The king's messenger arrived even though Greg had done a lot of reasoning not to meet, but surprisingly, the messenger was being reasonable. They talked about Greg's philosophy for an hour, looked at some of his things with the right amount of awe, and then politely asked him to think about making some farming tools for the royal gardens. No threats, no demands, just a real interest in using his skills for peaceful purposes.
Greg was so happy that there was no drama that he immediately started a new project to celebrate. Lylia had said that she needed another serving spoon for her restaurant, which was getting busier by the day. Greg thought that a simple utensil would be a nice, relaxing break from all the problems.
"Just a spoon," Greg said to himself as he hammered away at the metal. "A spoon that might be able to stir things on its own. Nothing fancy."
"Nothing that will make you smarter, sing opera, or cause any problems at all."
He put more thought into the metal than usual. Lylia should be able to use the spoon to help her with her work. It should work well, be dependable, and maybe even be a little happy since she had been stressed out lately. A simple, friendly serving spoon that would help her out.
The runes were made of shiny silver and gold and were more complicated than any he had made before. They moved around the bowl and handle of the spoon in patterns that looked almost alive, and the energy they gave off made the air shimmer.
[Crafting Done!]
[Item Created: Ladle of Willing Service]
[Quality Rank: SSS]
[Special Properties: Can't be broken, moves on its own, controls temperature perfectly, is very devoted to its creator]
[Warning: Magical consciousness found]
[Warning: Spirit formation is about to happen]
[Achievement: You've Made Life (Kind Of)]
[The gods are worried]
Greg looked at the warnings. "Magical consciousness? Spirit formation? What does that even fucking mean?"
The ladle started to shine. As the magical energy focused and swirled around the utensil, the workshop was filled with bright, pulsing light. Greg stepped back, hitting his workbench as the light got brighter.
Then, with a sound like wind chimes and glass breaking, the light burst out and took on the shape of a person. There was a girl standing where the ladle had been. She looked to be about twenty years old, with hair that looked like polished silver and eyes that sparkled like gold.
With a frilly apron, she looked like she was wearing a maid outfit made entirely of condensed magical energy. The ladle was in her hand, and it felt like it was part of her instead of a separate thing.
"Master-forger-darling!" She yelled, and her voice was bright and musical. "I have arrived at your calling!"
"Finally, I'm here at last!"
"Thank you for making me!"
She jumped at Greg, who barely caught her. She was surprisingly solid for what the system said was a spirit. She hugged him tightly and was warm and full of energy.
"Uh," Greg said in a very clear way. "What's going on...?"
"I'm Mira! Your ladle!" The spirit girl looked up at him with a look of pure love on her face. "Well, I was your ladle."
"Now I'm your spirit friend! Isn't it wonderful?"
"No? Maybe? I don't understand." Greg carefully pulled away from the hug. "How are you a person?"
"I only made a spoon or maybe a ladle...? I don't know both are the same anyway...."
"You made me with so much love, care, and helpful thoughts that I woke up!" Mira turned around, and her spiritual dress flared out.
"The system asserts that too much magical energy has transformed me into a physical manifestation of your will. Isn't that sweet?"
"That's not sweet... it's worrisome." Greg looked at the notification from the system again. "This has never happened before."
"That's because I'm unique!" Mira put her hands together.
"I'm the first spirit you made because you wanted to help someone you care about. The magical resonance was so strong that I was able to live on my own!"
The door to the workshop burst open before Greg could think about it. Marina stood there with her eyes wide open, and Elwen was right behind her.
"Greg, we felt a giant surge of magic and thought something was wrong!" Marina stopped when she saw Mira.
"Who is that?"
The spirit said happily, "I'm Mira! Master-forger-darling's newest work of art and loyal friend!"
"Master-forger-darling?" Elwen repeated the phrase, and her expression grew more complex. "Did you make a spirit servant, Greg?"
"I made a spoon for serving, and then it chose to become a person!" Greg ran his fingers through his hair. "This isn't what I meant to do."
"But it's what you did do," Mira said as she floated over to look at the workshop. "And I love it!"
"I love this place, I love that you made me, and I love that my job is to make people happy!" She picked up different tools and looked at them with interest. "But what I love the most is helping you, Master-forger-darling!"
"Please stop calling me that, it's starting to get on my nerves." Greg said.
"But that's who you are! You made me, you're my master, and you're so sweet!" Mira laughed. "It's the best name!"
Seraphine came in through the door again, her analytical look still on her face. "I saw strange magical things happening."
"What have you..." She stopped talking and stared at Mira. "Is that a spirit of manifestation?"
"Yes, I guess," Greg said tiredly.
"Interesting." Seraphine took out her notebook and started writing down her thoughts. "Creating a spirit takes a lot of magical power and emotional connection."
"You did it by accident while making cookware, which has never happened before. This will change the way we think about artifact animation forever."
"I don't want to change anything! I just wanted to make a spoon that would help." Greg fell into his chair.
"Why does everything I do always end up a mess!?" Greg starts to facepalm himself really hard.
"I'm not a mess!" Mira protested and floated over to pat his head. "I'm here to help! Watch!"
She snapped her fingers, and Greg's messy workshop started to clean itself up. Tools flew to their right places, materials sorted themselves by type, and half-finished projects lined up neatly on the workbench.
"Look! Useful!" Mira smiled with pride.
Marina said, "That is actually pretty useful."
"Don't encourage this," Greg said, but he was getting more and more resigned as he watched Mira.
"You said you were going to be a serving spoon at Lylia's restaurant. Shouldn't you be there?" Greg said that so she can get rid of her quickly.