"The Dungeon Core? What do you mean, you want to give that to the Homunculus as a core?" Brody asked, confused, while Eisen answered quite simply. "You see, the wording within this game is often incredibly specific, especially when it comes to things just like these 'Cores.' For example, take the 'Core Guardian' blueprint I found. It's for nearly every type of core. I doubt I can use it for Golem Cores, but who knows, maybe I can? Either way, as long as it only says 'Core,' I think any high-grade core should be enough. And this is a high-grade core." Eisen explained before he looked at Xenia and Jyuuk.
"I hope you're alright with us dismantling him. He's already breaking his body, so we'd have to do something about that anyway." The old man told them before they looked at each other for a moment before nodding back at him.
"Sure… The 'Gift' we wanted to give you was the Fruit of Life itself. I'm sorry about breaking the Figurine you worked on so much, Evalia…" Xenia apologized, but Evalia shook her head. "I'm a bit pissed, ya can be sure of that, but it's not like I'm about to kill you or somethin'." She answered as she leaned back in her chair while Eisen's stare was still on the Homunculus laying on the ground.
"I'm glad about that then. But just wondering, can we recover the 'Fruit of Life' from him again?" Eisen asked, and Jyuuk nodded his head. "I think so, yeah. We should try quickly then, though." He pointed out before Eisen snapped his fingers again.
"Alright, then. Homunculus lay down on your back." Eisen commanded, and the Homunculus immediately did so. "Sorry about this…" Eisen muttered as he shrunk down to his regular size and climbed onto the Dragon's chest, using transmutation to open it up.
In the center of the homunculus body was something that looked like a beating heart as large as Eisen's head. "You're right, it didn't connect to it yet." Eisen said as he put his hands into the opening, somewhat unsure of how he should grab the 'Heart' before Jyuuk rushed over to help.
"Careful, you shouldn't hold it like that. Here, let me." The Beastman said as Eisen moved aside and let the professional do the work. And soon after the heart left the body, one large crack formed throughout the wooden dragon's body, causing it to shatter into what seemed like a million pieces.
"See? It wouldn't have been stable like that." Eisen told them as he crossed his arms and looked at the heart that was slowly shriveling up before growing a thick 'crust' of sorts around it that seemed to encase it entirely in a protective manner.
"Okay, want to get to work?" Eisen suggested, and everyone looked at each other before sighing loudly.
"Don't worry. I'm not saying to get to work right this very moment. We need a little bit of time, after all. I think our approach to this should be a bit different than what you planned." He said, before Xenia scratched the side of her neck.
"So we did everything wrong…?" She asked quietly, but Eisen immediately shook his head. "Not at all! Seriously, you created a Homunculus. That's just amazing. You did everything right except when it came to the actual body. But I was wondering, why did you try and make it out of wood instead of flesh and bones?" He asked, before Xenia shrugged.
"I don't know, and it made sense in my head. And the idea of forming a body out of meat and random bones was kind of… Yuck…" She answered, before Eisen answered quite bluntly.
"That's because you shouldn't make a body purely out of meat from other monsters. That would turn it into a revived chimera or something." He said, swiftly continuing. "In my head, the thing that made most sense just now was to make a mixture of biological things and non-biological things."
"Like a Cyborg?" Jyuuk asked immediately, and the old man chuckled. "Yeah, like a Cyborg. First of all, do all of you want to be part of this project?" Eisen asked, to make sure, and the four Originals nodded their heads without hesitation.
"Alright, then. I plan to still go for a dragon. It might be quite rude to do so, but I'm going to ask Bolremgar if he can give me a few tips on where to find a Juvenile Dragon's Bones. Jyuuk and Brody, I would like you two to go out together and hunt for any materials that might come in handy. Anything with a unique organ of sorts, like eyes, ears, or even liver. Anything. Jyuuk should be able to identify it, and Brody can take it apart without damaging those specialized organs. Evalia, you, please come up with a way to turn the Homunculus' Body into a work of art once more while still letting it move around without an issue. And maybe integrate the Dungeon parts in it, you know?
And at last, Xenia. Can you prepare different Alchemical materials as well as various enchantments?" Eisen asked all the while brainstorming as many ideas in his mind at the same time, and Xenia herself was getting a bit nervous since Eisen was taking a short break with speaking at the moment.
"Hmm… I want you to brew up a concoction to use as blood for the homunculus. Maybe some kind of variation of a health or strengthening potion, that while acting as regular blood will be able to carry some other effect with it as well. And then of course, when Jyuuk and Brody bring you some materials, please think about how to use them to bring out their purpose as much as possible." Eisen said, and Xenia immediately nodded her head. At first, she thought that Eisen was having second thoughts, but that was apparently not the case since he gave her a pretty important task within creating the homunculus' new body!
"But for now, let's enjoy the rest of the afternoon and celebrate a bit. Komer said he could have the people bring everything we need for the ship here whenever, so we might start that in a bit. Then we at least don't need to worry about that detail and only need to set everything up." Eisen explained as he sat back down in his chair and increased his size again to the Titan-Size, while the other originals made their way out of the room, with Jyuuk staying behind before stepping out.
"Are you coming?" Jyuuk asked, but Eisen shook his head. "Not yet. I'll be there in a bit, don't worry." He told him before Jyuuk slowly nodded and left the room to leave Eisen alone for a bit.
With a loud sigh, Eisen looked at the remains of the wooden figurine on the ground, feeling a bit bad after all the work that Evalia went through to make it. But this piece turned into splinters now, so it most likely wouldn't be of any use to her anymore.
Either way, Eisen couldn't just leave it lying there on the ground and chose to clean it up. Who knows, maybe they would end up having a use for it after all?
While the old man was picking up the wood and placing it into a bag that was randomly lying around in the room, he chose to check out his new title.
[Title – Skybreacher]
[Description] By Breaking the even the highest limits that the heavens have given you, you have shown that you are Unique.
[Effect] +5 to all basic stats, Allows you to enter through Heaven's Gates
"Hmm… Interesting. There was something like that?" Eisen muttered to himself as he waved the information away and continued cleaning up a bit.
A little while later, all of the wooden fragments were finally gone, and Eisen chose to make his way down to the 'Party' as well. Choosing to simply hide the 'Fruit of Life' and 'Dungeon Core' in a safe place in the carriage and have it be guarded by not only Aulu but also all three of Eisen's Camera Bots so that he could make sure he could adequately see every angle of the carriage so that nobody would be able to steal anything.
After he left the carriage again, Eisen joined his friends in the small celebration.
---
A few hours later, the sun had now set. All of the different things that would be needed for the ship had been delivered, and everything that could easily be set up was set up. The only things missing were the supplies as well as the sails, the latter of which Evalia wanted to decorate a bit.
Currently, Eisen's Endurance stat allowed him to stay awake for a good while longer, so while the others went to bed or logged off, including Kirisho, Kiron, Caria and Melissa, Eisen chose to sit down on Cabarum's back, whose size was actually nearly perfect for Eisen with his current Titan-size. It might be a bit better if Eisen could grow another meter or so, but it was for sure a lot better than it was before.
Eisen rode Cabarum out of town and made his way toward the beach where he could find Bolremgar's cave, not hesitating to make his way inside of there for even a moment, considering what he was about to ask Bol.
When the old man reached the actual cave that Bol was in, he was quite soon met with the sight of the Dragon sleeping while laying on the shipwreck in the water-portion of the cave. Although he didn't sleep for long, instead immediately opening his eyes to stare at the unexpected intruder.
"Oh? Is that you, Eisen?" Bol asked as he raised his head a bit, taking a look at Eisen with a confused expression. "Ah, I see! You are currently using your size-change ability, are you not? I'm glad you like it!" Bol answered as he climbed off the ship and made his way toward Eisen, who was staring up at him.
"What can I help you with?" The Dragon inquired curiously before Eisen immediately got to the point without even hesitating for a single moment.
"Hey there, Bol. What I want to ask you is something I maybe shouldn't ask, but I will do so anyway. I'm sorry if it insults you. Do you know of any dead… Dragon hatchlings nearby..?" Eisen asked quietly, and Bol's demeanor didn't change in the slightest as he tilted his head to the side.
"Insult me? Why would it insult me? Well, wherever you can find Adult Dragons, you'll find dead hatchlings, to be quite frank. Only every tenth of us that is born survives the first year of our life, after all. What are you looking for, Dead Chromatics? Dead Metallics? Or Dead Lesser?" Bol asked, merely speaking as if he was an employee at a grocery store helping out a customer.
"Any should be fine. I mostly need the bones anyway, and there shouldn't be much of a difference, right? Quality doesn't matter either. I just need a full set of bones." Eisen said with a conflicted tone in his voice, still feeling somewhat shitty for literally asking for a child's bones. "You're looking for Bones? Hmm, then maybe these would be better." Bolremgar muttered before returning to his ship, coming back out with two large rocks, their size bordering on boulders.
"These are dead dragon eggs. And when I say dead, I mean dead. Only their bones are left. I don't know what you want these for, but they have no use for me anyway. And as one of my Champions, I have to treat you well, don't I?" Bol said with a grin, revealing his giant, sharp teeth as he did so before Eisen nodded his head. "I see, thanks." Eisen replied, still feeling conflicted as he took one of the 'Dead Dragon Eggs' and picked it up.
"Of course, Eisen. Now, have fun with your project." Bol told the man in front of him, all the while keeping up his sharp-toothed grin.