Sephiran dropped his War Bat and sprinted toward Maddy, sliding to a stop in front of her like an overexcited puppy.
"Mother! Mother! Mother! Can you make a bigger bat?! Like—like—like THIS big?!"
He stretched his arms as wide as he could, nearly losing his balance.
"No—bigger! BIGGER! I want one that goes BOOOOM when I hit worms!"
Maddy laughed, holding up a hand.
"Easy, easy! I just got the skill five seconds ago, sweetie!"
Sephiran bounced in place anyway.
"But you can do it, right?! RIGHT?!"
Behind him, Dyralfa raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.
"If Mother can recreate weapons... then that ans we can upgrade everything we find from now on."
Her eyes glead with interest.
"Imagine armor made from mana minerals... claws reinforced with mythril... weapons that don’t break."
Arach nodded slowly, already thinking several steps ahead.
"Our hunting efficiency will increase significantly. If Mother can replicate equipnt, we could outfit an entire army if needed."
One of his six hands tapped his chin.
"And if she can alter materials... then we are no longer limited by what the world provides. We simply gather resources and improve them."
Frovian stepped forward, his eyes practically shining with intellectual delight.
"A biological forge, Mother! Do you understand what this ans?!"
He spread his arms like a lecturer presenting a grand theory.
"You are no longer rely a consur of the world’s resources—you are a manufacturer of power!"
He pointed toward the battlefield remains.
"Those adventurers brought tools ant to conquer monsters... and now those very tools will arm the monsters themselves!"
He bowed slightly, clearly impressed.
"Truly poetic."
Maddy scratched the back of her head with an awkward laugh.
"Okay, okay, calm down, all of you! I haven’t even tested it yet!"
But the excitent was contagious. She looked down at her hand again, focusing.
"Let’s see..."
She closed her eyes briefly. Lucy’s systems responded instantly, projecting the stored blueprints in her mind—swords, shields, armor pieces, daggers, musket, and tools the adventurers had carried.
Maddy concentrated on one of the simpler ones.
"Alright... let’s try sothing basic."
Her palm glowed faintly. Mineral particles gathered from her internal stores, compressing and shaping themselves.
Clink.
A steel dagger ford in her hand. She stared at it.
"...Oh."
She turned it side to side, inspecting the edge.
"...OH."
Then she grinned.
"IT WORKED!"
Sephiran gasped like he had just witnessed a miracle.
"Mother made a knife out of nothing!"
Frovian corrected him imdiately.
"Not nothing, little brother. From stored matter and structural mory."
Sephiran shrugged.
"Right... just fancier words for the sa miracle."
Maddy chuckled, her eyes dancing as she examined the dagger once more. Then, with a flick of her thoughts, she tried sothing new—armor. Plates layered over her arm, shining like polished knight steel. Satisfied, she dismissed it and conjured a small glass vial.
Inside, a swirl of blue liquid shimred.
"Mana potion... these are what those adventurers drink, like so kind of alcohol to boost their egos."
She laughed, a sound of pure delight, like a child discovering a new toy.
"This is incredible... but now the real question is..."
She tapped the vial thoughtfully.
"...what happens if I make it with better materials? Ohhh, this is going to be fun."
[Apply these traits to yourself, or store them?]
"Oh right... I almost forgot. Yeah, apply all of them, but store the elental traits—I already have those. Those will be perfect ingredients for the next child."
[Response: By your command... applying all ingested traits directly to your body except the usual and the elents...]
Initializing...
Poof!
[Done.]
As the suite of traits specifically Presence Concealnt, fully stitched themselves into her soul, the overwhelming, atmospheric pressure Maddy had been radiating vanished in a heartbeat.
The air in the cavern, which had been vibrating with her sheer existence, suddenly went still. It was as if a deafening alarm had finally been silenced. Her children blinked, looking around in confusion, montarily losing track of the woman standing right in front of them.
Maddy let out a long, shuddering breath of relief. She looked down at her hands, which no longer shimred with involuntary aura.
"Oh, thank the gods! I—it’s like... I’m finally wearing a bra. That’s the feeling. Total support. Everything is finally... tucked away where it belongs."
Arach squinted at the empty air where she was clearly supposed to be.
"...Mother?"
Dyralfa tilted her head, slowly stepping forward. She reached out cautiously and bonk—her hand hit Maddy’s shoulder.
"Oh. There you are."
Several of the younger ones started murmuring. One even circled around Maddy, confused.
"Wait... she’s right here."
"No, I lost her again."
"How are you hiding when you’re standing in front of us?"
Arach rubbed his chin and grinned.
"That’s terrifying."
Dyralfa crossed her arms, nodding in approval.
"A useful trick. Enemies will never see you coming."
Sephiran raised a hand.
"Mother... what’s a bra?"
The cavern fell silent. Maddy froze for a brief mont.
"...You know what, that’s a lesson for much later."
She adjusted her Presence Concealnt, limiting it to just her magic and might intensity, allowing her children to see her fully. She walked slowly toward them, her expression shifting from giddy excitent to the sharp, commanding resolve of a Queen.
"Listen to , all of you... Today changed everything. I used to think we could just hide in the dark, carve out a little corner of the world, and be a happy family. But that man... that ’Hero’s Son’...
She clenched her fist, the phantom sound of Erwin’s voice echoing in her mind:
"A monster... you are a monster in every piece of your being! A creature that should never have lived! And your children? Abominations, all of them! You’ll wipe out humanity if we don’t stop you!"
"He called us... abominations... He looked at us, at our ho, at our love, and saw nothing but a plague that needed to be purged. To him, and to every adventurer in that Guild, slaughtering your unborn sibling wasn’t a cri. It was a heroic act."
A heavy, mournful silence fell over her children. Sephiran’s shoulders slumped, and even Dyralfa’s tail stopped its restless twitching.
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