Transformation

Alex became incredulous at his friend's revelation.

Slowly, after a few seconds, he asked, "Did he, uh, give you a hard time?"

Leo shook his head in denial.

"No, not one bit. He simply let me do what I wanted so long as I didn't interfere with his work."

"Then," Alex scratched his head in confusion, "what was the reason?"

Leo shrugged as he replied, "I don't know. He didn't care to elaborate."

In the back of his mind, he recalled, 'Although Madelin did give me a few pointers whenever I was having trouble with my construction.'

Leo had a flashback to the time when Madelin would check up on him and give him advice on applying his enchantments.

'It reminded me of being in Mr. Jones' class.'

He withheld this information from his friends as he still wasn't sure on how to evaluate the mad blacksmith. In addition, he felt that some kind of misunderstanding may develop if he did so.

"That's--" Alex struggled to find words to respond. "It's just... so strange."

"Totally!" Judy exclaimed in indignation. "Mad Beard's always been a grouchy old fart; it's a wonder anyone can approach him! How come he favors you so much?"

Leo could only give a helpless shrug in reply. This was a question that had been bothering him for quite some time.

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For the rest of the day, the group continued on a single path until nightfall. After finding a spot to eat their supper, everyone sat down and began getting their supplies ready.

Rummaging through the back of the carrier's compartment, each member took out the provisions that they stocked up for this quest.

"Leo," Alex called out after setting down his bag. He looked a little disconcerted. "Did you get all the supplies we've told you to bring?"

"Of course," Leo replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that I didn't see anything in the carrier that resembled a tent."

Nearby, Judy and Sarah perked their ears up when they heard this exchange.

Standing still while in the middle of preparing a fire, Judy carefully inquired, "Did you perhaps put it somewhere else?"

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about." Leo leisurely strode over to his carrier. "It wasn't necessary to buy a tent."

"Huh?" Judy had trouble comprehending his train of thought; this conversation was slightly reminiscent of talking to Sarah.

Did her teammate expect them all to use only their sheets? For a second, Judy was actually considering if Leo wanted the team to sleep on the ground.

"What do you mean by that?" Alex carefully asked, following behind Leo.

Before he could say anything further, he suddenly saw his friend place a hand on the vehicle again before immediately stepping back. The next instant, the whole object started trembling.

"Wha--"

Alex, along with the others, stared in shock as the vehicle quickly split in half and started rearranging its two halves on the surface of the ground. The wheels disappeared into the separated upper portions, and the rest of the carrier began opening and closing at different sections. The two parts were now steadily transforming themselves into entirely different shapes.

After a few more twists and turns, what appeared in front of the team were two medium-sized abodes in the shape of identical hemispherical domes. They were placed just five feet away from each other on the grassy plains, where the group had already settled upon.

"This is another feature I was hoping to show you guys," Leo said proudly as he turned to see their reactions. "The rest of the luggage inside should be in that other tent." He pointed at the hemispherical abode on the right. "Everything is still safe and secure."

"Well," Alex stared at the unfolding scene, a little lost for words, "you really put in a lot of effort for this."

Judy stepped forward and touched the surface of the right tent.

"How do we open it?" she asked.

"Just inject mana," Leo explained. "It's the same as what I've been doing earlier. Just transfer a small amount while your hand is in contact until the tent opens."

Judy followed his advice and a seam miraculously appeared in a vertical line on the smooth surface where her hand had touched. An instant later, the metallic tent opened up a few feet from the seam, revealing the luggage that was still safely stored. Taking a step inside, Judy looked up to scan the interior and discovered several tiny air holes under the roof of the abode.

"How is it?" Leo asked, feeling a little uncertain if his teammates would approve.

After a moment, Judy exited the hemisphere and nodded with a smile.

"It's actually quite spacey inside." She gave a review of the experience with the air of someone evidently impressed. "I think the size should be enough to roughly squeeze in three people if there were no baggage."

"So it's that accommodating?" Alex strode forward and stuck his head in for a quick peek. "I can't imagine how difficult this must have been to create."

"It wasn't actually that hard." Leo divulged information on the construction, "You see, I had incorporated the core from the guardian golem I defeated back when I was in the Frozen Hell."

"Really?" Judy put on a thoughtful expression. "But, aren't golem cores restricted from being integrated in other magic items?"

"Well, this one is an exception," Leo revealed. "I discovered that its properties are much more complex than the ones you can usually find today."

By the time he finished giving a quick overview on the development of the carrier, Alex had exited outside the abode.

"I wonder, though," Alex brought forward a question, "are there any other features you added to your invention?"

"Oh yes, definitely." Leo nodded excitedly. "When I built this carrier, I made sure to equip it with several enchantments to make it adaptive to explore different terrain and environments. I can't really get into too much detail right now, but I can demonstrate some of them along the way to Everrain."

Back at Madelin's workshop, Leo had tested out numerous ideas. Although some did not turn out as well as others, with even a few minor accidents occurring, the carrier he built was nonetheless fitted with an interconnected chain of enchantments.

He managed to apply different magical effects on separate components of metallic parts before he eventually melded them all together. Thanks to the insights he gleamed from studying the golem's core, Leo was able to put together a smoothly operating magic item; there weren't any conflicting or erroneous effects that lingered inside.

Furthermore, with the integration of the magic core hidden in the front compartment during its vehicle form, Leo was also able to freely activate certain dormant enchantments whenever necessary, which granted his invention its transformation ability.

At this moment, Sarah suddenly commented, "Hmm, this is a bit unusual."

"What is?" Leo asked curiously, wondering if he might've made a mistake somewhere.

"I've noticed you haven't been using any names whenever you referred to your invention," Sarah pointed out. "Don't people usually have a name ready when they create something?"

"Uhh, I haven't actually decided on one yet."

"Ohhh, then how about we do it now? Let's vote on it together!" Sarah happily suggested as she stared imploringly at the others. "Won't this be a unifying experience for our team?"

"Hmmm, I suppose so," Alex said thoughtfully, realizing that it wouldn't be a bad idea.

As this was discussed, the members suddenly heard grumbling noises coming out from each others' stomachs. This led to the realization that all of them still haven't eaten supper yet.

"Let's talk about this some other time," Judy said while rubbing her tummy. "We should get the food ready."

"Good idea." Leo nodded as he felt his hunger pangs setting in.

For the rest of the night, the group ate their meals cooked over a campfire that'd been conjured by magic. During this time, they leisurely talked about their first days upon entering the guild and the city, and would even occasionally do some stargazing thanks to the clear night sky.

Finally, when the time was getting late, everybody went to the metallic tents to rest.

"Us guys will take the left," Alex suggested once they were all preparing to sleep. "The girls can enter the right."

Everyone else nodded as they moved to take residence in their respective rooms.

When Leo and Alex entered their abode, a completely spherical object met their sights. It was crystal clear in color, and was being suspended on a thin string underneath the highest curve of the tent like an ornament.

"Is this...?" Alex pointed at the spherical object in confusion as he turned to Leo.

"It's the magic core," Leo confirmed. "It's been kinda shrunken down as a result of being integrated with the carrier."

"Ah, I see."

Alex felt relieved as he thought that the strange ornament looked a little familiar. When he first noticed it, he had half-expected it to be some kind of weapon or explosive device.

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For the next few days, the group's journey across Bavalon went with barely any hardships. While a few mishaps did occur (mainly in the form of Sarah's rough driving attempts under Leo's tutelage), there weren't any significant loss or injury that resulted from them.

Right now, the carrier was approaching Everrain, the City of Water. It was also known by visitors to be the place where rain would appear most frequently.