He didn't need a keyword, an epic chant, or a deed of extreme zeal. He needed focus, willpower, and a strong desire made manifest.
He gave the order, and the rune within him reacted.
The miniature shook, and just like it was with the Gobzkin Shaman, it grew bigger, like a sprout.
Adam couldn't slip or let loose his focus; he needed to match the process with his concentration, imagine it, and keep up with its progress.
As the miniature grew in all aspects, Adam felt his control increase over it. It was overwhelming him in a sense, but he could still exert control, and as it reached him on an eye level, Adam started to stand up along with it, matching it on every level as the two finally stood at a matching height.
And it stopped.
He stopped.
He knew that this was as far as his control went, and he didn't want to push it. Also, this was big enough already. Any more than that, and the integrity of the miniature felt like it was going to snap.
Then it moved… it looked at Adam, and it did nothing else. Then, after a while of silence, the first comment was uttered.
"Hallelujah!"
On his ass, Kave was looking up at the miniature that sprouted into a magical familiar made of gray-colored plastic, and that alone was wild enough to kick some of the sanity he lost back into him. The world has gone madder than he is, and witnessing something is far greater than just hearing and believing in it.
On the other hand, Adam was shivering lightly as he tried to stabilize his thoughts.
This was new to him, totally different than anything else, and he was treading lightly and carefully.
He felt it.
The way to control that plastic familiar; he had the sensation kicking in, and as if familiarizing himself with the controls, Adam's fingers started twitching without him noticing.
The plastic man-at-arms matched the light movements of his hand, and slowly, it was all coming to him.
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≪ Auxiliary Man-at-Arms ≫
< Familiar, Common >
A brave Man-at-Arms of the Solarium, a soldier who is willing to sacrifice himself for the cause of humanity's survival. Auxiliaries are the most common Men-at-Arms, serving as the lowest of the command chain and rarely survive to make it up the ranks. Unless they specialize in a greater role, they will never exceed the rank of Corporal.
——————————
"I understand now."
The information added nothing new to Adam's knowledge, as expected, but he felt more familiar with the mechanics of his Puppeteer power on a lower quality familiar just as Kave predicted.
"That's impressive!"
Speaking of which, Kave seemed to have not yet recovered from the shock, but as Adam and Kave turned to each other, they exchanged a triumphant smile.
"Since you're seeing it, it's probably not like the unicorns in the back, right?" Kave said.
"That unicorn?" Adam asked.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Kave freaked out, but Adam laughed it off:
"Just kidding, man."
"Well, fuck you."
Adam helped Kave up from his ass, and the two looked at the Man-at-Arms together. Adam explained what he felt and how he managed to make the power work, which made Adam start looking around for something to make notes with. Adam offered his journal and a pen he had, so Kave flipped it open and started writing from the other end.
"Alright. So what we know is that you can do shit like that with your mental power; your system calls it Psyche… basically Intelligence, but not that overrated… brainpower, willpower, all these terms we used in games," Kave started explaining while scribbling.
"I agree with that part."
"Good. There are two matters still: Upkeep and Control. Is there a duration? Do you feel like it will return back to normal after an hour or something, or maybe when you go to sleep?" Kave asked.
Adam looked at the miniature he summoned and shook his head, saying:
"It is strange. Like, if you think about it, I feel like if I take my mind off it, the summoning will collapse. It is occupying a part of my thinking."
"Well, that's the upkeep. The focus thing, like in Dice of Destiny. Also, it means that your other skill, Sanity, is the brain endurance, like I theorized. How long you can hold on depends on it," Kave said.
"Well, that's all nice and dandy, but when you look at Captain Creed…"
"It is like a totally different case than this. He has ego, is able to speak our language, and understand not just you, but me too. So things like telepathic exclusive connections between you and him is not the case here. He's totally on auto-pilot," Kave said.
"And his weapon and powers are real too. He is basically the real thing. This Man-at-Arms is just an enlarged miniature," Adam said.
"But you can see the change. Look here…" Kave said excitedly, approaching the Man-at-Arms, "There are no glue marks, cracks, or something. It transformed into a different being as it enlarged, but the details became much better. Also, he seems stuck to the base, so we probably need to remove it."
"Yes, I wonder what I can make of that, though," Adam spoke and scratched his head.
"Well, all signs lead to Transmutation if we are still applying DoD magic logic. Creed, on the other hand, is Conjuration."
"I see. Nice geeking this one out, bro."
The two looked at the summoned Man-at-Arms, and their thoughts started to align.
"We need to go for a Unique Quality, don't we?" Adam asked.
"Yes, Common is rather shitty," Kave agreed. "Imagine getting a few hundred of these bad boys."
"It would be a logistics nightmare," Adam shivered.
"Hehehe!" Kave laughed brightly for the first time in a hundred days. "I'll leave the conjuration and control to you; you leave the RTS to me. What do you say?"
"Woah! You're thinking big, aren't you?" Adam's eyes widened.
"Your systems says you can summon familiars and objects, right? Well, old friend, I just had that crazy idea," Kave said and turned to look at the blanket where tools were gathered.
In the center of the tools was the Refinery Rig Pencil Sharpener.
"Oh…" Adam understood what Kave wanted to do.
"… Yeah!" Creed smiled a teethy smile, like a total manic.
It was now decided. Those two were about to bring a Grimdark Sci-fi Empire into the world.
°°°
At the center of Brighthaven City, one of the most important cities near the east coast, and in the center of a large public square, there stood something magical.
Akin to a crack in the very fabric of reality itself, a deep, dark Rift was forming midair, its edges shimmering with an unnatural energy that distorted the light around it. The air crackled with an ominous power, and the area around the Rift was in total ruin, a testament to the destructive force that had been unleashed. Buildings, once proud symbols of architectural achievement, were collapsed into heaps of rubble and twisted metal. Cars lay burnt and overturned, their blackened frames serving as grim reminders of the chaos that had unfolded. Every aspect of the prosperous civilization that once claimed this city as home, from its bustling academies to its peaceful residential areas, was reduced to nothing at the hand of the green-skinned savages who had poured forth from the Rift, their eyes burning with a savage hunger for destruction and conquest. The once-vibrant streets were now littered with debris and the remnants of a society torn apart, a stark and horrifying tableau of devastation.
Around the Rift was a warband of Gobzkin, scraping what was left behind by the raiders, and fighting with each other over what little was left behind. They were the lowest ranks of the Gobzkin horde, the Workers, the weakest breed, weaker even than the Gobzkin Bandits and Scouts. In their search, one of those wretches might encounter a meeting with fate that would raise his rank and make him evolve into something stronger and more powerful.
But the truth about Gobzkin society is that it is the same as everywhere else. The strong oppressed the weak; the classism was clear: those who can't take the world by the reins and make it their bitch are the ones who will get trampled and left in the dirt.
But as those wretches were looking for something of value to make their sad lives a little less sad, they all looked at the Rift at the same time as a figure was standing at the front.
Of all the things they could find, a prey is the best of all, and not just any prey, a female prey.
This would fetch them a high price, so high in fact that the chiefs might even give them names. After all, females of other species are highly valued among Gobzkin; they are the best prey possible, more beautiful than any Gobzkin female, and their offspring are always stronger. In fact, all the Gobzkin high chiefs and princes are hybrids for the most part.
So when that tall and slender female appeared in her very feminine figure, the Gobzkin didn't think; they charged.
To their dismay, however, this wasn't an ordinary female. This was the type of female that would raise a foot above ground and, as it stomped, the very earth itself turned against its dwellers.
KRACK! KRACK! KRACK! KRACK!
This was no natural phenomenon; it was magic.
The land beneath their feet moved strangely, and in a split second, spikes rose from the place where the woman stood like a tidal wave.
All Gobzkin were annihilated, no one left to tell the tale of the killer they faced.
"It is clear," the woman spoke, and behind her was the Rift, whom she directed her words to.
Still, it would appear that she was not talking to the Rift only a second later, as another woman walked out and stepped on the land.
She paused for a while, and her ribcage elevated as she took in a deep breath and let it out.
"I smell death, sister," the woman who just arrived spoke.
The other one shook her head and smiled wryly behind her ninja-like mask.
As for the one in the back who was carrying a backpack like a trader, she was beautiful with big eyes and dark flowing hair. However, her skin was gray, her eyes had no white, and they were larger than any human eye.
Indeed, that is no human.
"A new world, sister," the ninja sister spoke.
"Are we the first ones to arrive?" the trader sister asked.
"I think not. The monster activity in the Rift is more than usual. It is hard to say that the others will make it as fast as we did," the ninja sister replied.
"I pray for their safety and for them to find safe passage to this world… maybe a couple of days later, since we need the merit of first contact," the trader sister said with a mischievous smile.
"If you're feeling competitive, let's get to the task then," the ninja sister said. "I'll find the nearest alien settlement."
"How marvelous! To contact a new alien race for the first time. The High King will praise really highly," the trader sister said with an excited tone.
"Don't get too excited! People are pushed to the edge when they live for survival. Be ready for accidents," the ninja sister said.
"Fine! But please, don't attack them first if they irritate you. If we succeed in making allies among this world's aliens, the fate of our land will be rewritten anew."
And though the two sisters of mysterious origins started walking towards the nearest survivors.