Draco woke up to the pleasant sight of Hikari and Eva curled around him, with Eva drooling and Hikari snoring. He couldn't help but smile when he saw two of the most physically attractive women - in both timelines he had lived - sleeping so soundly.
Draco kissed both of them on the forehead and blinked out of their embrace so that he wouldn't disturb them.
He then went down to the pantry to get some usefulness out of the cook. Just like his colleagues, he was a Master Rank NPC.
He asked for the fellow to teach him a Common-tier recipe for breakfast, called Eggs and Bread. Draco immediately learned it and decided to give the two women a sumptuous breakfast before the training began.
Draco cracked some eggs into a bowl and ground a High-Grade Aether Crystal into a powder. Instead of salt, he used the ground crystal to season the eggs before beating them thoroughly.
The color of the eggs went from a bright yellow to a languid blue-green. That was certainly a weird color for beaten eggs, but Draco knew that it had something to do with the Aether Crystal.
Then, he took some flour as well as sugar and a slight bit of butter, then measured them carefully. All wet and dry ingredients were specifically measured by individual weight.
When all ingredients were accurately measured and lined up in order of use, as well as all tools and equipment were ready, Draco began the second step in the bread-making process.
He combined the ingredients into a smooth, uniform dough. He made sure that the yeast and other ingredients were evenly distributed through the dough.
He then allowed the dough to ferment. After it had risen enough, he began to degas the dough.
The dough was then kneaded into its final shape, and placed in the bread pan.
He put the dough through one final fermentation. It rose by 82% percent of its overall volume, which was impressive.
Draco then placed the dough in the oven. It was a contraption of a Grandmaster Engineer, which meant that it was Legendary. It was clear why these Master Rank Tradeskill masters coveted the Castle.
If one could work with Legendary Rank tools, they could become a Grandmaster with enough effort.
The baked bread was taken out of the oven after 15 minutes and allowed to cool. Draco then returned to handling the eggs, by heating the frying pan thoroughly and placing a layer of butter in the pan to prevent sticking.
When he poured the eggs in, the mixture reacted strongly and the pan shook. Draco frowned and controlled it as best as he could, but it was quite hard.
He was able to add Aether to the Rice and Tomato stew easily because he did it towards the end, not at the beginning. Since the Aether had fundamentally mixed into the eggs, it had become something else entirely.
Draco controlled the fire and decided to try a different method. He continually used his spatula to break up and eggs and separate them.
The quick action was further aided by his Body of Godliness and his Void of Perfection, which gave him an almost perfect mechanical accuracy. As a result, he was able to scramble the eggs in a matter of seconds, which greatly reduced the backlash from using Aetheric Energy.
It took him about 5 minutes to fry the eggs into a perfect blend of light blue, with a slightly yellow glaze. Draco then cleaned the eggs off the pan and into three different plates, before going to the bread.
He hadn't added any Aetheric Energy to it because Draco knew his limits. Why did he use Aetheric Energy in only the completion stage of Alchemy? Why didn't he used it in the action stage, and rather used Worldly Energy instead?
It was because he was still too low in terms of his Tradeskill Ranks to try that. Alchemy and Blacksmithing were not simple Tradeskills like Cooking. If you failed in Cooking, the worst result was that you ended up with a burnt plate of food.
If you messed up in Blacksmithing or Alchemy, you could die from the ensuing explosion.
Look at how Draco's arm shattered every time he hammered an Epic ingot. If he added Aetheric Energy into the mix as well, wouldn't that be begging for death?
Not to mention that his State of Being had been greatly reduced. He could manipulate his own Aether Crystals because they came from his body, but only in very small quantities.
It was through Enchanting that he even found out about Aetheric Energy being able to greatly strengthen crafted items. It turned what should have been Semi-Epic or Epic Enchantments to Legendary ones that bordered on Divine.
Draco's direct promotion to the first Grandmaster of this age stemmed from using Aether Crystals instead of Soul Stones opened up a completely new field in this era. It functioned better than Soul Stones and boosted greater effects.
In essence, Draco's accomplishment was no less important than transitioning from the bronze age to the iron age.
The problem was the cost and rarity of the material, but that wasn't factored into the assessment. Even Soul Stones themselves were not easily available, but they naturally weren't as costly as Aether Crystals.
Yet when Draco had used it in the completion stage of Alchemy, he didn't get any such benefit, only ending up with an enhanced potion. Why?
It was because using an Aether Crystal to collect a potion was neither new nor unique. This was a stage where one had to use Worldly Energy to collect their prepared potion and then house it.
Without a doubt, some Grandmaster or Master Rank Alchemists had tried this. Alchemy was a field that brought more riches than Blacksmithing or even any Epic Tradeskill on its own.
Draco might not even be able to jump to Grandmaster for Blacksmithing and Alchemy due to their circ.u.mstances. As explained before, there were very few enchanters in the world, and the Tradeskill didn't pay out enough to afford Aether Crystals.
Let's not forget, one low-grade Aether Crystal was valued at 1,000 platinum apiece. Draco normally used either medium grade or High-Grade Aether Crystals, so the value was naturally much higher.
So, Draco thought that if he used an Aether Crystal for a relatively meager Tradeskill like Cooking, he could become a Grandmaster. He turned out to be correct, and the application was similar to how he did for Enchanting.
Too bad, he did not account for the fact that all slots had already been filled out.
He used the Crystal near the end and got something Legendary, though the jump for Cooking was greater than in Enchanting, but that was a given.
How could one compare Cooking to Enchanting? The difficulty of the two fields was not on the same level. Any Tom, D.i.c.k, and Harry could cook in this world, but how many could Enchant?
Draco looked forward to attempting Brewing. It was likely that a clever implementation there could make him a Grandmaster. He couldn't help but smirk wickedly as he thought about his sure-fire shortcut.
His smile faded away when he realized that his disgraceful - and frankly immoral - shortcut to Grandmaster Rank wouldn't mean dogshit to Advanced and Epic Tradeskills.
It only worked with Common Tradeskills aside from Alchemy or Blacksmithing. Draco also couldn't learn every Tradeskill under heaven.
He had limited slots - as did every player - otherwise wouldn't he have learned all the Common Rank Tradeskills and exploited this cheat for rewards?
He had chosen his current line-up carefully, from the three fundamentals for every combat player that was Blacksmithing, Alchemy, and Enchanting, the two basic, but crucial Tradeskills like Cooking and Brewing, the advanced Taming that would allow him to grow his Drake combat pet, which still had over 60 days remaining.
As for Tactics, Magical Engineering and the soon to come Scrivener, they were Tradeskills that were a must-learn at all costs. No explanation needed for why either.
Draco waited for the bread to cool and settle, then cut it into slices onto each plate before taking it all upstairs. There, he saw that Eva and Hikari had just woken up and were groggily rubbing their eyes.
He smiled warmly at both of them and brought the food over. The Sun Goddess and the White Dragoness perked up when they smelled the aroma, and their mouths began to water.
Draco laughed and gave them their plates. They laid into them without hesitation. He also chewed on his own food at the bar, inspecting it while checking out his rewards.
｢Eggs and Bread (Enhanced) – Consumable
Rank: Legendary (100% effectiveness)
Effect: Resist the <hunger> status for 3 days, and gain 300% Health regen for 1 day.｣
｢Congratulations on creating a new recipe: Eggs and Bread (Enhanced) (Legendary)
Rewards:
100% Exp
100% Tradeskill Exp
1,000 gold
100 reputation with the Tradeskill Association｣
As was natural with the system of Boundless, it was only the first time that was greatly rewarded. Every subsequent attempt would grant a notable, but relatively meager reward.
Of course, it was only meager to someone like Draco who was stretching his hands out into every field. Draco shook his head and placed the 100% experience into Pair Dadeni, bringing it to 17,600% of 50,000%.
After eating, the trio went into the super mini small world to bathe. Draco was treated to the lovely sight of a n.a.k.e.d Hikari and Eva washing each other down and fooling around in the water.
Eva even showed Hikari her light-based techniques, which was amazing to the White Dragoness. She exclaimed that Riveting Night was even better than her Supreme-Rank Light Dragon older sister and that she might be on par with her God-Rank Dragon mother, which made Eva puff her chest with pride.
The three eventually finished bathing and went to the courtyard. Zaine was already there, being carefully inspected by Richmond in a non-s.e.x.u.a.l manner.
"Hm, hm. A pureblood Royal Devil? You must be one of Mephisto's daughters, from the looks of it you seem to be the younger one. What are you doing in the human world? Especially with my herald? Do you want his genetics?"
Richmond's question was a bit pervasive, but Zaine wasn't bothered. They both knew Draco and co were here, but Zaine still spoke honestly.
"Yes. A child between a unique Royal Devil like Draco and myself would be even stronger than my father. He would become an instant candidate for the next Devil King."
Zaine's answer made Richmond nod. "Indeed, yet you will struggle to get it. His bloodline is extremely varied and the Devil aspect is just the general classification. Well, good luck."
Zaine nodded and stood to the side quietly, staring at Draco with unconcealed desire and want. Her eyes said that no matter what, she would do anything to bed him.
Draco simply smiled at Zaine amiably and walked up to Richmond. Before the old mage began their lessons, he stared at Hikari for a bit with a strange expression, then at Draco.
Without saying a word, he shook his head and began today's lesson.
"You have made great strides in your control of Cause and Effect. However, it must be accompanied by the knowledge of how to trigger it. As such, we will first begin with a little lesson of the theory of magic before resuming your cause and effect practicals."
Richmond said this and sat on the ground, gesturing for Draco to do the same. After the two were seated, he began drawing on the ground while speaking at the same time.
"To move the elements of the world into a spell, one must first understand what constitutes the elements. If you want to turn Worldly Energy into a fireball through cause and effect, you have to know what makes up a fireball and how to form it."
"Cause and effect cannot help much here, because the will requires a vessel. So now, we are going to learn how to make that vessel."
Richmond had finished doodling two different shapes, a square box, and a circle.
"There are two methods, which is the Box or the Sphere. For the Box, you envision the shape of your construct as a Box and fill it up with your gathered resource, along with your knowledge and will, to form a spell. The Sphere follows a similar method."
"The reason why these two outlines are different is because the Box is more suitable for defensive or support spells while the Sphere is more suitable for offensive or destabilizing spells."
Richmond tapped on his drawing of the Sphere. "We will begin with the Sphere today. You seem to cater more towards the aggressive side of things, so this should feel easier for you. To effectively create an offensive spell, using the Sphere is the way to go. First, envision a circular ball made of whatever material, whether metal, liquid or air."
"Then, infuse your fundamental knowledge of the elements into the sphere, along with your will. Your will here needs to take on the role as the controller of the spell, which allows you to decide how it will attack the enemy, travel or even form."
"Your knowledge of the elements will be engraved onto the spell and effectively form its nature. Without the knowledge of the elements, your spell will become natureless, being nothing but a raw attack of mana. As you know, such spells are rated as the lowest, even in objective magic."
"Once that is done, you will fuel the spell with whatever resource you can control, whether it is Worldly Energy or Aetheric Energy. The resource you use will decide the raw power of the spell."
"If you have completed all the stages, your spell will be ready to fire. Let me give you a step by step demonstration." Richmond offered while bringing his palm up.
Draco immediately activated the Eyes of Caelo and stared at Richmond's palm.
He saw a spherical shape form on his palm that had no concrete outline. It hovered above Richmond's palm languidly.
"The Outline."
The sphere suddenly shivered as various runes were carved onto it with Richmond's will. Draco's eyes widened when he saw those runes, because they were the same ones used for Runemaking and Enchanting.
"The knowledge of the elements."
Then, a thin wisp of grayish light parted from Richmond and enveloped the sphere, re-arranging how everything was made.
"The will."
Suddenly, Worldly Energy poured in from everywhere that filled up the sphere to the brim. When it was closed off and everything meshed together, a fireball sprouted on Richmond's palm.
"The resource."
Richmond waved his hand and sent the fireball flying at Hikari, who easily caught it and held it in her hands with a curious expression. It wasn't hot all, just warm enough to give her a pleasant feeling.
"This is the step by step process for the formation of a spell. The knowledge section is what we'll be learning today. As you saw, the runes required for the spell engraving are extremely complex, so they will take up time."
Draco raised his hand and stopped Richmond. "No need. I have become a Grandmaster of Enchanting, so I know all the runes that exist."
Richmond was stunned. He had known that Draco had achieved a great merit back then when he got the Icarus Heart. However, just like when Draco had made the Dragon's Blessing potion, the NPCs didn't know exactly what he did.
Richmond laughed. "Since you say so, the time it will take to teach you the fundamentals of subjective magic will be reduced drastically. That is great!"
｢System to Player Announcement
The time frame for the 'Sword and Sorcery' Legendary Quest has been reduced to 10 days.｣
Amazing. It meant that 30 days were scheduled for the impartation of the knowledge of the elements. That naturally made sense and was unreasonable at the same time.
It made sense because teaching the runes of magic in Boundless took a hefty amount of time. How could such a thing be done in a few days?
At the same time, it was unreasonable because… ah? How could one teach all those runes in 30 days?
Look, there was the Insight passive skill and Draco's Control, fine, but it took him over 7 in-game years - at the least - to master all those runes. How did Richmond expect to teach it all in 30 days?
Was he going to crack Draco's skull open, pour a juice made of runes into his brain and hope it stuck?
Anyway, it was no longer relevant since Draco's reincarnator privileges had - once again - made something difficult become significantly easier for him.
"We'll continue with your cause and effect practicals then. We can take things at leisure and focus on practicals for now, since you already have the knowledge of the elements."
Draco nodded and stood up.
Truthfully, he had assumed the knowledge of the elements would be an esoteric and incredibly profound topic where they would discuss the origin of the elements, how they interacted, how they worked individually and their most minute structures.
However, that was for a place like the Xianxia section of Boundless. This was the Western Fantasy, and such esoterism was not normal. It was why runes were heavily used in most Western Fantasy magic, as well as incantations.
Then again, the runes were extremely complex, and finding how they would work together was an art in its own right. So, it sort of balanced each other out. Draco's 7 in-game years of struggling to learn the runes weren't wasted.
Draco paused for a bit before he attempted to use cause and effect. It was due to something he experienced yesterday, which was the relationship between State of Being and the world.
Thanks to his Eyes of Caelo, he was able to see how the tendrils of Riveting Night and Hikari how influenced the world, which was not something anyone without divine eyes could see.
Draco modified his cause and effect significantly in light of this. It was a suspicion he held that there was a possible method to acquire the ability to affect the world with will without relying on the tendrils of the State of Being.
'Because I am a Black Dragon, Worldly Energy gathers into a ball before me.'
At first, the world stilled for a split second. Then as Draco pushed his will through his cause and effect implementation, Worldly Energy gathered into a ball before him in torrents.
Soon, a large ball of Worldly Energy gathered before him for a split second before Draco's eyes began to spin and he fell to the ground weakly.
However, there was a victorious smile on his face.
He had finally found his own theory of cause and effect.