Don't force me to use my right fist.

"Can't I have some hobbies? Are you expecting me to spend all my time researching my culinary disasters? You're not going to be attacked every day, and I've already assigned you two bodyguards, right? If it's really dangerous, you can contact me then." Sawa scratched his head.

Besides, that school is a place full of hidden talents; it won't hurt to interact with those guys more.

"Okay. I won't force you. I'll work in the student council office from now on. You said yourself that you have to protect my safety." Kaguya took a deep breath and finally chose to compromise. Just as Saya said, she couldn't restrict his freedom. Rather than letting him stay at school, it would be safer for her to stay at school herself. After all, she was, after all, the honorary president of the Sakuragi Student Council, even though she hadn't done any real work.

Chapter Ninety-Six: Magical Crafts

After discussing school rules with Kaguya for a while, Saya watched her leave the room and head towards her own. Once he was sure he didn't have anything else to do, Saya closed the door and went into the basement below. He had dug two levels into the basement; the upper level was for farming, and the lower level housed his kitchen and enchanting table.

However, this time, he had no choice but to dig even deeper. There was no other way; experimenting with that so-called magical craft in the real world would inevitably produce some flashy special effects—and if someone discovered it, that wouldn't be good.

However, it would be difficult to create a room underground that would be large enough for him to practice in. After all, he couldn't really choose to completely empty the basement of the Yuzaki family's house, could he? This was a place in Japan where earthquakes could happen at any time.

If he hollowed out the foundation, wouldn't it collapse in no time? To avoid a disaster like the demolition of the Yuzaki family's house, Saya decisively chose another absolutely safe and quiet place. At the dock near the old Hell Sanzu River, Komachi, who had also leisurely slept all day, rubbed her eyes and looked at the boy who walked out of the teleportation portal.

"Hey Saya-kun, do you really think of Hell as some kind of leisure place? How many times have you come here today?" Though she said this with a sarcastic tone, Komachi's face was full of enthusiasm. Talking and chatting with people was one of her hobbies, and she was overjoyed that Saya had come down.

"I just wanted to test something out here. After all, it's quiet and peaceful here, a good place to rest." Saya swung the bottle he'd taken from the Hazaki family's wine cellar at Komachi and strode towards her. No one seemed to care about this hellish place built here. Komachi didn't care about the existence of this illegal structure. Even if this door could still be used without Shiki's permission, she wouldn't have a second thought. She licked her lips with her little tongue. Komachi's eyes were practically bulging as she looked at the bottle in Saya's hand.

She hadn't smelled alcohol for years since the old hell was sealed off; this guy is still quite sensible.

"Use it as you please, as long as you don't fill in the Sanzu River, I won't interfere with anything else."

Komachi took the bottle of fine wine from Saya's hand. Eagerly lifting the cap and taking a deep breath of the aroma, she said with a look of pure bliss.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. By the way, did Four Seasons agree to what I asked last time? Is there any vacant land in this hellish place? Would you mind if I built a villa here?" Wihl

Saya waved his hand and took out a table and two chairs from his backpack. Seeing that Saya knew what he was doing, Komachi sat down without ceremony and gave Saya a thumbs up in praise.

"If you ask Lady Shiki about this, she definitely won't say whether she agrees or disagrees. As long as you don't commit a crime, she probably won't say anything if you create something normal in the Old Hell. At most, she might come to you later to lecture you."

Komachi raised an eyebrow at Wakasaya; her implication was clear.

In short, just build it first and think about it later; at most, you'll get a lecture.

"However, there's one thing you'll have to figure out yourself: there are absolutely no resources in Hell. Besides the spider lilies that never wither in this place, the only other thing left is the water from the Sanzu River."

"You can't exactly tear down the Hall of Right and Wrong, can you?"

As she poured herself a delicious glass of wine, Komachi gave Saya a hint.

"Well, all I need is a piece of land, or even none at all. I'll prepare the materials myself, and I guarantee it'll be even more beautiful than that 'Right and Wrong Hall' yours really lives in. This kind of thing might be quite difficult for others, but for Zuoyou, it's the easiest thing to conquer."

You know, Skyblock survival only requires a bucket of water and a bucket of lava, but you can still build a huge castle in the end, right? Blocky people are best at creating things out of nothing and building structures that would make Newton furious.

"Hey, you're not thinking of getting into real estate in Hell, are you? I heard from those vengeful spirits on the other side of the barrier that people like you who only want land are usually unscrupulous businessmen."

Komachi paused in her drinking, revealing that she had even gone to chat with vengeful spirits beyond the barrier when she was bored. She squinted at Wakasaya and asked...

"Do you think Lord Shiki would have acquitted me if I were that kind of capitalist?" Zuo Yu retorted irritably, not daring to take the blame for real estate development.

"That's fine. Didn't you say you wanted to come and test something? Let me take a look too, okay?"

Komachi thought about it and agreed. Saya didn't seem like the kind of cunning or treacherous person. If he were really guilty, she wouldn't even need to lift a finger; Lady Shiki would have happily carried him away long ago.

"Sure, this will give me some reference."

Sōyu nodded, stood up, and took out the book titled "An Analysis of Ancient Magic" from his backpack.

Judging from the fact that it has been installed since then, this should be a large mod. Although Zuoyou has played some magic-related mods before, he cannot guarantee that this one is the same as the ones he has played. As Zuoyou opened the book in his hand, a dense array of options appeared in his field of vision.

"Start customizing your first spell?" A blue bar marked with a number 100 appeared above the experience bar, and a prompt automatically popped up in the chat box in the lower left corner.

"Custom magic? Is this the type of mod? Well, the standard, formulaic ones aren't really suitable for my current situation." whl佐游 muttered to himself for a moment, then chose to continue.

Summon, Attack, Support – three icons appeared before Zuoyou's eyes, indicating the type of his first spell.

Sōyū tried it out and discovered that all three options could be selected multiple times. But thinking about it carefully, it made sense; combined magic was definitely cooler, wasn't it?

He tentatively chose an offensive spell, and a virtual magic circle appeared in Zuoyou's hand.

"Please fill in the materials for the magic theme."

A tutorial-like prompt popped up in the chat box in the lower left corner, and Zuoyou then discovered that he could fill the magic circle with items.

This is quite novel. Zuo You thought it would be like those novels where you communicate with the elemental cords of the world, but it turns out that you have to fill in the materials yourself to form the magic? He casually threw in a few stones. Since it's just a trial, Zuo You naturally chose the cheapest materials.

"Please add characteristic materials." This was a bit confusing for Zuoyou; what did "characteristic materials" mean?

Zuoyou tentatively tossed a sapling in and discovered that saplings in this interface had an additional "[Growth]" trait. So, it's based on the characteristics of Minecraft items? Then there are quite a few options.

"Please customize the spell trajectory." Only after Zuo You confirmed the materials did the interface transform into a bizarre 3D image. "Just casting a spell? Does it really need 3D modeling?"

He casually drew three straight lines, just for testing, no need to overcomplicate it. After Zuoyou completed the last step, a flash of light appeared, and a phantom magic circle separated from the book he had grabbed. It lay obediently in his backpack.

[Unnamed Magic 1]: Offensive magic. Recipe not saved. Increasingly puzzled, Sōyū took the magic circle from his backpack and held it in his hand. A strange range appeared in his field of vision, seemingly the distance this magic circle could cast.

"Please allocate magic power. (Note: The higher the magic power allocation, the greater the power and the longer the casting distance.)"

Looking at the prompt in the lower left corner, Zuoyou thought for a moment and then allocated twenty points from his one hundred magic points. He didn't know exactly how much one point of magic would increase his magic power, but he decided to give it a try.

"Brother Zuoyou, are you done yet? I'm getting a little impatient."

Komachi, who had been watching Wakasaya play something on the drum, urged him, "He's already had three cups of sake. Why hasn't he started yet?"

"Okay, almost done, let me try." Having completed the final step, Sōyū turned the magic circle toward the Sanzu River, aimed it at the center of the water, and then crushed it into pieces with a single stroke.

His magic power decreased by twenty points visibly. But in its place, a magic circle identical to the one that Sawa had crushed appeared beneath his feet. Then, three saplings made of stone seemed to grow out of the river, forming a strange shape on the riverbank. Moreover, their growth trajectory perfectly mirrored the two straight lines that Sawa had drawn.

If Komachi had been piloting the boat at that moment, she and the boat would probably have been thrown into the air by this rock that appeared out of nowhere.

Ah, this.

The gameplay took shape almost instantly in his mind; this so-called custom magic was truly designed entirely by himself.

But without a doubt, it is what he needs most right now.

Zuoyou estimated that given the speed at which those stones had grown, even an ordinary person wouldn't have much trouble dodging them. Looking at the sky-blue mana bar above his experience bar, Zuoyou understood that his next task would likely be to focus on increasing his mana. If he had enough mana, casting a meteor spell with his bare hands wouldn't be a problem, would it? From today onwards, becoming a mage would be a good start!

Chapter Ninety-Seven Experiment

"Is this what you're going to use for experiments? To put it bluntly, it's much weaker than I imagined."

Komachi had seen people use magic before, but someone as weak as Sawa was a first for her.

Yes, I think so too, but that's not the point. Being able to do this is already beyond my expectations.

Zuoyou lowered his head to look at the magic circle that had disappeared. This so-called magic, in addition to magic power, also required the consumption of materials that were put in, and it was only a one-time use item.

If there isn't a power that increases with the amount of magic applied, then the effect is indeed just so-so.

However, sometimes the strength of something cannot be judged solely by its power; practicality is also a very important factor.

To confirm his hypothesis, Zuoyou reconstructed a custom spell. wihl chose two types: support and attack. Zuoyou filled the spell circle with a piece of rotten flesh, and then added some gunpowder to the attribute field.

As for the area, Zuoyou simply filled in all the places that could be covered.

A brand new magic circle appeared in Zuoyou's palm. After he filled it with another twenty points of magic power, he crushed it in his palm.

A green wave exploded outwards from him, spreading directly to the surrounding area.

What did you do?

Seeing that Saya had revealed another new trick, Komachi tilted her head. Had it failed this time? Why was there no effect at all?

"Hmm, it's probably a group buff?" Zuoyou glanced at the 20-second Hunger I buff in his status bar, and nodded in satisfaction as his guess was confirmed.

Since it can support this kind of gameplay, it's even more useful than imagined. You know, it's very difficult for ordinary people to eliminate it. Looking at Komachi with expectant eyes, Saya wanted to know if even a god like her would be affected by this kind of thing.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Komachi took a step back, sensing a strange feeling in the guy's eyes.

"Gurgle~" A subtle sound came from the girl's stomach, and Komachi's face instantly lit up.

"You didn't hear anything, did you! It wasn't me, you were just hungry." Komachi sat back down in the chair Saya had placed there, covering her face. Why was she suddenly hungry? It had been so many years since she'd felt this way. Even a god like her could feel hunger?

"Well, actually, it's my fault." Seeing her suddenly reveal such a girlish side, Zuoyou scratched his face awkwardly before finally admitting the truth to her. There was no need to drag his friend down with him; he was happy to take the blame.

If the person in front of her is a god, but this buff still works on her, then Sayu's confidence is even greater.

"You're cheating me? That's so unfair! You even tricked me! I was wondering why I felt this hunger I hadn't felt in centuries. So it was you who did this!" Komachi pouted and complained to Saya, but her smile returned.

He had absolutely no need to admit it, but it has to be said that such honesty actually won her favor.

"However, to be fair, you've done quite well. I take back what I just said. At least in terms of support, you should have some talent."

While munching on some snacks on the table to stave off her hunger, Komachi once again critiqued the skill Saya had used.

"I think so too. Even if it's not used for attacking, its pure support effect should be quite good. Sawa, who also lacks any gentlemanly manners in his savage munching on pork chops, if he had had this mod beforehand, he wouldn't have been so helpless against so many Sadakos."

Just cast an AOE spell to poison or set off fire, and that'll be enough to give those guys a run for their money.

This skill doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, meaning that if other innocent people are present, the consequences need to be carefully considered. Another point to note is that Saya narrowed his eyes, noting that his mana had only recovered a tiny bit after such a long time. This recovery is also a problem; meaning that after a battle, he could probably only cast one or two spells before running out of mana. However, the flaws don't outweigh the merits. This mod has undeniably boosted his strength significantly, enabling him to execute many tactics that were previously impossible. Therefore, Saya was still very happy, and the smile on his face showed no sign of fading.

"Drinking and slacking off during work hours, didn't I say that's not allowed?" whl

A calm voice came from beside him, interrupting Sōyū's reverie, and even made Kōmachi sitting opposite him jump, freezing her in place.

"Um... Shiki-sama, what brings you here?" Komachi, who had just put down her wine cup, turned around cautiously. She looked at the short girl with green hair, whose expression resembled that of an elementary school student caught playing on her phone during class.

Instead of wondering why I came here, you should reflect on your own actions and see if you live up to your title as the ferryman of the Sanzu River.

The girl with the long, thin face tapped Komachi's head lightly with her shrimp-shaped stick before continuing her lecturing.

"It's all because of Saya-kun. He invited me for drinks, and I felt bad refusing. So I promptly dragged Saya along. Komachi didn't want to be the only one lectured by Shiki; they'd already shared drinks, so it was only right that she share the burden. Besides, she wasn't wrong; Saya really did have a share of the blame. Saya, who had been thinking of sneaking away, reluctantly turned around, bracing himself for the impending lecture. But Shiki only glanced at him sideways before walking over with steady steps."

"Sayonara-kun, could you accept one of my requests? This might be a bit difficult for you, but I'll definitely give you the appropriate reward." The expected lecture didn't happen. Shiki simply looked earnestly into Sayonara's eyes and then solemnly stated his request.

"Um, please speak freely?"

Zuo You scratched his head. Would a powerful woman like her ever entrust a newbie like him with a task? But thinking about how she had given him two crystals of kindness last time, Zuo You felt that he absolutely could not let such a good opportunity slip by.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Two Hundred and Ninety-Eight Favors

Saya slept very comfortably. Although he had been entrusted with something by Shiki, it did not affect his pleasant mood as he went to sleep.

Saya slept soundly through the night without any dreams. Without Sadako's curse and with Saya not bothering him to play, Saya's sleep quality was exceptionally high.