Ep. 1163 Summoning a Helper Part 4 (Patreon)

When we get downstairs, the kids are awake and waiting for us, but there is no sign of Bella. To avoid an uncomfortable situation, I ask Lin to go and wake Bella up. It takes a while, but eventually Lin comes back leading a hungover looking Bella.

However, the closer Bella walks to me, the better she looks, I guess my aura works on hangovers. That would explain why Lin has never had one no matter how much she drank. By the time Bella reaches the table, she looks as good as new, so I serve breakfast.

Bella says "Are you going to want me to tattoo you after breakfast?"

"First, I need to make you a tattoo gun. I already have the ink, but I wanted to wait to get your input. I understand the basics of how a tattoo gun works, but I don't know the details. I am going to use magic to cheat, so I need you to tell me everything that you want it to do."

Bella says "Anything I want? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Completely serious. It will probably take me about an hour to make it, then we can do the tattoo."

Bella is all sorts of excited as she starts describing her dream tattoo gun. Once she is done listing off everything, I realize that I am going to have to use top quality materials. That is the only way it is going to have enough capacity for all the enchantments.

It wouldn't have even been possible before the recent improvements to my enchantments. I am still not sure if I am going to be able to put that many on one item, but I will try. As soon as I am done eating, I head down to my workshop and get to work.

Bella stays upstairs for now, Lin is having the kids answer her questions. It not only helps them get to know each other, but it allows Lin to test their knowledge. That is taking the place of their lesson for today, not that they seem to mind.

Bella is also answering their questions about my world, which they never seem to run out of. I have spent hours answering their questions and even shown them my world in the soulscape. Yet they always have more, it is nice to have someone else to deal with them for once.

Making the tattoo gun turns out to be easy enough, but some of the enchantments are hard. Especially the healing spell, it needs to heal the wound without removing the ink. That way, the tattoo will be healed as soon as it is done and won't need any aftercare.

To hold the ink, I create a small crystal vial and enchant it with a similar enchantment to the pouch. This way, it will create ink and never run out, but in making it I get a song stuck in my head. As I work on the next enchantment I find myself humming a song about a little glass vial.

Unfortunately, the original design ends up not having enough capacity so I have to add more materials. It makes the tattoo gun a little heavier than I wanted, but it should still work. It ends up taking longer than I expected and I barely finish before lunchtime.

When I head upstairs, I take the tattoo gun with me and hand it to Bella. Then I sit down and take out a large spread of breakfast dishes for everyone. I wait until everyone is sitting down and has started eating before I start talking.

"Okay, the needle will move as long as you hold down the trigger. It will never run out of ink and the color that comes out will be whatever you are thinking at the time. You will need to be careful and make sure your mind doesn't wander. The tattoo will heal as you do it, but it won't affect the ink. The only limitation is the mana needed. The gun can only hold a small amount of mana, maybe enough for twenty minutes of use."

Bella says "So, I can only use the gun for twenty minutes at a time? How long for it to recharge? What can I do to increase the time?"

"Yeah. It will recharge in about five minutes. Once you have mana of your own, you can supply mana to the gun to increase the time."

Bella says "Okay. How long until I can have mana of my own?"

Lin says "I should be able to start you on the path of a mage with just a couple of days of training. You won't have very much mana at first, but practice will increase it. In fact, using up your mana repeatedly using the gun should be really good training."

Bella says "Alright. So, who gets to be the guinea pig?"

"That would be me. We can start as soon as we are done eating."

Bella says "Sure!"

Once everyone is done eating, the kids leave to go explore the shadow plane. Bella, Lin, and I head down to the workshop so that I can get the first tattoo. To do so, I have to revert to my normal form, which causes Bella to freak out again.

It takes her a few minutes to calm down and while I am waiting I shave a section of fur off. I have to focus and suppress my regeneration to prevent it from growing right back. Eventually, Bella starts the tattoo, but she stops after just a few seconds.

Bella says "The ink is too thick and too much is coming out. Can it be adjusted?"

"The amount of ink can be adjusted with that knob right there. The ink on the other hand I will have to remove and change the mixture. How thick should it be?"

The next hour is spent with me remaking the ink and Bella instructing me on what she needs. Once I finally have an ink that meets her requirements, we try again. This time she is able to work on the tattoo for the full twenty minutes until the gun runs out of mana.

"So, what do you think of it?"

Bella says "It's amazing! It makes this so easy! Do you have any idea how crazy this would make the tattoo artists in our world?"

"I'm glad you like it. Are there any changes you would like me to make to it?"

Bella says "No. It's perfect! With this, your tattoo will be done in two more sessions. Normally, a tattoo this detailed would take me hours of work."

While waiting the five minutes for the gun to recharge, Lin and Bella ask each other questions. Bella is asking Lin about magic and Lin is asking Bella about tattooing. Then, when the five minutes is up, Bella goes back to work while Lin watches.

Lin says "Does it hurt?"

"Nope. I don't feel it at all, but you probably will. I have a skill that makes me pretty much immune to normal pain."

Bella says "Really?! How do I get that skill??"

"By surviving pain that would kill most people. It is a great skill, but I don't recommend it."

Bella says "Oh."