Chapter 36: Artistic Conception

The sight of this piece of rock lying on the roadside near the entrance to the kingdom's beast forest struck me with an itch to sculpt something. I think this is normal, considering that I have just learned how to use my sculpting skills, and the perfect material is sitting right in front of me. The piece of rock stands at around 15 feet in height, 15 feet in length, and 10 feet in width. Since the land appears to be empty, I am assuming that they left this rock here intentionally to make the atmosphere around this area be more natural. I would ruin that, but I guess it shouldn’t matter much since if someone just left it here, that means that they are allowing anyone to make use of it.

For the conception of the image of what I will sculpt, I chose the team mascot of our basketball team in high school, the dragon. Seeing as this is near a place of danger, I thought of making a guardian for the area, epitomized by the dragon. Since this is a kingdom built by my friends from high school, the mascot being the guardian should make them feel some sort of nostalgia. I started to get to work with my transforming weapon turning into a straight chisel in my hand. With it in my hand, I set to work trimming down the rock into showing the form of the Dragon. Since I’m only using a straight chisel, I will make the dragon straight from the rocks as one whole piece. A slice here, a chop there... After some time, the form of the dragon is starting to show.

In the book of Heavenly Guide to Sculpting, I remembered the passage that the artist’s conception of the image is what makes or breaks the art piece. With that in mind, I stopped working and focused on the characteristics of the dragon that I want to make. I want to make a benevolent dragon that is fierce on outsiders but kind and softhearted to the people that live with it. A dragon with legs the size of a person, forming curved muscles. A dragon with a mane of long scales covering the top of its head all the way down to its tail. A dragon with wings that aren’t scaly, but rather smooth and made of its skin, giving it the elasticity that will make it capable of flight. While some may think the wings would be the weak point of this dragon, it will not because its skin is what spreads the force that it receives throughout the rest of its body. The scales of the dragon under its head extending all the way towards its tail look like steel plates with pointy ends directed downwards. In contrast, the scales on top of the head of the dragon have pointy ends directed upwards. The top half body of the dragon is covered with red scales while the bottom half is covered with yellowish-white scales. For outsiders, the face of the dragon would manifest the persona of a retired general that gives off a violent aura. As for the people of the kingdom, the dragon would take on a persona that gives off a warm aura, like a grandfather spending time with his grandchildren. Evoking the feeling of the dragon in its prime, it appears like the most powerful monarch wherever it goes.

When I snapped out of my thoughts, I saw the completed sculpture of the dragon right in front of me. The dragon that I’m seeing is exactly the same as the dragon that I was imagining. Still surprised, I immediately touched it, hoping that the library could determine what happened. When I looked at the book compiled by the library regarding the sculpture, its name appeared on the cover page as “Guardian Deity of the Kingdom of Awakening.” Looking inside the book, it says that the creator is me, Paul Knight, under the influence of a trance. The artistic intent of the piece itself is weak; its heavenly ranking is tagged as “Rank 2: Better Than Normal.” Not sure what that means since the Heavenly Guide to Sculpting didn’t say anything about it. What surprised me the most is what is written on one page of the book:

Guardian Deity (Kingdom of Awakening)

Anyone who looks at it would gain the following until the next time he/she rests.

● An increase in speed, strength, reaction time up to the next small realm of cultivation

● A sense of nationalism and a desire to protect the kingdom

● An increase in understanding the emotions of children under the age of 10 years old

● An aura of intimidation would be present around the body of the person effective only on beasts of a lower class than a drake

● A weak desire to own a cave as a dwelling place

When I finished reading the book, I thought to myself, “Holy cow!" The stuff I created had such games as buffs, and what is up with that last effect? Is it because the book I used for compilation had a game-like system in it? I should confirm this later. When I looked at Max, he seemed a bit pissed. He is mad that creating that statue took me over four hours, and I didn’t even tell him about what I was going to do. I felt a bit guilty, so I should really make up for this tomorrow. The sun is about to set, so I should hurry up and buy ingredients for the dish that I will be cooking for Max. He told me that he wants to taste something new.

I went to the farm of the old woman that sold me the pig from my last roast. I went inside and greeted her. She is an old woman around 60 years old. Right now, I am not wearing the mask, so I guess that is why she recognized me. She said that I looked like someone from the school she used to work at before the apocalypse happened. I was surprised to hear about this, so I asked her name and found out that she was the old vendor from the canteen I frequented back in high school. I wanted to do something for her as a form of gratitude, but I couldn't think of much. Maybe I can help raise her rank. I asked her a strange request, “Could you perhaps indulge a request of mine and show me your punch?” She looked at me weirdly, but she didn’t mind and threw a punch. She is at the 2nd rank, a single step away from the 3rd rank. Most of the time, a person is stuck in a bottleneck because the mana they cultivated isn’t pure and is blocking their meridians to facilitate their substantial growth. I could help her out with my clear and property-less Heavenly mana. For others, their mana takes on the properties almost like sludge or mud that is thick and heavy. This means that the more flawless their mana cultivation is, the smoother their mana would be. This is my first time to encounter this quality of mana since my friends had pure mana, not as smooth as mine, but still pretty high-quality. I guess this is due to the fact they powered up with the world awakener, so their growth is also facilitated by the world.

Before leaving, I gave the old woman one of my sculptures of Max which when touched, would pump a bit of the mana I stored inside. This mana would go directly into her meridians, clearing and facilitating the growth of the next stage inside her. She took the sculpture and closed her eyes. I already gave her the payment for the ingredients that I bought, and so as not to bother her, I walked out of there quietly. While Max and I are on our way home, I spotted a poster near a busy part of the town. It says that there is going to be an execution tomorrow with the reason stated as "Harassment of the First Daughter." I wonder what this means.