What a haul. Just looking at the amount of level 300 cores in my inventory is a bit overwhelming, to be honest. I never harvested this many cores before since most of the time since I only choose different cores that are from bigger monsters like bosses, field bosses, unique type monsters, and other rare types. Normal monsters don't receive that much treatment as they are normal and common, getting their core is not very profitable stuff.
I marked the dungeon on my map. It's a dungeon that no one has discovered yet other than me so it will be a great idea to challenge the other difficulties in the future and see whether there will be more varieties of rewards. After all, the best rewards are locked away in the hardest difficulties.
But since I am done, I activated my wings and fly back to the cabin.
On my way back, I spotted multiple players roaming around the forest. It seems that the news about the insect war has spread already and players are now flocking back to Aquagius to wait for the event to kickstart. It's natural to see other players around now in the forest, perhaps to grind more levels in the forest or they are finishing some quests they have taken from the NPCs in the city.
Not that I care much about them but it's also clear that even though I declined the invitation to participate in the war, the royals still continue to recruit others and it does not affect them. Not my problem though.
When I arrived back at the cabin, Gobu and Lina are back and are currently gutting a large boar they hunted in the forest. There are also lots of wood as well so we are set for the camping as well. I let the two continue their work and went to look for Tina. She was inside the hut and is currently reading a book while sitting beside the door of the room Cotton was placed in.
"I got the cores, what's next?"
"Oh? As expected of Master. Anyways, can I see the cores?"
"Uh...how many cores?"
"5 should suffice but we needed to make sure to have more in case she needed more cores to power up her evolution."
Hearing that we only need five, I sighed in relief on that. If we give all of the cores, given the amount I managed to gather, I might have to repeat going back and forth to the dungeon just to fetch more. I pick up 5 of the fire ants' cores in my inventory and handed them to Tina.
"Nice. The quality of the core is pure and nice. This is a very ideal core we can use for Cotton."
She opened the door of the room and it welcomed me a scene that I didn't think would happen in this normal room.
Inside is the same room except that this time, a lot of webs are all around the place with the addition of the Pupa form of Cotton. Cotton was small but her Pupa form is big. As big as a human body. Even I can fit inside if I entered it myself.
"Not what you expected right, Master? However, that's how evolution is. Once Cotton goes out from here, she will have a different form already," Tina then put the five cores all around the Cocoon's sides by using the excess webs to put all five of them in place without then rolling on the floor.
"What now?"
"All we can do is wait. It can take a long time or a very short time but that's all we can do right now. Of course, we needed to regularly check the cores if they are still full of power. If they run out of essence inside, then we have to replace them again."
"So this is like feeding her food huh? That's not what I expected but that sounds about right."
"Yes. That's exactly how it is, Master. Now, with the cores placed properly now, our business is done here and so we will now leave her here until the next time we check her again. Don't worry, Master. I will be right outside the room and guard it to detect any changes in her."
"Then I will leave the task to you then since you are the one who knows what is happening."
"Got it, Master."
I can relax now with Tina guarding Cotton's room. Because I am tired already, I told everyone that I will go to sleep in the meantime. Which means, I am logging out. I am not sure if it will happen today but my guess is that it will continue to happen just like before. There is no way that it won't be happening again.
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Opening my eyes, the light of the sun has entered my bedroom window already. Being an adult sure is different. With school out of the way, I can just go and laze around whenever I wanted but I don't have much of a luxury to remain passive.
I stood up from bed, went to the bathroom to take a bath, and prepare to go out. Today is the day I needed to complete the item I have been making. It's for the preparation of the inevitable.
When I went outside of my room, I heard a familiar voice in the living room. Her voice has changed and although she remained the same, she is more of a lady now compared to before. She is immature before but she has grown and even though she still retains that immaturity, I kinda miss that vibe of her. And now, I can prevent that from disappearing.
To make sure that I will not be seen by her, I returned to my room and accessed the balcony instead. I have to avoid her for now until I finished the charm. As for the reason why I made the charm so late, it's because the material that I needed for the charm does not exist back then when the magic powers were not as prominent as today. When magic became quite widespread, the material I needed appeared as well.
Mana Stones. The solidified version of the mana around the air. Since people are now using magic, Mana Stones will also grow as well. People might not identify the mana stones at the moment but I am quite well versed with them so when I spotted them, I immediately took them.
Now, I am processing the item I am making to aid me in preventing Riko's death. A talisman that will relinquish a barrier that nullifies damages fatal to the one who possesses the item. It is one of the items I had before but during the time when I was fighting against Kazuki, I didn't bring it with me which was my mistake.
Instead of using my car, I escaped and opened up my wings. It's one of the things I didn't develop in the past timeline but now that I have the time, I practiced it and developed on myself. Thankfully, it's much easier now to do so and I can now fly like a bird using the wings.
I also cast [Stealth] to myself as that would just make others freak out. Flying has yet to exist yet in this world despite the presence of magic. My destination is, of course, the workshop.
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Arriving at the workshop, I was expecting the harmless thugs who are idling around the area here to be there but they are not present. The thugs from before that are staying and snooping here have never been present for quite a while so I am not sure what happened to them. But it's kinda reassuring to have them around as that would also mean fewer people passing the area and fewer people disturbing my work. Then I guess, they also have their own lives so they cannot stay there without doing anything.
Removing my stealth and disabling my wings, I opened the workshop's shutter and opened the locked door. I am not worried about any burglar who tries to open this place, I put a lot of defensive mechanisms on the door that will be triggered if it was opened without my permission. I also put some defensive mechanisms inside as well to prevent burglars from entering without using the door to enter.
The workshop has been quite well now. After my first creation of this place, it significantly changed and some items have been added as well. But that isn't the highlight today. The same table I have where I am making the item is still littered with the tools. Inside the drawer, I pulled out the unfinished charm inside.
I didn't design it as a necklace or an earring. It's pretty easy to lose especially if it snaps but I have a very elaborate idea for making it and instead of making it as a jewelry accessory, I made it an accessory for the phone.
A Phone Case.
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