Shades of the New World

Chapter 242: Gizel

Nasst came in from behind the door, accompanying a tall, tanned, middle-aged woman who was maybe slightly older than Lora's age. After hearing her name, Evin expected to see an Easterner, but aside from her tanned skin, the woman looked like a Northerner through and through. She also had a bright beige horn on her head, which was oddly located right on top of her forehead. As far as Evin could tell, the horns usually tended to grow on the side of one's head. 

One more thing that Evin couldn't help but notice was the woman's love for jewelry and accessories. A variety of trinkets, mostly of gold and black colors, decorated her neck and chest area, while her arms and fingers were decorated with more colorful rings and bracelets. Even her horns were had some seemingly custom-made rings decorating it as well. 

Her posture also suggested that she was someone who didn't dislike attention, at least, if not outright reveled in it. 

Evin noticed that even as she walked, slowly and teasingly as she did, her whole weight would diligently shift between both her legs, no doubt catching the attention of many onlookers in the street.

She then stopped and rested her weight on her left leg, as her hands casually rested on her waist like a model of some sorts. With her chin slightly facing upwards, her half-smiling gaze leisurely eyed the room she just entered before it finally fell on Evin.

"This better be good, Nasst... Kortan's been hell-bent on having me work all this fall, buzzing on and on about this magical ore with unparalleled destructive capabilities. I don't wanna spend my whole winter stuck with another boring job," the woman said casually.

"I've told you it involves World Sprites and golems, don't you always talk about how you wished an owner of possible World Sprites would willfully become a test subject for you?" Nasst laughed.

"Guess what Kortan said to pull me out of my vacation? The same exact thing. Now did I see a group of cute little World Sprites waiting for me to work out their secrets? No. I saw an accursed collection of dirt-ridden rocks, with Lord Kal sitting nearby to browbeat me into working without complaints," Gizel narrated with a weary sigh. 

"Well, you'll see my credibility in a few minutes. Anyway, Evin, meet the foremost expert in the field of Magical Engineering and an avid hobbyist of Somaturgy, Doctor Gizel. And here's the World Sprite owner willing to let you play a bit with his friends," Nasst introduced the two.

"Ah, we finally we meet. It's took far too long for history to birth such an unselfish Dark mage like yourself," she smiled in a courteous way. 

"Nice to meet you as well, doctor Gizel," Evin guessed that most who were fortunate enough to own World Sprites weren't so keen on letting others mess around with them.

"Evin, right? Who knew someone would be interested in golems at this point in history? Or were you someone who pursued the subject in your previous life?"

When Gizel mentioned golems, Evin found that the word weirdly didn't suit her very much, with her glamour and style.

'Now that I think about it, she really doesn't look like a Somaturgy expert would look, huh,' a random thought appeared in Evin's head, as he wondered how to best answer the woman.

"I was just a simple man of science Though the matters of mages always intrigued me greatly," Evin said vaguely.

"Ehm, sure. Well, I'll hope you'll find yourself interested in the subject soon enough. Nasst, do you have any requirements or deadlines of some sorts?" Gizel asked smilingly.

"Well, see what kind of golems you can make with Evin's World Sprites. If you need any materials, you can give a list to me," Nasst said, before adding in the end: "We'll also need you to swear on your Oath that you will keep matters regarding this project a secret."

"Really? Aren't they just World Sprites?"

"Just do it. It's not so hard to keep a small secret like this, right?"

"But what am I going to say if Lord Kortan asks about this?" Gizel asked in a playful tone, her hand latching onto the old man's arms.

"I'm sure he'll understand if you simply explain the situation," Nasst sighed.

"Alright, " Gizel said in a sulky voice and reluctantly swore on her Oath.

"Well, now that you know what to do, I'll be on my way."

"Good luck on your work, Lord Boring. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask me," Gizel said and smiled meaningfully.

"Sure, good luck with your project," Nasst shrugged and walked out. 

'I must say, this is quite painful to watch,' Evin thought as he witnessed the exchange.

Right as the old mage walked out, Gizel's prideful posture loosened up a bit, as she pulled one of the seats in the room and sat on it straightly.

"Wait a few minutes, I need to get into work mode for this," the woman said. She then closed her eyes and started making an awfully focused expression.

A few minutes later, she held her hand to her mouth and yawned with satisfaction. Her eyes opened shortly after and Gizel wiped the tears that came out. Evin observed the woman's actions with some interest, but the latter didn't really pay any mind to Evin's gaze, happily caressing one of her rings with a refreshed expression. 

"Sorry, but how did you become a interested in Somaturgy?" Evin asked after observing the woman for a bit.

"Because I was good at it, naturally," Gizel replied with a chuckle.

"I suppose that's fair. Alright. Do you wanna have a look at the World Sprites?" Evin asked.

"Of course, Nasst's been talking a lot about your World Sprites, probably since fall, actually," Gizel replied, and pulled out a large metal box from a Storage Ring.

Evin thought that the woman would be difficult to converse with, due to the prideful manner she carried herself at first, but thankfully, she seemed very easy to speak to. 

'She's a bit confusing, but it shouldn't really matter much,' he thought and spread his shadow a bit wider. Slowly, Lucario's figure emerged from the shadows, prompting Gizel to look at Evin with a puzzled stare.

"This is one of the Dark World Sprites I have in my shadow," Evin explained and as if on cue, Lucario broadcasted his thoughts to the two of them.

[An honor to meet doctor,] a slightly broken, yet smooth voice echoed in the two mage's minds.

"What the hell?" Gizel murmured in Northern, as a mix of fright and curiosity appeared in her eyes.

"I have about 80 or so similarly smart World Sprites in my shadow, all of them very eager to have a golem to pilot for themselves," Evin said, taking this as a chance to explain some stuff to the Somaturgy expert. About how he first received them from a Beast Lord, but at the time they were relatively normal. 

He then pulled out Enri from his shadow, and talked about her specialness and rapid growth. Enri herself talked a bit about her experience to help Gizel understand things a bit better.

As he was doing this, he made sure to cover the World Sprites inside his dimension in a veil of darkness, so Snyden's crew inside didn't see anything weird as he pulled some of them out of his shadow.

Gizel wiped off the shock on her face and started writing down some notes as Enri and Evin spoke.

Evin then brought out Runa and explained how one of the World Sprites inhabited a metal skinshifter, while also retaining its memories as a World Sprite. 

"That should not be possible," Gizel said after she heard Runa's story.

"What do you mean?"

"World Sprites were never successful in latching onto a being that isn't as smart as humans. For example, if a World Sprite were to attach itself to a dog or a cat, they would quickly die out and fizzle itself into raw energy. But it isn't like they would be successful in taking over a human or a Cosmic. After all, it's impossible to have two souls coexisting together in a single body, especially if one soul is vastly weaker than the other," Gizel said.