1.
First of all, what was an insignia?
It was a metal badge worn on clothing or a cape.
It could be used as the symbol of a house or an order of knights, too.
Of course, in this world, it was perfectly valid equipment even if it did not symbolize anything. But its basic form was that of a badge.
The sort of equipment you could wear like a brooch.
So what was Dolores’s insignia?
I placed the sample insignia I had received into Dolores’s equipment window.
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[Lavien’s Scales][★★★★☆]
[Unique Equipment][Affinity][9 / 80]
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『Scales that do not tilt permit no mistakes.』
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【Disperses mana excessively concentrated at a single point into adjacent circuits, preventing spell formula collapse and backflow.】
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[The wearer’s mana control precision is already too exceptional.]
[It has little to do with the wearer’s Formula School, which is based on multiple circuits.]
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A tiny pair of scales sat within a silver border.
It looked pretty. Its function was not bad, either.
If it seemed like mana being drawn too heavily to one side would cause a problem, it would divide it up and eliminate the risk.
"Ah... what a considerate piece of equipment."
Of course, the problem was that Dolores already had excellent mana control, and given the nature of the Formula School, which operated by distributing mana across multiple circuits, it was unlikely to ever concentrate in just one place.
In short, it was useless.
And so began the process of replacing her insignia.
What I had to do was simple.
Melt minerals that accepted the energy of earth well... turn them into plates, and hammer them.
Then cut the plate down and design it to fit the size of an insignia.
"Doesn’t seem that hard?"
Until now, I had never really hit a major snag while making equipment... so this time, too, I confidently swung my hammer.
And then.
Clang!
Clang!
Claaang...
The hammering did not continue for very long.
"...Ah, I’ll have to throw this one away too."
I had already switched to my tenth material.
About three weeks had passed.
Making an insignia was not as easy as I had thought.
Using tongs, I lifted the reddened differential wheelstone plate and set it down in the bin where the failures had piled up.
Throwing the unusable ones onto the ground had gotten unmanageable, so I had even made a trash bin.
"Phew..."
I slumped onto the floor as I basked in Hwiri’s eco-friendly spirit air conditioner.
What was the biggest problem right now?
You know, the techniques of the Heirs of Fire and the energy of earth.
As I kept working at it... I realized the combination was much too awkward to aim for a high-end result.
In the end, Dolores suffered from the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, and equipment incorporating the techniques of the Heirs of Fire inherently raised her affinity.
But she used earth mana, so I had to account for that too.
I needed to account for both energies at once, but the problem was...
"Fire and earth are incompatible..."
I sat there, staring into space as I muttered.
If you poured sand on a fire, it went out, right?
Honestly, I did not know whether it was the same principle, but it felt similar.
If the energy of earth became too strong, it completely buried the Sun Dwarves’ power.
I knew minerals that contained earth energy, and I knew how to process them. If I finished it right now, I could make an insignia, at least.
But that was all.
The moment it received Ignia’s fire and underwent the Sun Dwarves’ process, the whole flavor died.
Unlike when I made Rose Bloom Finale, there was no sense of the ingredients and techniques blending beautifully, like an Oriental salad.
I had the feeling that an item forced out like that would not truly be Sun Dwarves’ equipment.
It would just turn out to be ordinary equipment that accepted earth energy well.
I put a hand to my forehead.
For three weeks... this was the first time I had gotten stuck before I could even get started. I thought I needed to do some serious thinking.
And it was time I needed someone else’s wisdom, too.
I opened the communication window and lay down on the floor.
"Gaia."
A message appeared in the air a moment later.
『It has been so long, little one. Did something leave you wondering?』
"I’m making a piece of equipment, but things aren’t going well."
『Which part is troubling you?』
Troubling me, huh.
Should I be honest and say that the energy of earth was troubling me?
The energy of earth is way too stroooong.
I turned my head toward the bin full of failed pieces.
Whatever. Screw it.
"...The energy of earth is way too finicky."
So I told her honestly.
It was Gaia’s divine implement, after all.
"Whenever I try to preserve the energy of earth, the energy of fire dies. It’s hard to use what I’m good at. It just... feels like they won’t blend together."
They would not mix like Totality.
『You must have struggled so much first... you have worked very hard, little one.』
『Your idea is so astonishing. The very thought of weaving those two energies into one was astonishing....』
Mm-hm. That did soothe my heart a little.
Gaia continued to pat me on the head with her words, raising my self-esteem.
I had felt this since last time, but she only said things that made me feel good just hearing them.
I wish she would let me rest my head in her lap.
Gaia, who had been comforting me, continued.
『Little one. But do those two energies truly have to be bound into one? There is no need to force them into clothes that do not suit each other, is there?』
"But I need both of them."
『So each can do its very best... an insignia was never equipment made of just one thing to begin with, was it?』
"......"
An insignia... was not originally a single piece of equipment?
That was true.
I looked at Lavien’s Scales sitting on the workbench.
The base plate, the silver border surrounding its edge, and finally the large scale-shaped piece set in the center.
"...Ah."
An insignia was not a single integrated piece.
You placed carved gems or ornaments on a plate... and only once you added a border did it become a single insignia.
...The problem had been my preconceived notions.
All the equipment I had made until now had needed to become a single whole.
Even when I used different materials, I had always tried to bind them into one.
Harmonics, which combined sunlight and wind spirit stones, had followed the same logic. That was why I had thought I could do it this time, too.
I had assumed that in the end, they would become one and achieve harmony.
Maybe that had been stubbornness. I thought I needed to start seeing things a little differently.
"...Just let each of their strengths stand out."
Let the power of the Sun Dwarves and the energy of earth each be highlighted in their own right.
Forcing a suit jacket together with sweatpants looked like garbage.
But wearing a complete suit... and putting on sneakers with it had become its own style, right?
Silicon Valley style.
Instead of desperately trying to mix incompatible natures together, I would first properly bring out what each one did best.
The base plate would do its thing, and the ornament set in the center would do its own.
And then, in the end.
"...Fight to the death from now on."
I would pit the energy of earth against the energy of fire... under no-holds-barred rules.
They would show off their power and see which one was stronger.
A sort of survival jar.
"Gaia."
『Mm? What is it, little one?』
"You’re the best."
『Little one...!』
"I’m going back to work."
『Hm? W-wait, it has been three weeks since we spoke, so let us talk for a moment....』
"I’ll contact you again soon! Thank you, as always!!"
『Uh, well... r-right...!』
I closed the communication window and headed straight for the trash bin.
The survival jar was not something else. These were the survival jar.
Ten discarded base plates made from minerals famous for accepting earth energy well were piled in the bin.
I had rejected them because they crushed the power of fire and the power of the sun, but....
"I’m going to melt all of you down and combine you."
Show me the greatest power you can manage. Go on, draw out the energy of earth to the absolute limit.
And then.
I entered the storeroom and opened the jewel box Yeomhwa had brought me.
From its deepest compartment, I took out the one I had set aside and treasured.
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[Calamity Flame Crystal][★★★★★]
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『It devoured flames at every moment and lost not a single one.』
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It held, and could hold, the densest energy of fire and sunlight.
The inside of the brilliant red gem could not even be seen, so full was it of flames.
Holding the Calamity Flame Crystal, I returned to the trash bin.
For the record, it was fucking hot, so I could not pick it up barehanded.
Tap.
"Try beating this one."
The base plate would contain earth, while the piece set atop it would be a fragment of the Calamity Flame Crystal containing fire.
Let us see how long you could keep resisting.
It would be an insignia where both sides claimed to be the protagonist.
I took out all ten plates.
Plates of differential wheelstone, vein iron, and true mountain stone—each with its own way of containing earth energy—were spread across the workbench.
I headed straight to the boiling crucible furnace.
"Looks like I’ll have to melt these for a long time."
I shoved the plates with the highest melting points into the crucible furnace first. As the metal began to soften from the edges, I stirred it around with a rod and added the next plate.
Then I waited until it had completely melted before adding another.
Bubble, bubble...
Molten metals of different colors tangled together inside.
I gradually raised the heat and stirred so that everything, from the bottom of the crucible to its surface, mixed together.
Only when my arm began to ache... did the boundaries that had divided the different colors start to fade.
Bubble...
The bubbles disappeared.
Usually, that meant it had become one material.
Clank.
I hooked the crucible furnace onto a rod, carefully lifted it out, and headed to the mold I had prepared in advance.
Shhhhhh...
I poured the molten metal into the mold, and it glimmered brown as it flowed.
With subtractive color mixing, different colors normally ended up returning to black when mixed together....
But the molten metal before my eyes retained a light brown color.
Before long, the molten metal I had poured into the mold hardened.
Now then, what would the winner of this earth survival contest, the survivor of the jar, look like?
"Calamity Flame Crystal~~! And your opponent is?"
Something appeared before my eyes.
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[Pangaea: Root of Ten Thousand Mountains][★★★★★]
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『The lands that had split apart gathered together as one again.』
『Even if ten thousand mountains are raised upon it, its roots shall not waver.』
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【The properties of different earth minerals interlock, forming independent ley lines within.】
【Circulates and condenses the earth energy it contains, suppressing its loss to the outside.】
【The stronger the external energy it encounters, the more earth energy gathers along its ley lines.】
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W-wait a second.
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[Achievement][Earth Before It Split][★★★★☆]
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『You have united lands that had been scattered for tens of thousands of years.』
[Title Acquired ─ ‘Ten Thousand Mountains’]
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[Reward]
[Special Process ─ Leyline Fusion]
Words continued to appear without pause.
What, what the...
"......"
After reading all the descriptions, I slowly turned my head toward the Calamity Flame Crystal.
Flame Crystal.
It seemed a tougher guy than I expected had shown up...?
"...You can beat it, right?"
I muttered as I looked back and forth between the broad plate and the gem.
Tremble.
For a moment, the Calamity Flame Crystal seemed to shake.
...Sorry, but it was already too late.
Lionel-style no-holds-barred rules did not allow forfeits.
I picked up the Flame Crystal... and began working it.
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