Note: Both of the top spots in the power rankings are mine! Have you ever seen that happen before, mortals?! Muhahahaaha!
----
Some time ago.
Dawn City.
"You plan on making a ship?" Solitar asked in a calm tone while looking at the large factory-like building being constructed at the harbor.
"Not just any ship. It will be a magic ship—one with powerful destructive capabilities, reinforced with magic runes and much more…" Sukuna said in an excited voice, imagining his naval vessel conquering the sea.
They were a port city! They had to develop their own naval capabilities!
"This will be a lot of work."
"True, but we'll also learn a lot in the process."
Solitar thought for a moment before nodding.
"Alright. I will help you."
"Thanks."
"Hm."
Solitar murmured, then silently removed her cloak, revealing her demon horns in front of everyone.
Sukuna was surprised.
"Why did you take off your disguise?"
"I made a decision after observing you."
She set her cloak aside and continued.
"If I want to feel human emotions like you, then I must follow everything you do."
"Hiding my identity could prove to be a hindrance, so…"
Not minding the surprised looks the citizens were giving her, Solitar turned to Sukuna and said with her usual smile,
"I have decided to live like you."
Live like him.
By openly showing her demon heritage to all.
That was how Solitar gave up hiding her identity as a demon.
----
Current Time.
"With the binding vow done, I will now give you your first commands."
"First, you are never to reveal this binding vow to anyone else under any circumstances."
"Second, you are never to hurt a human of my Dawn City, either directly or indirectly. However, if they are trying to kill you, they will become an exception to this command, and you may defend yourself."
"Third, you will never lie to me or hide anything from me."
"Fourth, you will never try to hurt me."
"Hm. For now, that is all. Remember them—these commands will stay active unless I say otherwise."
Linie silently nodded her head.
"Good."
Sukuna patted her head and rubbed it a few times, making it sway slightly.
Taking Demon Linie with him, Sukuna returned to Dawn City.
Everyone was instantly attracted by Linie's appearance and started murmuring among themselves.
Linie silently observed the humans.
Even though she had been born not long ago, her instincts automatically identified them as food.
But due to the command Sukuna had given her, she could only let go of the thought, as her survival took priority over everything else.
And demons could eat normal food like humans, so it wasn't as if she would starve.
"A young demon?" Solitar asked in a calm tone, sensing Linie's weak mana.
Linie also sensed her powerful mana and silently lowered her head.
Somehow, she had managed to encounter two extremely powerful demons just after being born.
"Yes, I found her outside. She practically begged me to join us, so I reluctantly agreed…" Sukuna explained with a smile.
Linie gave Sukuna a long look.
"I do not see merit in having her, but since you have decided, then it is alright," Solitar said in an even tone, simply stating her thoughts.
Linie being a young demon meant she lacked the centuries of magic accumulation that Solitar and Sukuna possessed. (She assumed Sukuna was older than her.)
She was even worse than the human mages they had trained.
"We all start somewhere. And she is part of a little experiment of mine…" Sukuna said while examining her arms.
'Her muscle strength is quite good. She's more suited to be a warrior, after all.'
Sukuna looked at Linie and asked,
"Have you created your magic?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Tell us about it."
Imitation Spell: Erfassen
This was Linie's magic, the ability to craft an array of weapons using her mana.
Although she could only create small weapons for now due to her low proficiency.
Using her spell, she could mimic the movements and skills of individuals whose mana flow she had read and recorded.
However, a significant limitation of this technique was its inability to replicate the same level of strength as the target, leaving her ultimately weaker than the original.
She was also unable to create more than one weapon at a time, requiring a brief moment to morph her weapon if she wanted to use a different combat style.
Pretty interesting magic, to say the least.
Sukuna and Solitar silently listened as she explained her spell before giving her pointers based on their knowledge.
Their words made Linie fall into contemplation, and at the same time, Sukuna raised his hand and summoned a dagger using Linie's magic.
"…"
The sudden display of her own magic made Linie freeze.
How did he learn it so fast?
She had spent an entire month creating it…
Solitar said to the shocked Linie with her usual smile,
"Do not be surprised. Sukuna is the greatest magic genius I have ever seen."
Sukuna moved the dagger around in an expert-like manner, using a dagger technique he hadn't used since the Heian era.
"Watch closely, brat."
He grinned and started demonstrating dagger movements made solely for the purpose of killing, forged on battlefields over many years.
Linie's eyes glowed. She silently read Sukuna's mana flow, learning it completely.
Finally, after he was done, she summoned a dagger of her own and started imitating him.
*Slash*
The dagger cut through the air just like Sukuna's. The movement was very similar, but it lacked power, and her proficiency with the magic wasn't high enough yet for her to perfectly replicate it.
After she was done, Sukuna picked up several books and handed them to her.
"Here. Learn this barrier magic and the attack method Zoltraak. Afterwards, you can focus on these if you want, or keep developing your own magic."
The hexagonal magic shield and Zoltraak were truly the basic spells every mage in his city had to learn.
Simply because they were too convenient and versatile.
Linie walked up to the table and placed the books down before picking one up and starting to read.
If there was something she couldn't understand, she would ask the human mages or Solitar for guidance.
Leaving Linie in the library, Sukuna and Solitar walked toward the commercial zone and appeared before a factory area.
There, workers could be seen making a unique type of clothes and shoes never before seen in this world.
Yes, a few years ago, Sukuna grew tired of these medieval, uncomfortable clothes and started a few factories to create something similar to modern-day clothing.
Since they didn't have intricate machinery, everything had to be made by hand. The production cost was high, but it quickly became a hot-selling product among traders who came to their port due to its comfort.
The traders complained every time that production was simply not enough. They didn't care about the high price at all and would buy everything available.
So Sukuna also added a new academic building.
Dawn Institute of Technology.
Unfortunately, it hadn't shown much success yet.
Still, he encouraged his citizens to study technology, using the notes he had created based on his past-life knowledge.
It would take time to grow.
Fortunately, time wasn't something he lacked.
After passing the factory area, they came to the harbor and entered the restricted place, off-limits to everyone except staff.
Inside was a steel warship, five times the size of the wooden ships used in this era.
It was covered with intricate magic patterns for enhanced armor, a barrier generator placed inside, and magic cannons arranged neatly on all sides, giving it a domineering look.
While others were playing with wooden ships, he had already crafted this monster of steel.
The best thing was that it worked solely on mana—no fuel was needed. It could gather mana from the atmosphere and fire concentrated balls of mana from the cannons, inspired by Solitar's magic.
Though gathering mana from the air was too slow, so one could also manually input mana through the core stone placed in the command room.
Though the cost to make this thing…
Sukuna silently wiped away a tear dripping from his eye, remembering the money and countless hours he had spent working like a dog all day long.
'It's almost complete. In another year, it can finally be put to use…'
Sukuna thought with excitement.
Beside him, Solitar said in a calm tone,
"This was indeed a lot of work."
"But you did learn a lot about magic patterns."
"That is true."
The two of them walked forward and quickly got to work.
After finishing the task they had come to do, they returned to the library to study magic.
Meanwhile.
At the front of the city gate
stood a middle-aged man with a neatly combed mustache.
He wore a light-brown coat with dark trim and a large collar, carrying two swords at his side.
With his mana suppressed, he silently entered Dawn City as an adventurer.
----
Note: My bad, guys. I totally forgot Solitar was supposed to be wearing a disguise as I'm writing another fanfic at the same time.
I tried to fix it in this chapter, so don't mind it too much, as it won't affect the plot.