Artifact (4)
Two days later, on the morning of the assembly day, my house was pretty damn hectic.
It was because Yustitia, who'd been pulling all-nighters for those two days straight to focus on crafting artifacts, finally handed me the ones she'd made.
A belt gleaming in golden light, and gloves with a subtle blue sheen.
The moment I put on the artifacts she'd whipped up in just two days, Yustitia—looking seriously sleep-deprived—asked me,
"...How's the fit?"
"I don't feel a thing."
Whether it was the belt or the gloves, there was no weight, no awkwardness—fucking nothing.
Tap, tap. Touching them directly, they felt rigid like Yustitia's scales, incredibly tough, but even then, barely any sensation reached my hands. It was weird as hell.
"Good, that's a relief... Alright, let's test it out. First, channel some mana into the gloves."
I wish they'd standardize the terms.
Hoaran calls it ki, Yustitia says mana, Lilith goes with essence or life force or magical power—it's a goddamn mess.
They're all referring to the same power, so the three of them should just compromise and pick one.
Personally, since I'm just a beginner but handling shikigami like Hoah with shamanism, I'd prefer sticking with ki.
Anyway, following Yustitia's instructions, I channeled the ki I'd gotten pretty good at controlling into the gloves I was wearing.
Shrrrrk...
The gloves transformed before my eyes, extending up to my forearms into gauntlets.
"Whoa...!"
Badass!
The blue gloves had become gauntlets wrapping up to my forearms.
As I admired the artifact in awe, Yustitia said,
"For now, I've named it Dragon Claw."
"Dragon Claw?"
It looked insanely cool, oozing style, but it didn't scream "claws" at all, so I tilted my head. Yustitia explained,
"Yeah, it probably doesn't look like 'claws' right now. So, want to try the Wearhoneybee's stinger?"
"Uh... here?"
"Oh, right... yeah. Here."
She grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it down, exposing her breasts.
I hadn't expected that. For some reason, she wasn't even wearing a bra, so her bare pink nipples hit me like a truck, and my dick sprang to attention instantly.
Anyway, thanks to the gift that triggered, I used the Wearhoneybee's stinger as Yustitia suggested.
And that's when I understood why she'd named it Dragon Claw.
Psssh.
Seeing the stingers protrude from the Dragon Claw, they totally looked like claws now.
I could only fire one stinger at a time before, but now five jutted out from the tip of each gauntlet on both arms.
No one could look at that and not think "claws."
Just looking at the numbers, it was ten times more stingers than before, but the stamina cost was the same as original. Wild.
"But why are they white?"
"Oh? That. Probably because I incorporated Shirasgal's fangs. The focus for Dragon Claw was reinforcement and amplification... Centered on the Wearhoneybee stinger, your most combat-specialized ability. With the lamia's deadly venom added to the Wearhoneybee stinger, even I'd feel a slight tingle if hit properly."
Double poison damage, and that's just a tingle?
I knew dragons had near-immunity to almost every element, but still.
"Well, that's not the main point. I told you—amplification and reinforcement. The poison's just a bonus. The real focus is the Wearhoneybee stinger's true power... firing it. Couldn't do much there. That part would definitely hurt more than a tingle. Maybe even a bit painful."
It punched clean holes.
If the stinger's main strength was the projectile itself, not the poison, it made sense.
I wasn't sure which was more impressive—a tingle or a slight sting.
Anyway, from the way she said it, the painful one was probably the bigger deal, so I let it slide.
"Can I try firing one?"
"Do that, and this place turns into a warzone... Then Hoaran would chew me out, so no..."
She muttered something about crashing right after I left.
Fair enough.
A bit disappointing, but I'd test the performance later.
"Anyway, that's your offensive self-defense weapon... This one's defensive gear."
Yustitia pointed at the shiny golden belt around my waist.
Made from Hoaran's tail fur, it was way too gold. As I stared at it, Yustitia said,
"Give that a try too."
"Got it."
Like with Dragon Claw, I channeled ki into the belt, and just like before, shrrrrk—thick armor enveloped my body.
"Oh...?"
It looked badass, but the armor covered everything except my Dragon Claw arms and face, so it was hard to check my full look.
"No mirror?"
"Here."
Instead of a mirror, Yustitia used magic to reflect my image.
Now I could see it clearly.
I was decked out in gleaming golden full plate armor, complete with a fox-mask-like helmet.
Fox-themed, so it felt sleek and agile rather than bulky for full armor.
Insanely cool.
"I named that one Celestial Fox Armor. Mostly used Hoaran's materials. A bit of my scales too, but just as filler."
Celestial Fox Armor.
Fitting name for armor made from the tail fur of Hoaran, known by the epithet Celestial Fox.
Made from her fluffy tail fur, yet somehow rock-hard—probably thanks to those scales she added.
"Since it's armor, I focused entirely on protection. It can withstand a high dragon's breath for about ten seconds easy. After that... well, don't get cooked."
No clue if tanking a high dragon's breath for ten seconds was impressive or not.
Anyway, it's badass, got it.
But...
"The color on this..."
Dragon Claw was blue gauntlets from Yustitia's scales and Shirasgal's fangs, with five pristine white Wearhoneybee stingers each.
Celestial Fox Armor was sleek golden fox-shaped plate.
Each looked explosive on their own, but together? The colors clashed hard.
Golden full body armor with blue gauntlets on the arms? Kinda off.
"Yeah, didn't have time to match that."
Fair enough.
Whipping these up in two days was miracle enough.
"I'll tweak it later to be less flashy. Right now, it's a bit too eye-catching. Rushed job, so still some rough edges..."
I couldn't spot any flaws, but if she said so.
Shrrrrk.
I withdrew the ki, and both artifacts reverted to belt and gloves in seconds. I said,
"While you're at it, make 'em both pitch black?"
"Black? Why...?"
Yustitia tilted her head.
Why black?
"Real style's always true black."
Having safely received the artifacts from Yustitia, and with assembly time approaching, I was getting ready to head out when Lilith, Hoaran, and Yustitia came to see me off.
"Got everything? Hoah taken care of?"
"Here."
At Lilith's question, I pulled Hoah—back in doll form—from my pocket and showed her.
"Take these just in case. They will react if evil approaches."
Hoaran handed me a thick stack of talismans, so I stuffed my pockets full.
"Here, take this. Might come in handy."
I pocketed a handful of the still-unfinished Overdrive Pills, which just caused berserk states for now.
"And... here, take this."
As Lilith and Yustitia loaded me up, Lilith tossed me something and said that.
Familiar bottle.
Looked like it could hold yogurt no problem. I asked,
"What's this?"
"What else? The stuff you chugged three bottles of. Forgot already?"
Elixir, huh.
500 million per bottle.
The main culprit behind my still-unpaid debt. Staring at Lilith who'd handed it over, she blushed slightly and said,
"Don't go getting hurt by some bullshit and croaking. If shit hits the fan, chug it. Works for detoxification too... You probably won't get poisoned anyway, but just in case..."
"Uh... thanks, but doesn't this mean I owe more?"
"Obviously."
Damn.
Makes it awkward to use.
Still, I'd take it. Elixir regrows limbs easy—basically a spare life.
With werewolf regen and toughness, I probably wouldn't lose limbs often anyway.
If they got lopped off easy, maybe it'd just reattach on its own.
Anyway, stuffing everything from the three mamongs into my pockets was no joke.
Like those kids back in school getting stuffed by their moms for field trips—never thought I'd experience it.
Except mine weren't snacks or lunches; all self-defense crap.
Hell, with the artifacts on me, Hoah, talismans, and more, I could drop into a battlefield and not die.
Felt more like I'd overdressed and turned into a golden goblin.
If someone looted me: two artifacts, dragon-heart Hoah, elixir.
Jackpot.
Not planning to be anyone's golden goblin, though.
Anyway.
Assembly time. I said,
"Alright, I'm off. Take care of Yustitia, Mom—don't forget. Hoaran Mamong, keep Yustitia from doing anything weird. And..."
I looked at Lilith.
"...What?"
She kinda looked more deflated than usual—maybe guilty for only giving elixir, unlike Hoaran with Hoah or Yustitia with artifacts.
To her, I said,
"Thanks for the elixir too, Lilith Mom."
500 mil a bottle, and not even buyable with cash.
I could imagine how much hell Lilith went through in under two days. She whipped her head away and snapped,
"...Shut up and go. You'll be late."
"Got it."
So tsundere.
Her swishing tail gave her away completely—must be from hanging with Hoaran.
Rare sight, so I burned it in.
Won't see her for at least a week.
"Alright, really heading out."