NOVEL NEXT Chapter 111: Heat Source
The name and powers of the watch appeared in Mater's mind. He and it were linked together
[Demonic Transformation Watch]
[Description]: A demonic item made from the pocket watch of a faithful wife and the transformation machine of a mad scientist. It held the power of the ever-changing aptitude.
[Abilities]:
- Call of the Jaguar: You can transform into a big black jaguar. All of your physical attributes are increased. You have resistance to rooting and stunning effects. You need to waste Chaos to stay in this transformation continuously.
- Spike Ball: You can summon spikes on your back and curl into a ball to charge at the enemy.
- Demonic Overdrive: For 99 seconds, your physical attributes are doubled. When using Spike Ball, gain major resistance to all disabling effects.
"The jaguar ability is manifested as my design. The Spike Ball ability was an ability that Samuel had. Demonic Overdrive is probably coming from the pocket watch.
Let's see how big my jaguar form is."
Mater jumped off the couch. The watch on his thigh shined a bright green color and covered him entirely.
He landed heavily on the floor, turning into a big black jaguar with short spikes on his back.
Mater examined his body. Then he walked to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror.
"Pretty handsome. I feel more powerful in this form. If I have to engage in melee combat, I won't be a total loser now."
Mater turned his head to his back. The short spikes shot up and grew longer, similar to the spikes of porcupines.
"I wonder how effective the Spike Ball ability is. Unfortunately, I can't test it here. Selina would cry her eyes out if I wreck her apartment."
Mater turned back to his small cat form. Without anything to do, the black cat climbed on Selina's computer. He wanted to check if there was any suitable bounty that he could do within Aeliz City.
Selina was going to university soon so no road trip for now.
But first, he checked if anyone had triggered the trap he left behind in the police system.
"Oh? Someone tried to hack Selina's profile again. They succeeded this time. I have the timeframe of their attempt. Let me check the security footage of Alister's room."
Whoever the hacker was, they were very professional. The cameras were deactivated for a few minutes because of some 'technical issues' and that prevented Mater from finding out the true identity of the hacker.
"I can't see their face now. But still. I still have a way to find them. They downloaded Selina's profile. If they opened it, I would be able to detect their location."
Mater felt that this night was not going to be peaceful. His woman was feeling tired and she needed her rest.
As a good cat he was, Mater was not going to allow anyone to disturb her.
He reached out to Crow, who was standing on a power line as a bird.
"Keep your eyes peeled, Crow. We may have incomings." Mater contacted Crow telepathically.
"Yes, Master. No one would be able to get past my eyes."
Crow turned invisible, completely hiding his presence.
"With Crow out there, no one can ambush us."
Mater got back to the computer and checked the bounties. There were quite a few bronze bounties popping up but most were outside of Aeliz City. There were some bronze bounties in town as well but the competition was high.
"Nothing is really catching my eyes right now. Let's find a place to construct the Infernal Shrine."
Bash was still wounded and he needed a shrine to heal. He was different from Crow. Crow's body was made up of shadow entirely, as long as he had Chaos, he could heal himself. Bash was of flesh and blood, Chaos alone wasn't enough.
"An Infernal Shrine is basically an opposite place of a Glacial Shrine. I need somewhere hot. As hot as possible."
Mater began to surf the web. There were a few 'hot' places that caught his eyes.
A trash burning facility. It had an incinerator that was always on. Unfortunately, there was no way for Selina or Mater to acquire this place. They couldn't sneakily build a shrine like in the cemetery also.
"Industrial facilities are out of the questions. Let's see if anyone is leasing anything."
The black cat moved the mouse and switched to look for smaller places. Similar to the Cold Storage that Selina and he had rented for Aurora.
Finding a suitable high heat source was much more difficult than finding a cold storage. Heat related to risk and much less professions required a high heat source.
The only people that needed it were either blacksmiths, glassmakers, or some sort of craftsmen.
There were only a few places in Aeliz that rented them out. All of them needed a permit or some kind of identification to rent.
The black cat wiped his face in disappointment. "Ugh! Why is it so difficult? Should I just find a volcano to drop Bash in?"
That was not sensible. He was staying in Aeliz City. Dropping Bash in some unknown volcano was not in the equation.
Mater continued to surf the web, hoping to find a solution to his problem. Then he saw it.
"What is an art colony?"
Art colony was an area where artists of the same kind gathered and exchanged ideas. The colony could be for painting, writing, and even smithing and glass-making.
Mater noticed an art colony called AE Forges at the outskirts of Aeliz City. It was a colony for blacksmiths.
Basically, a very enthusiastic black smith had rented out his industrial complex out for other black smiths and enjoyers to make all kinds of medieval weapons and armor. Most of them were really into what was called LARP, Live-Action-Role-Play.
This art colony was for those nerds to fulfil their deepest fantasy.
"Medieval times? That's just my old world."
Mater took a deeper look into AE Forges. They rented out small studios out with separate forges for short and long term. They didn't require a permit or any type of identification, only a form of application.
"This is it." The black cat's eyes lit up. "But how do I convince them that Selina is a blacksmith?"
AE Forges was exclusively for blacksmiths. They didn't ask for identification, it didn't mean they wouldn't if they're suspicious.
"Why don't we just use Selina's Ankh Badge then?" Aurora suddenly spoke up.