Thanks to Ye Uchiha's advance modifications with ninjutsu, construction in the Mine proved unexpectedly easy. It mostly involved laying bricks and tiles and doing some basic interior decorating.
Later, Paracelsus and Justeaze joined in designing and building the Mine. With the founding alchemist's Territory Creation and Justeaze using the Greater Grail to nourish the local ley lines, the Mine increasingly took on the shape of a modern base.
The construction alone had drained Ye Uchiha's savings. On top of that, he still had to supply the materials on Paracelsus's list, once again experiencing the misery of being broke. He had no choice but to diligently hunt down high-level, valuable monsters, earning money by completing guild quests and selling their corpses.
Ye Uchiha also discovered another ability Irisviel possessed: she could absorb and store energy-bearing substances from the outside world as a reserve power source, which could serve as magical energy for summoning Servants. However, the process was painfully slow. It would take several months to store enough for a single summoning, making it of little practical use to him.
After nearly half a month, construction finally came to an end. The craftsmen collected their pay and left with beaming smiles.
Ye Uchiha and his companions finally moved into their new base. Looking at its layout and furnishings, he could only say that the money had been well spent.
The base featured a modern design, with fully equipped bedrooms, kitchens, meeting halls, bathrooms, research rooms, basements, and other facilities. It could accommodate the daily work and rest needs of seven or eight hundred people.
A reinforced metal gate stood at the entrance. Aside from designated individuals who could come and go freely, no one could open it without authorization from inside. Anyone hoping to break through by force would need a Noble Phantasm ranked C+ or higher to have any chance of damaging it.
Moreover, Paracelsus had placed tightly guarded defensive barriers throughout both the surrounding rock walls and the ground beneath the Mine. In short, aside from entering through the front gate, even trying to sneak in by digging a tunnel was impossible.
Even if someone forced their way inside, a series of countermeasures awaited them, enough to eliminate any human whose strength fell below that of a Servant.
As the organization's only powerhouse at present, Princess Kaguya chose the most luxurious bedroom and moved all the magic books and potions bought at great expense into her new room.
Ye Uchiha initially thought nothing of it, but when he casually opened Princess Kaguya's stats, he was nearly stunned:
Servant: Princess Kaguya LV62 Equipment: None Skill: Potion creation LV6 (master level) Magic: Lightning-Heaven's punishment, fire-Fireball, water-Water dragon's roar, wind-Wind tornado, darkness-Great dark heaven, light-Great radiant heaven, wood-Endless thorns, illusion-Hell's descent, healing-Heaven's ring
She learned this much magic in just over a month? Was she a secret academic genius?
The sight made Ye Uchiha green with envy. So far, aside from Netherworld Type-Undead's Eulogy, which he had obtained by using the Demon Crystal, he had not learned a single skill or spell.
Although Ye Uchiha had wanted to study, the otherworld's writing looked like alien gibberish and gave him a headache. He had therefore abandoned the idea of learning magic.
Though construction was complete, everything in the base still needed to be established, and Paracelsus was its only staff member. Having seen the artificial lifeforms Paracelsus could create, Ye Uchiha knew that, given enough materials, magical energy, and time, he could build an artificial army capable of rivaling an entire nation's military might.
A formidable technical specialist like him might not possess exceptional combat strength personally, but the threat he posed could rival that of certain top-tier powerhouses. This made Ye Uchiha eager to summon more researchers.
Inside Paracelsus's magecraft workshop.
Beside a pool filled with liquid as crimson as blood, Paracelsus stood holding several sheets of paper and recording something. Several rows of delicate potion bottles filled with red liquid sat on the workbench.
Nearby, several faceless automatons ladled the blood-colored liquid from the pool into transparent, oval glass bottles, stoppered them, and placed them on a rack.
Looking over the figures in his hands, Paracelsus nodded slightly. These materials should be enough to produce several hundred combat-type artificial lifeforms, allowing him to arm the entire base and turn it into a military fortress without a single gap in its defenses.
Paracelsus planned to create them first and deploy them inside and around the base, where they would serve as guards and patrol the surrounding area.
He walked over to the workbench and placed the magecraft marrow and artificial lifeform prototypes on it, then summoned Azoth and engraved the lines of a magic circle into the bench.
"Spirits of the five elements, take the earth as your foundation. Water shall be your protection, wind shall be your form, and wherever light shines shall lie within your gaze. Flame shall burn away the enemies before you. I offer this tribute. Answer my summons here-"
Paracelsus murmured the incantation. The magic circle engraved into the workbench began to emit a deep, eerie blue glow. An invisible wind rose and swirled from within it, making his sleeves flap.
Five translucent artificial spirits, colored gold, blue, green, red, and yellow, appeared in the center of the magic circle, giving shrill howls of indeterminate meaning.
Sensing the presence these artificial spirits emitted, Paracelsus sighed softly and shook his head, murmuring in disappointment, "These artificial spirits are even weaker than the last batch. Is the magical energy not pure enough?"
Perhaps it was because this world lacked the magical substances found in the Nasuverse. Fortunately, nourishment from Justeaze's Greater Grail had transformed the local ley lines into magical ley lines. Moreover, the Root of the Nasuverse seemingly had no connection to this world's Root, considerably weakening the effects of Paracelsus's alchemy and leaving the artificial lifeforms he produced less than satisfactory.
Their combat strength probably fell short of even low-end Servants. In a world of ordinary people, they would likely be extraordinary beings capable of fighting a thousand foes alone. But to Paracelsus, anything below the average Servant's level was an undeniable failure.
Artificial spirits were artificially created spirits rather than natural ones. They possessed a measure of intelligence, and their bodies were condensed from elemental substances, allowing them to manipulate the elements with ease. Unless the magical crystal at their core was shattered, they were theoretically immortal and indestructible. Of course, they would also perish automatically if the magical energy within that core crystal ran out.
"Live in the forest. If anyone enters with malicious intentions, do not let them go."
Paracelsus did not expect them to kill powerful intruders, but they could still hinder them to some extent. If anyone broke in, these artificial spirits, with their astonishing perception, would make ideal patrol guards. They needed neither food nor drink, never had to relieve themselves, and required no rest or wages. As long as their magical reserves were maintained, they could work indefinitely. They were practically the perfect servants and employees in the eyes of an exploitative capitalist.
At Paracelsus's command, the five artificial spirits gave low howls of indeterminate meaning, then passed bodily through the wall and vanished from sight.
Artificial spirits had no fixed form and could therefore pass through physical matter. To their eyes, living creatures looked like masses of blazing flame. Unless someone possessed the Assassin class's Presence Concealment, which could evade their magical perception, no amount of hiding would allow them to escape the spirits' "gaze."
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