"She used vague terms on purpose..."
As if reading his mind, the SCP simply smiled wider when their gazes met.
An action that slightly annoyed Mare.
Still, he had to calm his mood.
After all, it's the law of supply and demand that rules during an agreement between two individuals.
Currently, he's the one in need in this exchange with the SCP.
"Can we... use other clauses for the contract governing our agreement?"
The anomalous object didn't respond, but simply raised an eyebrow while keeping her amused eyes fixed on him.
Mare took this as a sign to continue his words.
"The Creator skill of the creature named Yuuki Kagurazaka depends enormously on an individual's spiritual strength and their desires, so..."
Mare decided to be less greedy and added certain restrictions to the unique skill, while slightly altering it.
A weakening?
Yes.
But it was necessary to maintain a certain balance.
'Otherwise, the agreement would become impossible...'
"I see, you've decided to pay with your body *licks*... an act that doesn't displease me..."
She cast a sensual look toward the dark elf shota, while licking her lips.
Yet Mare felt nothing at this seductive spectacle.
No excitement, no sexual desire toward her... or this thing.
To summarize Mare's new proposal this time: he asked to add, not only the desire necessary for creating an object, but also pain equivalent to it, as well as magical energy.
An insane act? Yes.
But this SCP is sadistic enough to have demanded the life of a Class D agent's best friend in exchange for his freedom.
Mare decided to play by her rules.
"So? Is it OK..."
She adopted a thoughtful pose, before raising a finger toward me.
"Let's add two other clauses. First, the suffering and desire will only be valid for objects created by this power."
Mare frowned at her declaration, but the anomalous object simply ignored his discontent.
She raised another finger to indicate there was another clause remaining.
"For the rest of your creations... you'll have to sacrifice lives ~"
After lowering her second finger, she handed a new parchment made of human skin to the dark elf child.
[Name: Creator (Category: Active Skill)]
[Description: You can create anything, but under certain conditions.
Creating objects requires sufficiently high desire, and the user will feel, during the process, pain proportional to the "value" of the object.
Creating anything that doesn't fall under objects will require the sacrifice of lives, regardless of their origin.
However, this will affect the quality of the finished product.
Not all lives have the same value.
The value depends on the individual, their experience, and factual elements.**]
[Effect: Creation]
[Warning: If you lose consciousness due to pain during the object creation process, you'll have to start all over.**]
[Other warning: Not every life has the same value, and this also depends on the viewpoint of the user of this skill and the circumstances of the sacrificed targets.**]
[Non-negligible warning: The amount of mana used during the creation process affects the finished product.**]
'There are plenty of gray areas like the value of a life and how much mana influences the finished product, but it's already an incredible skill.'
Unconsciously, the young dark elf began to aspire to other powers after reading this.
But he restrained himself.
"Oh, you're restraining your greed? That's a shame..."
Mare didn't want to converse with this unknown entity, capable of making the SCP Foundation hesitate to destroy it purely and simply.
He signed the parchment with the quill given by the entity, before removing his ring or his World Item, and throwing it into his inventory.
"I really want to keep it on me, but..."
An unknown item worn by Mare would possibly attract attention to him, which is an undesirable thing for now.
He prefers to wait for people to get used to his new, more masculine style.
"Creation..."
Apart from a slight stomach pain, he felt nothing when creating ordinary good-quality clothes.
If he had to compare the pain from that moment, he would describe it as equivalent to a simple temporary stomach cramp.
Mare concluded that this was due to the mundane nature of his creation.
His outfit is identical to Aura's, but in a more masculine version.
"I would have liked an outfit that truly suits me, but this is my limit."
The elven twins of the Great Tomb of Nazarick have always been attached to everything related to Bukubukuchagama.
It would be senseless to suddenly and completely change style.
Maybe the other Guardians wouldn't notice anything, but Aura would.
That's why he prefers to adopt this gradual approach.
"Damn... I look too much like Aura like this."
After admiring himself in the mirror, he left the great tree of the 6th floor to go to the Amphitheater.
He didn't need to use his flight magic or a summon, because he wore the ring given by Momonga.
"I... incredible..."
Mare already knew he was late.
Yet he was surprised by the magnificent sky that presented itself to him after his teleportation.
"... It's the individual named Blue Planet who created this?!"
Unconsciously, he stayed there for a moment, admiring the view before him, as well as the Roman architecture, similar to a colosseum.
"Life detection..."
After sufficiently admiring the work of the 41 creators, he began his experiments.
Mare first cast a series of detection-related spells, before finally stopping.
He wasn't sure if he was being observed by a third party like Momonga, but he had already reduced the risk to the maximum.
"Anyway, I'm not doing anything too suspicious."
He wasn't planning to do something too extraordinary, simply conduct some experiments with his new skill.
So he spent the night there.
...
"Heoh... Mare!!!"
While he was asleep... or rather unconscious.
Mare was awakened by Aura's repeated shaking, who was calling him with a worried voice.
"W-what?" he said in a nonchalant tone, even though his mind hadn't stopped working to regain his bearings.
He remembered having created lots of things during the night.
At the end of each creation, whether mundane or practical, Mare had stored them in his inventory.
So... why had he fallen asleep in the middle of the amphitheater?
The answer is simple, but logical.
Unbearable pain for a person freshly reincarnated from a modern world.
"... Did I fail?!"
Without paying attention to Aura, who was complaining about his disappearance and the time she had lost looking for him on the 6th floor, Mare looked around him...
That's when he noticed an egg.
Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed it and stored it in his inventory, alongside his other private objects.
Aura probably saw the egg, but she won't be able to recognize its real value because of its both complicated and mundane nature.
"Are you listening to me?"
"S... sorry Aura... it's just that... I wanted to clear my head a bit, and... I was too excited to find sleep."
During his words, he tried to keep or maintain the usual tone of the original Mare.
He also took the opportunity to make the golden ring that Momonga had given him shine slightly.
As expected by the dark elf, Aura showed a slight gleam of envy in her gaze... for an instant.
But she quickly displayed a sincere smile, happy for her brother.
"Haha, you managed to make the Lord happy!"
"Congratulations Mare"
In a fraternal gesture, she hugged Mare.
Of course, he pretended to struggle, but without really trying to escape from her grip.
"S... stop, Aura..."
Despite his protests, the little dark elf continued to ruffle his hair for a moment.
The only thing that finally made her end her "attack" was her growing curiosity about Mare's new clothes.
"Do you like them? I created them myself."
Creating low-rank objects wasn't uncommon in the Guild, so he didn't judge it necessary to hide it.
Aura cast a few more glances at the outfit, before nodding, satisfied.
"It suits you well. And... this outfit looks like mine."
"I-I wanted to try being a bit more assertive... like you."
At Mare's words, his sister seemed slightly troubled by this sudden compliment, before giving him a light tap on the shoulder.
Nothing too serious.
Especially since Mare permanently wore a divine-rank object, reputed to be potentially the heaviest in the entire Guild.
"S... stop, idiot! And besides, we shouldn't daydream anymore. You'd better come help me check the installations on our floor."
Normally, they didn't need to perform this kind of task, thanks to the large number of servants and golems present in this part of the 6th floor.
However, things were different since their arrival in this unknown "new world."
The NPCs now took their posts and responsibilities very seriously.
Without checking if he was following, Aura turned on her heels to go to work.
Mare sketched a teasing smile while observing this unknown facet of his sister, which wasn't in the original Mare's memory.
'Like with Momonga... she really has trouble handling compliments from her loved ones.'