Chapter 7105: A New Kind of Artifact
Chapter 7105: A New Kind of Artifact
Of all of the possible outcomes, Ves never expected this to happen.
Where was his artifact?
Floating in the place of his latest masterwork was a human girl, or least something that appeared human.
The workshop’s scanners automatically went to work. They scanned her body and her garments with meticulous care, but they had clear problems with detecting anything meaningful.
Had the girl inherited the properties of Solus Gas impregnated in much of its materials?
Whatever.
Ves did not need to gather any data to confirm his suspicions. She was floating right in front of him. He could use his eyes to form his own judgment.
This was not a falsehood.
The artifact somehow acquired a fully functional human body. None of it was an illusion. Everything was real.
Of course, her body did not conform to a baseline human standard. Instead, everything was infused with E-energy, reminding him of the physique of a primordial human.
This was not a human girl. This was a girl who could wield E energy like a qi cultivator.
Her robe, which looked traditional and oriental in style, fit and form, happened to mimic the appearance of the upper side of the canopy that Ves had meticulously embroidered with the help of Vulcan and Ferrum.
What was impressive about the black robe with golden accents was that it depicted the same cats that Ves had added to the canopy, but resized them and repositioned them to retain their harmony on the artifact’s new human form.
All of this showed that the transformation had not been random. It had been directed by a force or an intelligence that had excellent artistic vision and attainments.
The way the human form and the garments that covered it had deliberately adapted the visual design of the original umbrella in a humanoid form made Ves feel as if a Star Designer had secretly intruded into his workshop and completely reinvented his masterwork creation!
Ves had no idea what external influence had magically bestowed his artifact with a new shape. He already recognized that it was pointless to chase for answers. This external being was way more powerful than he could imagine, and it would take a long time before he became strong enough to get to the bottom of this particular mystery.
It was already enough for Ves to confirm that the umbrella had not turned hostile or mutated into a much more awful iteration.
When the floating girl straightened up again, she gazed at Ves with the adoration of a daughter looking up at her father.
He may as well be one given that he had remade her and gifted her the crucial ingredient she needed to undergo this unprecedented transformation.
"Please bestow me with a name, my progenitor."
She made a reasonable request, but Ves was not quite ready to fulfill it. He had far too many questions in his mind. How could he give her a name when he had yet to understand her new nature?
"Not yet." He said. "I would like you to offer clarification first. First, are you an artifact or a human?"
"The former." The humanized artifact responded as she elegantly shifted a lock of her silky hair. "I can pass off as a human more or less, but I am still fundamentally an artifact, just as you originally intended. This form is a complement to my original shape. I can switch between them at no cost as both of them represent my existence. However, I will always remain an artifact no matter how human I appear."
In order to prove her words, she reversed her transformation. The floating girl was gone. A masterwork umbrella took her place.
Alexa already activated the workshop’s scanners and meticulously tried to record meaningful data, but failed as they encountered the same hindrance as before.
This at least provided proof that the umbrella was likely the original one that Ves had designed and made.
The artifact switched back to her human incarnation. As she did so, Ves tried his best to figure out whether the wood elf had exerted a concerning influence on the artifact.
"When you devoured the wood elf, what exactly did you gain from this?" He asked next.
The floating girl waved at her robed form. "As you can see, gaining an alternate human form is the most important benefit. The absorption has also improved my awareness, strengthened my artifact spirit and strengthened the wooden structure of the inner shaft. These are the changes that I can detect. There may be other improvements that I have yet to notice or will take time to manifest. I cannot supply you with any further answers than this. I instinctively know that devouring the infant wood elf was beneficial to me, but I cannot explain the exact reasons why. I only have a limited amount of imparted knowledge at my disposal."
"I see. Are you still loyal to the Larkinson Clan and committed to protecting and serving Aurelia as I intended when I remade you into your current form?"
The floating lady seriously nodded and bowed again. "I have already pledged my service to your first born daughter. We are tied together by destiny. Whether I would be able to transform into this human form or not, I would still end up in her possession one way or another. It is my pleasure and my honor for me to serve my purpose on behalf of the most elegant and lovely girl in this dwarf galaxy."
"Would you have served another lady if I commanded you to?" Ves asked.
"Not after I have made my pledge. Aurelia is the maiden that I have promised to serve, and I shall do so for as long as she remains a lovely woman. If you did not introduce me to her, then I suppose I can settle for pledging my service to other ladies. No men."
"What about men who underwent a full-body conversion into a female form?"
The humanized artifact’s expression turned distasteful.
"I may... consider it if the lady in the present has the heart and soul of a woman. I will not accept any ambiguity over this matter. I would rather be discarded or be placed in a vault than to serve the whims of a man. If not for the existence of an invisible contract that has imposed obligations onto myself, I would have never indulged in your attempts to wield my abilities."
Ves had definitely noticed that the Flower Parasol maintained a lukewarm attitude towards him when he tried to use it in the past.
It was very much an unhappy marriage, which was one of the reasons why he had been waiting to hand it over to Aurelia.
He originally intended to craft a magnificent and utterly unique birthday gift for his oldest daughter.
What he managed to make this time vastly exceeded his expectations!
Whether this unexpected result was beneficial or not remained to be seen.
"When you are in your current form, can you access or activate all of your features?"
She nodded. "I can, though it may manifest in a different form."
The humanized artifact proved her words by activating the features in sequence.
She raised her palms and projected several different energy fields that could easily block powerful attacks.
She activated a powerful jamming module that interrupted signal traffic a bit better than what the device was originally capable of. It turned out that the sentient artifact was able to figure out better and additional means to produce interference.
She picked up a block of wood with her pale hand and threw it into her mouth and crunched it before devouring the entire mass.
She also transformed a hand into a sharp superdimensional blade and easily sliced through a block of transphasic hyper alloy as if she was cutting through a slightly dense mass of butter.
Each demonstration caused Ves and Alexa to grow more impressed... and afraid.
This girl was a monster in the form of a growing girl!
"This is amazing." Alexa couldn’t help but make the same remark again. "If the wood elf gifted by the Cybernetic Empire is responsible for this, then I am afraid the Polymath and her Cyber subjects did not truly understand what they have given away. If they knew that they could turn any powerful artifact into a deceptively innocent girl, they would have never chosen to give it out as a gift! You have received an enormous benefit from the Cybernetic Empire. This may lead to problems."
Ves winced for a moment. "I am not too sure about that, but you are probably right. There shouldn’t be any problems if the Cybers knew that integrating a wood elf into an artifact can produce this result. If they were ignorant of this particular fact, then... they will regret it for the rest of their lives. We need to go above and beyond when we engage in our cooperation with the Cybernetic Empire. I think I will show a lot more sincerity when it comes to designing our collaborative Bloodfire mech design project. They haven’t told me why they care so much about Bloodfire mechs, but I think they will appreciate it a lot if I can apply unique and meaningful improvements."
"You should collect more information before you do that." Alexa advised him. "I am afraid the Cybers may decide to execute a radical plan involving Bloodfire mechs at the Polymath’s behest."
They could think about that later. First, they needed to wrap up the current project.
"I have one more question to ask before I am ready to bestow you with a new name." Ves stated as he turned his full attention to the floating girl. "If a circumstance takes place where the only way to save my daughter’s life is to sacrifice your own. Will you do your duty without flinching?"
"Yes." The artifact responded. "I may appear human, but I do not possess your human weaknesses and shortcomings. I was made to protect the lives and innocence of maidens. I cannot offer absolute protection, but I will do my utmost to keep your daughter and possibly others she cares about safe. This is the meaning of my new existence."
Ves became satisfied with this answer. He had no way of judging her sincerity with any hard data, but he was willing to take her at her word.
As a mech designer and a craftsman, he felt confident in his judgment. He remade the artifact to fulfill this exact same purpose. It would have been more surprising if the umbrella adopted a completely different mission for no apparent reason.
Ves turned his head and glanced at the exquisite rectangular storage container. He originally intended to stow the artifact into the cushioned interior, but he felt that this was inappropriate now that his creation had gained a semblance of humanity.
"Alexa?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Please handle her stay with us. Keep her company and settle her in. Do not try to give away her true nature if you can help it. We can treat her as a guest or better yet a member of the Larkinson Clan. Try to keep her well away from Aurelia and the other kids. I want her existence to remain a surprise until the birthday party. Can you do all of that, Alexa?"
"I will take care of it. Your daughter will not suspect anything."
"Good." He said before turning back to the humanized artifact. "I have collected enough information to figure out a name for you. After much thought, I would like you to become known as Marigold. Marigold Larkinson."
Both Alexa and the newly named artifact looked surprised at his choice.
Even Lucky was taken aback at Ves’ unusual choice of names.
"That is a human name." Marigold remarked.
"I know. I don’t really care too much about whether you are a human or an artifact or both. Here in the Larkinson Clan, we treat every sentient and intelligent life form with respect. We cannot promise completely equal treatment to everyone whether they are human or not, but I like to think that we are much better at it than others. As far as I am concerned, you are Larkinson and that is all that matters."
The floating girl closed her eyes for a moment before her expression exploded with contentment.
"I accept."