Lasair was not ignoring her problems. Definitely not. It was just that... she had been meaning to try to find new creatures, and this was an opportune time! Yeah, let's go with that.
Stop glaring at me Mirage.
As Lasair readied herself for another round of testing, her favorite bird was busy having a panic attack.
"But Mother! He knows! He saw the dagger, he saw me! Greedy Thing even changed his status! How is he not a threat?"
We are not going to "deal with" someone who isn't trying to harm us. I'm by no means a pacifist, but that is crossing a line. Do you understand?
The bird gave her best impression of sigh, and nodded.
"Fine."
Lasair thanked her, and turned back to her work. So far she had tried everything bit by bit, which was horribly inefficient. This time, she had just thrown a little bit of everything into a pile. Far more organized than when she discovered Midas. Where was the little lizard anyway?
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Midas was having a very good nap. The soft touch of cloth, the new smells, and the light rocking. It all contributed very well to naps. Cloak hoods were good. Even if the owner of the cloak was rather unobservant. Ah well, who cares. Nap time.
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Well, he's probably fine.
There were a few coins of each type, a chunk of both normal types of [MANASTONE], a rock she had carved out with [SHAPE SELF], and a bit of her three plants. The pile was tucked into a dark corner of her core room, just in case she created anything volatile. No need to ruin the Aviary's floor.
She crossed her metaphorical fingers, and swept the cloud of her fire affinity over the pile. The change was immediate. Most things just got burned, such as the amazing transformation from copper to hot copper.
Two things had a different response.
At the top of the pile, a chunk of [FLAME-TOUCHED MANASTONE] shuddered, before rather violently cracking in two. The pieces tumbled down the pile as if pulled, and landed in the shadow of the rest of the junk. They rippled, before slowly reforming into perfectly smooth spheres. Those spheres began to sink into the shade, but were sent back up as the darkness rose to meet them. The gems now formed the eyes of a small humanoid made of pure shadow.
{CREATURE [RUBY WRAITH] UNLOCKED. USE [SPAWN] TO CREATE [RUBY WRAITH]? Y/N}
A gold coin that was buried in the center of the pile twitched, before beginning to melt and flow towards the rock at the base. The gold surrounded the stone, which formed into a vaguely drill-shaped chunk of gold. The shape slit into three fingers, which clawed at the ground until a full body of stone broke out of the floor. It was a dark black, threaded through with veins of orange magma. The magma flowed through and over its body like blood, without ever melting the stone containing it.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
{CREATURE [MOLTEN GOLEM] UNLOCKED. USE [SPAWN] TO CREATE [MOLTEN GOLEM]? Y/N}
It had been a few hours since the little thief left, so Lasair had some energy saved up. She created two more of each creature, leaving her with just enough to get one of each type to a [LIEUTENANT].
The wraiths appeared first. Interestingly, they all had different shapes. While the first had appeared as a vaguely humanoid shape, the second and third both took after animals. One became a spindly spider, with eight pinpricks of red serving as its eyes. The other was far more burly, supported by thick trunks of darkness that held only a small resemblance to legs. It looked similar to a bear, although more like a child's crayon drawing of one.
The golems were also varied, but to a lesser extent. Only the original had a "drill", with the other just having three-fingered hands. They also lacked any gold on their form, though they kept the veins of magma. They all stood about a meter tall, about twice the height of the wraiths.
Her choices for [LIEUTENANT] seemed fairly obvious. She used the system to upgrade and [PROMOTE] them, [MAJOR MANA CONTROL] providing a slight discount. The two convulsed in tandem as their levels grew to five.
The wraith was first. The gems making up his eyes expanded and flattened, turning into a rather bland mask. It was just a curved oval with two holes. His face was covered in a plate of shining ruby, with endless voids as eyes.
Slightly more flashy was the crown upon his head. It was a circle of ruby with seven spikes protruding. The spikes pulsed with dancing shadows, drawing in all of the light that remained in the corner.
His body became more defined, almost looking human. His silhouette was still a little lumpy, but it was better than before. Darkness gathered around his right hand, and a bastard sword of pure void formed.
Between the aura of shadows, the terrifying blade, and the imposing crown, the very air seemed to retreat from the wraith.
Nothing beside remained.
And crowned as he was, so rose the king of kings, Ozymandias.
[PROMOTION FINISHING...]
[{OZYMANDIAS} IS NOW A [LIEUTENANT]...]
[PLEASE PICK SKILL PATH.]:
[TRAVELER]: YOUR RUBY WRAITH MAY SLIP BETWEEN SHADOWS AS IF THEY ARE ROADS.
[BEAST]: YOUR RUBY WRAITH'S [ADVANCED SENTIENCE] IS REPLACED WITH [CHAINED SENTIENCE] IN EXCHANGE FOR DEVASTATING POWER.
[JUDGE]: YOUR RUBY WRAITH MAY SEE THE SINS OF MAN, AND DECREE THE PENANCE.
Next was the golem. The gold spread just a bit further up his form, reaching up to where his elbow would be if he were human. It rippled as he split and reformed his drill as if flexing a muscle.
His size increased next, gaining a few centimeters. He would likely reach the height of a human by level fifteen. That would be sight to see.
The magma changed next, draining from his skin. It gathered in his chest, before spread being throughout his body. Magma heart. Neat.
Eyes appeared. Where before there had only been divots in the stone, there were now small orbs of magma, lighting the pile in an orange glow.
He turned, surveying the room. The wraith held his interest for a moment, but was ignored when the pile came back into view. He rumbled forward, and with as much care as a sentient chunk of rock could muster, picked up a [FLAMING FERN].
"Pretty..."
I agree big guy. I'm getting a little tired of being dramatic with the names. Do you mind being named Chunk? No? Good. Thanks Chunk.
[PROMOTION FINISHING...]
[{CHUNK} IS NOW A [LIEUTENANT]...]
[PLEASE PICK SKILL PATH.]:
[CRUSHING POWER]: BRUTE STRENGTH. THAT'S IT.
[GILDED TOUCH]: YOUR MOLTEN GOLEM PARTIALLY BECOMES GOLD.
[MINER'S TOUCH]: YOUR MOLTEN GOLEM MAY SHAPE THE STONE AROUND IT.
Decisions, decisions.