Episode 256 Humanoid Shadow Puppet

After the items I ordered from the Magic Workshop were completed, I called Tesshin and Ami to the mansion. Tesshin told me to call him if there was anything he could do to help, so I decided to ask him to help me make a Shadow Puppet. It seemed that Tesshin wanted to return the favor for receiving the Kikuchi Spear.

"Grimm-sensei, you're making a humanoid Shadow Puppet, right. What kind of Shadow Puppet will it become?"

Ami asked me a question, and I showed her the prototype humanoid Shadow Puppet.

"Hee~, so it has a tail."

Tesshin let out a surprised voice. Ami looked it over with sparkling eyes.

"This one was made using 10 kg of Shadow Clay, but the humanoid Shadow Puppet I'm aiming for will use about 150 kg of Shadow Clay. I think it will probably be about 180 centimeters tall."

The tail was only used for balance and was not made long. The tip of its tail would probably just touch the ground.

"Sensei, what should I do about the face?"

"I haven't decided. I don't mind making it look like a Lizardman."

"That's no good. Let's give it a more unique look."

Tesshin smirked.

"Speaking of individuality, the faces of the Moai statues on Easter Island are unique."

I chuckled as I imagined a humanoid Shadow Puppet with the face of a Moai statue attached. Ami seemed to have imagined it too, and was holding back her laughter.

"Well then, I would feel sorry for the humanoid Shadow Puppet. Let's make it beautiful like an Elf."

Recently, movies featuring Elf protagonists had become popular. She must have seen one.

"Maa, I don't care about the face. I'll leave it to Ami."

"Please leave it to me."

"Tesshin-san, please help me create the general shape first."

"Ou, leave it to me."

I took out 150 kg of Shadow Clay mixed with D-Particles from my Magic Pouch and placed it on the workbench. Tesshin used magic to strengthen his muscles and then began to transform it into human form.

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In about two hours, the general shape was completed, and the details were adjusted. Ami and I made minor adjustments, and in the end, Ami created the shape of the face. The elongated ears and delicate facial structure were characteristic of Elves.

"Aree~, isn't the nose a little too big?"

"Maa, isn't it fine. If you mess around with it strangely, it'll get even weirder."

I embedded the Sorcery Eyes, Sorcery Ears, and Sorcery Voice. I made a slight mistake when inserting the Sorcery Eyes. I pushed them too far inside.

Tesshin san watched and started laughing.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Because, it's starting to look a little like a Moai statue."

The slightly large nose and hollow-looking eyes were similar to the characteristics of Moai statues.

When Ami heard that, her shoulders drooped.

"No, no, it's beautiful enough. Moai statues have strong-looking chins, but this one is different."

I embedded the Storage Ring into the humanoid Shadow Puppet's chest. Tesshin that was watching,

"What is that?"

"It's a Storage Ring. I'm planning on giving this guy a weapon, so I need something like a Magic Bag to store it in."

"It's a luxury item. Nn, that's a Magic Battery. Are you going to embed something like that too?"

"Yeah, I want it to be able to use Magic Weapons, so this is also necessary."

I implanted a Magic Battery into the abdomen.

"The finishing touches."

A Magic Core was implanted into its head and I began pouring magical power into the humanoid Shadow Puppet. Little by little, life was being breathed into what was once a lump of clay. A skeleton was formed inside and muscles were generated.

When the facial muscles were forming, a strange image occurred to me. The image of a Moai statue came to mind. As a result, the face of the humanoid Shadow Puppet became more and more similar to a Moai statue.

That said, it was quite beautiful. However, there was a part of it that could not be described as a beautiful Elf, and was a bit Moai-like.

"Ah, Moai."

Ami raised her voice. Tesshin also laughed and pointed.

I didn't think Metis would care. That may be true, but I thought that the next time I recreated it, I would make it properly look like a beautiful Elf.

"There were a few mistakes, but it's finished."

"What do you want the name to be?"

I thought about Ami's question. I couldn't think of a suitable name. I asked Ami and Tesshin if they had a good name.

"We tried to make it look like an Elf, but it turned out a little Moai-like, so I think 'Elmoa' would be good."(TN:They're taking the 'Eru' from 'Erufu' and 'Moa' from 'Moai', GTL wants me to use Elmore, but that sounds more male than gender neutral like it actually is. Even if it's being controlled by the female Metis.)

It was Tesshin's suggestion. 'Elmoa' had a good sound quality. However, since I knew the reason, I wondered what was going on.

"I think it's good."

Ami readily agreed, so it was chosen to be 'Elmoa'.

It seemed that Metis had begun to take control, and Elmoa had begun to move. She wobbled a little, but soon she was able to walk properly.

To test Elmoa's athletic ability, I decided to take her out into the garden.

"Sensei, maybe you should get it some clothes to wear?"

Although the gender of Shadow Puppets was unknown, Ami seemed to think it would be bad for Shadow Puppets that looked like humans to go outside naked.

I had no choice but to put some shorts and a T-shirt on it. I had to cut a hole in the back of the shorts, but it looked good to me. It seemed that clothes for the humanoid Shadow Puppets was also needed.

"Grimm, do you have any plans to make a female Shadow Puppet?"

Tesshin asked with a serious face.

"If something like that is made, people will definitely come up with strange ideas, right?"

Tesshin shrugged his shoulders.

"Maa, if it's a Shadow Puppet for battle, there will be cases where you will abandon it and run away, so it might be better to have a genderless one that has no strange emotions attached to it."

When encountering a strong enemy, there may be a strategy to use the humanoid Shadow Puppet as a shield and escape. You never knew what would happen in a dungeon, so you needed to be prepared for that. That's why I didn't put Metis in the Shadow Puppet.

Elmoa went out into the garden and ran around the garden and jumped. The jump, which reached a height of about five meters, was the result of the Shadow Puppet's athletic ability making use of its strong muscles.

"How did it learn to move properly so quickly?"

"That's because the Magic Core I put in this guy is the same Magic Core I used for the prototype."

The prototype was destroyed and its Magic Core was used.

Tesshin turned to face me.

"If you were to sell this Shadow Puppet, how much would it cost?"

"I wonder. It's humanoid and has a Storage Ring and Magic Battery built in, so I think it will cost over 100 million Yen."

Tesshin had a relieved look on his face. Since he helped create such an expensive item, he must be thinking that he was able to repay some of the debt he owned me for giving him the Kikuchi Spear. He didn't need to worry about that.

"Sensei, what should Elmoa wear? I don't think it can hide in the shadows with those shorts and T-shirt."

"If Shadow-species Skin is available as a drop item, I have no choice but to use it to make clothes. Will I be able to get it at an auction or something?"

"Rather, I think it would be cheaper to have a Bestowal Wizard give it the shadow attribute. However, I think there are only a few Bestowal Wizards who can grant the shadow attribute."

When I heard talk of a Bestowal Wizard, I wondered if Amane could grant it. I should check it out once.

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