Chapter 234: Expensive Lady (1/2)
”Seven of Clubs,” Rakna called out as he threw the card in his hand. The item planted itself in the ground and shone strongly. In no time at all, it expanded into a huge rectangular shape made out of red and white light. But it wasn't blinding in the slightest.
After a moment, the shape began to twist in various manners. The very first changes occurred at the top where it took a cone-like shape, quickly forming something akin to a house roof. The rest of the figure gained details and forms until it was transmuted into a large two-story mansion.
But it was only after a few more seconds that colors began to come into play it and the material solidified into actual stone, marble, cement, concrete, glass, wood, and even paint and polyester for the outside and inside of the walls. It was quite modern; a deep contrast with the environment.
”Oh my, how lovely,” Astraea commented at the imposing building.
”Hm,” Rakna hummed and walked up the small staircase leading to the entrance. When he reached the front door, he noticed something. ”Ah… it's locked.”
”…”
”…”
”That's awkward,” the therian muttered as he stared at the biometric scanner placed on the handle of the door that one would normally hold in such a way that the thumb would be the key. ”I kind of just copied the design of my house back on Earth, albeit bigger.”
”Well then… shouldn't that scanner have you registered in that case?” Astraea inquired.
”You would be right. And this would open,” Rakna said with a sigh. ”If only it was powered…”
”…”
”So… you messed up?” Natsu ultimately voiced the situation into words and his master's purple eyes glowered at him. ”Um, I mean… you messed up, My Lord. That is a shame,” the Celestial Blaze repeated himself in a more… 'polite' way.
Rakna rolled his eyes and pressed against the scanner with his finger. ”Eye, do your job,” he said more to himself than anything else, and his eye's lenses rotated before a wire-like tendril emerged from his skin and pierced the door's handle. Near instantly, a pulse of energy coursed through the wire and then forced open the lock.
”There. Open,” he commented as the nano-cable retracted into his body. He opened the door wide and stepped inside.
”Goodness, what kind of monstrosity are you?” Natsu couldn't help but ask after the display.
”Hey,” Astraea playfully chopped down on the fire canine's head. ”That's rude, little one.”
The Celestial Blaze twitched. ”…I am not a child.”
”Nonsense, you are not even a hundred years old.”
”…”
”My body is made of self-replicating nano-machines. That's part of the reason why it would've not been in your favor to fight me. For someone like you, I'm essentially unkillable,” Rakna eventually answered the question whilst inspecting the living room the entrance led to.
The place was empty; lacking any furniture to speak of. The floor was entirely carpeted, except around the front door, and the rest of the house felt very 'fresh'. One thing interesting to note was that the electrical wiring seemed to be built already.
”I have to go check the electric relay… Hm, the quality of the materials is… well, normal for Earth's standards. Perhaps I could have made it sturdier if I specified it to the card,” he remarked
”Would you like me to reinforce them?” Astraea offered and he looked back at her.
”You can do that?”
”Yes. The domain in which you summoned me allows for a very broad affinity. If I had to define it within a few words, you could say that my ability is 'purity of growth'. In other words, I can change the purity of something to make it closer to what I consider 'pure'. In the case of the plants outside, I simply raised the purity of mother nature. As for this, I could make it so that the material has a purer molecular composition and thus stronger.”
”That's… fascinating actually,” Rakna mused. ”Sure then, give it a go.”
The angel smiled happily and put a hand on the wall. ”[Valuvfma,]” she intoned and her spell was cast, directly taking its mana from Rakna. A wave of enchantment spread throughout the whole house and after the faint pressure that accompanied the activation of the spell was gone, Astraea pulled her hand back.
Rakna knocked on the walls, checking the size of the focal points with Cross Sight as well, and then nodded. ”I see. It did work. The number of focal points has decreased by one-fourth and they are about a third smaller. Nice going. Though… you're seriously expensive,” he deadpanned at the Star Entity as he eyed his dwindling mana points.
The angel pouted. ”Well, it's not my fault you mortals don't have enough mana for divine spells.”
”I think the reason for that is in the name…” Rakna retorted as he opened the door to a room and went inside, followed by the two others. It was a small room with a fenced staircase leading to the cellar. There, they found a weird apparatus wired to an electrical panel.
The therian merely gave it a look over and promptly produced a new pair of Eion stones from his storage. He manually opened a special partition of the generator-like device in front of him and placed the stones inside. After closing it, he stepped back and waited a bit until some lights started blinking.
The trio heard many things slowly boot up, such as the heater and a water pump located not far from them, but it was unfortunately not connected to any source.
”Uh, I'll have to fix that,” Rakna uttered and returned to the living room where he swiped his finger over a small square tactile button on the wall. On cue, the lights integrated into the ceiling turned on and illuminated the room; though the effect was marginal due to the sunlight. ”Good enough.”
”I see. So, you chose this design for the house because there was that generator,” Astraea said with a nod. ”The uniquely powerful supply of the Eternal Stones is fully capable of powering whatever device you put here in the future.”
”Yes, well, it was a gamble. When I made the 'request' to the card, I basically said something along the lines of 'build me this house' along with the picture in my head. The limitations are as you see right now. While it built the house, the furniture inside wasn't included.”
”However, the machines fundamental for the house's functioning were in the cellar, as well as the electric network. I would have used more cards if they weren't there anyway so this just happens to make things easier for me,” Rakna said and looked around.
”I guess I will have to slowly and gradually furnish the rest with the cards. Perhaps I can use one card and order it to 'furnish the entire house' or I could limit it to 'furnish this room' if it's more effective. Regardless, I'll have to wait a bit more to test it since the cooldown hasn't ended yet. The option of buying everything from Black Steel is also a possibility.”
”Hm?” Natsu's ears perked up. ”Cooldown?”
”Yeah, The Trickster's Sleeve has a thirty-minute cooldown between uses.”
The Celestial Blaze blinked as a realization struck him. ”You! It was a bluff! You lied when you said you could use those to stop my spells as many times as you wanted!”
”Well, yes.”
Natsu opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say.
”Don't get too agitated though. Even without them, you wouldn't have won.”
”…I hate you,” the flaming dog grumbled, folding his ears with his paws.