It took a while for everything to wind down, but eventually Merri and her husband Bellin retreated to some hidden room on the second floor for the evening. For Mug, they had found an old wool mattress that was the right size, albeit covered with holes and stains of unknown origin. Wanting to show off a bit, I had Mug toss the mattress inside me, then used Recycling to print a brand new one, making sure I skipped out on making the bug corpses that came with the original. He was lying on it now, snoring mightily for such a small frame in front of a small fireplace.

  I didn’t have to sleep in this body. It was not as pleasant as I’d always hoped. As a gamer, sleep had been the main limiting factor on the amount of time I could spend on a game. Without games to distract me, long nights alone were actually lonely. I passed the time by trying new forms of Polymorph 1 on myself, experimenting with arm and leg formations as well as pipes, tubes, chains, and even crude wings. For now, they were useless, but maybe one day I’d have a use for them.

  Morning came slowly, then all at once. Foredrake Merri charged out of her room at first light, giving me and Mug a quick hello before grabbing some type of horn-megaphone combination from a shelf.

  “Wakin’ up scale-hides! Workin’ to do! Minin’ to do! But! First, feastin’ to do! Cause spirit and a gob fixed our wyrm problem! So get up and get ready!” she boomed through the contraption. Every building and hut and tent came to life at once, and the dusty mountain clearing was filled with excited kobolds chattering, cooking, and preparing equipment for the day. I used my legs to walk about the camp with Mug and we were clapped on the back (and lid) and thanked and praised for what seemed like an eternity. Based on Mug’s expression, he didn’t know whether to be proud or embarrassed by all the attention, but I did notice that he now seemed slightly taller than Merri. If this was all based on his confidence stemming from one successful mission, I was both excited and scared to see what he could become with a few big wins under his belt.

  The feast came next. All manners of meat stews and hard breads were piled in front of Mug endlessly, who seemed determined to eat everything placed on his plate. The kobolds were delighted watching him clear a bowl as big as his head in seconds and ask for another serving, and truthfully, I was too. They got an equal delight out of throwing trash into me and watching me Devour it, leaving no trace. I didn’t gain any experience of note from it, but I still enjoyed myself. The aura was rowdy, raucous, and above all, joyous.

  Just as soon as the feast started, it ended, and the kobolds were scampering into the mines and manning their forges. It wasn’t long before the first cart of mana-steel ore was pulled to the surface and fed to the forges, where it was refined into ingots. We stuck around for a few hours while they worked, sitting on the edge of camp while the kobolds did their duty. I wanted a couple of ingots to take back for proof to the King, and I wanted to try something as well.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Once we got a few dozen ingots, we repacked our donkey cart and made to leave. Foredrake Merri had pulled every working kobold to the surface while we prepped, and as we began to ride away, they all sang in unison in their strange tongue. It was a fast, jubilant song, and of course, I didn’t understand a word that was said, but I understood the intent. All I could do was have Mug yell, “You’re welcome!” and wave my little metal arm as fast as I could.

  “Goodbye, Lugenhelm! Mug! Always welcome! Anytime missin’ scale-hides, come in! Meetin’ children next time! Thinkin’ made fourteen last night! Goodbye!” Merri waved her green claw enthusiastically, and Bellin made a sheepish face beside her but waved as well. Just like that, we were off.

  We had successfully cleansed the ‘curse’ of the mine and helped the kobolds as well.

  The cart ride back had a much different attitude than the one going. Mug was in high spirits, humming to himself. I felt it too, but this was only a brief reprieve. We were headed back to the snake pit, after all. Our success would prove that I really was a holy spirit, but with that came all sorts of new headaches. I had successfully promoted myself to problem solver, but one that only handled jobs unfit for knights or other retainers. On top of that, the Queen was sure to not let my success cloud her estimation of me as a threat. In fact, it would probably do the opposite. Well, that was a problem for another hopefully distant day. Today, we had been victorious.

  As we rode, I had Mug toss one mana-steel ingot inside me and Devoured it. Maybe if I could Recycle copies of it, I would be able to... well, I don't know, but be able to do something with that. I activated my Alchemical Recycling, focusing on the silver-blue ingot now inside my directory of devoured items. It shot out with a pop, and just as I was admiring my success, Void boomed in my head.

  WARNING: MANA LEVELS BELOW 5%. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT. REPLENISH MANA TO AVOID.

  Whoa, really? I had been at nearly full mana—roughly 275! I popped two of the remaining magic weapons, then tried again in case it had been a fluke.

  WARNING: MANA LEVELS BELOW 5%. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT. REPLENISH MANA TO AVOID.

  Well, that was no fluke. I popped the last remaining magic weapon with Mana Eater to avoid the shutdown. Well, it had certainly been an idea, but apparently not a good one. Over 250 mana for one ingot? No wonder the King needed this stuff so bad. I realized that I had never asked Merri anything about the actual mana-steel, so I asked the next best thing: the computerized voice in my head.

  ‘Hey Void, can you tell me why mana-steel is so important? And why it takes so much freaking mana to print?’ So far, everything I made was under ten mana max, and that included refined items such as chains.

  MANA-STEEL. A RARE METAL FOUND IN UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS, SAID TO BE LEFTOVER MATERIAL FROM THE GODS WHEN THE WORLD WAS CREATED. MANA-STEEL HAS THE QUALITY OF BEING AMONG THE BEST CONDUCTORS OF MANA. OFTEN USED FOR MAGICAL WEAPONS AND ARMOR AS WELL AS MAGE EQUIPMENT SUCH AS STAVES AND FOCUSES OF POWER. MANA-STEEL CANNOT STORE MANA, DESPITE THE NAME. HOWEVER, WHEN COMBINED WITH ENCHANTMENTS OR SPELLS, IT CAN HEIGHTEN MAGIC TO DEVASTATING HEIGHTS.

  Well, that explained that. Looks like I wouldn’t be able to crash the mana-steel market anytime soon, which was probably for the best. As the outskirts of the city became visible, I began to plan what I would say in my royal audience.

  This might actually be more dangerous than the mines.