Chapter 70: Cassio, the Spirit

"Hey, Heloise," Muria remarked, eyeing the five hundred mechanical soldiers armed with ship-slicing swords charging toward the mountain he had chosen, a twitch forming at the corner of his mouth. "They're the ones building my residence?"

"You see for yourself, don't you?"

"I don't feel like they're here to build anything for me." Muria watched some of the soldiers even set up their cannons. "It looks like they're ready to level the mountain I picked out."

"Boom!" As soon as he finished speaking, a massive explosion sounded above Muria's head, followed by successive booms. Fragments of shattered rock fell all around.

"You were actually planning to blow up the mountain!" Muria exclaimed as he observed the dazzling energy beams flashing above him, fixing his gaze on J508. "Weren't you supposed to be building my residence?"

"Please forgive us, Lord Muria. This is our method of construction," J508's voice was devoid of emotion. "We are using energy cannons to quickly clear a space."

Muria fell silent, then turned to Heloise with skepticism. "These are weapons of war, meant for killing. How are they supposed to build my home? Did you summon the wrong unit?"

"There was no mistake." Sparks flew off Heloise as she shattered a rock heading toward her. "They built my residence the same way."

"Isn't there anything specifically designed for construction?"

"No!" Heloise looked at the now flattened summit, her voice steady. "That dignitary believes only machines designed for slaughter and war are useful; creating other types of golems would be a waste of resources."

The rumbling above Muria lasted for a while longer. The clouds swirling around the majestic mountain were dispersed by the commotion caused by the Mechanical Legion, allowing Muria a clear view of the upper half of the mountain.

The peak had been blown away, and many of the mechanical soldiers, each over twenty meters tall, were handling large rocks resulting from the explosion. Others wielded their ship-slicing swords, slicing the rocks neatly. For those rocks that were irregularly shaped or too large, the soldiers employed their energy weapons.

"Boom! Boom!" Explosions continued to erupt atop the mountain. The Mechanical Legion's construction process for Muria's residence was extraordinarily violent, giving him the illusion of being on a starship battlefield.

Although Muria found the machines' method of construction exasperating, their efficiency was undeniable. Visibly, a rugged and imposing structure began to take shape on the chosen mountain peak.

"Is it done?" After waiting just over an hour, Muria, looking at the now-complete structure on the mountain top, posed the question to J508, who commanded the mechanical troop.

"Please wait a moment longer, Lord Muria. Your residence still lacks many facilities."

"What else..." Before Muria could finish his question, he recalled the facilities in Heloise's courtyard, including the capable Number Seven and the always-ready teleportation circle, and immediately held his tongue, realizing what was missing.

"Lord Muria, your residence also needs..."

"No, don't answer, I know." Muria raised his hand to stop J508 from continuing. "I just want to know how much longer until completion."

"Two more hours."

...

"Construction is complete, Lord Muria. Please proceed to bond with the spirit of your residence."

"My spirit?" Muria's face lit up with a smile at J508's words, eager to have a spirit like Heloise's Number Seven.

When Muria stepped into the courtyard built by the Mechanical Legion, he was momentarily baffled by a white translucent orb pulsating gently in the center.

"Is this my spirit?" Muria asked irritably, pointing at the large orb, questioning J508 who followed behind. "Just an orb? Heloise's spirit wasn't like this."

"Lord Muria, this is the initial form of the spirit. You have not yet completed the bonding with your spirit. Once bonded, you can freely change its form, but only once."

"How do I bond?"

"Simply place your hand inside the orb."

Following J508's instructions, Muria approached the hovering, undulating giant orb. After a few seconds of contemplation, he raised his hand and hesitated briefly before reaching into the orb.

"Hiss!" Muria frowned as he felt a warm sensation, like dipping his hand into pleasantly warm water. This comfort was short-lived, however, as a slight pain soon followed, and his finger was pricked.

Through the semi-transparent orb, Muria saw a droplet of his pale gold blood emerge, then the small wound healed perfectly, allowing just a single drop of blood to escape.

"Buzz!" As Muria's blood was drawn, visible changes occurred. The orb stilled and emitted a soft hum, and golden halos emanated from Muria's blood, quickly tingeing the white orb with a pale golden hue.

"Please grant me a new form, master." After the orb changed color, it seemed much more lively, as if it had gained vitality. Then, the orb sent a faint thought into Muria's mind.

"Grant a new form?" Muria felt an instinctive understanding; he could freely alter the pale golden orb's appearance to anything he desired.

Under the watchful eyes of Heloise and J508, the orb quickly morphed from its spherical shape into a vague humanoid form, its exaggeratedly curvaceous figure clearly indicating the gender Muria had chosen for the spirit.

"What exactly should it look like?" Muria pondered, conflicted. He could specify the spirit's appearance, race, and gender entirely as he wished, naturally opting for a humanoid female form. However, deciding on the specific appearance proved challenging.

Muria wasn't short of ideas; rather, his memory overflowed with female forms, making the choice difficult. He wanted to select them all, but the spirit's appearance could only be freely changed once.

"Alright, I'll just set it myself!" Under Heloise's increasingly impatient gaze, Muria finally made up his mind. He chose none of his previous options and instead created something entirely new.

Soon, a female spirit with the innocent face of a Lolita, the proud figure of a mature woman, and the gentle demeanor of a lady appeared in Muria's new home.

"Master, please name me." The spirit, dressed in a gorgeous long gown, bowed slightly to Muria.

"Your name?" The task of naming his spirit made Muria's head ache slightly. He glanced at Heloise, whose expression had become somewhat strange, and felt tempted to simply number his spirit as she had. But that seemed too impersonal.

"You shall be called..." Muria furrowed his brow, hesitated for a long while, and then finally decided, "Cassio. Your name will be Cassio."

"Cassio, construct the teleportation circle for my residence," Heloise immediately gave the first command after Muria's naming was complete.

"Master?" Cassio's innocent face turned towards Muria, querying if she should execute this command.

"Go ahead and build it!" Muria waved his hand, instructing his spirit to construct a teleportation circle for Heloise.

As Muria had first seen upon arriving in the titan lands, a series of brilliant magical lights began to shine from the ground, already processed by the Mechanical Legion, as a teleportation circle

 was formed.

"Are you leaving now?" Muria looked at Heloise, reflexively using a phrase from his previous life. "Won't you stay a little longer?"

"There's no need." Heloise eyed Cassio, her gaze strange. "Now that you have a spirit, all your queries can be directed to her. For us now, a spirit is omniscient."

"Omniscient?" Muria looked at his newly born spirit in surprise.

"Lord Muria, in the clan lands, all spirits in titan buildings are connected to the database established by my master. Your spirit will access the database to find the best answers to your questions," J508 explained.

"I see." Muria nodded, his expression neutral as he concealed his shock. This was just like the internet from his previous life, but even more advanced.

"Master, Lady Heloise, the formation is complete." Cassio spoke softly to Muria as a dazzlingly bright teleportation circle took shape on the ground.

"I'm off, Muria. Keep training your martial skills! I hope to see a stronger you next time we meet." Heloise stepped onto the circle, and then the teleporting glow brightened.

"I will," Muria confidently declared.

Just as Heloise was about to be transported away, she left him with one last piece of advice: "Muria, if you want to grow stronger, you must suppress certain draconic traits. Don't let your lineage cloud your judgment."

"Uh!" Muria touched his chin in resignation at the advice left by the now-gone Heloise. "Suppress certain draconic traits."

"Is it because of Cassio?" Muria looked at his curvaceous, semi-transparent spirit, suddenly recalling Heloise's odd look. "I couldn't possibly have made my spirit look like a muscle-bound titan, right? That would be too strange."

"Lord Muria, our task here is complete; your residence has been constructed. Please allow us to depart."

"Alright, J508. Until next time."

As Muria responded, J508's azure electronic eyes flickered once before he and all the mechanical soldiers ascended back into the hovering warship, leaving behind an unheard message: "Lord Muria, we are weapons born for war; there will be no second meeting."

Muria looked up to see a huge teleportation array appear in the sky in front of the kilometer-long warship. The sleek vessel gradually vanished within the array, leaving Muria to ponder the future with his new spirit, Cassio.