"One month left, Kael… One month left before the third attempt."
Kael murmured to himself as he rested beneath a lush tree in his backyard.
His tools, blueprints, pen, notes, unfinished inventions, and even the three XYZ Books were scattered across the grass around him.
Today was a day of rest.
No training.
The invention described in Book Z was a bandage-like tape designed to wrap around specific joints or areas of the body shown in the blueprint.
It wasn't that Kael didn't want to make it. In fact, he knew it wouldn't take him much time to create a tape that could provide support for his joints.
Kael reached down and picked up Book Z from the ground before studying its blueprint once again.
This time, however…
He paid closer attention.
Reading the blueprint always made Kael completely focused.
"Yeah, just as I thought… Only three ingredients are needed…"
Kael paused.
"But of course, three doesn't mean it's simply three things. This Z Book is really confusing me."
He looked at the title of the blueprint.
"Alright, this invention is called Supporting Tape? What a lame name…"
Kael frowned.
"When I think about it, every single invention from the previous books has a lame name…"
He scratched his head.
"Maybe I'm the one who should name it. I think…"
Kael murmured to himself.
"Well… I don't know who wrote or created these books… but I'm sure you're much smarter than me."
He looked back at the blueprint.
"Never mind… Then what do I need?"
Kael's eyes scanned the entire blueprint while he continued lying on the ground.
"Okay, so first I need fabric for the base… Yeah, Old Elf has a lot of that."
His eyes moved to the next ingredient.
"And the second is… adhesive?"
Kael blinked.
"What's that?"
His eyes focused on the section describing the properties of adhesive and its function.
For the first time, Kael stopped reading casually.
He began studying it carefully.
"Ohh… It's like a sticky liquid that keeps everything together!"
Kael's eyes lit up.
"The only thing I can think of is slime fluid from the Slime Elemarit Store… Maybe if I combine it with a few other sticky materials, I might be able to create a strong adhesive!"
He looked back at the blueprint.
"And lastly… an oil or wax?"
Kael tilted his head.
"Hmmm… I think this is meant to control the stickiness of the adhesive…"
He scanned the blueprint one more time.
"Oh, that's all?"
Kael smiled.
"Yeah, I can make it in a few hours!"
He sat up from the grass.
"But first, I need to ask Old Elf for some clothes…"
"And since this is going to be wrapped around my body, it can be any colour I want…"
Kael packed up all his things and headed into the house, searching for Elvareth.
"Hmm… Where did this old elf go?"
"Old Elf! Where are you?" Kael called out.
His voice echoed through the wooden house.
"Yeah?! What?!" Elvareth's voice came loudly from the kitchen.
Kael immediately ran toward the kitchen.
"Hey, Old Elf! Do you have some cloth or fabric that I can use?"
"Fabric?" Elvareth raised an eyebrow. "What? You wanna help me with sewing? That's a great start to helping your elf mother, Kael."
She smirked.
"Of course!… Not!"
Kael laughed.
"Old Elf, I don't have time for that!"
"Who wants to sew cloth anymore? I'll invent an automatic sewing machine for you if you want!"
Elvareth sighed.
"Alright, human inventor… What do you want the cloth for?"
She rubbed her dry hands against her apron. She had just been about to start preparing lunch when Kael interrupted her.
"I want to make a tape! It helps protect my joints, so I can reduce my chances of getting injured during my third attempt!"
Kael rotated his shoulder to demonstrate.
"Hmm… Alright, then. I have plenty of excess clothes anyway."
"Come here."
Elvareth led Kael to her room.
As soon as Kael entered, he found fabric scattered all over the place.
"Wow, Old Elf! You told me to clean my room, but look at you!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
THUD!
Elvareth smacked Kael on the head with a box of fabric.
"Ugh! Hey! It's not my fault you're not cleaning your room this time!"
Kael covered his head.
Then his eyes suddenly caught something sitting on a nearby shelf.
A glass jar filled with a greenish-white powder.
"Wait… Isn't that…"
Kael picked up the jar and examined it.
"Hey, Old Elf! Isn't that the nutrient-dense powder for gaining weight?"
He grinned.
"HAHAHA! You're trying to gain weight! Why, Old Elf? You wanna fight me?"
Kael clenched his fist and flexed his arm.
"I know I'm becoming stronger and stronger!"
"Hey! I'm not!"
Elvareth's face reddened.
"I'm just… Just—ugh!"
Before Kael could say anything else, Elvareth suddenly grabbed his ear and pinched it.
"OW! Hey! Old Elf!"
"Don't just look at my room and complain about it, understand?"
"Alright!"
Elvareth finally released his ear.
"So? Is this all, or are there some other weird materials that aren't supposed to go together that you need?"
She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, of course! I need slime or sticky tree sap… and wax or some kind of oil, if you know where to find it."
"Tree sap and oil… I think I have those in the kitchen."
Elvareth made her way toward the kitchen, followed closely by Kael.
"Here it is."
She reached toward the top of a shelf and pulled down two containers.
The first was a glass jar filled with a dark-red, sticky material.
The second was a wooden container filled with melted animal fat that looked almost like oil.
"Wow! I never thought I would have all of this at home!"
"Of course you didn't."
Elvareth shook her head.
"You just eat, sleep, train, repeat. You never help me in the kitchen."
She continued babbling as she walked around the kitchen.
Kael simply smiled.
"Cih… Alright, Old Elf. I'll help you someday."
Kael grabbed the two materials he needed.
But then something else caught his eye.
A jar of honey sat on the shelf.
Well… not the honey itself.
The honeycomb inside it.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Wait… Is that honeycomb, Old Elf? I mean, the stuff inside the honey?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Wait here!"
Kael immediately ran upstairs.
He grabbed Book Z and quickly checked the blueprint again.
His eyes scanned the page.
"Yeah… It's true…"
Kael smiled.
He rushed back downstairs and grabbed a piece of cloth from the box.
"Hey, can I take a few pieces of the honeycomb?"
"This?"
Elvareth scooped a few pieces of honeycomb out of the jar and held them up for Kael.
"Yes! Put it on this cloth."
Kael handed Elvareth a piece of white cloth.
She placed the honeycomb inside it.
Kael then pressed the cloth firmly, squeezing the honey out of the honeycomb. Once most of the honey had drained away, what remained was mostly the waxy comb with only a little honey left inside.
"Alright! Next, I need to heat this up."
Kael took the pressed honeycomb and placed it into a glass container.
Then he filled a large metal pot with water and placed it over the same fire and coal Elvareth had been using for cooking.
He carefully placed the glass container into the hot water.
"Now we wait for this to boil…"
Elvareth looked at Kael and smiled.
"Oh, look at how fast you listen to me, huh?"
Kael glanced at her.
"What? Nah, this is for my invention, Old Elf. Not for cooking."
"Haaah…" Elvareth sighed.
What else could she expect from Kael?
As he waited for the water to heat up, Kael placed the glass container holding the honeycomb into the metal pot of hot water.
The temperature gradually rose as the water began to boil. Kael slowly stirred the honeycomb, helping it melt evenly.
Elvareth simply watched him, letting him do whatever his curious mind wanted to invent.
The honeycomb slowly melted into a warm, oily-yellow liquid, releasing a strong waxy smell.
"Why does it smell like that?" Elvareth asked.
"I don't know…" Kael shrugged. "It's my first time making wax too."
Once the honeycomb had completely melted, Kael carefully took the container out of the hot-water bath.
"Next, I need to cut the cloth to the right size…"
Kael looked at the bandage wrapped around his waist.
"I think I'll use my bandage as a reference."
He took off the bandage and placed it beside the cloth.
Then he picked up a pair of scissors and began cutting the fabric to match its size.
After finishing, Kael suddenly remembered something.
"Oh yeah! Old Elf, can you ask your slime Elemarit friend to give us some slime?"
Without warning, Elvareth grabbed Kael by the ear again.
"OW! What is it this time?!"
"Her name is Lejilical, you rude young man…"
"Okay, okay! Can Aunt Lejilical help us?"
"Of course. I'll ask her. But tell me when you need it."
"As fast as you can, Old Elf. But for now, I'll just use this tree sap."
Kael took the glass jar containing the dark-red tree resin.
Just like the beeswax, Kael gently heated the tree resin using the same hot-water method.
"Hey, Old Elf?"
Kael asked while his hand continued stirring the warming tree resin.
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember the Ansalar Festival a few months ago?"
Elvareth nodded.
"Since all the moons were white, we don't know whether we received Belan Blessing or Belan Curse…"
Kael paused.
"I wanted to ask you since you always pay attention to this event. I don't really know much about it. Maybe because I simply don't believe in those things…"
"Acting like you don't believe in it, but when it's a green Belan Blessing, you're the one who's really excited…"
Elvareth smirked.
"Cih… I only like it because it gives us more food."
Elvareth chuckled before continuing.
"Well, actually, the truth is… if it's a white moon, Kael, it's not really about whether it's a Belan Blessing or a Belan Curse."
Kael looked at her.
"I've noticed something. Whenever I worry too much when the white moon arrives, it often becomes a curse. But when I don't care much about it, nothing really affects my life."
"Hmm? So it's just how you view or feel about the white moons?"
"Yeah… I think it's like that."
"Oh…"
Kael nodded.
He understood.
He knew exactly what she was describing, even though Elvareth doesn't really understand what she was saying. Kael knows what this phenomenon is called…
It's Murphy's Law…
As the tree resin begin to melt Kael mix it with a little of beeswax
Slowly he stirred it until both of them mixed together.
Then he spread the cloth that he already cut into suitable sizes. Slowly he spread the Tree resin and beeswax mixture on the clothes
After doing this with more than ten pieces of cloth, Kael laid them flat on the table and let them cool.
"Alright… Now we wait."
Kael suddenly looked at Elvareth.
"Yo, Old Elf, is this cloth strong enough? I forgot to ask you earlier…"
"It's quite strong, I guess. Have your pants ever torn apart during your training or during a test with the Commander?"
"Nope. They've held up perfectly fine…"
"Yeah. That's the same cloth I used for them."
Kael nodded.
He waited for the adhesive mixture to settle and cool down.
After a while, Kael went upstairs and grabbed Book Z.
He opened the blueprint and carefully read the instructions, paying close attention to where the tape was supposed to be applied.
"Hmm? I can put it mostly around my joints…"
His eyes moved across the blueprint.
"And on my hands too? Around the fingers, wrist, palm, and even the elbow…"
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
"Interesting."
"So, is this a bandage or what?" Elvareth asked.
"I think it's similar, but you use a bandage when I'm already injured, right?"
Kael picked up one of the finished strips and examined it.
"But this tape is supposed to prevent me from getting seriously injured during my test against the Commander."
"Oh, that's good!" Elvareth said excitedly.
"Yeah… I hope this works."
After waiting for about an hour, Kael finally decided it was time to test the first pieces.
He carefully wrapped one around his palm and another around his elbow.
Then he began moving the taped areas, flexing his fingers and rotating his arm.
He wanted to see how well the tape would hold.
"Huh? It feels a bit tight…"
Kael flexed his fingers and rotated his wrist.
"But it helps make my movements feel more controlled."
Kael reached down and grabbed Tesseract from his side.
He carefully tested his grip before swinging the mechanical sword.
SWOOSH!
"Wah! Talk about controlled movement!"
Kael looked at the tape around his palm and elbow.
"It feels tight, but I can feel how it supports my movement a little…"
"Hey! It's dangerous, Kael! Don't swing your sword in the house!"
Kael froze.
"Ha… Sorry, Old Elf…"
"Okay! Now I think I nailed it on the first try!"
Kael looked at the finished tape.
"But I need to make more of this tape. And I need a lot of materials to do that…"
He turned toward Elvareth.
"And… Can you help me, Old Elf? Please!"
Kael begged.
"Calling someone 'Old' and then begging her to help you? I don't know, Kael… You think for yourself."
"Oh, come on!"
Kael put his hands together.
"Alright! Please help me, my beloved mother! My mother, Elf Elvareth! I need the materials… pleaseee!"
He begged again, giving her a pair of round, pleading eyes.
"I'll help you with cooking whenever I have time!"
"Haaah…"
Elvareth sighed.
"Yeah, Kael… I'll help you. You don't need to beg that hard. I was going to help you anyway."
"Thanks, Mom!"
Kael smiled.
Elvareth would support him no matter what.
Even though the two of them came from different races, her love for Kael had never been about race.
Supporting him had always been her priority.
She was Kael's biggest supporter.
His number one support system.
One month.
Only one month remained before his third attempt.
Kael would once again have to prove himself to Commander Aeronis.
Was he truly worthy of becoming a Realm Protector?