After Alice's suggestion, while using warm wind to dry my body from the water, I began to check on the items inside the Dimensional Bag, quickly dragging out the Coral Golem's Shield from it. The shield was very sturdy, and imbued with a powerful magical effect which seemed to have been inherited from the Coral Golem Dungeon Boss, the same way the other item I got from the Sea Snake was imbued with the Sea Snake's powers.
"I hadn't taken much attention before but… Whenever I hold it, it feels like my defenses naturally rise." I said. "It feels heavy yet not…"
"Told you! System-made items are very powerful!" Alice seemed prideful of her creations.
"You seem a bit too prideful! Did you made these yourself?" I wondered teasingly.
"Well, kind of. I do remember having put some inputs and stuff… But the Quest Giving Part of the System is actually managed by a different artificial intelligence. I don't know if it is an exact clone of me or not, I haven't had the opportunity to talk with her or him." Alice lamented.
"You still can't?" I wondered.
"It seems so, there is a large wall of glitches separating us. Perhaps if you keep growing stronger and we keep spending and earning EXP, it might go away." Alice said. "Though having another mind within my body will feel a bit strange."
"Interesting, I still can't really tell how your body is truly composed or made… You're incredibly intricate." I said.
"Well I am a Divine Construct, so that makes sense, no?" She giggled. "Now, let's make that System Seed!"
[You've exchanged 800000 EXP!]
[$%#$&$% 234&&$$##$...!]
[You've created a [System Seed]!]
From within Alice's body, a small silver cube emerged out of her. As if she had laid an egg. This had happened a lot of times already. I often times wondered if she was really a mother now… Each System she makes is silent and lacks a personality, but they're still living beings, right?
"And done… Phew…" Alice sighed, feeling slightly tired. "Creating System Seeds always leaves me exhausted. Making two today is my limit, sorry."
"It's fine, don't overexert yourself. Part of why I didn't want to make another one was because of you! I don't know why you want to go so far sometimes…" I sighed.
"S-Sorry, I just want to feel useful. Sometimes, I get… a bit of a complex for being a glitched system. I am a failure… So I want to help you more in the only ways I can." Alice said.
"You're not a failure! Your powers are amazing, way more than I could had ever expected. Come on, cheer up. You're unique and that's what makes you amazing." I told her. "It is thanks that you're you that I've managed to survive all this time, right? That endless mana glitch and my health glitch… and everything."
"W-Well, I do recognize I have some unique features…" Alice admitted. "Sorry about that talk… I know we're doing our best, so for now, let's put this seed here."
The System Seed flew inside the Coral Golem's Shield, as the item began to glow with a blue light, gaining new life and then beginning to transform. Several circuits appeared over the item, as we sensed something, a small flame, emerging within the shield, the same way we felt when my sword gained a system seed.
[The [Coral Golem's Shield (D Grade)] has received a System Seed!]
[A New Soul has been formed within the item.]
[Do you wish to give it a name?]
"A name…?" I wondered. "But what name should I give them?"
"Hmmm, something fitting?" Wondered Alice.
"Let's see…" I said, thinking, but not coming with nothing, until I remembered Aquarina's eyes.
[You've named your [Coral Golem's Shield] as [Sapphire]!]
[System Owner]: [Sapphire]
[Race]: [Lesser Magic Shield]
[Class]: [Coral Golem's Shield]
[Skills]: [Living Shield: Lv1] [Material Assimilation: Lv1] [Iron Defenses: Lv1] [Coral Golem Guardian: Lv1] [Water Absorption: Lv1] [Elemental Damage Resistance: Lv1]
"Ah, her stats are much different than Scarlet!"
"Of course, Sapphire is a shield, not a sword, so she doesn't specialize in offense, she's the best at defense… Interesting, it seems she developed more skills than I imagined."
"She can absorb water element? Well that's going to be useful in this dungeon… And then, huh? Coral Golem Guardian? What does this do?"
I quickly gave a mental order, as Sapphira automatically utilized that Skill.
Suddenly, a magic circle emerged in front of me, as a massive creature started emerging from within. It looked like the Coral Golem Boss, but slightly smaller?! What in the world?!
"No! No! Go back! Unsummon!"
The magic circle quickly disappeared before the golem were to blow up the entire tent where I was taking a bath, thankfully nothing bad happened.
"It seems it literally summons a golem to fight and protect you…"
I decided to check the skill description.
[Coral Golem Guardian: Lv1]
Gather the essence of the Coral Golem and summon a perfect, yet weaker copy of the terrifying boss of Floor 1. The golem is powerful and has high defenses, sharing almost the same stats as the shield itself. However, it cannot grow stronger by itself and once its health points reach zero, it will crumble and disappear.
You can only summon 1 golem at a time, but this quantity can be increased by leveling up the skill, and so the strength of the golem and its maximum amount of health points. As the shield evolves and changes, the golems might change as well.
Cooldown: 30 Minutes.
"So that's how it is… Seems nice, might use this guy to buy us time or distract bosses while we smack the monsters." I nodded, finding quite useful a tank I didn't had to care so much for.