Chapter 314

No more than two steps later, Mila’s forehead smacked into a barrier, jolting her out of the trance. She stepped back with a displeased frown, only to meet Lev’s flat stare.

“What?” she questioned.

“That lightning you see took down a Nure,” Lev replied with a notch of exasperation. “The same Nure that happened to be significantly higher in level than what the reports suggested. Are you sure you want to mess with it without any preparations?”

“Wait, it was you?” the younger girl voiced, then turned a bit timid. “You’re a crafter as well?”

“By the virtue of my element, yes,” Lev answered, pausing when Mila started summoning tools. The first was a large rod, downright submerged in runes and glowing with mana. She just threw it at him.

Grabbing it with a floating barrier hand, he got the hint and slowly brought the rod closer to the white orb. It took a bit of shuffling with the enchantments to allow the tool to come in contact with the lightning. Immediately, several things happened.

Enchantments came alive on the rod, dragging the crackling element inside. Several beeps echoed in the hall, accompanied by a multitude of pulses.

“Woah, boy am I glad that you didn’t let me touch it,” Mila remarked with a big smile very much at odds with the potential danger she had just escaped. “Are you guys seeing this?”

“Extremely volatile,” the smith remarked. “Even more so than I expected.”

“It is supposed to be,” Lev added. He had to resist the urge to gulp when they all gave him their full attention. “I forced the evolution to be as lethal as possible. There are even properties comparable to frost and acid in it now.”

“You are a combatant, after all,” Mila mused, sitting back down after retaking the rod.

“Significantly higher in level than what the report suggested, you say?” the Master enchanter interjected. “Are you willing to discuss more about the monster and what abilities it displayed?”

Lev nodded slowly. “Sure.”

“Excellent. The Nure are quite interesting, you see. They display way more skills than the average monster, and they also excel at every aspect of their class. It is not normal. Not even close. Massive mana reserves, extreme physical strength, long-range capabilities, the ability to swim through stone, create it, and also manipulate it freely. There’s just too much packed into them—”

“You can discuss all of that later,” the blonde crafter cut off the enchanter. Then he turned to Lev. “Hunter Lev, are you the winner of the last tournament?”

“That would be me.”

“The same hunter who was caught in the mess in front of Windkeep?”

“…That would also be me.”

“And you also faced a fourth-threshold creature during the recent storm and survived while carrying Adepts?”

“…Yes?”

“And you just defeated a third-threshold creature closer to level 600 by yourself to evolve lightning?”

“Correct.”

“Holy shit…” the man backed off, sinking into his couch with a lost look on his face. By now, everyone was looking at Lev with varying levels of admiration and nervousness. “You’re that guy, and you’re not even trying to downplay any of the rumors. What about the other ones? Are you close with Princess Isabella? Wait, sorry, just blurting out things at this point. Please ignore that—”

“There you are,” commented a fire princess, as if summoned through dark magic. The timing was beyond uncanny. Lev was immediately on full alert, prepared for bad news. “Oh hey, already making a name for yourself? It hasn’t even been half an hour.”

“How the hell did you even find me?”

“People talk,” Isabella grinned, enjoying his discomfort. “And I also met Beatrice. It’s not my first time here.”

Before any of the present crafters could get up or greet her, she waved a hand to set them at ease.

“I came here for a reason, though,” Isabella continued. “The Runic Warlord said he will be taking the container with him. It will be returned to you when the center of the new land has been secured and fortified.”

My Equalizer… Lev lamented silently, not surprised but still a bit saddened. How am I going to treat my barriers for the items, now?

Before, he could just chuck them in a small container with the Equalizer and recreate them to the best of his ability against the destabilization waves. It was almost as potent as the third-threshold treat sap. Robbed of that option, though, he would have to request other methods. Or perhaps just decent sap.

“Alright,” he said aloud. Not like the Exalted was asking for permission, so there wasn’t anything else to say. “Is that all?”

“Yep, have fun,” she replied in a singsong voice, marching out just as quickly as he had come.

…

Well, this is awkward… Lev pushed his Perception and discreetly scanned the reactions of everyone present. They had a million and one questions, right at the tip of their tongues. It was also becoming readily apparent how they passed the time in this workshop.

I’m surrounded by gossipers.

He could see it clearly in their twinkling eyes. All the new things they could learn and discuss for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately for them, however, Lev had no desire to fuel their flames.

“Is there anything else you want to test against the lightning?” he voiced, much to their disappointment. “It is rather difficult to create constantly.”

Mila took the lead again, summoning an array of tools. From devices that scanned the density of mana in the element to wands that would attempt to control it. There was no shortage of experiments.

“How costly is the element?” the Master enchanter asked, bringing out an enchanted notebook. “If you’re comfortable discussing that, of course.”

Lev considered for a moment, then decided to answer. No point in hiding it. “Depends on what you count as cost. It needs mana, stamina, and a steady infusion of willpower. That’s not even mentioning the focus required to contain and manipulate it.”

“Fascinating,” the enchanter replied with stars in his eyes. The following conversation went on for a while until everyone was chipping in, too entranced by the white lightning to hold back their curiosity.

****

Lev’s reserved chamber for crafting was, unsurprisingly, massive. It was also heavily enchanted. He looked around in wonder, finding several testing dummies next to the furthest wall and three large panels to the side, displaying several statistics that updated in real time.

“Are you familiar with the Illusion Panels? They’re a recent invention, finalized as we were being transported here,” Mila said, accompanying him for the introductions.

“Similar to viewing crystals?” Lev guessed.

“Correct, except they’re bound to the enchantments in this chamber. What you see right now are mana density, heat index, and overall safety measures. If anything on the third screen starts turning orange, please evacuate immediately after filling out this middle rune,” she finished while gesturing at a group of four painted runes on the bottom corner of the panel. As explained, the middle one was bigger than all others combined.

“The other display options are for the dummies and the results of testing, the safety nets surrounding the crafter, which is you, and the mana output and stability of items. The rest of the runes will allow you to shift between them. For starters, the dummy displays have standard results already installed into them. You can compare your items with them, while also…”

Lev nodded and assented whenever appropriate, absorbing the information. It would’ve been a bit overwhelming if it wasn’t all so interesting. He was finally getting a chance to properly test himself against pure crafters, albeit indirectly with the dummies. That was going to be fun.

Some time later, Mila left him to his devices after telling him everything useful. At all times, several wards surrounded Lev while he was in the chamber, which was also enclosed by transparent white barrier walls, quite similar to science fiction movies from Earth. Similar to the few labs he had seen, at least.

There was a lot to poke and explore, but he was more interested in something else. From the couches, the other crafters were also watching him, already having an inkling of what he wanted to test first.

How much can I safely reveal here? Lev wondered, looking at the nearest gray metal dummy gleaming under the white lights. Stargazer is out of the question, and so is my armor. I guess I’ll just test the sharpness and penetration power for now. Maybe the glaive when no one’s around, though all data may be recorded somewhere.

The chances of that were low, but he wasn’t willing to put his faith in them.

Putting the future out of his mind, he formed a small dagger. Nothing special in sharpness or durability, he would put it at the level of a beginner Adept weapon. It clinked off the head of the dummy a moment later, thrown lazily.

There was a pause, and a second later, numbers appeared on the largest panel after he switched it to dummy testing. Lev inspected the results with a raised brow, digesting the format.

So it automatically detects the closest “standard preset” of strength and penetration power. The dagger comes out to… poor, even compared to a peak Classer weapon. I see.

The same dagger flew behind Lev, then launched itself at the dummy from maximum range. Like a gong, it shattered upon impact, though not before producing a rather impressive result.

Close to a good Uncommon weapon. Viable up to level 175, provided that the opposing monsters aren’t focused on Constitution and resilience.

Not too shabby. A bit lower than expected, yet still nothing to scoff at. Without proper designing and enchantments, the dagger wasn’t even worth using. It still ranked quite well in the… whatever system was deployed to calculate what the panels displayed. It was probably akin to a database, though Lev didn’t know anything about them beyond what the name suggested.

More importantly. He walked up to the dummy and recreated the same dagger. How does it calculate this stuff?

Through the pressure put on the enchantments, it turned out. The more something stressed the runes, the higher the result. That suggested a very concrete limit on what the dummy could perceive, but he couldn’t have cared less. The application was masterful and impressive, no doubt only possible due to class runes.

It also revealed why such technology was suddenly sustainable. Similar to the discovery in mapping that had sparked the conquest of the plains in the first place, the chamber was also surrounded by crystals that recorded things efficiently. Lev couldn’t be truly certain about whether it was the same application, but he was still reasonably sure about the guess.

Very nice.

With a large smile, he recreated the Rare variant of Stargazer from memory. With some mental gymnastics, the durability and barrier sharpness were recreated perfectly, at which point he began beating up the dummy.

It took every strike like a champ. Numbers flashed on the panels repeatedly, adjusted according to the assault. The highest and lowest results, as well as the average, were displayed neatly, leaving no room for doubts.

Low Rare item, he mused. Viable for monsters up to level 210, provided they’re not too durable. I suppose that makes sense without the enchantments.

With enchantments, that jumped to level 260-310, a good Rare weapon. By now, he could tell that the dummy was also feeling the impacts, which was somewhat disappointing. He wouldn’t be able to test some truly strong items on it.

And here I was trying not to bring out Stargazer. She would’ve literally cleaved the dummy in two.

Still, it was looking quite promising for the duration of his contract, which was also rather flexible. Lev doubted he was going to be using the lab for more than a few months. That just happened to be a rather perfect timespan to work on his foundations and earn some meaningful rewards.

For another aspect, he covered the panels with his barriers, then fired a lightning bolt from his arm. The reaction this time was more intense. From all sides, enchantments controlled the damage, thoroughly covering the panels.

Lev just healed the minor burns he received under the armor. Result calculations took a while longer this time, displayed after ten seconds.

Enough power to kill a troll commander. Damn, how do they even have the exact data for that?

Impressed and satisfied, Lev reluctantly tore himself away from the dummy and motioned for the crafters. They arrived in his chamber, noses scrunched at the smell of ozone.

“I kind of forgot to ask this before, but what are my tasks going to be for the current orders?” Lev began.

“As it stands?” the Enchanter answered. “Nothing. We’re ahead of schedule. The backup storage is also bursting with finished items.”

“How about we compare your barriers to our usual materials first?” Mila suggested. “That way, we can integrate them into our blueprints however suitable.”

That works.

A minute later, they were all seated on barrier chairs. The first test, naturally, was of sharpness. Lev’s weakened and unenchanted dagger against another weapon with a similar dummy testing rating.

Mila summoned a plain hide from her storage artifact. Putting it on a barrier tray, the first comparison was a simple stab. The smith did so to great effect, causing a small tear in the hide.

Lev didn’t use his hands. His barrier dagger floated by itself and cut the leathery surface with a little difficulty.

“Noticeable resistance,” the enchanter commented. “I’d estimate the arcane dagger to be about 15% less sharp.”

“How much can you improve it?” the blonde crafter asked.

Lev considered his answer and settled for underselling his class. “Quite a bit, still. Probably until Level 250 or so.”

In reality, though, a perfectly formed dagger from him would kill most second-threshold monsters below level 350, given enough time.

So, they began upgrading the hide and the weapons to compare the arcane variant against. And during all of that, Lev forgot to consider that he was creating whole daggers from scratch in blinks. Same daggers that matched Rare weapons without missing a beat.

It ended in a bunch of memorable incredulous expressions.