Back in my room at the inn, I put my equipment into the chest and then flop onto the bed. Oddly enough, while I'm a bit tired and hungry, I don't feel the deep exhaustion that I think I should. Maybe my absurd magic stores and body enhancement counteract fatigue to some degree?
Speaking of which, I don't know what the effects of magic power depletion are, but I don't think I experienced it all day. The closest I came to spell-induced exhaustion was after that plasma ball spell. Even then, the effects were minor and I recovered in under a minute. I never had to worry about magic consumption. Just how much do I have?
Moving on to more mundane concerns…I'm not broke yet, but my money is quickly dwindling. I had starter funds that got me all my equipment, but soon I'm going to need clothes and shoes. If I go to an actual inn, it will get more expensive, and I'd like to start saving for a house in this world soon. I don't know how much food is going to cost regularly, or healing potions, weapon and armor maintenance, and whatever else I can't think of.
As is, I only have enough money for food and housing for…maybe four weeks? That's not so bad, but it's only because of that one-time sale of my Earth clothes.
My current guild job will only get me enough for food and shelter for two days. At my current guild rank, I don't think my income will sustain me for long, especially if I have additional costs outside food and shelter.
"I need to make more money…" (Mizuki)
I could try doing merchant-y things like selling a board game or other products from Earth, but I don't have the capital to make that happen. I'd also need to partner with a merchant, which would launch me into a spotlight I don't think I can be in yet. I'm stronger than I was, but far from invincible.
"Tch…there's got to be a spell that's profitable, and I could probably learn and use it." (Mizuki)
Just then, I remember something Azazel mentioned about someone is Azura's history with a dark spell affinity. He said someone could convert rocks into gold. Could I do that?
Actually, do I need rocks, or will any old matter do? In theory, if I can just use magic to reallocate the subatomic particles from existing atoms into new atoms of a specific structure, I can create anything I want.
A smile breaks out across my face.
"Maybe I can literally make money." (Mizuki)
I sit up on the bed and open the window to my room, and a cool night breeze flows in. Okay, let's see if I can do this with ambient air. Since gold is a lot denser, it'll probably take a lot of it, and I don't want to suffocate in here from the air thinning.
I close my eyes and hold up my palm. I will magic to surround the area above my hand, and I imagine air being forced and compressed into a sphere in my palm. Then, I imagine the magic breaking down atoms in the center of that sphere and forming them into new atoms methodically – alternating addition of 79 protons and 118 neutrons to get the nucleus, then layer on 79 electrons.
I start to feel a 'resistance' in the spell as I focus on the atomic structure of gold.
At this point, since I'm technically doing low-yield fusion and fission, I also will my magic to elongate the wavelength of any high-energy radiation that might be produced, until it's just harmless radio waves. I can probably ignore neutrinos and leftover subatomic particles.
As I pile even more magic into the alchemy spell, I can feel the resistance from a moment ago being overcome.
Eventually, I see something shiny start to emerge above my palm, and a strong breeze begins to flow in through the window. I guess it's working and generating negative pressure in the room?
I continue with the spell, but for the first time I start to feel fatigued – is this what excessive magic depletion feels like?
I try forcing the spell to continue, but it becomes unstable as my vision starts to blur, then I feel my focus break along with the spell. I collapse onto the bed, sweating profusely, and I hear a loud thud in my room. I've never felt so awful…I guess this spell is crazy taxing on magic power.
I lay on my bed for a few minutes, and I'm eventually able to sit back up. I feel almost normal again already, so my magic regeneration must be absurd.
I look around my room floor and notice a solid gold sphere about the size of a golf ball, and I grin ear-to-ear. I walk over and pick it up, then sit down on the floor. It's surprisingly heavy.
Hmm…what should I do with it? I could try and sell it, but pure gold in this shape would put me under scrutiny. I can try molding it into the shape of a gold coin, I guess. That shouldn't be as taxing as actually making the gold.
I pull out my one gold coin for comparison. It looks like I synthesized enough gold for maybe four coins.
I extend my magic around the gold ball and imagine the magic forcing apart the gold into two halves. It is an awkward sensation initially, but after a little bit of trial and error, I manage to divide the gold into four smaller spheres.
Then, I compress the spheres into smooth disks with my magic and compare them to the original coin. They're pretty close in diameter and thickness – fortunately, even the normal coins aren't perfectly uniform in design.
I hold the original up next to a fresh mint and begin tediously using magic to warp the surface of the new coin until it visually matches the original. The first try takes about fifteen minutes, but I get better at it with the next three. The last one only takes five minutes.
After about an hour of work, I now have four new gold coins! I personally cannot tell the difference between them, but I shouldn't assume they're perfect replicas.
"Hold up…is this technically counterfeiting?" (Mizuki)
Hmm…eh, I'm fine with it. They'd just turn the god into coins anyway if I sold it, right? I'll consider it a public service!
With my guilt thoroughly assuaged by my mental gymnastics, I pocket my new hard-earned money, grab my belongings, and make my way to the tavern to get some food!