The other Metal Eaters on the battlefield noticed what was happening and all flew towards Adam.
The Reincarnation Spell acted quickly, taking Adam's soul with it into the spark. They went away from the dangerous Metal Eaters in front, and into the ground.
The ground, full of metal minerals, didn't stop the spark's fall. It actually seemed to help, making room for it. In a very short time, the spark went down a thousand kilometers, then the light from it grew, making a small space.
The Original Flames, now just sparkles, were like the 'parents' of the metal creatures. They didn't have male or female parts, didn't produce hormones related to reproduction, and didn't have the parts needed to pass on genetic information. The way they created new life and kept their kind going relied on the spark.
Adam didn't know if the spark could think for itself, but it acted like it knew the Reincarnation Spell saved it, so it was very cooperative.
Adam didn't fully understand how the Reincarnation Spell worked, but he felt that it accepted him this time, meaning he didn't have to change 'parents' many times to succeed just once.
He remembered when he was reborn as a dragon, how the magic broke down the parental body to get nutrients and energy, and also took information from the new life being formed, like a thief. But this time was different. The spark worked with the magic, freely sharing everything they knew, completely open to the Reincarnation Spell translating their information.
The information from the spark was complicated and unusual, making it difficult for the Reincarnation Spell to translate. Even with the spark's full help, it took a long time.
This translation used up a lot of energy, making the spark get smaller. After a year, only a small space was left underground. Then, Adam noticed a change in his physical form, with a soft flame burning around his trapped soul, creating a flame among the sparkle.
For the first time, the sparkle showed clear feelings; it was happy and excited.
The spark didn't feel harmed. Instead, it started to give pure energy to Adam's flame, feeding the new flame without holding back, like fuel.
So, the translation went much faster. The Reincarnation Spell didn't just take but acted as a connector for energy and information between the flames inside and outside. This made sure Adam would have knowledge and basic language of the world. The sparkle, like a caring mother, put all her effort into helping Adam.
But Adam had his questions.
The Original flames must be connected to the origin of the world, and they were supposed to dispel any intruders. However, this sparkle nurtured Adam in such a kind way. This was confusing.
Adam had a funny idea: is this plane open to others? Or maybe the origin of the world was so sure of its strength that it didn't worry about visitors from other planes?
But without really becoming part of this world and understanding its culture and knowledge, all these ideas were just guesses.
Still, even if there were risks, Adam wasn't too worried. After making his Electro True Self stronger and using it to rebuild his character, he was much better at surviving.
Even if he lost his physical body here, it wouldn't be the end for him. Any character in the lab could instantly get his soul's data from the Mage Network and keep his soul alive.
With his level-three knowledge, as long as he had enough energy, he could quickly get back to his best. The only things he'd really lose would be the stuff he brought with him, some of his soul's strength, and the devil.
He was now safe, so he knew he should stop worrying about this world's mysteries and work on changing his own life form.
The Original Flames kept giving everything to Adam, their light getting dimmer and the space they held getting smaller. Meanwhile, Adam's own light got brighter every day.
Now, Adam knew what the Original Flames were for.
They were the beginning and heart of those big metal creatures, the first light from the start, coming down to the physical world and mixing with metal ores. Their unusual power made the metals very active, and the gathering and burning of energy gave the metals life and the chance to grow on their own.
As the metal life grew, the flames got stronger. Higher beings could choose to let out some sparks to make new family members, while ordinary beings used up everything when they died to help the flame go back to the universe, hoping new life would come from it.
This was a top-notch resource, even more valuable than the radioactive materials of Cthulhu.
Adam thought all the alchemists in the world of magic would go crazy for it. Since it could make metals alive, it might also make the many alchemical golems in the world of magic alive, even the mage towers themselves, creating a new powerful race that matched the mages' wishes perfectly, better than any soul slave.
Just knowing about the Original Flames made Adam's trip here completely worthwhile.
...
Three months later, the flame outside Adam's soul had grown big enough. At that point, Adam felt a strong feeling of hope and kindness, like he could almost hear a soft voice speaking to his soul, saying, "Mission completed."
Without waiting, the Original Flames broke apart, turning into pure energy and adding the last gift to Adam's flame and soul. The seal from the Reincarnation Spell lifted a bit, and part of Adam's soul carefully moved into the spark, then shone brightly with the flame.
There was no rejection from the beginning.
The ground below started to move, with heaps of ores feeding into the spark. This was the first step in creating a metal life: to make their own Original Flames, draw in, and melt the endless metal ores around to form a Vital Generator.
For Adam, this was very easy. With his knowledge of electronics, he had almost total control over metals. Any impurities in the ores were removed instantly when they came in contact with the Original Flames.
Then, metals that Adam knew, like gold, silver, copper, iron, chromium, aluminum, tungsten, were turned straight into pure metal atoms.
What the initial body was made didn't matter to Adam. Metal lives grew and changed all their lives. As long as the Vital Generator was there and the Original Flames kept burning, they could change their structure whenever they wanted.
