A cube similar to those found in dungeons floated in front of Merle, though a bit smaller.
'I AM TAM-TAM.'
Tam-Tam repeated his name, sounding slightly hesitant.
'Well, he was just a puppet until recently, so don't expect too much. Eventually he'll grow and mature.'
"Ohh!!"
Tam-Tam could only talk with loose words for now.
(This Magic Board…or Magic Cube has slots for Stone Slabs on every side.)
Allen decided to call it Magic Cube.
'There's 5 slots on each side, so it can fit a total of 30 Stone Slabs.'
Digragni seemed to notice what Allen was thinking.
The Magic Board only had space for 20, so the Magic Cube had 10 more.
"Ohh! It's following me around!!"
As Merle moved, the Magic Cube floating above her head followed her.
"Alright Merle, we have a lot of things to test. Call Tam-Tam."
"Okay!"
"Hey Allen, are you doing that right now?"
Dogora came to them, hearing that Allen wanted to test Tam-Tam's capabilities.
"Of course. It might take a while though."
When Allen said his experiments would not take long, that usually meant a few hours.
If he said it would take a while, an entire day could pass.
He wanted to know exactly what it meant for Tam-Tam to have a soul, and they had many new Stone Slabs. There was a lot to research.
"Let's go back to the other floor then, I want to train my Skills."
Dogora said he wanted to train more as he ate the food from his magic bag.
"Ah, I see."
'Seriously.'
Merus frowned next to them.
"Hm? What's wrong, Merus."
'No, it's nothing.'
If Dogora wanted to train, that meant Merus would also have to help with that.
They left the boss room and returned to the last floor.
The ceiling there was more than 100 meters tall too, so it offered enough space.
"Commandant, did it go well?"
"Yeah, we defeated him."
"Ohh! Incredible, you defeated the Dungeon Master."
People from the armies were waiting for them outside.
They knew the party would challenge Digragni after defeating Gordino.
The hero Helmios was busy arranging the meeting, so he was in Latash.
Kiel was currently in charge to lead the Hero's Army.
"Alright then. Let me know if we need to change our strategy again soon."
"Thank you, Dogora."
Dogora turned around and waved his hand as he went to train with Allen's summon.
He was going to continue training until he passed out of exhaustion.
Then someone from the armies would come pick his sleeping body and bring him to his bed.
A short time later Digragni appeared there too.
Many were seeing him for the first time, so they got nervous.
'Merle, this has the same function as a magic bag, don't worry about changing Stone Slabs.'
He gave Merle some advice.
"Huh? Ohh!!"
Clank clank
(She doesn't have to look after a bunch of cubes then. Actually, this might be even more useful to change Stone Slabs mid-fight.)
The cube's components began to move, spreading out. There was a dark mist in the center.
It looked just like Allen's Inventory, and Merle put all her Stone slabs inside there.
'Merle, try switching Stone Slabs with your mind.'
"A-alright, Dungeon Master Digragni."
'Hey, stop being so formal.'
"O-okay, Digragni."
Digragni insisted that those who won had no need to be formal.
Whirrrrrr
Clank clank
The Magic Cube began spinning and expanding, taking out a Stone Slab and equipping it.
'Mhm, it's working perfectly. This is the first time I built something like this. Now, call Tam-Tam.'
"Alright. Tam-Tam Descend!!"
'YES, MASTER MERLE.'
"Ohh!!"
One of the cube's faces began to glow, a magic circle appeared on the ground, and Tam-Tam emerged from it. Tam-Tam looked the same, even when brought from the Magic Cube.
"Merle, do you notice anything new? Let me see Tam-Tam's stats."
"Okay!"
Whooom!
Tam-Tam's stats appeared in glowing text on its crystal.
[Name] Tam-Tam
[Nature] Sentient Puppet
[Ability] H
[Pilot] Merle
[Rank] Hihiirokane
[Strength] 25000 + 1000 + 3600
[Mana] 25000 + 1000 + 3600
[Attack] 25000 + 1000
[Endurance] 25000 + 1000 + 3600
[Agility] 25000 + 1000
[Intelligence] 25000 + 1000 + 3600
[Luck] 25000 + 1000
[Functions] Strengthening (1), Inventory
[Nature Progress] 0 / 10000
(Tam-Tam has grown a lot. Thank you very much.)
There were multiple new stats for Tam-Tam, and its current Nature seemed to be Sentient Puppet. Strengthening (1) was added to its Functions, and all stats had increased by 1000.
Its Inventory was for Stone Slabs, just like Digragni had said.
Underneath its Nature, Ability was listed as H.
That seemed to indicate how far Tam-Tam had grown, according to its Nature Progress.
(Nature Progress is going up really fast. Is it like experience that goes up with Mana spent?)
It seemed like for Nature to change, it was necessary to spend Mana like with Skill Experience.
[Mana necessary to move a golem (per second)]
-Iron Golem 1 Mana
-Bronze Golem 2 Mana
-Mythril Golem 3 Mana
-Hihiirokane Golem 5 Mana
[Mana spent when using a Giant or Goliath Size Stone Slab]:
-Giant Size Stone Slab 2x
-Goliath Size Stone Slab 3x
-Giant and Goliath Size Stone Slabs simultaneously 5x
Tam-Tam had both a Giant and Goliath Size Stone Slabs equipped, so Merle used 25 Mana every second. Nature Progress was going up by that same amount.
'Now let me explain how to use the Stone Slabs I gave you.'
"Okay!"
(He's being quite kind now. That helps make things faster.)
Thanks to Digragni's willingness to teach, what everyone thought would take a day had been shortened drastically. Something had changed Digragni's attitude.
[The Stone Slabs given by Dungeon Master Digragni]:
-Exoskeleton Strengthening Stone Slab (Skill Name: Digragni On)
-Drone Stone Slab (Skill Name: Pentapod)
-Positron Cannon Stone Slab (Skill Name: Grand Laser)
-Short Range Movement Stone Slab (Skill Name: Teleport)
-Radial Shockwave Attack Stone Slab (Skill Name: Round Burst)
'Get inside Tam-Tam first. You can only use Grand Laser if I'm there with you.'
"Got it!"
Pentapod and Grand Laser could only be used if Digragni On was also active.
Merle went inside Tam-Tam.
'Remember to shout Digragni On! You got it?'
Saying that, Digragni vanished from there.
He told Merle to equip the Exoskeleton Strengthening Stone Slab and to use the Skill.
"Got it. Digragni ooooooooonnn!!"
Merle shouted while raising her fist inside Tam-Tam's crystal.
Zoooooooooooom
A magic circle appeared on the ceiling and Digragni appeared from within it.
(He was here just a moment ago though.)
Allen felt like they were going a bit too far with theatrics.
Digragni's body began to split into many parts, which then clung onto Tam-Tam.
"That's incredible! And that's why it's called Exoskeleton Strengthening. Merle, let us see the stats too!!"
Allen stopped questioning the theatrics quickly overtaken by a different emotion.
Digragni's Adamantite body had covered Tam-Tam, leaving only some small patches exposed.
Their appearance alone made Allen feel like they were incredibly strong.
The crystal shone and displayed the stats for Allen to see.
"Wait, ohhh! Tam-Tam's stats have gone above 100000!!"
Merle was also getting excited seeing those numbers. It was almost hard to believe.
[Name] Digragni On Tam-Tam
[Nature] Sentient Puppet
[Ability] H
[Pilot] Merle
[Rank] Hihiirokane
[Strength] 100000 + 1000 + 3600
[Mana] 100000 + 1000 + 3600
[Attack] 100000 + 1000
[Endurance] 100000 + 1000 + 3600
[Agility] 100000 + 1000
[Intelligence] 100000 + 1000 + 3600
[Luck] 100000 + 1000
[Functions] Strengthening (1), Inventory
[Nature Progress] 8200 / 10000
'How do you like that? But this uses a lot of Mana, so be careful about that.'
"Ah, you're right."
Tam-Tam was consuming 250 Mana each second now, even though no Skills were being used.
'Now try creating Pentapods.'
"Okay. Come out Pentapods!!"
Merle shouted loudly while striking a pose inside Tam-Tam's crystal, which began glowing.
Five figures emerged from the light.
[Name] Pentapod
[Strength] 50000 + 1000 + 3600
[Mana] 50000 + 1000 + 3600
[Attack] 50000 + 1000
[Endurance] 50000 + 1000 + 3600
[Agility] 50000 + 1000
[Intelligence] 50000 + 1000 + 3600
[Luck] 50000 + 1000
[Functions] Repair Energy, Cannon Transformation
Merle stepped out of the crystal to talk with Allen.
"This is incredible. Tam-Tam can heal itself now. You'll be invincible, not even debuffs will work."
Debuffs could not be applied to golems, but buffs also did not work.
The only way to make a golem stronger was with Stone Slabs, which granted plenty of stats.
'At the cost of a lot of Mana. Hm? Tam-Tam's Nature is about to change!'
"Huh? Tam-Tam?"
Nature Progress had already reached 10000.
[Name] Digragni On Tam-Tam
[Nature] Sentient Construct
[Ability] G
[Pilot] Merle
[Rank] Hihiirokane
[Strength] 100000 + 2000 + 3600
[Mana] 100000 + 2000 + 3600
[Attack] 100000 + 2000
[Endurance] 100000 + 2000 + 3600
[Agility] 100000 + 2000
[Intelligence] 100000 + 2000 + 3600
[Luck] 100000 + 2000
[Functions] Strengthening (2), Power Output (2), Inventory
[Nature Progress] 0 / 100000
Tam-Tam's Nature had been changed to Sentient Construct.
The added stats had gone from 1000 to 2000.
A new Function named Power Output (2) was also added.
But there was no change in appearance.
'[Power Output] makes a golem's Skills more powerful.'
Digragni explained the new Function.
"Ohh! Tam-Tam got stronger."
'YES MASTER MERLE. TAM-TAM STRONGER.'
Tam-Tam still spoke with broken words, but Merle had something to say back.
"Tam-Tam, we're partners. You don't have to call me master!"
'UNDERSTOOD. PARTNER MERLE!'
"Good good."
She was starting to understand why Digragni also did not like excessive formality.
Being able to communicate like that made Merle feel even closer to Tam-Tam.
"Thank you for explaining everything, Digragni."
Merle was starting to teach her cool poses to Tam-Tam.
Digragni detached from Tam-Tam, and Allen spoke to him.
'This is the least I can do. I've never given a soul to a golem before. I'll answer any questions about my Stone Slabs too, so just call me whenever you want.'
It was possible to talk with Digragni if the Exoskeleton Strengthening Stone Slab was equipped.
"Thank you for being so kind."
Any sort of help was welcome, but Digragni seemed quite delighted to teach them.
'I'm a construct built by Isiris. But I still believe there's a soul in my body.'
Digragni placed a hand on the crystal on his chest as he spoke.
"?"
Allen was confused hearing that.
'Yes, that's right. I have a soul too.'
(Ah, I guess that's something he always thought about.)
Digragni had been moved when Merle asked for Tam-Tam to have a soul, just like him.
He was completely serious about that topic, watching Merle and Tam-Tam striking poses together.
It was like seeing proof that his choice had been the correct one.
