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n“Tch!”

nAishia set down the materials in her hands and leaned on the workbench in front of her. A heavy sigh leaked from her lips.

nLooking at the machine in front of her, she couldn’t tell whether she was relieved or disappointed.

nThe machine itself was a mechanical armor suit, a technology that had long become integrated into society. However, she wasn’t treating it as an armor suit at all.

nEven Lynn had scolded her around a week prior for her placement of Mana Connection Points. While Lynn’s criticism would’ve been t true in any other case, it wasn’t quite this time.

nThis was specifically because Aishia wasn’t following the script for a normal mechanical armor suit. Only, she did most of the in-depth work outside of Lynn’s supervision, leaving her in the dark about the project’s true worth.

nOf course, being forced to swallow Lynn’s mockery wasn’t a good feeling. Aishia’s strength far surpassed Lynn’s. It’d only take a few slaps to kill her. Knowing this only made it harder to endure, because she also knew that Lynn wasn’t a character Niflheim would let go.

nBut as long as the end product was worth the effort, Aishia didn’t mind stomaching these insults.

nAishia brushed her hand against the armor suit’s cold metal exterior. As her mana intertwined with the suit’s systems, thin blue vein-like lines began to spread across its body.

nFlash!

nIts eyes lit up. Its head raised as if it were alive. Its gaze landed on Aishia, and it immediately kneeled down on one knee, its head lowered once more.

n“Rise,” Aishia commanded softly.

nAfter spending so much grueling time and effort on this project, after failing so many times that she almost destroyed it entirely, her feeling after completing it was no longer joy, it was pure relief at having finished.

nThe mech suit stood up following Aishia’s command. Watching it, Aishia continued her testing.

nFirst came basic motor responses, followed by more in-depth fine control tests. To check every system this way was inconvenient, but she at least had to personally check the main systems for any bugs.

nWhen her arm waved, the mech suit would follow her action. When her body flashed across the room past the speed of sound, the suit would do the same. However, if she wished to…

nAishia pointed at the wall and spoke. “Kill.”

nBoom!

nA concentrated ball of mana flew from the mech suit’s palm and reached a nearby wall in an instant, drilling a hole roughly a foot in depth.

nConsidering the fact that the material constituting this wall was one of the strongest alloys in the entire world, a foot-deep hole was a substantial achievement.

n“Haa…”

nAishia breathed another sigh of relief. She put her hand on the mech suit’s shoulder, withdrawing the strings of mana she inserted moments prior. With this, the suit powered down and entered an inanimate state once more.

nIn essence, what she created was puppet technology. For denizens who would become headless chickens on the battlefield without custom armor and weapons, this new approach to battle would surely be extremely popular.

nA metal known as Polar Star Iron was the most important ingredient in her innovation. This metal seemed to possess some sort of mysterious polarity with mana, being able to attract and contain it within.

nThis was incredibly important. Even when mana was infused into the ground or any foreign object, it’d naturally dissipate over time. A practitioner’s control over this mana would wane at an even faster speed, making remotely controlling one’s mana a nigh impossible feat.

nFor normal puppet techniques, this wasn’t a problem. The puppet and caster would be connected by mana strings or similar methods, and this connection was the very weakness that made puppets irrelevant in today’s society.

nBut with Polar Star Iron, Aishia was able to develop a mechanism to hold the caster’s mana and maintain their connection within a certain radius. Although this radius was currently only around 30 feet, it was something that could surely be improved with time.

nThis was why, behind all of Aishia’s sighs, was a smile she could barely contain.

nHer goals in life were few. Vengeance and justice. For vengeance, she would destroy the Nox from their very roots. And for justice, she’d protect this world and its people to her last breath. From the beginning, this was her creed; this was Asgard’s creed.

nPuppet Mechs would only be one of her many contributions, but they would inevitably become one of the most important.

nBecause if every citizen was given the ability to fight their oppressors, what kind of beautiful scene would that be?

nAishia smiled naively as she imagined it. The world outside Niflheim, outside Asgard, what was it like?

nEven though she’d lived over 10,000 years, she’d done so while being sheltered heavily in Asgard. Her status as the Final Valkyrie made her one of the most important persons in the organization.

nWhen she went into the Outer Wilds to train, she’d always been given 4th class protectors. Whenever she wished to interact with strangers, Asgard would vet them first and decide whether they were safe or not.

nThe response was almost always a resounding no, but Aishia knew it couldn’t be helped. The outside world was a dangerous place that far surpassed her imagination. If she even wanted the qualifications to properly explore it, she’d have to first complete her primary objective.

n‘I should report to Lord Odin soon. News of this joyous occasion cannot be delayed.’

nAishia wiped the sweat off her brow and rapidly prepared to leave her laboratory. She tapped a small cube against the Puppet Mech prototype, causing it to rapidly compress and reside within said cube.

nHowever, just as she was planning to leave…

n“Unholy Sanctum.”

nAn abyssal voice called out from behind her. The lab was enveloped in a poison-green domain that painted the air in its hue.

nAishia’s eyes went dull. Her arms loosely fell to her sides.

n“Show me the progress.” The voice demanded.

nAishia absent-mindedly withdrew the cube in which the Puppet Mech resided, resummoning it into the world. However, it wasn’t the same as before.

nWhen her mana entered the mech, it followed a specific pattern, revolving through the Polar Star Iron like a counterflow.

nThe mech suit powered up. Its aura flared wildly, filled with bloodthirst and madness. It began thrashing around like a living creature, but the owner of the abyssal voice restrained it with a single thought.

nThe mech attempted to wrangle out of the thick greenish-black chains that bound it, but that wasn’t possible. Even if it had strength, it was still only a prototype.

n“It is not satisfactory yet, but it is infinitely close. Good, the Master will be pleased.” The abyssal voice nodded.

n“And what of Asgard?” It asked once more.

nAishia’s lips quivered for a brief instant, her eyes beginning to clear. But at that moment, a shrill sound traveled through the air. Upon hearing this sound, Aishia’s eyes dulled immediately. Her mouth opened and she began casually retelling secrets that had never left Asgard’s upper echelon.

nThe abyssal figure smiled as it listened. Just as it had always been, and just as it always would be, Asgard was a mere dog under their control.

n“The Cloud Plane? Even Odin himself wouldn’t dare move against us. Which little faction from Asgard actually dared to conspire? Jajajaja, It seems we must once again teach our dogs to behave.”

nThe abyssal voice faded from the lab, the Unholy Sanctum vanishing without a trace. Even the Puppet Mech returned to Aishia’s storage box.

nAishia’s eyes suddenly cleared. A puzzled look appeared on her face. For some reason, she felt as if she was missing something. A faint memory popped into her head.

n“…what…Asgard…”

n“Agh!”

nAishia gripped her head in pain. Her mana shot through her Nodal Points and entered her brain, allowing her to rapidly rid herself of her splitting headache.

nBut along with her headache vanished her suspicions about the events prior. And perhaps, even the headache itself would be forgotten soon as well.

nAishia soon picked up her items and left the lab, returning home so she could finally relax.

nAfter creating something with the potential to greatly benefit humanity, she could at least be allowed this much, right?

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