Chương 262: A Nice Prospect In The Form Of A Form

Today was a fairly productive day. I learned a new combat art, I got to stretch my steel joints by beating up some idiots, and I was able to give a valuable lesson to the three Unwanted Presences… The lesson being a simple, but fundamental one: Don't poke a bear you aren't certain you can kill. Not only were all of those fools far from being the cream of the crop to begin with, but they had come in blind. Even the most basic things about how I fought in this form had seemed completely unknown to them.

This is not serious behaviour. In any case, at one point, while I was giving my lesson, I felt the distinct tingle in my body indicative that something was going on with the forms I had yet to unlock. As such, I checked things out once I was back in my private quarters. Mascot Form Revenant Jack-Out-Of-The-Box Pure Spirit Form Rusted Plague Form Biobot Form Ghost In The Machine Pure Curse Form Gynoid Form The usual stuff was here as usual.

The 'Nightmare Form' was absent despite being technically not fully unlocked, and there was a newcomer… What does 'Gynoid' even mean? It means a droid that resembles a woman, with droid meaning a kind of robot that mimics the appearance of–For example–A human. I think you will find this form to be quite interesting You know me well, so this form will allow me to look like an actual human woman? This could be big, but… The same problem as usual shows up.

I do not have the faintest clue what I am supposed to do to actually unlock it. Why did it suddenly show up here in the first place? Was it because I was behaving like a normal human while teaching the Unwanted Presences? Is it because I have convinced a certain number of people that I am just a woman in a suit of armour? Could it be because I fought like a proper knight enough, hence fighting like a human instead of a monster? I can not know with any amount of certainty, but I have an idea.

I have already tried to get Mari to assist in figuring out the requirements for the unlocking of new forms. She was my Personal Mechanist, after all. I guessed that if a form required certain upgrades to be unlocked, she would be able to tell. However, it had been difficult to confirm this theory since all of the forms I currently had listed seemingly had nothing, or very little, to do with acquiring upgrades.

Though Mari had had things to say nonetheless, which made me feel confident in her ability to sort of 'sense' the overall direction that needed to be followed to gain new forms. For example, she felt that the 'Revenant Jack-Out-Of-The-Box' and 'Biobot Form' both required something similar to be unlocked. The consensus was that they had to do with the flesh I endlessly grew upon my steel bones, but that was just an educated guess. Mari had been hard at work ever since we had arrived in Aesther.

I had provided her with two custom-made spirits to help her work. As much as she might try, Mari was simply not destined to become a very strong girl, so assistants with lots of physical might were necessary so that she could work without interruption and at a good pace. They handled things like carrying heavy objects and reshaping pieces of steel. Their introduction into the mix had definitely smoothed things out and made her workflow much more fluid.

It was a good thing that I had managed to turn Kyrtian into a trinket-making spirit. With access to the Gravescape, all of the things Mari made could be safely stored away without piling up inside the quarters I was granted. In any case, when I went to find Mari, she was running tests on an automaton. Those things were mostly made with the intention of being possessed by ghosts, but it didn't stop my Personal Mechanist from doing her best to make her creations as high-quality as possible.

"Mari. I require your assistance–ce" As per usual, the second I addressed her, Mari's face brightened up with a smile, and her eyes sparkled. No matter how many times I would speak with her in a day, she would always have the same reaction–I had to admit, she was quite cute. When the time came to do her work, though… She turned deathly serious.

As if failure to do something was the greatest sin that could possibly be committed–Beyond the fact that I wasn't really into other women, this attitude was definitely a reason why I didn't feel like getting all lovey-dovey with Mari was a good idea. She was a bit too subservient. It would feel a little weird to get romantic with someone who acted like I was a goddess who had come down from the Heavens. In any case, Mari focused in silence for several minutes whilst I myself was focusing on the 'Gynoid Form'.

By doing so, it allowed my Personal Mechanist to get a better grasp of what she was supposed to be looking for and analysing. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Mmh… This… Hold on…" Mari frowned and focused for a few more minutes, until she eventually stepped back, rubbing both of her temples. She then reached for a notepad and pencil, writing things upon it as though she was afraid of forgetting otherwise.

"Aherm… This form definitely requires certain upgrades to be unlocked. I couldn't figure out which upgrades exactly, but I got an idea of how the form would function, so…" Mari turned the notepad to me.

"From what I could tell, this form has several drawbacks incorporated into it, and the upgrades required are what will take the form of those drawbacks. I believe a battery and memory compartment are needed. They are certainly not considered original upgrades, but the latter will certainly prove a bit difficult to install. As for the battery, it should be rather easy. I'll just need to hook it up to the 'Faraday Box'..."

"I feel like I c–can make pretty good guesses, but what are the su–supposed drawbacks, exactly?"

"From what I can tell, the 'Gynoid Form' will require electricity to function, and information will need to be processed. Otherwise, it will clog up your mind… In short, the drawback is that this form functions much more like a regular automaton, but I must assume that the benefits are worth it" If this form is convincing, it will definitely be worth it. Being able to fully pass off as a human is quite a valuable ability to have, especially since I have the bad habits of worsening my reputation and making enemies.

If I acquire the 'Gynoid Form', I will also be able to carry out assassination missions with much greater ease. I told Mari to start working on getting what was needed and headed into the Mindscape. This place had never been busier. Every single piece of equipment here had seen some usage. Such as the Kitchen. It had been a struggle, but I had managed to actually improve some of the curses I had created in the past.

Lesser Curse Of Fragility - Reduces the target's durability for thirty minutes, can be reapplied to refresh the effect, effect persists after being struck Ailment Curse Of Hunger - Inflicts the target with hunger, empties their stomach, and drains a significant amount of nutrients from the body on impact Seeing how great the leap in utility was from 'Minor' to 'Lesser' in the case of the 'Curse Of Fragility', I was starting to understand that it wasn't improbable that 'Greater' curses and the like might actually be extremely rare, which might mean that the 'Ailment Curse Of Hunger' might actually be a very strong curse now.

It bore no adjective now, which meant that it was between the lower and higher portions of the ranking. I had unfortunately not gotten the occasion to test it on anyone, but I had tested the fragilising effect of the other curse on inanimate objects, and the result had been very satisfying. I had no doubt that the poor bastard who would be the first to test the hungering effect would suffer a great deal. Apart from cooking curses, I had also been doing a lot of work in the Fashion Corner.

I had even taught my adorable little sisters how to sew and such. They had… Differing levels and different ideas of the purpose of sewing, but it was nonetheless very cute to see them hard at work. Poppy wanted to undertake big tasks, trying to create cute dresses for the most part. Annie had instead taken an interest in making shoes in particular–Her obsession with running truly knew no bounds.

The second she realised that she could design shoes that could help her run better, it was like a cog had begun turning for the first time inside her head. Gigi would just crochet small patterns–All of which were currently covering a wall inside the Mindscape mansion. Nessa had instead taken to making blankets, pillows, and the like. Last time I had checked, her room inside the mansion was basically just one enormous bed in which she would hide like a mole.

Elowen had a much more practical view of things, thinking that sewing was meant to mend rips in clothes and the like. Ophelie already knew a lot about this stuff, considering her talent in making plush, so there wasn't much to teach her. As for Anathema… She was definitely into arts and crafts a lot. The Art Room was already filled with sketches and the like. When she wasn't working on something, she would be walking in circles, trying to think about what she was going to be working on next.

Her paintings and drawings were quite nice, although the style would vary wildly from one piece to another. I am no expert in the arts, but I think Anathema is very talented. In any case, I had been trying to use the equipment of the Mindscape to its fullest extent. I had been flooding materials with negative energy to bring them into the Closet and attempting to modify them using the Furnace, Melter, and Press.

Imbuing some with souls, some with spirits, attempting to fill them with certain types of negative emotions, or with essences. The early trials were wholly inconclusive, but with every failed attempt, I learned something new. Currently, my ghostly little sisters are absolutely stunningly beautiful. I have given them fresh sets of clothes, fixed their hair, and applied make-up to cover up their corpse-like appearance.

They looked very lively now, and definitely wouldn't immediately be noticed as ghosts or undeads by the regular person. However, I would like their pretty attire not just to be good-looking, but also to grant them something, like protection. This project went hand-in-hand with other ideas I was attempting to bring to life. For one, I was currently trying to bring the material used to create Flex Suit into reality. As far as I was aware, it only existed in that A. R. DL.

However, I wanted more than just the material. I wanted to recreate the method used to make the Glown suit. That thing wasn't just stretchy material. It was legitimately magical. It had runes or something similar, alongside enchantments. All of which allowed for a costume that could change the very silhouette and even height of the person wearing it. It was an incredible creation, and I believed that it could be of tremendous help if I ever wanted to hide my identity.

Also, it might help in unlocking the 'Mascot Form'. Even then, this wasn't the end of my list of projects. There was more involving the Flex Suit, but there was also something I was aiming for that would help me in completing my current mission. Whether I could actually achieve my goals was dubious, as I was sort of taking shots in the dark with my attempts, but I felt confident that my ideas were possible. Oh, and I also wanted clothes for myself that could adapt to my changes in form. That one was very important.

I couldn't just keep tearing or burning everything I was wearing every time I switched forms…