Tale of Discovery

Chapter 288: Incomplete Craft (Interlude)

After having received Tamae's permission like a normal student, I exited the classroom alongside Kurumi as students began their usual bout of speculating things based on what just happened.

Naturally, neither Kurumi nor I were bothered with their uttering as we went on our way without sparing anyone a glance.

And so, here I am right now, following after Kurumi as she leads the way to wherever she is planning to hand me the thing she spoke of.

Not much long later, the two of us reach our destination as Kurumi comes to a halt in front of a classroom.

"This place," I mutter while using Clairvoyance to examine inside the classroom, only to find it barren and more like a storage room than anything else.

From what I can see, there is nothing more than desks and chairs that have been flipped over and stacked on top of one another.

"Now, don't think about it much," Kurumi says as she turns around to face me, "This room is the most suitable for this matter, that's all."

How suspicious. This further supports the notion of this matter being much more complicated than her simply handing me something.

After all, there are could only be two reasons why she would utter the words she just did.

Either the thing she is about to hand over is one that can't be seen by anyone, at all, or she is having me take a test of some sort. Perhaps try something out?

Giving it a little more thought, a notion gets cemented within my mind - What if it's both?

Letting out a sigh, I take a step forward before reaching my left arm out to wrap it around Kurumi's waist.

Then, the two of us walk toward the classroom which is most likely locked, and practically phase through it.

"Thank you for that," Kurumi says as we find ourselves in the classroom surrounded by extra desks and chairs.

"Before we begin, I would like to ask you something," Kurumi says as she walks over to two stacked desks, "If you had the power to bring a whole race to extinction, would you do it?"

"What kind of question is that?" I respond while grinning, "That would obviously depend on whether the race deserves it or not."

"Hm Is that so?" she mutters while rubbing her palm against the desk that has been flipped over, "So, you're saying that you're fine with making use of the power as long as it is 'justified'?"

"Naturally. It would be unwise to not make use of such a convenient power and resolve otherwise bothersome problems with ease."

"Marvelous!" Kurumi suddenly exclaims as she slams the side of her hand into the desk, resulting in it breaking along with the one beneath it.

She then turns around, revealing an excited expression on her face as flames seem to be burning within her red and yellow eyes.

Kurumi then proceeds to take a few steps toward me, only stopping once she is less than a meter away from me.

Then, she shifts her feet a little as a circular black shadow appears in between them, following which a snow-white arm protrudes from the hole.

What catches my attention the most is that there is an odd-looking weapon grasped by the arm.

Upon closer inspection, I notice that the weapon seems to be a peculiar combination of a modern-day Glock pistol and a flintlock from a few centuries ago.

Admittedly, the weapon doesn't look that good, and the fact that there is absolutely nothing remarkable about it other than its peculiarity only serves to disappoint.

Nevertheless, it would be quite a ridiculous thing to judge a weapon's capabilities by its looks. If anything, since the one that has summoned it is Kurumi, then it's safe to assume the weapon has some absurd power or something like that.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kurumi says as she takes the jet-black weapon from the arm as the arm sinks back into the hole.

Once the circular shadow on the ground has completely disappeared, Kurumi raises the weapon and inspects it with a bright smile on her lips.

"I had been waiting for this moment ever since the day we became one," Kurumi mutters with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Ever since we became one? Could this weapon somehow be related to what transpired on that night?

At this moment, the image of a certain katana flashes through my mind along with the face of a certain girl.

But When I did it with Krul in Sorcerers' Lair, nothing appeared. Why would it now? Agnetem is a Platform too, isn't it?

Hold on, I had almost forgotten something crucial - This Platform is not in a stable state. Despite not knowing what means, I can take that as this Platform obviously not being an ordinary one like Project Charlotte and Sorcerers' Lair.

In which case, it would be possible for this weapon in Kurumi's hand to be the result of me copulating with her.

But then again, if that were the case, I should've been able to access the Network with her and the weapon would've appeared in my system window.

"Do you know what this is?" Kurumi's voice suddenly reaches my ears, interrupting my train of thought.

"Perhaps, but I'm not quite sure yet," I respond in a solemn tone.

Hearing this, Kurumi chuckles for a few seconds before reaching her arm out and offering me the weapon.

"Take it," she says while peering into my eyes.

I don't do it. At least, not immediately.

The reason for that is the odd vibe the weapon is giving me. It's almost like it's alive.

I don't know why I can tell, but the idea is stuck within my head and won't go away.

Releasing a sigh, I shake my head and reach out for the weapon and grab it.

The next thing I know, several images flash in my eyes, most of which consists of numerous Kurumi clones(?) just floating around in an empty dark space.

After what seems like an eternity, I regain focus and instantly inspect the weapon in my hand.

{Father, I can detect signatures of a Craft from the object in Father's hand.}

A Craft? It's been quite some time since I encountered another one of these.

The last one... That damned book that I reckon is still tugging my thoughts was more than enough to show how troublesome the Crafts could get.

Anyway, am I supposed to burn this weapon the same way I did with the book to obtain it?

{Unable to provide an accurate response. The Craft seems to be incomplete.}

Incomplete? That's odd. Am I supposed to sleep with Kurumi a few more times for it to get complete or something? Speaking of which, why was she the one that received this thing?

AI doesn't respond to my inquiry this time, indicating that she has no clue as well.

In that case, I should ask the person herself.

"Say, Kurumi," I utter while looking at the still-excited young lady, "When and how did you obtain this weapon, exactly?"

"Hm~" Kurumi responds with a light hum as she lifts her hand presses a finger against her lips before replying, "Shortly after you left, a small hole appeared where we drowned in pleasure for the night.

"Through that hole, this weapon floated out and remained in the air until I touched it."

Having said that, Kurumi stops talking and shifts her sight over to the weapon and says, "No matter how much I tried, I was unable to use it."

"So, you've brought it over to me in order to see if I can?" I ask while tightening my grip on the weapon.

"That's correct," she responds, "I have an inkling as to what it does, so let's get this started with, shall we?"

Agreeing with her, I nod my head as confirmation before raising the weapon and aiming it at a random desk.

"That's not what you should be aiming at," Kurumi says as she takes a step to the side before casting a glance at the two desks she had broken.

Realization immediately dawns upon me as I finally understand why Kurumi broke the desks earlier. I had refrained from asking her, thinking that it was simply a method to keep her excitement in check, but it seems like there was more to it than that.

Adopting a proper shooting posture, I point the gun's tip at the broken desks before pulling the trigger.

The moment, I feel energy get siphoned out of me through my hand at a great rate as the dull weapon begins to get adorned with navy blue glowing lines.

Not even a second later, a sound that resembles a drop of water dropping into a body of water resounds within my ears as a burst of energy escapes the weapon's muzzle.

Following that, an unstable blue orb forms right in between the two broken desks before expanding until it encompasses most of the debris and a portion of other desks.

Then, the blue orb suddenly disappears, revealing two brand-new looking desks - if one didn't look close enough, that is.

Upon observing everything closely, I take note that the bits of broken wood that didn't get encompassed within the blue orb remain where they are.

Along with that, the two desks have missing bits which I assume are the very same ones on the ground.

"How interesting," I mutter while raising the weapon and staring at the glowing blue streaks on it.

"If I am not mistaken, that shouldn't be all the weapon is capable of," Kurumi says in a pleased tone.

"Oh? What else can it do?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know about them just yet," she replies while approaching me and placing her hand atop of my hand that's holding the weapon.

A warm sensation appears in my chest as I feel the Essence Energy in my body turn a little awry.

Now that I think about it AI, how much Essence Energy do I have left right now?

{84%}

Ugh. How resource consuming. Hopefully, this thing's functionalities will improve once it becomes 'complete'. I suspect the reason Kurumi is unable to tell the rest of its functions is due to that reason as well.

"Shido," Kurumi suddenly calls out, "With that out of the way~"

I look over at her just in time to find a teasing smile on her lips as she takes a step forth and presses her fleshy breasts against my chest.

With our faces practically within a breath's length away from each other, I find it hard to hold myself back from closing the distance and locking lips with Kurumi.

Perhaps, this was what she was going for in the first place, as Kurumi responds to the kiss almost immediately by twirling her tongue with mine and embracing me.

Mimicking her actions, I wrap my arms around her slender body, letting go of the weapon through the process.

As such, the two of us remain in this position for the next dozen or so minutes, kissing to our hearts' content.

In the end, we ended the kiss neatly, forming a fine line of saliva in between our lips as we gazed into each other's eyes.

"This also happens to be something I had been constantly looking forward to ever since the night we became one," she says in a merry tone.

"I can see why," I reply before moving my face closer and giving her a quick peck on the lips.

After this, the two of us step back and both of us look over at the weapon on the ground.

The glowing blue streaks are nowhere to be seen on the weapon's body as it has returned to the state it was in when Kurumi brought it out.

"It would be for the best for you to keep the weapon close-by," Kurumi suggests while smiling, "Don't you think?"

"Alright," I say before telekinetically lifting it and pulling it into my hand. Now, I need to figure out where to store this thing...