"Well, I can always use more magical metals, stone, gems, and wood. Get me whatever you can, I will eventually find a use for it."

Zachariah says "Surely, you mean only the high grade stuff right?"

"No, I mean anything magical. With all the experimenting and random projects that I do, I can use just about anything."

Zachariah says "Alright. In that case, you can expect a big delivery tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Anything else we need to discuss?"

Zachariah says "Not that I can think of. I will let you know when I have news."

"Thanks."

Zachariah leaves and then I return to my workshop to start enchanting the core. The basic enchantments for the core don't take me long, but linking the castle's enchantments does. Once the enchanting is done I head upstairs and have lunch with the kids.

After lunch I play with the kids for a while before I go back to working on the core. Now comes the hard part, creating the programming for the artificial spirit. Unfortunately, all I can do is to try my best and then hope that it works.

Probably the most important part of the programming is the ability for Jarvis to learn. He will start out fairly basic and over time learn how to emulate emotions. Or at least that is what I am hoping for, but I still put in a failsafe just in case.

As for the physical core, I plan to put it into the floor of the main room in a hidden compartment. However, before I can activate the programming to see if it works I still need to build the golem. With the experience from making the gardeners, making the golem goes fairly quickly.

The only part of the golem that is difficult is the core, because it has to link to the castle's core. To help with that, I make the golems core a smaller version of the castle's core. I use the same materials, in the same pattern, and then enchant them both.

My hope is that the two cores being so similar will help them have resonance with each other. Of course, this is just an experiment and I have no idea if it will actually work. Once the enchantments are done I do the basic programming, then test the cores.

Seeing that the programming can flow freely between the two cores I think that it worked. However, I won't know for sure until the programming is done and I activate it. I don't get the chance to continue, Lin is back and eager to leave for the party.

I open a gate and let Lin and the kids proceed me through it before I follow. The party is a relaxed affair and we both have a good time, although it is a little crowded. There is a limit to how big of a room that Athena can create inside the ship.

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With the addition of another three hundred elves, the ship is a little over capacity. Luckily, there shouldn't be any more stops once we leave, so it isn't too bad. Unless I find more elves to rescue, the current elves should be able to make do.

Then again, compared to what they went through before, being a little cramped is nothing. Throughout the party I interact with as many people as I can, but not a single one complains. In fact, if Athena didn't inform me, I wouldn't know that things are getting cramped.

Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do about it, not without a huge undertaking. I would either need to increase the size of the ship or re-enchant the whole thing. Both options would require a lot of time and effort, not to mention the ship would have to be empty.

When we leave the city it should be the final leg of our journey, so it should be fine. I think the elves will be okay with the ship being a little cramped for now. Just to be safe, I ask Athena to keep an eye on things and let me know if morale gets low.

Right now, everyone is happy due to more elves being rescued, but that might not last. If morale does start to drop I will encourage Stillwater to get married, that should buy some time. I also ask Athena to keep an eye on the human kids since they would be the first ones to suffer.

For now, keeping an eye on things is all I can really do, until something actually happens. During the party I make sure to meet all of the elves that I rescued and try to learn their names. Other than that, I dance with Lin as often as I can and spend some time with my kids.

The party runs later than I expected, but there is plenty of food so I am not worried about it. The kids actually get worn out before the party is over so they head back to the cabin. In the end, when the party ends it is late enough that Lin and I decide to stay on the ship.

By the time we get to the cabin it is late enough that I decide to skip opening a soulscape. I head to bed with Lin and then work on my core after she falls asleep. However, it is a little discouraging to think that I need to take my core all the way to rank twenty.

Even if I work on it every chance I get, I doubt it will be done by the time we get back to the peninsula. While each rank up does increase my strength by a little, it isn't much. I was hoping that getting to the next level would give me a bigger boost to my strength.

Without that, my options for getting stronger are severely limited at the moment. I know that it isn't something that should be rushed, but I can't help but be impatient. However, I can't think of any shortcuts that I can take, and I promised not to do any experiments on myself.

Slow and steady really doesn't fit with my mentality, but I don't have a choice I guess. It seems like if this was a game, I have reached the boring grinding segment. Speaking of grinding, maybe I should try and grind my level to twenty and see what happens.

Maybe I will get something special, like an advanced class or an option for a second class. I would need a lot of experience to get there, but the demon lands should be a good place to grind. It sounds really boring, but it would be a way for me to increase my strength.

Although, if I end up helping Almort destroy the wall, that might be a good time to grind. The demonic beasts should come to me, saving me the time and effort to hunt them. I will just have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of days.

Core Upgrade Progress: 54%

Lin says "Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your meditation."

"You didn't. I set an alarm to notify me when you wake up."

Lin says "Oh, so that's why I can never catch you sleeping?"