Chapter 7: The Crest of Friendship
I sat down cross-legged in the dirt, the massive Level 6 Ironbark Ursid core resting heavy in my lap. It was bulky and pulsing with thick, stubborn, chaotic earth energy.
As I focused on it, the encyclopedia of knowledge the universe had crammed into my head bubbled up to the surface. A raw monster core was wild. You couldn't just jam one into a mechanical frame and expect it to work; the chaotic energy would either reject the magic or violently explode, taking your golem and your eyebrows with it. A normal golemancer had to use alchemy, specialized carving tools, runic arrays, and hours of careful, tedious attunement to slowly wash away a monster's chaotic nature just to get the core into a usable state.
But I wasn't a normal golemancer. I didn't need a workbench or a runic chisel. I had Imagination Manifestation. My Talent let me bypass the rules entirely, altering physical and magical properties instinctually with my bare hands.
"Let's see just how far this goes," I muttered.
I placed both hands over the rough crystal, closed my eyes, and focused. I didn't just push raw, neutral mana into it like I had with Bee's core. If my new silver wolf was going to be a lightning-fast hunter, he needed a core that matched his frame. I reached deep into my center, sparked my Thunder Surge, and forced the volatile, sapphire-class electrical magic directly into the heavy stone.
The resistance was immediate and violent. The Level 6 core fought back, vibrating frantically in my lap as the heavy earth mana clashed with the raw lightning. A massive wave of pressure radiated off the crystal, blowing the grass flat around me.
The drain on my reserves was absolutely brutal.
[Mana: 400 / 850]
[Mana: 150 / 850]
[Mana: 85 / 850]
Right as I hit ten percent, a sharp, stabbing pain spiked behind my eyes. I ripped my hands away, gasping for air as the world spun. "Okay... timeout," I wheezed, falling back onto the grass.
I had to lie there for almost an hour, letting my Gemini Soul and high Intelligence stat desperately pull ambient magic from the surrounding forest to slowly fill my tank back up. Bee stood nearby, keeping silent watch, his green optics cutting through the fading afternoon light. Once that familiar, cool thrum of full energy returned to my veins, I sat right back up, grabbed the core, and ignited my lightning again.
"Round two. You're just a rock. I make the rules here," I gritted my teeth, doubling down on the output.
I forced the sapphire lightning deeper, physically crushing and altering the crystal's structure. The muddy brown color began to boil. The heavy, bark-like outer shell completely burned away. My mana plummeted again, tearing past the halfway mark, diving right back down to that agonizing ten percent threshold. I had to break contact a second time, clutching my pounding head, panting in the dirt while the ambient magic did its agonizingly slow work.
Finally, after a second grueling rest period, I grabbed the core for the final push.
I flooded it with everything I had. This time, the resistance completely shattered.
The massive, bulky earth core rapidly shrank in my hands. It violently condensed inward, folding the earth and lightning together until it was no larger than a baseball. I opened my eyes, wiping sweat from my brow, and stared at the result.
It was no longer a normal core. It was incredibly compact and dense, looking like a flawless sphere of captured storm-glass. Deep inside its perfectly clear facets, a localized, raging storm of sapphire-blue lightning continuously arced and snapped, humming with concentrated kinetic potential.
"Perfect," I breathed, my hands shaking slightly.
I pushed myself up and walked over to the beautifully sculpted River-Silver wolf frame resting in the grass. I knelt beside it and pressed my fingers against the central pectoral plating. The metal yielded like warm wax, parting to reveal the inner Soul-Steel housing. I slid the new storm-core directly into the slot.
The complex silver armor seamlessly shifted, swallowing the core and sealing it tight with a satisfying, mechanical clack.
As the metal settled into place, a sudden, blinding light flared across the chest plate. The magic seared a distinct symbol right into the River-Silver over the core housing—a circle with two spiked loops and a central dot.
The Crest of Friendship.
I stared at it, a massive grin spreading across my face. My magic was literally adapting my childhood memories into reality. I took a step back, letting my Animus Resonance snap into my mind. I didn't just feel the heavy, steady, artillery-like loyalty I felt with Bee. This secondary tether felt like holding a live wire—sharp, fast, and intensely focused.
"Activate."
A high-pitched, whirring hum instantly cut through the clearing. The Soul-Steel veins running beneath the silver armor flared with a blinding blue light.
Then, the ignition hit.
With a sound like a thunderclap tearing the sky in half, the swept-back mane structure along the wolf's head and neck exploded into life. It wasn't just light; it was a brilliant, turbulent crest of roaring, sapphire-blue electrical fire. Thick cables of volatile lightning snapped and pulsed around its joints and paws, forming a secondary layer of dynamic, electrified armor. Its optics flared to life, burning with an intense, predatory blue glare.
The majestic silver wolf smoothly pushed itself up off the grass. It didn't clank or grind like Bee; its movements were completely silent, predatory, and impossibly fluid. It turned its head, the electric blue mane casting wild, stroboscopic shadows across the riverbank, and locked its gaze on me.
"Fenris," I said, cementing the name.
With a familiar, resonant chime, the translucent blue interface projected itself into the air between us.
[Construct Created: River-Silver/Soul-Steel Beast]
[Name]: Fenris
[Level]: 1
[Type]: High-Speed Striker / Tactical Mount
[Core Status]: Special (Storm-Glass Condenser)
[Status]: Active, Bound to Nero Argentum
As Fenris stepped forward, I closed my eyes and focused on the mental tethers binding me to my two golems. Without the distraction of a giant bear trying to eat me, I could really feel how the mechanics worked. Because I had S-Rank Golemancy, they weren't just mindless constructs that needed constant, micro-managed instructions. They had a spark of independence. Every command I gave them, every fight we survived, they absorbed the experience. They learned.
But right now, we needed to move. We had a river to follow, and Bee was a walking artillery platform, not a sprinter.
I probed the connection, looking for a way to transport them without having them walk. If I could summon them from raw materials, could I store them? I found the mental trigger I was looking for.
"Dismiss."
The deep hum radiating from Bee cut off immediately. The green light in his optics faded, and then his entire golden-yellow body began to fold inward. But instead of just compressing into a heavy ball of rock, the unique combination of the refined core and his metallic inner frame triggered a complete physical conversion.
The matter collapsed into light, condensing rapidly until a single, smooth object dropped into the grass. I picked it up. It was a crystalline orb, swirling with golden-yellow and sapphire blue, distinctly engraved with a heavy rhinoceros beetle crest. It was practically weightless.
I stared at the glowing orb in my hand. I looked at the electric cyborg-wolf waiting patiently beside me.
Oh god, I'm a Pokémon trainer in another world, I thought. It was a heavy, conflicting mix of absolute despair at the sheer absurdity of my life, and profound, undeniable amusement.
"Alright. Let's see what you can do, Fenris," I said, slipping Bee's orb securely into my pocket.
I swung myself up onto the wolf's broad, silver-plated back. I was half-worried the electrical mane would shock me, but the lightning instinctively parted around my hands and legs, warming the air without burning me. Through our mental tether, Fenris vibrated with eager energy.
I leaned forward, gripping the silver armor. "Go."
Fenris shot forward like a literal bolt of lightning. The speed was breathtaking. We tore through the forest, following the path of the river, leaving nothing but a trail of ozone and blue sparks in our wake.