The thirty-sixth Cheonyangwon item Suho requested from Ravi was an “A-grade Earth-attribute Core Stone.”
There were many grades above it, but he decided on a moderate A-grade, since anything higher might turn into a disaster he couldn’t handle.
Perhaps because a Core Stone was an item with a will of its own, it wasn’t measured by weight like aetherium, but treated by quantity, like runes.
An A-grade Core Stone was about the size of one joint of a little finger, and according to Ravi’s explanation, the higher the grade, the stronger it became while also shrinking in size.
E-grade ones were apparently truly enormous.
The price wasn’t all that high.
If it had been set at the maximum value because it didn’t exist on Earth, it could have been outrageously expensive, but since a market price had already been established, he was able to buy it cheaply.
An item valued at around three billion won apiece; for one yang won’s worth, Suho received a total of 333 gyeong A-grade Core Stones.
If he took out that many Core Stones all at once, he didn’t know for sure, but a satellite the size of the moon might vanish in an instant.
‘This really is too many...’
Suho only needed a few, but since there was no such option, he accepted them for the time being.
According to Ravi’s explanation, there were no special conditions for activating this Core Stone.
Because it was a “living stone” that was constantly active, the moment it was taken out, it would suck in nearby materials, bulk up, and turn into a golem.
That meant he needed to test just how large an A-grade Core Stone would become.
But since it had the property of drawing in everything from stone to concrete to soil and becoming a golem, it wasn’t an experiment he could do in the middle of the city.
If he did, all hell could break loose—the ground might heave up, asphalt might flip over, buildings and walls might collapse.
So Suho purchased a civil-engineering aggregate quarry in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do.
He asked Towerpia Manage to look into available properties, and when they found one that was about 20,000 pyeong for roughly four billion won, he decided to buy it on the spot.
A quarry seemed perfect for testing an Earth-attribute Core Stone.
* * *
For one more item he needed to prepare, Suho stopped by the high-grade item shop, Arcane Arsenal, for the first time in a while.
At Suho’s suggestion, Danbi, Joshua, and even Taeung tagged along—a dazzling outing of S-grades.
The moment they entered, Suho declared loudly,
“Today’s shopping is on me! If there’s anything you want, pick it all out. For me, this place is basically a free shop.”
“Whoa... This place is insanely expensive... Can I really pick something I need?”
Taeung asked cautiously, scratching his head.
“Of course. Don’t just pick what you need—pick everything you’ve ever wanted. Let’s flex with Tower items today.”
Joshua was looking around Arcane Arsenal with great interest, so Danbi stayed beside him and asked,
“What do you think? Compared to high-grade shops in America, this place is small, right?”
“Mm... I suppose so. It’s a cozy little place.”
“What places were there in America again?”
“There are three in total in the United States: Infinity Forge, Celestial Gear, and Mythic Outfitters. Of those, only S-grades can enter Mythic Outfitters. The others allow A-grades in as well.”
“Wow... As expected of America. The scale is different. I’d love to go sometime.”
“Let’s go next time. I’ll show you around.”
“Really? You promised!”
“Don’t get your hopes up too much. I don’t think it’ll be easy to go to America for a while. And, well, this place isn’t bad either.”
While everyone went off to shop in the sections they were interested in, Suho looked for the female employee in charge of item guidance.
“Hello, Admittee Jeong Suho. You’ve visited us again.”
“Ah, hello. I’m... looking for something. Could you help me find it?”
“Ah, of course. What sort of item are you looking for?”
“I need a flight item. Something you wear on your body.”
“Ah, in that case, we have a very wide variety.”
She brought up various items on a large tablet screen.
“This is a [Levitation Amulet]. As you can see, it’s in the form of a necklace. It activates when worn around the neck, and when ether is infused, it allows aerial levitation. It can also enable slow descent. And this is [Skywalker Sandals]. You purchased [Skyfall Boots] last time, didn’t you?”
“Oh, that’s right. Wow, you remember all that?”
“Of course. If the Skyfall Boots you purchased reduce fall damage, then these [Skywalker Sandals] are an item that let you walk through the air. They’re a higher-level function.”
Suho briefly interrupted her as she tried to continue explaining.
“They all sound good, but is there, how should I put it... an item that lets me fly a bit faster? And, um, I’d like it to be an item that can be supplied with ether not from my own ether, but from an external power source—in other words, aetherium.”
“Ah, in that case, I recommend this. These are [Storm Bringer Wings]. You wear them like a sleeveless tank top, and when you infuse ether, translucent wings are generated. In the center of the chest here, as you mentioned, you can also equip aetherium. Then it’s structured to consume the ether from the aetherium before the ether within your body.”
“Wow, this is exactly it. This is what I needed!”
“In that case, I also recommend using this together with it. It’s a [Zephyrus Bracelet]. As the name suggests, it’s a bracelet, and it increases flight speed by 40% while reducing wind resistance by up to 60%.”
“Ohhh... I like it. Give me that too.”
After choosing the two items, Suho looked around the store, then called the employee again.
“Oh, right. Do you happen to have an item that expands vision?”
“There are a great many vision-expansion items. Seeing in darkness, seeing far away, seeing in fine detail—there are many types. What sort are you looking for?”
“Seeing far away. Like a telescope.”
“Mm... In that case, this should be suitable. They’re [Astral Vision Goggles]. When activated, they increase viewing distance by up to thirty times, widen the field of vision by 80%, and enhance night vision.”
Suho accepted the compact goggles she held out. They were very light, and even fashionable.
It was almost astonishing that such a small pair of goggles could have that many functions.
“Then this one also uses aetherium...”
“Oh, this one doesn’t consume ether separately. It activates the moment you wear it.”
“Ah, nice.”
By the time the last person in the group had finished shopping, about an hour had passed.
Each of them had come back carrying an armful of items.
Even the employee was so shocked that she blinked in disbelief.
Each individual item ranged from hundreds of millions of won at the cheapest to tens of billions at the expensive end, and yet they had brought over a mountain of them.
Seeing them excited like children who had received gift sets, Suho chuckled.
“I’ll pay for everything at once. How much is it all together?”
Several Arcane Arsenal employees came out, checked the price of each item, and packaged them with appraisal certificates in sturdy hard cases—in other words, security boxes.
They couldn’t fit everything into a single mobile cart, so they had to bring out three carts in total.
“...Altogether, it comes to 1,473,135,000,000 won. Installment payment is also possible, but...”
“No. Installments? Please. I’ll pay with aetherium.”
Suho poured out a fistful of A-grade aetherium.
* * *
The civil-engineering aggregate quarry he had hastily bought in Yangju.
Since it was a vacant property, he was able to visit it immediately.
The type of earth and stone was andesite, its purpose was for civil engineering, and it had even obtained a quarry permit.
Suho didn’t actually need it, but he had even received a [Stone and Soil Extraction Permit].
At the entrance to the quarry, where they had arrived by car, he told the Sanarae Clan’s security members and the other androids to wait in the car, then entered the quarry with only Danbi.
After walking in for quite a while and reaching roughly the center of the quarry, he looked around. The place, filled with dirt and rock, was desolate, with no one in sight. That was fortunate.
If anyone happened to be there, they might get caught up in a dangerous experiment.
First, Suho decided to test the newly purchased [Storm Bringer Wings].
Since Suho basically had no ether in his body, there was no reaction when he put it on, but when he inserted aetherium into the groove on his chest, translucent wings formed behind his back with a shaak.
They were wings as faint as a heat haze, as if the flow of air itself had become visible.
“Oh, Suho, it worked! The wings have activated!”
As Danbi had taught him in advance, he thought, ‘I want to fly. I’m going to fly now.’ When he set his mind that way and concentrated, Suho’s body began to float before he knew it.
The sensation of rising against gravity was an alien feeling he had never experienced before.
For Suho, who had lived his entire life with his feet on the ground, it was also a terribly uneasy and unfamiliar sensation.
“Suho! Now look at the point you want to go to and focus on it! And also focus on the path you’ll take to get there—picture it in your mind!”
Following Danbi’s coaching, he stared at a point about a hundred meters away and concentrated. His body slowly began to move forward. Then, at some point, the wings accelerated.
Shwaaaaaak────
He suddenly picked up speed and began racing through the air at an incredible velocity.
“Uwaaaaaaah! Stop! S-stop, I said!”
Only then did his body come to a halt in midair, as if something had yanked him back from behind.
“Huaaah......”
“Are you all right!?”
Danbi, wearing her armor coat, flew over to Suho’s side.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine. It’s a little hard, but... this... it feels exactly like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like when you ride a motorcycle for the first time.”
“Ah-ha.”
“It feels like you’re going slowly, but the moment you let your guard down, the speed suddenly kicks in. I think I just need to get used to that sudden acceleration.”
For the next few dozen minutes, Suho flew through the air, getting used to the sensation of flight.
He rose higher, tried stopping in midair, advanced slowly, and accelerated quickly.
There were some difficult parts too.
The feeling of simply falling wasn’t difficult, but descending quickly was quite hard, and flying backward while reversing was also fairly difficult.
After flying for a while, he started to worry about how much aetherium remained.
Suho had only ever produced and sold aetherium; this was his first time actually using it, so he had no sense for this sort of thing.
“This feels like the aetherium is a battery... but I have no idea how long I can use it.”
Suho muttered, tapping the aetherium embedded in his chest.
“What grade is the one you put in, Suho?”
“S-grade.”
“Ahaha. Then even if you met the end of your life in midair, the energy probably still wouldn’t run out.”
Danbi laughed aloud at Suho’s needless concern.
Suho practiced the flight sense he had learned a little more, then, when he decided that was enough, descended to the ground with Danbi.
“Wow... This feels strange. My body feels incredibly heavy...”
Just like when stepping down onto the ground after spending a long time on a trampoline, his body felt heavy under the pressure of gravity again.
“Now... then.”
Now it was time to carry out the true purpose of coming here.
The main objective was testing the golemization of an Earth-attribute Core Stone.
As Suho steeled himself, he asked,
“Danbi, have you ever seen a Core Stone turn into a golem?”
“I’ve never seen an Earth-attribute one, but I have seen an Ice-attribute one. B-grade.”
Suho’s plan was first to confirm the range of soil and stone the activated, golemizing Core Stone would draw in, and how large it would grow.
After confirming the golem at its maximum size, he would store the Core Stone away again and see if it could be dismantled.
If that didn’t work, the next part of the plan and objective was to store the entire golem in his subspace warehouse.
In the unlikely event that putting it into subspace didn’t work, Danbi and the Sanarae Clan intended to destroy it.
In that case, it would be no different from fighting an A-grade monster, so they had to consider a small-scale raid.
“Then I’ll take it out.”
“Yes. Oh, right. The surrounding stones will fly in, so do it after going up into the air. From above.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Got it.”
The two floated about ten meters into the air, looked down below, and
Danbi swallowed hard, looking tense, and took out [Song of the Stars].
“We’re really doing this.”
Swaaaaaa──── Grrrrr──
The Core Stone Suho had taken out on the ground far below began sucking in the surrounding stones with tremendous force.
Kwa-kwa-gagagak────
Drrrrrrk────
Kukug── Kukug──
The piled boulders, smaller stones, and gravel flew at a ferocious speed and clung to the Core Stone.
As if an ultra-powerful neodymium magnet had been placed in the center of a structure made of paper clips, every rock in the area was swept up, torn from its original place, and sent flying toward the Core Stone to merge with it.
The gathered rocks swelled until they were nearly six or seven meters in size, forcing Suho and Danbi to fly even higher.
Guuuuuuuh────
The rock golem, which stopped at about eight meters, grew no larger. That seemed to be the maximum for an A-rank Core Stone.
Standing atop the earth and stone it must have consumed to form its body, the creature let out a roar.
The ground where the golem had settled was sunken in a round shape, forming a crater. And as for its appearance...
‘What on earth am I supposed to call that shape...?’
Ravi had been right. It was not the humanoid golem commonly seen in works of fiction. It looked like soft-serve ice cream spilled onto the ground—almost like a lump of dung.
Still, the very top seemed to be its head, and four tentacle-like arms jutted out in all directions.
Its feet were nowhere to be seen; instead, the rocks formed along its lower half rolled like wheels to move it around.
Warrrrrrk────
Kwadeudeudeudeuk────
Every time it moved, a dull, heavy sound rang out, like a huge dump truck repeatedly lifting its bed and pouring out rocks and gravel.
“I’ll try putting the Core Stone away again now!”
Suho tried to store the Core Stone again, but he couldn’t tell where it was at all.
Too many rocks had already piled densely over it.
“Tch.”
Then he had no choice but to peel them away.
Suho began rapidly storing the rocks attached to the rock golem.
Once he stored the rocks away, new ones flew in and tried to attach themselves again, but Suho’s storage speed was faster.
And before long, he could see the Core Stone embedded in the center of its body.
Perhaps because it was in the middle of manifesting its ability to pull in rocks, the stone was glowing with a bright green light, making it easy to find.
“Okay. Bingo.”
The moment Suho stored the Core Stone away,
Kururururururu────
Warurururururu────
The rocks that had been clumped together collapsed as though nothing had happened, spilling down to the ground.
Kukug...
Tututuk...
Sssshhhhh... Psssss...
When even the last shard of stone fell to the ground, the area was filled with dust rising from the rock golem.
“Oh... It works. Success for now.”
“Amazing...”
Suho was surprised by the rock golem’s majesty and scale, but Danbi was, if anything, more surprised by Suho’s ability.
In a place like this quarry, filled with boulders, stones, and dirt, defeating a rock golem was not as easy as it sounded.
Even if you chipped away at the rocks and broke its body, new rocks would quickly fly in to replace them.
It was no different from facing a monster with infinite regeneration.
Since the structure only stopped functioning when the Core Stone formed at the center of its body was destroyed, a golem in an environment that matched its own attribute was the sort of monster that could cause enormous damage and casualties if a seasoned raid team did not take it down strategically.
And this was an A-rank golem on top of that.
Yet as Danbi watched Suho bring down such an incredible creature all by himself in an instant, she felt a wave of relief wash over her.
The more she saw of him, the more thrilling and mysterious he seemed.