「I just suddenly thought of something. Can you not manipulate metal with【Golem Transmutation】, Van-sama? I am sure that there are Golems made of copper, iron and Mythril.」(Tarea)

Apparently not. It wasn’t as if Vandalieu was doing anything bad, but he felt a little relieved as he answered Tarea’s question.

「I can. It uses up more Mana than when I make Golems from rocks, though. I’ve never had a chance to try it with Mythril, but I think it should work.」(Vandalieu)

Like Tarea, Vandalieu’s exclusion from human society meant that his opportunity to work with metal was limited. However, he had tested it with small amounts of iron before, and he had succeeded in creating an Iron Golem that could fit in the palm of his hand.

「But I still can’t do much other than make large changes to their shape. I can do things like make pit dwellings, fix houses made of stone and straighten bent pieces of metal, but for example…」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu used【Golem Transmutation】to change the shape of some copper coins and turned them into a sword.

「I see, this is no good.」(Tarea)

Tarea knew that this sword would be useless with a single glance. It was nothing but a lump of copper in the shape of a sword.

The blade had no edge at all; it wouldn’t even be able to cut a branch. It was a thin, blunt weapon rather than a sword.

「This is how it is. I can’t make a statue of stone and earth that resembles a person exactly, or apply fine details.」(Vandalieu)

As he spoke, Vandalieu used Golems of earth and stone to make a doll that resembling Tarea, but… while it did have the shape of a woman, the facial features were rough and details like the fingers were very crude.

Using【Golem Transmutation】like this, he couldn’t create small details. Even when constructing houses, he could only create pit dwellings; building complicated, tall buildings like houses on Earth would be impossible.

Even when making weapons, at best he would be able to have molten metal pour itself into a mold… The casting process. Even that was impossible unless the mold for the desired shape was already made for him.

In order to become able to create smaller details, he would likely need skills like【Blacksmithing】and【Carpentry】in addition to the【Golem Transmutation】skills. In fact, he had already acquired the【Carpentry】skill by making pit dwellings using【Golem Transmutation.】That meant that he had gained the experience required to learn the techniques of【Carpentry】; in other words, he had actively used the【Carpentry】skill.

「Well, I can remove impurities from metal… like this.」(Vandalieu)

The copper sword began to quiver, and dust-like particles began to fall out of it right before their eyes. And then the sword of copper was shining brilliantly, as if it had completely transformed.

「Th-this is copper?! It shines like a gem… Van-sama, this is amazing! If you are able to purify copper like this and the same can be done with iron, this is a technique that would be desired all over the world!」(Tarea)

In Lambda, raising the purity of a substance to a hundred percent was impossible with technology alone. There were almost no examples of even skilled earth-attribute mages succeeding in doing such a thing. Historically, some mages had produced metal with a hundred percent purity, but only with minute amounts of metal used to begin with. Such techniques could not be used industrially.

And so if Vandalieu was able to create one-hundred-percent pure iron, he would rival those skilled historical mages… no, there was a chance that he would surpass them.

However, Vandalieu showed no signs of pride.

「That might be true, but this is actually really tiring.」(Vandalieu)

「Ah, it consumes a large quantity of Mana, doesn’t it?」(Tarea)

「No, it really tires my brain out.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu lay down and rested his forehead against Tarea’s back. Feeling how hot it was, Tarea let out her voice in surprise.

「A fever?! Van-sama, your forehead is almost hot enough to burn me!」(Tarea)

「This is known as a magic-fever. If you surpass the limits of your Intelligence to force out a complicated spell, this is apparently what happens.」(Vandalieu)

The Intelligence stat displayed on one’s Status governs magic and martial techniques, representing the amount that one’s brain can process, and the speed with which it does so. If those limits are surpassed, a fever is developed, like a computer that has been overclocked.

Using【Golem Transmutation】to purify copper as Vandalieu had shown Tarea didn’t consume much Mana. Perhaps it would be different for other mages, but for Vandalieu, who possessed a Mana pool of 100,000,000, it was a truly miniscule amount.

What he was actually doing was middle-school-level science. He was simply transmuting the copper with the image of ejecting all of the non-copper material from within it.


Though earth-attribute mages manipulated minerals, they were unable to increase their purity. The reason for this was likely because they didn’t understand the molecular structure of metals. Nobody could blame them, as this was a fantasy world with no electron microscopes.

However, Vandalieu understood the concept of molecules. But increasing the purity of a single kilogram of copper to a hundred percent had caused a fever intense enough to make his consciousness hazy, so the technique itself did indeed seem difficult.

『Or maybe my Intelligence is just too low. I have a feeling there’s a good way around this, but… Fuh, Tarea’s back feels good.』

As Vandalieu set heat-absorbing【Demon Fires】around himself and pressed his forehead against Tarea’s back, he suddenly realized something.