Valerie gazed at Yuri with a raised eyebrow. "What was this magic pottery thing you were speaking of?"

Yuri's eyes blinked on and off. "Yes, My Lady. I figured out a way that I could make something for you while furthering my understanding of mana. In order to reach proficiency with magic, I thought of this way to utilize a regular humanoid skill. Pottery is one of the oldest humanoid creations, and I was inspired by Administrator Bery's paintings."

The dragoness nodded. "That is quite an intelligent way of thinking. I would like to see how you make this pottery."

"Me too," Bery said.

Yuri nodded her stone head and looked at the other two. Though, both of them shook their head. It seemed they'd had enough of the robot's jokes for one day. The robot shrugged both her stone and wooden arm at the same time.

"Well then, if you would both follow me please."

Valerie took her kitten's hand, and both of them were led back downstairs towards Yuri's room. They entered through the metal door, but Valerie's eyes widened on entry.

The place looked completely different than it had before. The old bed was gone, and the place extended even further. The light fixtures on the ceiling glowed more vibrantly, and they no longer flickered. New metal walls were put up, and more doors were erected to divide parts of the place.

Valerie looked at it all with a wry smile. "You know, I never said that you could do all of this. Not that I really mind."

Yuri bowed. "I apologize, My Lady. If you would like I could ask for permission next time."

The dragoness shrugged. "There is really no need to do that. I am surprised is all. I didn't expect that you'd have time to do something like this. Be careful, though. Do you realize how much this type of thing would have a profound impact on the world?"

Yuri nodded. "Yes, My Lady. I realized it before I started construction. However, I have no plans to expand this type of building at any time."

Bery reached up and pat the golem. "I think it's great that you've found time to do things you enjoy. You are free, after all. You can do whatever makes you happy."

Valerie looked once again at Yuri with a raised eyebrow. The golem's stone cheeks adopted a red tint somehow. "What's that all about?"

"Yes, My Lady," Yuri said, "I changed my program to include a reddening of the cheeks. I have noticed when watching others that such things are normal. It happens to Administrator Bery a lot, and the other two had the same impulse. This is a response that I've deemed would make me more humanoid."

Valerie grinned and pet Yuri with her kitten. "It's normal for daughters to want to be like their parents, after all. It makes me happy that you would take after Bery."

Bery's face adopted a similar tint as Yuri. "Hey, we were supposed to be seeing her pottery, remember?"

"Of course," Valerie said with a chuckle.

"Acknowledged."

Yuri turned away from them and led them towards another metal door. They entered a hallway with several rooms. It was clear that the golem hadn't had enough time to work on this place. The light fixtures remained off, and much of the wall was incomplete. It had bits of regular stone and moss growing on it.

A door opened for the golem as she approached and a small stone room presented itself. In one side of the large room, a bunch of vases sat completed. Many of them were simply grey or brown, and Valerie could tell which ones were the older ones. They were less smooth, and pieces of clay coiled around more like a worm than a piece of pottery.

In the center of the room, there was a stone table with other metal attachments and lights at the bottom.

Valerie would be the first to admit that she couldn't guess how any of it worked. If there was some underlying magical principle, it would be easy for the dragon to understand, yet this was completely different in nature.

Bery gasped at the construction. "What is this?"

Yuri nodded and placed her wooden hand on top of the circular stone block. "This is a turntable powered by electricity. I have analyzed that my current body is capable of both nature and earth magic. I rerouted some of the electricity of the star ship into this room, and I engineered a table that spins on its own. Observe."

The golem pressed a stone button, and the table began to come to life. It began spinning on its own, and then Yuri channeled her Earth magic.

She created a piece of mud, and dropped it on the center of the spinning stone. Her stone hand changed its shape to become like a club, and it started to hollow out the center. Meanwhile, the golem's wooden hand became sharper, and she channeled nature magic to coat her hand with a green hue.

"I have calculated that efficiency is one of the most important parts of magic. By using less magic power and more fundamental principles, there is less waste." She pressed her sharp wooden hand against the surface of the mud and began cutting it into shape. "Normally, this process would create enough friction to make heat, and the result would be a burning of my hand."

Valerie shook her head in disbelief. She looked towards her kitten, but Bery was equally astonished. The dragoness figured that she might need to rethink Yuri entirely. This golem is much smarter than any mage. Rather, her curiosity is what makes her so intelligent.

The golem continued her instruction. "You see, My Lady, this is how I was able to learn efficiency in magic. By doing pottery, I can engage multiple different spells at once, and it trains my program to use less magic power."

Valerie nodded, and her eyes became like flames. The dragoness observed the mana surrounding Yuri with astonishment. She channeled magic down her wooden arm and formed a protective shield. How did she even learn that protection magic? Did Emary teach it to her?

And Yuri's other arm channeled Earth magic to reinforce the vase being erected.

"Yuri," the dragon said, "why do you stop at a certain level of reinforcement? Why not make it stronger. If that was the case, they'd have not been able to break the vase."

The golem nodded. "Forgive me, My Lady, but if I did something like that, it would not be pottery. Moreover, this idea goes against being efficient. It requires more focus to make it less strong." Yuri finished the vase in question and powered off her spinning stone. "I still have no way to cool off fresh creations." She walked towards the edge of the room with one of her older vases and then dropped it on the hard stone floor. "See? it doesn't break."

Valerie observed the vase as it bounced and didn't shatter. It was true that the vase was stronger, yet it lacked intricacy. It lacked artistic value in the way the newer vase had. The dragoness found herself even more astounded.

"Does the artistic value of the pottery matter to you, Yuri?"

The stone golem nodded. "Artistic value is deemed as an important mission for humanoids. Without many artisans or artists of the past, humanoids would not be able to look so fondly in their recognition. Moreover, others become inspired by the works of those people and create something new."

The dragoness nodded in agreement. "Yet, how does that make you feel? Is there a feeling associated with that?"

"As usual, Lady Valerie is quick on the uptake. The truth is that this inspires something within my circuits. I find myself calculating why this is. I was programmed to replicate the emotions of humanoids, but I was not programmed to feel them. However, this jolt inside of my system is uncertain, but it makes me want to do more."

Bery grinned. The kitten walked forwards and hugged Yuri. "I think it's great that you've found something you love doing."

Yuri reached down with her wooden hand and patted Bery. Her eyes flashed off and on. "Something I love doing? Yes, perhaps Administrator Bery is the correct one, after all."

Valerie nodded. "Sometimes Bery is the most wise in these matters. Indeed, I think you should cherish pottery. If you like doing it, then continue doing it."

"Perhaps this change was brought on by magic?"

Bery shook her head. "I think you've always had this inside of you. Did you really think that you were a cold and unfeeling piece of metal?"

"How can Administrator Bery be sure. My programmers…"

"You keep talking about your programmers. You keep acting as if nothing you've done was decided for yourself. As if it was all a forgone conclusion, yet you disobeyed your programmers. You said that you would only make a place to store Valerie's gold, yet here you are. You keep making jokes and making pottery."

"However…"

Bery shushed the golem. "Your life was not decided by some programmers. I would like to find these so called programmers, and tell them they were wrong!"

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