Chapter 48: Thinking about the Future

What can a mid-tier earth-element crystal do?

It can quickly create a trench fortification or summon a Stone Giant puppet with Gold-rank strength for about half an hour.

I’m going for the latter—preparing materials to summon a Stone Giant.

My current mental energy isn’t enough for an on-the-spot summon, so I need to prep everything in advance. That way, if trouble hits, I can summon a Stone Giant to fight for me.

A Gold-rank Stone Giant is stronger than most centurions. I doubt I’ll face tougher foes, so this crystal should suffice for an emergency summon.

…It’s not that I don’t want a stronger summon, but my materials are limited, and my options are few. Stone Giants are the simplest and most practical low-tier choice. Their attack and defense are balanced, more reliable than summoning wind, fire, or water elementals.

Plus, I’m preparing this to escape if needed. If there are too many enemies, I can have the Stone Giant shield me while I bolt.

…If I can’t fight, can’t I at least run? I refuse to believe otherwise!

With that in mind, I realized I couldn’t start yet.

To prepare, I need to carve micro-runes and magic inscriptions on the crystal, so I can activate the summon with a burst of mental energy in a crisis.

But I only have alchemy tools, not carving tools…

“Hm… another trip to Golden Skull? I really don’t want to go out today…”

After thinking, I knew I’d have to make the trip, but I wasn’t thrilled.

Why? Even after sleeping most of the day, my body still ached faintly, and the streets felt unsafe. The city might be on lockdown by now—going out could get me stopped and questioned by the city guard.

Joking aside, I trust the stationed armies, but the city guard…?

Sorry, I don’t find them reliable. The frontlines are handled by proper troops, but the city guard’s a mixed bag.

Going out now would be unwise.

After pondering, I sighed, made a simple sandwich in the kitchen to quiet my stomach, then crawled back to bed, hugging my egg babies and sinking into thought.

With a rare day to rest, I started planning my future.

What do I want to do?

Raise my egg babies to adulthood? That’s a given, but… where do I go from here?

Head to the capital, leveraging my Level 10 Alchemist status to take on tons of commissions? Sounds good, but… it’s not safe.