compared to the method of timing my [Awakening] with the [Mine]"s reset point, where we could only gain 2 kilograms of Avalon Jewel in a day, this method might be able to give us much more.
"Let"s try it. However, since we don"t know yet if it"ll succeed, and since I really don"t want to use [Awakening] twice in a day due to the exhaustion it brings, let"s try it during the reset method."
"Mhm, I agree. In the meantime, I"ll bring in the necessary Avalon-Ritter and orichalc.u.m."
"Ok. But I just had another idea. Why not use [Create] again on an evolved knight? Maybe it"ll evolve again, be made of a metal that exceeds even Avalon Jewel."
"That"s a great idea. Let"s do it. I"ll summon the black knight as well."
Rorono then called out to an apprentice, a Dwarf Smith, and made the latter prepare what we needed.
I just hope this plan goes smoothly…
◇
The day progressed uneventfully. It was now almost dark.
The time of the reset within the day was random, and it seemed that it was going to be quite late today.
I had already settled all of my work today. Meanwhile, Rorono was still busy with her work.
She had already entrusted a great deal of work to the capable Dwarf Smiths, but a lot still remained on her plate.
Development for Fallen Angel Raphael"s weapon; examining the Avalon Jewel as well as exploring its applications especially for her [Mechanical Warmaiden]; a.n.a.lyzing the data from the evolved three knights and developing a method to ma.s.s produce them; and a whole lot more.
According to her though, it"s all to support Avalon, so I don"t mind.
When I thought of suggesting a coffee break to her, the instrument to sense for signs of the reset gave out an alarm.
"Master, it"s time"
Alright, time to use [Awakening].
This was the first time I was going to use it two days in a row.
Like always, my magic power swelled, dark power and dark thoughts raged within me, and dark wings sprouted from my back.
When I a.s.sumed the form that unleashed my potential…
"Ugh!"
My heart creaked.
I felt my whole existence being eroded away. Every part of me that could still feel felt such an unbelievably agonizing sensation.
Soon after, my vision became blurred.
What? What is this? What"s going on? AM I DYING!? I"m… I"m scared.
Such were my thoughts as I fell to my knees.
"Father! Are you ok, father!?"
Rorono rushed toward me and embraced me.
But then, I coughed out some blood.
Haaa. Haaaaa. Haaaaaaa. Deep breaths, deep breaths.
"I-I"m alright… I just, I just underestimated [Awakening]"
Marcho had warned me that if I use it too much, my lifespan would shorten.
I thought that if I used it several times a day but kept the activation time short, there would be no problems. Similarly, I thought that if I limited its use to once a day, there would be no problems in using it every day.
Now that I had tried it though, using it every day was out of the question. There needed to be more time in between.
"I"m so sorry, father. If, if only I didn"t make such a selfish request-"
"There"s nothing you have to apologize for. This is my own fault. After we"ve finished here, if I just go back home and eat one of Aura"s golden apples, I"ll be well in no time."
During that time, Rorono"s sensor indicated that the reset had happened.
That"s our first goal down. Now, I just need to push myself a little bit more.
I was already in [Awakening], so I didn"t see how using [Create] would make things worse.
And so, I stood up and walked unsteadily toward the Avalon-Ritters and the lump of orichalc.u.m.
"Father, stop. Please, that"s enough."
"We mustn"t waste the chance. I know I can still do this much. [Create]"
Thus, I used [Create] on three things.
The black knight which had already evolved once through [Create].
One of the regular Avalon-Ritters.
And a lump of orichalc.u.m.
To my shock, the black knight refused to accept the magic power I was pouring into it. Thankfully, the other two accepted it just fine.
I wanted to see the results as soon as possible. When I tried to focus, my mind went blank and I fell forward.
"Father! Father!"
Off in the distance, I could faintly hear Rorono"s voice.
◇
I opened my eyes.
I looked at my surroundings and realized that I was in my room.
"Oh, thank goodness, you"re finally awake, father."
Upon seeing me wake up, Rorono"s eyes quickly overflowed with tears.
I pa.s.sed out, huh.
I had little doubt that this was caused by using [Create] after being weakened by the use of [Awakening] two days in a row.
"I"m sorry I worried you"
I said so and then brushed her head.
"No, I"m sorry, father. This is all because I stupidly wanted more Avalon Jewel."
She seems convinced it was her fault.
"Rorono, listen, you don"t have to apologize. Really. It"s my fault for not a.s.sessing things properly. Next time, I should leave a gap of at least 3 days between use."
My experience this time was extremely harrowing.
It was like I was losing my own existence. I had no desire to feel that ever again.
"Father, even three days might not be enough. Abstain for at least a week. Actually, why don"t you ask Marcho-sama? If she says even a week"s not enough, you should extend it further."
"Now, that"s worrying too much."
"No, I"m worrying at the right amount, and you should too. I just… after seeing you suddenly cough out blood and then pa.s.sing out, there"s no way I could stay calm."
Rorono got mad and puffed her cheeks out her.
I was accustomed to seeing such an expression on Kuina, but this was new for Rorono.
And it might be rude to her, but I honestly thought she was cute like that.
"Okay, I understand. I will listen to your advice."
By the way, I was still feeling a bit feverish. I"m still suffering from some aftereffects, huh.
"Oh, glad to see you"ve already woken up. Rorono-chan suddenly bursting into the apple plantation and screaming, help, father, father might die, really surprised me, you know."
"It would seem I"ve worried you as well, Aura."
The inside of my mouth tasted a bit sweet.
Most likely, I was made to drink a potion made out of Aura"s golden apples while I was unconscious.
"Think nothing of it. I got to be of service, and that will always be a pleasure. Now, I must inform you that your body, your mind, and, above all, your soul are all greatly weakened. Really makes you realize how dangerous of a power [Awakening] is, doesn"t it?"
"…yeah. I"ll be more careful next time."
"Master, as you know, I am a monster that could perceive things like the state of one"s mind and soul better than others, better than most. So, please heed my advice. If you think that you"ve merely pa.s.sed out from exhaustion, you"re gravely mistaken. You were a hair"s breadth away from sustaining a permanent, unhealable wound to your soul. Yes, you can recover this time, but even so, it will take time and proper treatment. From today onwards, I will be checking up on you every day. Until I say so, you are prohibited from using [Awakening] and [Creation]."
"Isn"t banning the use of even [Creation] a bit too much?"
"[Creation] makes use of not only your magic power, but also of the power of your soul. Think of it as overkill if you want, but if we don"t do this, you might end up getting worse, ok? If you stay in this room to soak up on the golden apple tree"s life energy as well as drink my special potion, you should be able to use [Creation] in… let"s see… about 4 days. As for [Awakening], I can"t quite tell yet."
I knew the situation was serious, but it was apparently much, much worse than I thought.
Never mind [Create], without access to even [Creation], I would be in grave danger if I was somehow drawn into a [War]. I must avoid such a situation at all cost. At least until I could use [Awakening] again.
"I understand and I will heed your advice, Aura. Now, Rorono, could you please stop crying? It hurts me to see a tear on you."
"…Mhm, I"ll stop. But father, you mustn"t overdo it ever again. When you were coughing out blood and said you were going to use [Create], I was really, really scared. And when you did use it, I thought you died. I thought all hope was lost."
Rorono said so while crying in my chest.
But then, the door suddenly and violently opened.
"Oto-san, are you alright!?"
After asking so, Kuina jumped toward me with great momentum.
This"ll definitely hurt…
Thankfully, Aura was just in time to grab Kuina by the scruff of her neck.
"Kuina-chan, I understand how you feel, but diving in like that will only finish off a sick person, you know."
"Let! Kuina! Go! Kuina must make sure Oto-san"s alright!"
While flailing her arms, Kuina complained so.
Aura, grinning and smiling, slowly carried such a Kuina toward me before eventually letting her go. The moment she was let go, Kuina gave me tight embrace.
"Thank goodness! Thank goodness you"re safe!"
"I"m sorry to have worried you too."
"Geez, Oto-san! You"re always telling me that I always push myself too much, but here you are overdoing it yourself!"
"So I"ve heard from Rorono and Aura."
I"ve really made a mess this time.
"Rorono, I"m really sorry for overdoing it, but I want to know about the result of my foolishness."
"Mhm, alright. The golems were able to mine some Avalon Jewel this time as well. However…"
"However?"
"However, the use of [Create] wasn"t as successful. The black knight remained exactly the same. The Avalon-Ritter did evolve, but not as we hoped it would. New technologies were installed, but its body didn"t become made of Avalon Jewel. As for the lump of orichalc.u.m, it became an alloy made from orichalc.u.m and a few other metals. This alloy did have an increased performance, but it was an alloy that I already knew of and could make."
"I see."
Perhaps I couldn"t use [Create] on things I had already used on. Maybe there was a limit on how much I could make something evolve. Which was a real shame, since I was hoping I could make things evolve infinitely.
As for why the Avalon-Ritter didn"t become made of Avalon Jewel, my guess was that it was just out of reach for them. Unless a golem"s overall performance was on par with one of the three knights, maybe it was just impossible for them to become made of Avalon Jewel. Maybe the sum of their parts was taken into consideration more.
The lump of orichalc.u.m should follow the same theory.
I might have failed, but having a deeper understanding of my [Create] was still a step forward for me.
"Rorono, I"m sorry we weren"t able to get more Avalon Jewel. Unless you have something much better in mind, for now, make use of what we have to make new weapons and equipment."
"Understood. I won"t waste your efforts, father."
Combining today and yesterday"s results, we only had 4 kilograms of Avalon Jewel. It was a middling amount, but since it was much less dense than iron, it should be enough for now, especially for making weapons. At the very least, Rorono and her ingenuity should be able to make it be enough.
"Alright, I"m feeling much better now, so I"m going to check on the letters that have arrived."
""No!""
Both Kuina and Rororno brought their faces near mine and exclaimed so.
Kuina even pinned me down.
"Oto-san, sick people should rest!"
"Mhm. We won"t let you get out of bed today."
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
I was flattered they were concerned, but this seemed a bit much.
"Master, I agree with them. Please rest until morning. I have already sent a letter to Marcho-sama detailing today"s events. She should be here by tomorrow, and all preparations for her arrival have been taken care of. Until Marcho-sama and I both think that it"s ok to do so, please refrain from working."
Kuina and Rorono nodded to Aura"s advice.
I could use my authority as their Demon Lord to order them to stand aside, but it wasn"t worth it.
There was no work in the world that was worth making my girls more worried than they already were.
"I understand. I will take it easy today."
"Yay♪! We"ll be nursing you today!"
"Mhm. We"ll devote ourselves to making father get better."
Under the present circ.u.mstances, it was hard to feel excited, but I was happy nonetheless thanks to them.
Kuina and Rorono proceeded to jump into my bed.
There"s no escape now. I should just give in and be a good patient. If nursing me back is going to make them happy, then being sick now and then isn"t so bad.
TL Note: G-stone and J-jewel are from the mecha anime