When I see on television how people melt metals, shape them, and cut them incredibly precisely, I naively get the idea that, in fact, it is something very easy and that anyone could do it.
— No, no, no! Shit, I failed again. —
In the magical academy, when we worked engraving magical circuits into artifacts, we had the enormous advantage that the pieces came prepared and ready so that we, using a large number of enchanted tools, could do the task in a couple of hours at most.
I horribly underestimated how difficult it would be to create my own pieces from scratch; it's so fucking difficult to get the shape, thickness, and reach to make the correct alloy.
— Why does everything have to be so difficult in the fucking life? —
My beloved seems totally disinterested, ignoring my tantrums.
— Why can't I just put the materials on a recipe or on an easily buildable workbench and have the perfectly finished product come out? This world is like a game, but only for the things that don't suit me! —
In fact, this world is almost ridiculous; being able to see your stats, level up, have classes with everything so perfectly defined, limited and bounded goes against the basic principles of how complex analog systems works.
The funny thing is that I never questioned any of this when I was just Victoria, but now I can't get out of my head how ridiculous this world seems to me.
— It's like a confusing and diffuse dream, but at the same time, it's as real as life itself. —
I slapped my face, and this time Gor seemed to pay attention as he stared at me with his one beautiful eye.
— I was just clarifying my ideas, honey; don't worry. —
I can't say he looks happy; on the contrary, he looks a little upset. It seems like he doesn't like me hurting myself. It makes me a little happy to know that.
The buzzing in my head almost doesn't let me think clearly... It's a bit disadvantageous in a situation like this, but it feels so pleasant that I don't dare ask him to stop.
If I can't even do something like this, then maybe I'll still be the useless trash that I always was; I can't be pathetic anymore, or Gor will never be proud of me.
Returning to work, things do not improve; the mold is a serious problem; it is very slow and difficult to carve the rock with precision; not even using my magic blowtorch, I achieve a good result; then the demolding part is a disaster since the pieces are full of impurities.
A magic circuit must be as clean as possible, or it will lose efficiency greatly. It also generates interference and heat.
My beloved Gor brings one of his tentacles towards me; he doesn't touch me; he just puts it in front of me and makes it change shape.
— I wouldn't dare use your beautiful tentacles for something so base, my love. —
Gor seems to reject my words, as he insists. I bite my lip until it bleeds a little; if I don't listen to him, I'll make him angry. It's not like I mind getting punished, but making him angry breaks my heart.
— Okay honey, let's do it your way. —
I send mental images to Gor of the exact shape I want to achieve; his tentacle changes shape, leaving at the tip a mold with the exact dimensions of what I asked for. It is impressive how malleable they are.
Seriously worried about burning him, I wipe the tears from my eyes as I begin to melt the metal on another of his tentacles that took the shape of a vessel.
It seems that my worries were in vain since he doesn't show any signs of pain or discomfort. I feel so stupid for believing that something like this could even hurt a perfect being like him.
This time, with Gor's help, the metal piece is made well enough to engrave the magic circuits.
We continue with the development of the prototype, and after hours of work, I think I finally have the pieces to assemble it.
The matrix crystal has a crack that runs almost completely through it. It makes me very nervous to use something in these conditions, but I have no options at the moment.
With a lot of effort, I managed to carve the magical circuit on them, placing the matrix in the center, and with the help of some of the energy left in the mana crystal, I was able to activate the new magical artifact.
Mana of such high purity and complete affinitylessness is so convenient for activating a magical circuit like this. The dimensional matrix emits a slight glow and seems to reactivate without problems for now.
I welded the metal parts together using my firebolt until it was finally ready. I take a leather belt left by one of the invading cockroaches, and connect the metal piece using rivets to leave it securely attached to the leather of the belt.
Now I have in my hands something that I could describe as a belt that has embedded the dimensional matrix where Gor was asleep.
I smile involuntarily, looking at something that, for the first time, I managed to make from scratch and had already finished in my hands. It makes me feel a little proud of myself.
I sigh, feeling that, thanks to my beloved, I am finally stopping being the useless trash that I always was, like Victoria.
— How could someone who made a relic level sacred container for a perfect being be useless? —
Although I was not the one who made the true relic by myself, the dimensional matrix, it was the most important piece... without which my magic circuits and metal pieces are just useless decorations.
I'm just overestimating myself while stealing someone else's achievements.
— I'm still almost useless, like always, after all. —
— Sight. —
That is one less problem to worry about for now; I should still avoid damaging the magic circuit and prevent the dimensional matrix from being damaged at all costs, or it could end up breaking completely.
All this time I was thinking about the best way to use my beloved's beautiful tentacles to protect us, and an idea occurred to me: taking advantage of his wonderful ability to change shape at will, he can cover my body with his defensive tentacles as if it were an armor.
I send all the mental images of what I seek to achieve to my beloved king and explain the plan in great detail to the best of my ability.
Gor, as understanding as ever, agrees to follow my instructions. Little by little, he goes deeper into the artifact. I put the belt on immediately in such a way that it allowed access to my lower back without being too noticeable.
When I feel the rough, cold, and unpleasant feel of metal, I realize that there is a lot of room for improvement.
It's a bit crude, as I don't have the right tools to smooth out the welds, but I guess it's the best I can do at the moment, so I just have to put up with it.
A pair of tentacles surround my body. Its texture becomes metallic, but unlike real metal, it feels smooth and pleasant. They cover the magic artifact and some of my vital organs, except for my head.
I asked Gor to make the "armor" as discreet as possible; I also don't want to look like a suspicious dark knight covered in heavy jet-black armor. Even though it would look somewhat cool and very safe, it would draw a lot of unwanted attention.
Furthermore, his tentacles nullifying magic will prevent me from absorbing mana from the environment to feed him, so it is not a viable option anyway.
As a result, it only covers the bare minimum, leaving me half-naked. Despite myself and with a grimace of disgust, I take a black dress abandoned by the intruders.
It's a little tight on me; my breasts almost protrude from my neckline; it reeks of sweat and holy energy. It's definitely not something a noble lady like me would wear, but it gets the job done.
— I swear I will wash it using water magic at the first opportunity. —
It sucks that water magic needs a water source to work, so it's one of the most useless magics if you're far from a huge body of water, although it's very powerful if you're in the sea or a lake, for example. Perfectly balanced, I guess.
The rest of the things that could be useful I gave to my beloved Gor for safekeeping inside the dimensional matrix.
My eyes fill with tears as I look for the last time at what was our home for so many years. So many beautiful, romantic, and, above all, happy moments were lived here.
It was the place where, for the first time, I managed to be truly happy in my entire life as Victoria.
The place where I met the love of my life, my beloved Gor, was the place where we shared so many wonderful moments together.
My chest hurts from not being able to contemplate the incredible perfection of my beloved at all times, like I used to do for so many years.
I'll think about how to solve it later, because if I have to choose between stopping seeing my beloved Gor or risking being discovered, then I definitely prefer the second one; after all, I would just have to kill to solve the problem.
Going about 3 miles away from the ruins, over a small hill, I start to cast a fireball. Normally, a standard fireball consumes 2 or 4 points of mana, but now I'm doing what's known as spell overload.
It is a very bad idea if you don't know what you are doing, since a single mistake could cause it to collapse and detonate a few inches from the launcher and, as a consequence, dismember him or even kill him.
Luckily, I know what I'm doing, and I have a great affinity for fire. Little by little, the concentrated fire energy turns white, and with the help of space magic, I compress it. I also create a space barrier around it strong enough not to burn myself with the heat radiated from the sphere.
Originally, I planned to bombard the ruins with dozens of overloaded fireballs, but seeing that I was able to control them so easily, I changed my plans.
— It is truly beautiful and shiny; I would never have imagined that I could do something like this in my entire life. —
This is the characteristic composite spell of the Nightsun family and by which our surname is supposed to have originated: The night sun.
A sphere of concentrated fire as bright as the sun in the sky that is capable of illuminating the night and turning it into a day, an anti-army level spell capable of devastating an entire city.
Finally, when I feel that it might no longer be safe and after adding 120 points of mana, I try to stabilize the night sun that fiercely struggles to release its energy.
It's almost as perfect as my father's spell; although I was only able to see him use it once, mine uses space magic to avoid heat and most of the radiation.
— Do you see it now, old bastard? This noble lady can use the night sun at the age of 25! —
I laugh out loud as tears fall uncontrollably from my eyes.
— Now I'm probably the most talented Nightsun in the history, I bet you wouldn't look at me like I was just trash anymore. —
I almost lost control of the spell but managed to re-stabilize the sphere. Without wasting any more time on useless thoughts and gathering all my mind, I launch it at high speed in the direction of the ruins.
A loud flash followed by a huge explosion noise and a strong wave of heat rumbles, devastating everything in its path, instantly burning the strongest trees while the weaker ones are uprooted and scattered like leaves as they burn.
Gor's eight remaining defensive tentacles create a dome that protects me from the worst of the blast.
The explosion far exceeded my expectations; in panic, I created a space barrier just in time to block the heat wave and the simultaneous shock wave.
My whole body rumbles, and my eyes can no longer see because of the intense glare.
In the end, after the dust, smoke, and ash settled, a crater more than three hundred feet in diameter now stands where my home once stood.
Remorse overcomes me, but it was necessary to erase all traces of our presence there. Above all, and most importantly, erase any trace of my beloved Gor.
Perhaps using the night sun wasn't the best idea in the world, but I don't have time to leisurely explore those ruins and selectively eliminate every single thing.
— Who knows what clues there could be hidden about the origin of my beloved? I just can't take the risk. —
Leaving nostalgia and insecurities aside, I look at the sky, still covered in a cloud of smoke and ashes that barely let me see the beautiful sunset.
I wipe my tears using one of my hands; this is not the right time to be sad.
— This is the beginning of a new stage in our lives, darling. The world is our new sanctuary of bliss. —
I say this to my lover as I lick the remains of tears on one of my fingers.