Banished from the herd, I was actually a member of a very rare species. ~With the unique skills that only I can use, I can grow and evolve quickly. I will become an unrivaled monster~ - Episode 124: Workshop

Episode 124: Workshop

(Note: Special for this chapter the MC’s dialogue is written in ‘…..’)

“So, today we’re making an artifact, right?”

‘Yeah, we’re also handing over the materials from the ‘Colossus’, and they’ve agreed to let us use the workshop while we’re at it.’

“A workshop?”

“It’s where they make artifacts, I think.”

A few days had passed since Paula had arrived. We were walking down the main street of the underground city, heading toward the tall, gray tower looming on a hill ahead. That’s where Tanasis works, and where he’s waiting for us now. I had introduced Paula to him the other day. And, just as I expected, she got bombarded with questions. But since Paula herself wanted to deepen her understanding of magic, the two of them ended up having quite an extensive conversation.

“This is my first time seeing it, but artifacts are amazing, aren’t they? I never thought Mana Crystals could be used like this.”

“I agree.”

“I can’t even imagine a life without artifacts. But wait, didn’t they have Mana Crystals on the surface too? What did they use them for if not to make artifacts?”

Krissa, who was walking ahead, turned around and asked. It was a question I had been wondering about myself. Eating Mana Crystals restores |Mana|, but that’s only something magical beasts like me, who can digest minerals, can do. Normal humans wouldn’t be able to, so what did they use them for?

The answer came from Paula.

“They’re usually used as the core of magical spells… Is that not the case here?”

“A core…?”

“For example, if a Light Attribute mage wants to keep an area illuminated indefinitely, they can’t just keep casting a permanent spell, right?”

“That’s true. Eventually, you’d run out of |Mana|, or your concentration would slip.” 

Krissa replied. Apparently, most magic is interrupted if the caster’s concentration breaks.

“But if you channel the |Mana| from a Mana Crystal when casting the spell, you can maintain it almost indefinitely.”

“Wait, you can use |Mana| from sources other than your own to cast spells!?”

“Yep. Using an external |Mana| source is advanced magic, and it takes time and effort to set up. The most common uses are things like streetlights and barriers.”

Mana Crystals naturally absorb |Mana| from the atmosphere. So, as long as the consumption rate doesn’t exceed the absorption rate, they can last forever.

As we discussed magic, we were nearing our destination.

‘This tower looks even bigger up close.’

The central part of the city was built around a hill, and at the very top stood the Tower of Sages. Visible from anywhere in the city, the enormous structure was unlike any of the other stone buildings around. A wall surrounded the tower.

“I am Xanthos, the Captain of the Sentinels. I have brought guests from the surface.”

““Yes, we’ve been expecting you!”” 

Two guards posted at the tower’s gate saluted and opened the path for us. We passed through the large gate, which was big enough for me to walk through in my true form.

“It’s been a while… ten years, I think?”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yeah, for the Sage Ceremony.”

‘Sage Ceremony?’

Apparently, it’s a tradition in this country. When children awaken to their Attributes, they’re brought to the Tower of Sages for a celebration and testing.

“Normally, you only get to come once for that, but I never thought I’d return under circumstances like this,” 

Krissa said with a smirk, her tone laced with a bit of irony.

Considering the country had been closed off for a thousand years, it’s no wonder they wouldn’t have expected outsiders to show up.

“We’re here.”

‘This is the workshop?’

Where we arrived wasn’t the Tower of Sages itself but a large warehouse-like building nearby. Although the Tower had rooms for ceremonies and scholars’ research, larger-scale artifact production was done here in this massive workshop.

“Oh, welcome, everyone! I’ve been waiting for you!” 

Tanasis greeted us enthusiastically as we entered.

The inside of the building was a large, open space, divided into two areas: one, a wide area seemingly intended for the “Colossus”, and another packed with strange machines. At the far end of the spacious area, a group of people—likely Tanasis’ colleagues—were watching us intently from a distance.

‘Let’s get this over with. I’ll hand it over there, right?’

“Yes, yes, right over there!”

At Tanasis’ urging, I took out the “Colossus” and laid out its parts. The various weapons were placed alongside them. They had been severely damaged in our fight, but there were now barely any scratches left.

‘[Weapon Storage], done. As I mentioned before, I’ve fixed up everything I could with my [Skill].’

“We are eternally grateful! And as promised, here’s your reward!”

Tanasis quickly pointed to a wooden box placed to the side. And in the next moment, he was already running toward the “Colossus”. His colleagues rushed in the same way, swarming over it like ants on sugar.

I stepped back and opened the wooden box we had received. Inside, it was packed full of intricately designed gold coins.

If the amount we had been told beforehand was true, it easily exceeded the cost of 100,000 lunch sets.

“I’ll use [Area Hole] and store the whole crate.”

‘Got it.’

Paula stored the reward for us. I didn’t bother counting the exact amount, trusting that we hadn’t been shortchanged. More importantly, though…

“Haha, sorry about our people.”

A tall, lanky man approached us. His refined appearance suggested he was likely one of the scholars.

“I’ve been assigned to instruct you on artifact creation. Let’s head over there.”

It seemed like Tanasis had passed the task onto him, so we silently followed. He led us to a section of the workshop, where long tables lined up in rows. Each of these tables was, in fact, an artifact designed for creating artifacts.

“These long tables are used to craft artifacts. This should work for you too, right, Katsu-san?”

‘Yeah, I can do it with my [Skill], but I’m curious to learn how the actual process works.’

“Understood. Well, they say ‘it’s easier to try than to worry,’ so let’s go ahead and operate the machines while I teach you the process.”

‘Alright, let’s do this!’

“Katsu, you seem fired up. You mentioned you wanted to make a pseudo-magical construct, right?”

“Hm, it might be difficult to complete a pseudo-magical construct in just one day, but as they say, ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ Since you’ll be here for about a month, let’s take our time and learn thoroughly.”

──And so, we began learning about artifact creation.