> Kira PoV

“So… What did you two plan on doing after coming here anyway?” (Kira)

“Uhm… it was kind of an accident, so we don’t have anything like plans.” (Ellie)

“Oh, so it wasn’t on purpose… Will you be looking for a way back?” (Kira)

“No! Definitely not! The place we left was horrible! It didn’t have Kira!” (Ellie)

“Aw, that’s sweet of you to say.” (Kira)

{She’s not just saying that. We were targeted by some very bad people. Literally the worst kind. So while it may not have been on purpose, coming here was just about the best thing that could have happened to us.}

“Yeah! That old fart has no way of reaching us over here! He probably thinks his goons wiped us out!” (Ellie)

“I see... ” (Kira)

I already expected something like this. The poor girl acts like she had not seen a single drop of kindness before coming here. If it wasn’t for Nano supporting her, she may have completely shut herself off from the world...

“Alright. Then, I can show you into town if you want.” (Kira)

Urgh… The City Guard probably have it out for me again… Well, I’ll deal with that like I always do.

{The thing is, we really shouldn’t leave this place behind.}

“Huh?” (Ellie)

“Why not? Isn’t it just a pile of scrap?” (Kira)

{No. Not exactly. It was carrying a wide range of objects. Some beautiful, some valuable. Many of them dangerous. It would be very bad if someone stole and misused them.}

“How bad?” (Kira)

{Potentially end-of-the-world bad.}

“That sounds bad.” (Kira)

{It’s pretty bad.}

“I suppose you can’t just get rid of these things?” (Kira)

{It would be impossible right now. Trying to do that is way too dangerous. No matter what, we have to keep a close eye on them. It’s our responsibility for bringing these dangerous things to your world.}

“But… we’re in the middle of the Eagle forest! We can’t just live out here in the wilderness!” (Kira)

{Why not?}

“There’s too many monsters roaming around! Trolls, giant wolves, goblins, orcs- Wait, shouldn’t have they attacked this place by now?” (Kira)

It’s been almost a day since this steel brick landed here. It might have scared them off for a little while, but there’s no way they’d forgive us for encroaching on their territory!

{Oh so that’s what those were! A good number of creatures I have never seen before encroached on us, but I took care of them with the drones.}

“Drones? You mean those white spider-like things? What are they anyway? They don’t look like any living thing I’ve ever seen or heard about.” (Kira)

There’s a brief moment of silence. Nano is probably looking for the right words again.

{They’re dolls that move on their own, but only when I tell them to. They’re not alive and are made of metal and wire rather than flesh and bone.}

“So… golems?” (Kira)

Magical constructs, the specialty of dwarves. Usually made of stone, sometimes metal. I don’t feel any mana coursing through these ‘drones’ though so I don’t think that’s quite right.

{If that’s what it sounds like to you, then that’s what we’ll call them for now.}

“Fair enough. So are they really that strong?” (Kira)

{Oh yes. They’re made for construction and mining operations so their shells are quite resistant to impacts. And their tools can double as weapons in a pinch. They’re more than enough to deal with some dumb beasts, at least.}

“Wait, they were meant for construction? Then are you going to use them to build a house!?” (Kira)

{A house? That’s thinking too small! Actually, now’s a good time to start as any! Please step outside for a second while I set things up!}

* * *

“Well… the issue of shelter is certainly no longer an issue…” (Kira)

“How is that? Amazing right?! Nano is really good at controlling those drones!” (Ellie)

“I’ll say! To see hundreds of beings move together in unison like this… It’s indescribable!” (Kira)

I was honestly awestruck. The giant metal tomb-like thing was swarmed by hundreds of these shiny drones, and gradually disappeared under a whirlwind of sparks, grinding and screeching! It wasn’t just that, either! The surrounding area was flattened, lumber was harvested, any usable stones were processed and the rest were cleared out.

It’s not even sunset yet and the scenery has changed completely! The sight of that giant hole-covered piece of scrap that had carved a deep trench in the ground is nowhere to be found! What stood in its place could only be described as a fortress!

The wreck was completely dismantled into metal sheets and rebuilt as a single twenty-meter tall tower, surrounded by a three-meter tall metal fence. No, calling it a wall would be far more accurate. The only gripe I have is that since everything was built out of salvaged dark gray metal, it didn’t look very homely. Actually, it looks rather sinister and ominous if I have to be honest.

The tower itself was a slightly irregular shape, with a few spires jutting out from it. When I asked Nano about why he chose a tower, he gave me a surprising answer.

{Kira is a mage, right? Any self-respecting wizard needs a tower!}

I can’t really disagree with that logic. A mage secluded in a tower somewhere in the wilderness - it had a really romantic appeal to it! Inside it, there was a ground floor, four floors above and two basement levels underground! I still have no idea what to do with all this space! Nano said that our bedroom would have its own bathroom! I’m so excited!

Ah, he did ask that I stay out of the basement levels though. Apparently one of those would be used to store all of the items and boxes they brought with them, while the other one would be Nano’s workshop. One of the things they brought along was something Nano called a Nano-forge. If it’s named after Nano, then there’s no doubt it can produce some interesting things!

In fact, Nano has already furnished the place with carpets, beds, chairs, tables, cutlery and all sorts of other things! The wooden furniture he carved out of the harvested lumber is especially charming! If he keeps adding to it, this place will become a luxurious palace in its own right!

Then came the outside. The 3-meter tall and 300-meter long metal wall established a perimeter around the place, securing a rather significant plot of land! I had requested some space to grow vegetables and herbs, but this is a bit too much space! There’s almost 2 acres of soil to work with!

{So. Your thoughts?}

“This is amazing! Both the speed and quality you work at is mind-boggling! If it’s like this, then we can easily live out here! Both Nano and those drones are way too absurd!” (Kira)

Honestly, how come they’re so skilled even though they’re just knock-off golems!?

{Haha! I will take that as praise! Well, the drones are useful but there are some bad news. They’ll run out of fuel in about eight days and we won’t be able to rely on them. There are ways to recharge them, but it won’t be enough to adequately protect this place.}

“Ack! But if they’re not around… Those walls won’t be enough!” (Kira)

Right now we’re fine since the drones are patrolling the area, but if they stop then the monsters are sure to come after us! Simple walls will not keep them at bay for long, no matter how sturdy!

{See, that’s where I’m hoping you can help us out. You can use magic, right? Can you produce lightning out of nothing?}

“It’s not really out of nothing. It takes mana you know.” (Kira)

{Right, but it’s possible, yes?}

“It is indeed. In fact, the [Thunder] series of spells happen to be a specialty of mine! The problem is I really need a staff to cast spells.” (Kira)

{Huh? But you used magic just fine earlier to produce clean drinking water, right?}

“I did, but that’s not a spell. It’s just unrefined magic. I know you want lightning, but with only my bare hands I can only do this much.” (Kira)

*Bdztztzt*

I let a small arc of electricity shoot out from my index finger. It’s so weak the most you can hope to do is jolt someone and give them a fright. Producing a burst of flame to start a campfire or a stream of water to satiate thirst is the limit of my usefulness right now.

{I see. I think I might be able to do something about it, but can you answer a few questions first?}

“Sure, go right ahead!” (Kira)

{Now, this thing called mana. You mentioned it’s consumed whenever magic is used, but does it recharge?}

“It does, albeit rather slowly. A good night’s rest usually restores it back to full, though.” (Kira)

{And how much is 'full' exactly?}

“Hard to say. We haven’t found a way to measure someone’s mana pool precisely. Ah, a mana pool is what we call a person’s capacity to store mana. While everyone is born with it, most people don’t have a large enough mana pool to be full-time mages. You can still train it as if it were a muscle so it gets stronger and larger, but how much growth you experience depends on how much you started with.” (Kira)

{Then how do you know if someone has enough to be a mage?}

“There are some magic tools that can tell if you have enough to be a mage, but they’re rather vague. Incidentally, my own mana pool is rather scary. I don’t mean to brag, but it’s practically overflowing! Not even my teachers could cast as many spells as me in a single day!” (Kira)

{Oh now that sounds reliable! How interesting! I’d like to ask more about these magic tools later, but for now can you tell me why staves are so important?}

“A staff is a mana-focusing tool. There are also other types of focusing tools, but the staff offers the most output and control. And you need a focusing tool to mold the mana into a shape, which is then used to invoke a spell. It’s like when a blacksmith is turning an iron ingot into a sword.” (Kira)

{The mage is the smith, the mana is the ingot and the staff is the hammer. I see. That makes it much easier to understand.}

He completed the metaphor I was taught before I could even finish it!

“You catch on fast, don’t you?” (Kira)

{Dealing with information is one of my strong points and hearing you explain things like this is really helpful. The concept of magic goes against a lot of the knowledge I have from our old world, so accepting its existence completely will take some work.}

“Really? But Ellie does magic, right?” (Kira)

{It’s not really magic though. The [Star Magic] we spoke about simply looks like it, but it’s a completely different thing. It comes from the power of her mind - mana plays no factor in it.}

“... I see. Where is Ellie, anyway?” (Kira)

{She’s helping dismantle some of the things the drones hunted. The leather and meat will be useful, right?}

“Right. Good call… Can she handle that sort of nasty work, though?” (Kira)

{Well, she’s not exactly a stranger to using a knife. Don’t you worry about her, she’s highly-trained and her body is faster, stronger and more agile than your average human. Although some would argue she’s not really human.}

Strange… Somehow I felt a pang of regret in that voice. Even though it was a stiff monotone.

“Is that why she has that odd hair color and eyes?” (Kira)

{... Yes.}

That delay is a bit worrying. This is obviously a touchy subject, so I won’t pry into it too much. I’m sure Ellie and Nano will let me know when they are ready.

{Speaking of which, were your eyes always that color?}

“No… They used to be blue, but one of them turned red after you two arrived.” (Kira)

I was a bit shocked when I finally saw my reflection in a broken piece of glass.

{I thought so. You know Ellie had two red eyes before we came here?}

“So we traded eye colors? Well, that’s hardly the strangest thing that happened to me that day.” (Kira)

{That’s an understatement. It’s the same situation for us. In the end both your eyes are in good health so it’s pointless to worry about things we don’t know about.}

“My thought exactly! Probably some odd side effect. She did say she, uh, hitched a ride inside my head…” (Kira)

It seems all the odd sensations I experienced yesterday were completely a side effect of that. The implications are a bit worrying, but we can’t do anything about it right now so it’s my loss if I think to deeply about it.

{Hey, I have no idea what happened either. I’m just glad she’s safe.}

“Yeah…” (Kira)

It wasn’t exactly a bad thing. It seems she somehow picked up our language from my head and then Nano got it from hers. Thanks to that, we were all able to get along splendidly. And it did bring us together…

Right, I’ve decided it’s actually a good thing!

“Sorry, we got a little sidetracked. Anything else you want to know about magic?” (Kira)

{Yes, about the materials, does it matter? Or rather, how does it matter?}

“Well, certain materials just handle mana better. Generally they’re separated into wood and metal, although metal staves are a bit impractical since they’re too heavy. Different people work better with different tools. For example, I work best with wooden staves.” (Kira)

{What sort of wood?}

“Treant Heartwood is the best type, but it’s rare. Elven made ones are pretty good too. In general the material has to be able to hold mana and be durable enough to not break apart under the pressure of the mana you put into the staff.” (Kira)

Well, I end up overdoing it and break them anyway...

{I see, so toughness is important. And wood, plants, fiber… Alright, then about the shape…}

* * *

{I see. I think I get it.}

We talked for almost 30 minutes. Nano asked many questions, but I had all the answers! I was always unmatched in magical theory back in the Magic Academy you know! I spent a lot of time studying and practicing on my own, so that much is a given.

“So do you think you can make one?” (Kira)

That was the whole point of this little discussion. Nano is obviously good at making things as long as he knows what to do, so I have some expectations!

{Yes. I believe so. I’ll just need Ellie to help out in the basement a bit.}

“I thought there’s only dangerous things down there though!” (Kira)

{Not all of them. We brought a whole lot of different things with us.}

“Oh, you mean in those metal boxes I saw yesterday? The ones that were scattered all over the place from the crash?” (Kira)

{Landing.}

“Sorry?” (Kira)

{It was a landing.}

“How do you figure?” (Kira)

{Ellie walked away from it.}

“...” (Kira)

{But yes, those. And yes, some of those do contain very dangerous items. So I’m going to have to ask you again to keep out of the basement. Okay, Kira?}

“Uhm. I’ve been worried about this for a while now, but those things won’t suddenly explode for no reason, right?” (Kira)

{Haha. No! Of course not! Highly unlikely. Probably not. Well, there’s a good chance it’ll be fine.}

"Hey. HEY! It won’t explode, right?!" (Kira)

{I'm just teasing you, it's fine, it's fine, no problems.}

That tone of yours isn't very reassuring, though!