Isekai Adventure in the Dimensional Cube

Night fell swiftly.

By this time, Reiger had already returned to his residence, where he sat in the hall, leafing through the ancient tome that documented the Mechanical Puppet Technique.

The contents of this ancient book were extensive; it was a thick volume, filled not just with text but also with illustrations. Even for Reiger, finishing it in one sitting was not feasible.

Thus, Reiger took the tome home with him, promising Xiao Tie that once he had finished reading the book, he would repair Yoriichi Model Zero for him.

The task was not difficult.

Once he had committed Yoriichi Model Zero's blueprints to memory, Reiger could use Construct-type Magic to directly create a new Yoriichi Model Zero. At that point, refurbishing an old model would be a trivial matter.

After confirming the construction and placement of all the mechanical components inside Yoriichi Model Zero, Reiger could easily use magic to replace all the internal parts with new ones and mend its outer shell. This battle Mechanical Puppet would thus be as good as new, brimming with vitality once more.

However, it seemed like Tanjirou had taken issue with Yoriichi Model Zero, maintaining a battle stance against it even as Reiger returned.

This was probably because Tanjirou had lost their bout that afternoon, wasn't it?

Although at one point he had turned the tide with his Breath of Flames, even his Breath of Sun was a distance away from Pillar level, not to mention the inferior Breath of Flames.

Therefore, in the end, Tanjirou was defeated by Yoriichi Model Zero, losing a section of his hair in the process.

This enraged Tanjirou, who threw a fit on the spot, adamantly swearing not to rest until he had beaten Yoriichi Model Zero.

Of course, Xiao Tie was strongly against it.

"Yoriichi Model Zero is about to break and you still want to fight it? No way!"

Xiao Tie, speaking thus, led Yoriichi Model Zero back home.

But Tanjirou, stubborn as he was, refused to give up, yelling "One more time! Just one last time! I promise I won't fight after this one!" and followed Xiao Tie home.

Given his temperament, he is very likely still dining with Xiao Tie.

Reiger didn't bother with them, instead he brought the book back and earnestly studied it, memorizing everything from its contents without concern for understanding it yet.

"It's a good thing the design drawings are in this book too."

Upon reaching the end, Reiger finally found the blueprints of Yoriichi Model Zero.

The blueprints were not just diagrams but also included text; sprawling paragraphs detailed Yoriichi Model Zero's design philosophy and operational principles and even outlined the one hundred and eight action scenarios and configurations.

These records showed that Xiao Tie's ancestor truly lavished care on Yoriichi Model Zero and hoped fiercely their descendants would inherit their techniques and philosophy, lifting the craft of Mechanical Puppetry to new heights.

At the end of the design drawings, there was a message left, presumably by Xiao Tie's ancestor.

"The birth of Yoriichi Model Zero was a miracle, but its prototype, the swordsman revered as a divine being by the Demon Slaying Corps above and below, was an even more incredible miracle, involuntarily making one wonder why such a person was born a human, and not a deity."

"Yoriichi Model Zero is undoubtedly the strongest and most outstanding Mechanical Puppet in this world, yet it ultimately failed to replicate the full strength of that swordsman. For someone like me who aspired to recreate the swordsman's prowess in the body of a Mechanical Puppet, it can only be seen as an incomplete product."

"Regrettably, I no longer have more time to research and improve it. I hope that future generations who inherit my skills will continually refine this technology, allowing that swordsman's swordsmanship to reemerge in this world."

From this passage, Reiger could sense the writer's exclamation, pride, and regret.

"Using Mechanical Puppetry to replicate Tsukiguni Yoriichi's strength?" Reiger murmured and then laughed, talking to himself, "If it really could be done, the value of this technique would likely raise by more than a thousandfold."

In the dead of night in the hall, Reiger closed the ancient tome that he had just finished reviewing.

He had completely memorized the contents of the book, both the recorded Mechanical Puppet Technique and the blueprints of Yoriichi Model Zero.

This feat, if known to Xiao Tie, would surely astound him, wouldn't it?

Ordinary people, even intent on finishing this entire book, would need several days and nights at the least; Reiger not only read it but also memorized it in less than a day, nearly superhumanly.

This was mainly thanks to Reiger's memory, which allowed him to effortlessly commit the content of the entire book to memory.

Now, whenever Reiger closed his eyes and reflected briefly, the design of a Mechanical Puppet would emerge before his eyes, revealing every detail of its surface and interior parts.

Reiger, deepening his impression of the blueprint, carefully confirmed one after another the locations, structures, and materials of the parts.

Not long after, Reiger stretched out a hand.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, a burst of light shone in front of Reiger's palm.

It was the glow formed by Magic Power.

The light transformed into a magical array, flying out from Reiger's palm, landing on the ground, and hovering from bottom to top like a scanner.

And as the magic array pulsated, a Mechanical Puppet slowly materialized, eventually taking complete shape.

"Done."

Reiger opened his eyes and looked at the Mechanical Puppet in front of him, identical to Yoriichi Model Zero, laughing joyfully.

He was certain it bore no difference to Yoriichi Model Zero, whether it was the internal mechanisms or the external components, everything was the same.

The only difference probably was that this Mechanical Puppet was not activated with a key.

Yoriichi Model Zero was started with a sole key, which, when its finger joints were twisted, would alter its mode of attack based on the opponent's style of combat, thus being treated as a training battle Mechanical Puppet.

But Reiger felt it was too cumbersome to start a puppet with a key and change its action mode with a special method every time.

So, he removed these two designs.

Then, how should the Mechanical Puppet be activated and how should it adapt its combat mode according to the battle situation?

Quite simply.

"[Contract]."

Reiger stretched out his hand again, placed it on the forehead of the Mechanical Puppet, and chanted a spell.

He had formed a contract with the mechanical puppet before him.

It was neither an attendant contract nor a slavery contract, but rather a summoning and servitude contract.

In the land of Akasha, not only attendant and slavery contracts existed in contract magic.

The contract magic used by Reiger now, for instance, was commonly employed by control-type mages.

Control-type magic refers to any magic that can manipulate and dominate external things or concepts, including but not limited to summoning magic.

Mages adept in summoning magic would frequently use this magic to summon magical creatures or puppets, controlling them to engage in combat.

This kind of summoning and servitude contract was precisely the magic used by control-type mages to manipulate magical creatures or puppets.

By branding the magical creatures or puppets with a contractual mark, control-type mages could summon and command these entities, achieving the purpose of combat.

This was exactly what Reiger was doing now.

Only after engraving the contractual mark on the mechanical puppet did Reiger withdraw his hand.

A pattern resembling an array had appeared on the forehead of the mechanical puppet.

"Come over."

Reiger took two steps back and commanded the mechanical puppet.

"Click click..."

Suddenly, the mechanical puppet started moving, walking towards him as per Reiger's command.

"Stop."

Reiger issued another command.

The mechanical puppet immediately halted.

"Turn left."

Reiger gave a new instruction.

The mechanical puppet turned to the left without any pause.

"Turn right."

"Move forward."

"Move backward."

"Stand still."

Reiger continued with one command after another, and the mechanical puppet complied with each one.

A smile emerged on Reiger's face.

"Isn't this much more flexible than Yoriichi Type Zero?"

Indeed it was.

Yoriichi Type Zero not only required a key to start, but once activated, it would enter a pre-set battle mode, moving according to that mode, rigid and unadaptable.

If one did not alter the mode of action for Yoriichi Type Zero by manipulating the fingers, it would repeat the pre-set actions after completing them once.

This resulted in those who fought against Yoriichi Type Zero once being able to, as long as they could hold out, eventually see through its movement trajectory and patterns, easily defeating it.

In the original work, Tokitou Muichirou would later defeat Yoriichi Type Zero, which initially gave him a tough fight, possibly for this reason.

But now, that issue had been resolved.

The actions of the mechanical puppet were no longer dependent on keys and related operations but instead directly controlled through the contract by Reiger, its creator.

At Reiger's command, the mechanical puppet could move and engage in combat in the corresponding manner.

"If I personally manipulate the mechanical puppet in battle, its combat power should increase considerably."

Reiger mused while walking circles around the mechanical puppet.

"Moreover, the materials of these parts and components on the mechanical puppet could perhaps be replaced as well."

Reiger planned to upgrade the materials used in the mechanical puppet, opting for metals of similar weight and properties.

The mechanical puppet was usually made of wood, with only metal parts on the inside. If these materials could be replaced, the combat power would certainly rise significantly.

As for which metal to use, Reiger needed to conduct some thorough testing.

Otherwise, if changing the weight or structure of the mechanical puppet made it difficult to operate, causing it to lose rather than gain combat effectiveness, that would be less than ideal.

"Anyway, there's still time, so let's try slowly."

With a continuous smile on his face, Reiger treated the situation as if he had received a new toy to enjoy thoroughly.

The night passed in such a state.

...

The next day, early morning.

Reiger was still in the hall, seemingly having stayed up all night.

He looked at the scene before him and exhaled.

"It's done."

A brand-new mechanical puppet stood tall before Reiger.