Golden Experience

Chapter 194: “Joking Around”

“Does choosing this as our meeting place mean that you’ve figured out the conditions for Salamander’s reincarnation?”

“Yeah, well, one of the requests is related to that.”

“Are there multiple requests? And is consultation something different?”

“Well, consultation is not exactly a request, right?”

“Not that it matters. Maybe it’s a matter of nuance.”

“Oh, I see. It’s a way of making a request indirectly. It’s modest.”

Upon reflection, it was the adjective farthest from what Lyra would use. She wouldn’t phrase things so admirably.

“…Well, let’s start with the requests for now. How many requests do you have?”

“Not many, just two. One is for the Philosopher’s Stone; I want another one. The other is to fuse my Aural Skink.”

“Aural Skink? Is that the reincarnation destination for Hiers Salamander?”

“Hiers Salamander? It’s Aural Salamander, you know?”

The conversation wasn’t making sense. Lyra had brought Hiers Newt from that river, and they both agreed on that. However, when I experimented in this forest, it reincarnated into Hiers Salamander. On the other hand, when Lyra used the Philosopher’s Stone, it reincarnated into Aural Salamander.

“In other words, it’s like this. Perhaps their species name changes depending on the place of birth. Like Hiers-produced Salamander or Aural-produced Salamander. It’s probably how the system judges the rebirth, literally giving birth anew.”

“That seems reasonable… But Hiers doesn’t exist anymore. It’s evident from the official website’s national introduction page. So, even if the system judges it that way, I’m not convinced that it becomes Hiers Salamander.”

“In terms of the regions that were once called that, it’s not wrong, right? There’s no other name for it. It’s like calling them Ezo Deer or Yamato Nadeshiko.”

“The same…?”

In Lyra’s case, it was unclear whether she was teasing, being sarcastic, or saying it seriously. If it was sarcasm, was she referring to the Yamato Dynasty that conquered Ezo and me who annihilated Hiers? It was a bit hard to understand. Could it be that Yamato Nadeshiko was also taken from there?

“…It seems like you’re troubled, but there’s no deep meaning. I just said the first thing that came to mind.”

“It’s confusing! Don’t say unnecessary things!”

Regardless of the name, the Aural Skink that Lyra summoned looked similar in size to Hiers Salamander, but it had lost its salamander-like features. It resembled something else, a Komodo Dragon.

And the one individual that hadn’t been reincarnated looked exactly like Hiers Salamander in appearance. When appraised, it was indeed identified as Aural Salamander, and upon closer inspection, its color seemed slightly paler. It might be an illusion.

“I’m willing to listen to your requests and offer consultations, but I have something I’d like to ask in return.”

“If you’re talking about the conditions to turn Salamander into a Skink, it’s probably [Water Magic] and [Fire Magic]. These little ones can actually use breath attacks.”

“They can breathe fire?”

“No, it’s a steam breath.”

“Isn’t that just warm breath?”

“It’s a proper means of attack! In the tests, they were confirmed to have the water attribute, but if the resistance fails, it also inflicts a burn status as an additional effect.”

“How much of this is true?”

“Everything so far.”

“It’s suspicious, but in a situation where I’m asking someone for help, I wouldn’t unnecessarily tease them.”

Anyway, it seems like Lyra has taken care of the reincarnation conditions for the salamanders, which Iwanted to test. That alone is not an issue as compensation.

Although slightly annoyed that she preemptively answered my questions, it’s a minor issue.

“That aside, I still have a question. I believe I gave you 60 Philosopher’s Stones; what did you use one of them for?”

“Well, that actually happens to be the final consultation. Should we address that first? Since we’ve come this far, maybe it’s better to finish dealing with the Skinks first?”

Reluctant as it may seem, it’s not an unwillingness to answer. It’s fine to discuss it later, and as Lyra suggests, it’s okay to finish the Skink fusion experiment first. It will incur significant costs, requiring two rounds of Philosopher’s Stones and teaching all of them [Fire Magic], but if it can create something dragon-like from the abundant Newts, it could be a considerable force.

“Okay then, here you go. Philosopher’s Stone. Go ahead and reincarnate into Aural Skinks quickly, and let’s see the results. We can talk about the details later.”

“Alright, here we go… oh.”

“What is it?”

“It turned into a Hiers Skink.”

“Oh.”

This is Hiers Forest, as expected.

Unexpectedly, the earlier speculation has been proven correct.

However, mixing one Hiers Skink among the 29 Aural Skinks likely won’t change the overall outcome. The details of the fusion seem quite approximate and flexible.

Probably, as long as it falls into a certain category, such as ‘specific monster’ + ‘monster in a certain category’, or ‘monster in a certain category’ + ‘monster in a certain category’, it should be fine.

Even though I occasionally added blood like Blanc did, it’s unclear whether Rare’s blood had any impact on the results. Perhaps any blood would suffice, and theoretically, any liquid containing proteins, like soy milk, might work. However, soy milk is not sold in Rifure, making it challenging to use.

“Hehe.”

“Huh? What is it? Why are you laughing now?”

“It’s nothing. [Philosopher’s Egg].”

Proceeding with the work as usual, but with only 30 materials, it’s uncertain whether it’s truly the end with just 30. However, I can try with my own subordinates as much as I want from now on. Since they are Lyra’s pets, it doesn’t matter what she uses; she just wants to see the results quickly.

Considering the cost spent on each Skink, it feels like she could create even stronger magical creatures. However, the Newts used as a base are too weak. Currently, they are undergoing an experiment in the underground lake of the Liebe Great Forest, but maybe they could be reincarnated with even looser conditions. Using Philosopher’s Stones for reincarnation is just a temporary measure.

To reincarnate a Goblin into a Goblin Leader, all you need is a Goblin’s core stone, but without knowing that, you would have to use a Philosopher’s Stone. The value difference between a Goblin’s core stone and a Philosopher’s Stone is like the difference between heaven and earth.

“[Magnum Opus].”

The egg’s size is not as large as it was with the Amphisbaena and Skeletal Ghidorah. It’s not as large as the last time. Even though it’s at the corner of the square, it’s still a bit smaller when compared to Ururu and Ubel standing next to it. Ururu is larger than Ubel. The size of the eggs should have been the same, but it seems the egg grew larger because of the wings and two long necks.

Breaking the crystal egg revealed a dragon with scales of a bamboo-like blue color, a truly dragon-like figure.

There are no exactly horn-like structures on its head, but in the places where horns should be, there are fins extending. Since the fins seem to have a skeletal structure, it might be more accurate to say that fins are attached to where horns would be.

The wings, compared to the Amphisbaena, are compact and don’t seem very suitable for flying. However, they are thick and more like fins than wings.

The neck appears longer compared to the body. However, since the tail is also long, it doesn’t look unnatural. Both the Amphisbaena and Skeletal Ghidorah have longer necks, so it might be the default design for dragon-type magical creatures.

“Cool! It’s a [Gargouille]!”

“Isn’t that a bit obscure?”

“Don’t say that, Amphisbaena over there. When did you make that?”

Upon [Appraisal, it has [Flame Breath], [Aqua Breath], and despite these wings, it also has [Flight] and [Celestial Run].

Both the Gargouille and Amphisbaena seem to have stats close to their racial default values, as they’ve only used the bare minimum of experience points. However, overall, the Amphisbaena appears to be superior.

But Gargouille has [Underwater Breathing] and [Submersion]. It gives off the impression of a dragon that can be active in various places.

“By the way, despite trying various things, I haven’t seen a dragon with a name like ‘something dragon’. Are you only using lizards?”

That’s only Lyra’s Gargouille.

Rare and Blanc both use species materials with names containing ‘dragon’, such as True Dragonkin or Dragontooth.

“I read about it somewhere online once. There are rumors of dragons in NPC folklore, so I think they exist. We also have Dragontooth.”

“Thinking they exist just because there’s a name is hasty, Rare-chan. Dragons don’t actually exist in reality, but the name does. Even ‘Dragon’s Beard’ is a plant unrelated to dragons.”

At first glance, it seems like a valid argument, but it’s just sophistry. In this game world where races like elves and goblins use real words for their names, there should be a reason to intentionally name an unidentified monster ‘dragon.’ To have a name, there must be a reason, and in reality, the word ‘dragon’ comes from the Greek ‘drakon,’ meaning ‘gazing’ or ‘serpent.’ It’s unlikely that the word ‘dragon’ was born from the same origin or a similar-sounding word here. If there’s a legend saying, “There are dragons”, then it’s safe to say that dragons actually exist.

Lyra should understand this, so it’s likely just playful banter.

“Well, I’ll go look for dragons when I have time. But more importantly, about the Philosopher’s Stone, what did you use it for?”

“Oh right. The consultation is about that too, but before that, can you tell me about the system message when you became the Demon Lord?”