Neighbors?

"Phew. That was no joke." Four days later, Zheng Yichen looked at the Magic Weapon before him, a sword radiating a cold, sinister chill, and couldn't help looking rather pleased with himself. He was no longer in the castle, of course.

After his first attempt at Magic Weapon Creation failed, Lolise had kicked him out. Even the Ghost Maids had looked at him with disdain. He had thought a failed Magic Weapon would simply scatter and disappear. Who could have guessed it would go out in a spectacular explosion instead?

The blast had swept through the castle's main hall and left it a wreck. Zheng Yichen, who had taken the brunt of it, felt as though a locomotive had hit him...

The thing was, he couldn't use advanced magic yet, so he had settled for intermediate spells across the board. He could always upgrade it gradually later. He had plenty of time, and this was only the first weapon he had actually finished.

As he added more spells, Zheng Yichen had begun to feel them slipping beyond his control. They were pushing the limits of his abilities—not his ability to use magic, but his "talent."

Lolise's explanation had been simple: if he couldn't control it, he wasn't strong enough. Even the best talent needed sufficient power to support it.

After four days of work and several failures, he had finally made this modified Magic Weapon. He had added Frost from ice magic and Corrosion from dark magic. The former gave its strikes a freezing bite, while the latter corroded targets with dark magic when they were hit. Then came Soul Drain Spell, which let it draw in souls, and Soulbinding Enhancement.

Soulbinding Enhancement was evil magic. It gathered large numbers of souls and bound them to a weapon or armor to increase its power. Souls were a form of energy, after all, and piling up enough of them could provide an immensely powerful boost to defense or attack.

Zheng Yichen had wanted to add Soul Release Impact, which attacked by releasing souls. Its power also depended on the number of souls stored. Unfortunately, setting aside enhancements such as magic gathering, four "enchantments" were already his limit. Trying to add a fifth had blown up at least three intermediate Magic Weapons and given him three more chances to experience what being hit by a locomotive felt like.

By the final attempt, he had learned his lesson. If it wouldn't fit, he would leave it out. Given the choice between another attack and an enhancement, he chose the latter. Frost and Corrosion already gave the sword plenty of offensive power. Soul Release Impact would need a great deal of buildup before it did much good, so he simply dropped it. And with that, Frostmourne took shape.

Zheng Yichen had also wanted to add a brainwashing suggestion spell and a spell for summoning the undead. On second thought, he left those out too. It wasn't as if he were actually trying to create a Lich King... And it definitely wasn't because he lacked the ability to pull those effects off!

"So, are you sure that little girl can use this weapon?" Lolise held up the Magic Weapon Zheng Yichen had been showing off. With three evil spells in it, the sword gave off a cold, sinister feeling that clung to anyone who came near.

"Uh, she can't?" Zheng Yichen froze. Damn, he had forgotten about that. In this world, people could stroll around with all manner of weapons, but that didn't mean there were no taboos. Run around with a sinister magic sword, and the otherworldly equivalent of the authorities would certainly invite you in for tea.

"The Dark Church would like a weapon like this," Lolise remarked. Setting aside its materials, this Magic Weapon already surpassed many advanced weapons in power. Its potential was even more impressive: it could accumulate magical power to strengthen itself, and draw in and store souls for further enhancement.

All of that depended on Zheng Yichen's unique "otherworldly talent." No one else could achieve the same result by copying what he had done.

"...Then I'll make another one." Zheng Yichen scratched his head, torn.

If a demonic sword wouldn't do, he needed something a little more righteous. What would work? Hmm... How about Azurewrath?

He recalled the weapon's appearance. Azurewrath really was a gorgeous sword. That settled it!

"...Does your world have a lot of weapons?" Lolise asked when she saw the new Magic Weapon Zheng Yichen had made. Its appearance had clearly been designed; there was no way he had come up with it on the spot.

"Yeah, I've seen quite a few." Zheng Yichen ran a hand over the unenhanced Magic Weapon and shook his head slightly. This magic was something else. It had let him make the thing just like that. He had only made its shape so far, but he could add everything else later.

With no original here, the one he made was the genuine article!

He tried to recall Azurewrath's properties. As it happened, it was an ice weapon too, with an aura that damaged undead within a certain range. It also had other random magical properties... He could be flexible about those.

With a plan in mind, Zheng Yichen set about making it—only to find himself surrounded by a group of little maids. In a rare turn of events, several young Ghost Maids were on duty together today. Though they had all existed for more than fifty years, their bodies seemed to affect their minds, and they behaved much like children.

The young Ghost Maids brandished brooms made to their size and chased him away.

Fair enough. That last explosion really had kept the Ghost Maids busy for a long time. Scratching his head, Zheng Yichen took the unfinished "Azurewrath" and left the castle, heading for the place where he had worked before.

"...Hmm?" Before he reached it, Zheng Yichen sensed humans nearby. After a moment's thought, he chose not to approach directly. Instead, he used the Projection Spell he had only just mastered. A miniature dragon, about fifteen centimeters long, crept toward the site where he made his Magic Weapons. There, it found a group of people in black robes patterned with red, doing something he couldn't make out.

Are they gathering information? Zheng Yichen watched them for a while. He had seen detection spells in Bonnakane's spellbook more than once, and those spells were specifically meant to find lingering traces at a scene.

Were they searching the place where he made his Magic Weapons because the explosions had been too loud?

Zheng Yichen looked at the craters left behind, each roughly a dozen meters in radius, and fell silent for a moment. All right, he had made quite a commotion.

He withdrew his projection and headed back to the castle. He had no intention of approaching those people. Even through his projection, he could tell that two of the black-and-red-robed figures would be especially hard to deal with.

"Other people active in this forest?" After hearing what Zheng Yichen had seen, Lolise tilted her head and thought for a moment, then simply shook it. "I hadn't come back here in a long time, so I don't know."

Zheng Yichen's mouth twitched. A barrier surrounded the castle, and without the proper way in, no one could even find it. Even if a new group had moved into the area, they wouldn't discover the castle unless they were capable enough. Since returning, Lolise had behaved like a recluse, hardly ever stepping outside.

As for the Ghost Maids, before Lolise returned, they had done little more than maintain the place and keep dust from piling up over the years.

"If you're bored, you can investigate it yourself."

"This is your home. Doesn't it bother you that you might suddenly have neighbors?" Zheng Yichen asked, a little troubled. Those people hadn't looked like good sorts, and something about them had given him the feeling they were cultists.

"No." Lolise narrowed her eyes slightly. "Intruders who come here without permission all deserve to die."

"Wow, that's a lot of killing intent." Zheng Yichen shrugged. "What if someone wanders in by accident?"

"There's no accident," she replied firmly. "Those who aren't strong enough can't find this place. Those who are strong enough will send word once they find it, as long as they have no ulterior motives. Anyone who doesn't is an intruder!"