Artifact.

—

[1250 - Late Morning - Middle of Nowhere, Temeria - 3 Month and 3 Weeks.]

Flying through the sky after a month and extra week of delightful sex with Keira and Triss, during which he openly shares his thought process and memories to motivated Keira to help him transform for the better like Triss, Zefron, with a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck and nose to protect against the chilly high-altitude air, is currently looking at his compass.

Mumbling to himself inside his head, Zefron gazes down to the ground at the very tiny line of the traveling route below ground with an unsure tone, 'Is this the right path?'

Looking up at the distant mountain, Zefron nods, for he knows he is in the right direction. Even though he is unsure where the foothills are that he will land on while flying in a straight direction, he is certain that this is one of the mountains Nappy passed when searching for a new hunting ground.

Controlling Nappy to fly at low altitude, as he wanted to search for a nearby village to stock up on supplies after journeying for three weeks straight, Zefron placed his hand on the big kitty's saddle, producing a mind element symbol from both his palm and the saddle.

"Boy, lower, ground, want, village."

Receiving a shake of his head from the majestic big kitty, accompanied by a short and regal roar, Zefron placed his compass back into his satchel and released his control over Fate Puppetry.

Unlike last time when he needed to control every action of the big kitty, now he could simply communicate his intentions with a bit of extra action.

He then gripped the saddle holder firmly with both hands, simultaneously allowing the Fate String to unwind and wrap around himself, securing him to Nappy.

Flap.

Swoosh.

Retracting his wing, Nappy dives down toward the ground with tremendous speed, assured that his manling master will remain secure while executing the maneuver known as 'mauling his meat.'

3000 meters, 2000 meters, 1000 meters, 500 meters.

Flap.

At an altitude of 200 meters above the ground, Nappy unfurls his wing once more, creating a jerking movement that affects both himself and his manling master due to the abrupt deceleration caused by the sudden air resistance.

After being tossed back and forth like in Sedna Abyss, causing his tiny brain to shake uncontrollably, Zefron regains his senses and places his left hand over his nose covered by the scarf, to produce an air element symbol from his palm and the scarf, effectively jolting a significant amount of oxygen into his nose.

Unlike using a hot air balloon, where he only needs to wear an oxygen mask at high altitudes, Zefron doesn't understand why he always gasps, trying to catch his breath every time the maneuver is performed.

However, he luckily discovered a trick to reduce the headache and nausea by infusing a significant amount of oxygen into his lungs, which is helping him recover even though he remains puzzled about how it works.

Gazing down at the scarf around his neck, which is still producing a stream of oxygen directly into his nose, Zefron places his left hand back on the saddle holder while contemplating the nature of the scarf's artifact enchantment that will last for one-minute duration.

By synchronizing and attuning the orderly flow of the scarf with his own magical energy, Zefron creates an essentially magical item that functions like a "bag-valve-mask," or "BVM" for short, each time he 'Infuses' the item with his Rune Magic.

Additionally, he modifies the Aretuza talisman engraving spell, which can last for eternity but can only hold a single spell before the item is destroyed or until the Chaos energy is depleted.

He incorporates this modified spell, known as the 'Infuse Item' spell, with the process of the magical structure of Igni Sign, wherein the magical flow in the air and the magical flow in the body are bound together to create a burst of fire with just a gesture of a hand.

Combining the two together in his palm using his Rune Magic, he essentially creates an artifact that will function for one-minute duration before reverting to a static state as a normal object again, in contrast with the last time, when he had to continuously hold the item down while fighting the group of Nekkers and needed to add extra materials to create the cutting magical flow property using Quicksilver Solution.

Unlike using a magic forge to create a magic item, which requires building from the ground up, taking a considerable amount of time and necessitating specific ingredients, for instance the Witcher medallion that can only be produced once every year to three years, as revealed by scattered historical records of the Order of Witchers that Zefron learned from Triss.

Even though it will last only for a short amount of time, Zefron is sure that with enough proficiency, he will be able to directly turn anything into an artifact, even a normal stick that he can find anywhere in the forest.

—

[ Evening - Vorune.]

Looking at the ground distance where the barn-sized Fiend monster is currently killing many townspeople with its large antlers, which have already impaled several men and women, with three people dangling in the antler barely alive, Zefron in the sky clips his left golden Cintrian gloves, wearing the second-to-last piece that he needs.

"UHRR!"

Crushing a children that's barely three years old under its foot, causing the enchanting red hue to burst everywhere due to its trample, the monster then charged into the sturdy wooden walls.

BAAM.

However, the creature's momentum wasn't sufficient to destroy the sturdy logs in one blow. Knowing that it would need two full charges to break through to the inner city, but because it had already destroyed the surrounding thatched houses outside the town, Zefron put on his golden peacock helmet and said to Nappy, gripping the saddle to establish a mental connection.

"Boy, directly, on top, fiend head. I jump, finish, fly away."

With a shake of his head and a regal roar, Nappy flew closer, circling the fiend and positioning himself on top of its head with a slight lean, so that his manling master could jump directly onto the monster third eye.

"Help me… Help me…"

Looking at the young adult woman dangling precariously atop the fiend's third eye impaled by the antler, Zefron closed the visor of his helmet, drew his rustic Temerian Poniard, and etched his variation of the Igni Sign onto the middle of the sword's shoulder, causing it to glow hot with a bright fiery yellow hue to the entire steel sword.

"Help me…"

Aware that using the sword for more than ten seconds would compromise its durability and destroy it, Zefron leaped directly off Nappy, guided by the trajectory revealed by Future Fate. With a heart-wrenching cry of anguish, he shouted in the sky, "F-for g-goddess Lilvani!"

Stab.

"Eurgh."

The sizzling sound of meat being burned accompanied the searing sword as it pierced through the chest of the young lady and under into the fiend's third eye, Zefron's voice was laden with anguished sorrow as tears streamed down his cheeks after fine-tuning his mind once more like in Ivalo village, "M-may your s-soul dance i-in the m-moon."

"h-help…"

Slash.

With a swift slash, the lady's body was cleaved in half, severing the monster brain along with it.

—

[Morning - East Side of Tukaj Mountains - 1 week later.]

Looking at the two pieces of paper representing ownership of an establishment in the Temeria kingdom, Zefron chuckled and shook his head, unable to imagine that being a genuinely good person like Triss could be this profitable.

Acting like a knight-errant, running around the village and aiding those in need, eventually his 'desire to build a temple for prayer' is granted by the folks from Ivalo and Vorune.

All he has to do is set aside his 'arrogance', making it appear as though he's trampling it through the mud, while always adhering to the code of the goddess Lilavina, thereby leading everyone to believe his actions are motivated by genuine religious conviction.

Performing gestures like the kowtowing to the ground that he had learned in one of the countries from his past world, until everyone either couldn't stand it anymore or kicked him for their own amusement, or going back and forth to the nearby well to fetch bathwater because their laziness to pick it up themself, or even acting like a clown in front of the townspeople by fine-tuning his mind to mimic a chicken, pig, or even a monkey.

And eventually, those among the townsfolk who still possessed a heart and a hint of sanity would be more inclined to heed his words.

This, in turn, makes them more inclined to believe his words if by any chance he accidentally does something wrong, like his decision to kill the crazed mother of the missing boy Schirrú because it was the fastest and easiest method to eliminate the fiend, even though he could have lured it away like when he first arrived in this world and fought the drowner.

Or upon arriving in Ivalo and witnessing the village engulfed in flames due to bandit attacks, he contemplated and decided to wait for a while, allowing the bandits to eliminate 65-75% of the villagers, thereby magnifying the impact of his heroism and instilling hope without driving them to utter despair.

Despite this seemingly rational strategy, he once again miscalculates and fails to anticipate the presence of two twin boys, the sons of Mr. Bleinheim, who were on a nearby hill and accidentally witnessed his actions.

Because Future Fate's calculations are limited to a five-meter parameter around him and to events directly involving him in the future, he remains unaware that someone is observing him from a distance. Furthermore, the fact that their entire family is unharmed is not helping it either.

As a result, he is unable to silence the two boys and must adopt an alternative approach, becoming their servant and engaging in various activities, excluding those that align with the moral code of Goddess Lilavina and the considerations of Triss that he somewhat recalls.

Because things have changed, his goal of investing would be hindered if he were to purge the entire village just for the two boys, potentially damaging his cultivation seeds and preventing them from growing into flourishing trees.

Which is why he immediately intervened to help the Vorune townsfolk a week ago when a fiend wreaked havoc in the city, after ensuring Nappy remained unseen the best that he could for the reason that it would directly lead to him when he didn't play as a knight-errant anymore.

Chuckling again as he looked at the two pieces of paper in his hand, obtained by following the rule of thumb he summarized from Triss' actions – winning through the heart, logic of the establishment, and the law of the kingdom – Zefron essentially secured two business opportunities on his own.

"Boy, I wonder what your mama's expression will be like when she finds out I'm one step ahead of her by benefiting from being selfless."

Tilting his head in confusion, Nappy then returned to slowly biting his meals for the week, a practice his manling master had taught him.

"HELP!!! HELP ME!"

Looking at the big kitty that was slowly consuming the middle-aged woman in front of him, Zefron reminded him using his finger while reading her Past Fate, "Seven bites only, boy. Then go for her leg. That's your entire human treat for these two months."

—