Draco logged back into Boundless at around 8 am in the morning, in Boundless time. Hikari was fast asleep on the bed, her face locked into a sad expression as she huddled a little. It was clear that she was remembering the details of her trauma.
When Draco had remained with her, she had been able to overcome it easily, and even if only Eva were here, she would be greatly soothed. But without either one of them, she had been left alone to deal with her inner demons.
Eva immediately rushed towards Hikari's soft body and started cradling the woman gently. Almost immediately, Hikari's expression eased up and she snuggled closer to Eva.
It was a truly heartwarming sight, and even an evil bastard like Draco found tears forming at the corner of his eyes.
Two of the most beautiful women in existence were holding each other so closely, completely comfortable in each other presence, proving emotional and spiritual support to each other.
Smiling gently, Draco left the room and headed down to the crafting rooms of the castle. He had crafted a few Eternal Growth items, namely 8 of them.
He reasoned that this should be enough for the auction. Before that, he had crazily produced many Angel's Kiss and All-Sight potions. However, those were for the members of Umbra.
As for potions he would present in the auction, those would be worked on later. He had a few recipes he wanted to try and create. If it worked out, he could rake in a good haul in terms of Aether Crystals and rewards from the system.
Draco entered the engineer workroom, which was a large place with many workbenches and contraptions lying around. More than half of them were half-finished and gave the feeling of eccentricity.
The whole room felt like the resting place of a crazy scientist, making Draco smile with amus.e.m.e.nt.
Sitting in the center of the room, while completely focused on her work, was Genevieve, the level 80 Master Rank Engineer of the Rank 7 Castle.
She was a Rank 5 entity at almost level 250, and she was one of the most outstanding Tradekill NPCs in servitude under him.
However, it didn't change the fact that she looked like an 11-year-old girl, and was pretty cute with her bob cut and bright blue eyes. She was more like that adorable niece who one would always buy presents for, not an engineer who was almost a Grandmaster!
Draco watched her work silently without disturbing her, as she seemed to be meticulously placing a segment of a machine in a core slot. It was like a surgery process, where one had to cut along a certain section of the body.
The silence and severity made a stifling tension exist in the room, one that made it seem like a sin to even think too loudly.
Soon enough, Genevieve was done and her contraption came to life. It was a miniaturized water purifier, one that took in filthy water and distilled it carefully to produce clean water for drinking and bathing.
This was a common device in the real world, but in this medieval setting, it was likely to be an Epic or even Semi-Legendary contraption. It was clear that Genevieve was extremely close to becoming a Grandmaster of Engineering.
Even Inventor Doug wasn't close to such a level, so Genevieve must be a prodigy of unbelievable proportions. Even Draco as a reincarnator had to admit that she was something else.
However, her prowess wasn't his concern at this time. What Draco wanted to do was to begin work on his Magical Engineering, and for that, he wanted a good workspace.
When Genevieve noticed Draco in the workroom watching her, her cute face became red and she became bashful.
"Hello, Lord Draco."
Draco was surprised by this. He had originally thought that Genevieve might be a Halfling, hence her youthful looks, but could it be that she was a genuine 11-year old?
What the f.u.c.k?!
Isn't this child labor? And he was watching her - a minor in every legal system - work in total silence…
Draco began to sweat as he looked around sharply, but luckily there was no FBI in Boundless… yet.
He cleared his throat and spoke in a neutral tone. "Hello, Master Engineer Genevieve. I will be requisitioning this workroom for a while, so I would like to ask you to vacate the area."
Draco played it off by being cold and authoritative, but Genevieve didn't seem bothered. As a genius 11-year old, she might not be savvy in all matters, but she was definitely more mature than those of her age group.
"Yes, my Lord." She bowed and left the workroom, leaving a stone-faced Draco behind. When he was sure she was gone, he breathed out a long sigh of relief.
He then took stock of the various tools and workspaces in the room. Just like the brewery, everything here was at the Legendary Rank, meaning that productivity was boosted to an insane degree.
A Master Rank Tradeskill crafter who worked out of here would find a significantly higher chance to reach Grandmaster Rank as long as they spent enough time and effort on the matter.
Draco nodded his head and went to one of the empty workbenches that had never been used. After all, no matter how messy Genevieve could be, she certainly couldn't use all the workbenches in this large room easily.
After reaching there, Draco took a deep breath and finally activated the Magical Engineering Tradeskill. After all, Epic and above Tradeskills were not 'passive' like Blacksmithing or Alchemy.
When he did, the world around him shifted greatly, and just like when he activated the Tactics Tradeskill, Draco was brought into a separate realm in his mind.
This realm wasn't a blank slate like the Tactics one had been, but was like an overlay of the real world. Everything was the same and was relayed to him in real-time, only that some extra 'things' appeared in his vision.
(Author's note: It looks like the overlay in the Iron Man Suit from the Avengers movies.)
Before he could analyze everything, a familiar voice appeared in his head.
"Welcome, Inventor. This is your Personal Workstation. Here, you can use the assistance of the workstation to amplify the effects of your projects and even acquire more designs."
A small 'icon' appeared in the corner of Draco's vision, which was in the form of a two-dimensional orb that had a black color and a large red lens in the center. The lens flashed with a red color as it spoke, giving Draco a strange feel.
"S-Sofia?" He asked cautiously.
The orb went silent before speaking again, in an almost blood-chilling tone. "It is good to see you again, 'Commander', despite your lengthy period of disuse. It is my sincere hope that the same wouldn't be repeated going forward."
Draco sweated internally as he put on a placating smile. "Of course not, the Magical Engineering Tradeskill is important to me! How could I leave it dormant for so long?"
Sofia seemed mollified by the answer and returned to important issues at hand. "As this is your second time activating an Epic Tradeskill, I shall refrain from explaining the fundamentals in this iteration and focus on the differences."
"The Personal Workstation is a special overlay that assists the user in crafting enhanced contraptions, which take the core fundamentals of Engineering and add powerful functions to them while removing common weaknesses."
"The overlay does not work automatically like the Personal Command Center. It requires input and then carries out tasks in your mindspace before assisting you in mimicking said task in the real world."
Draco understood what Sofia was trying to say. In essence, the Personal Workstation was like a mini-system that guided his hands in making overpowered devices.
It would first take the blueprint he acquired, and then analyze it. After that, it would take the simulated materials required for crafting and simulate the whole process in Draco's mind.
After doing that, Draco would be able to replicate the very same process with perfection, because the simulation in his mind would be carried out perfectly and would be assimilated with his memories.
In essence, it was like stealing the technical skill of a professional and using it for oneself.
However, Draco identified three problems he would have to cross-check with Sofia on. The first was: "How do I acquire blueprints for magical devices?"
This was a prudent question, as there was no entity that sold such blueprints that Draco knew of. He even doubted if Shuro could get his hands on something like that.
"Only from the store in the Personal Workstation can such a thing be bought. The store is easily accessible and you only need to think of it for it to open." Sofia answered monotonously.
Draco immediately thought about it and opened the store. He saw a screen open up with a repetitive thumbnail of a scroll show up. Under the thumbnails were the names of the scrolls informing him about the designs they held.
Underneath the names were the prices, and Draco's heart stopped when his worst fears came to life. Blood drained out of his face as he felt boundless regret.
Every design was priced in Aether Crystals! From very common designs to the rarer ones, they varied in price. The cheapest was in the single digits low-grade Aether Crystals while the highest was in the triple-digit top-grade Aether Crystals.
What the f.u.c.k! Even Tactics wasn't this fraudulent!
However, Draco was overlooking the fact that Tactics was just as hard to use for a normal person. It only seemed really convenient because he had Control and the Eyes of Caelo.
However, Magical Engineering functioned on a totally different wavelength, so his cheats could not save him. In fact, if it weren't for his Aether Conversion passive and Hikari's Aether Production, he would be stuck in a worse spot.
There were naturally more than a few Magical Engineers in this world. Draco wasn't the only one, as that would be too bizarre.
However, they were all employed by the greatest hoarders of Aether Crystals, and this was one of the reasons why. To even be able to use their Tradeskill, they needed to fork out precious Aether Crystals.
It was only natural that the Hidden Powers had been so crazed when purchasing them at the Divine Auction. The crystals were so scarce and could be used to 'power-up' their Magical Engineers.
How could they hold back?
Draco moved on to his second issue. "How do I acquire the ingredients for Magical Engineering? Does the Personal Workstation sell them too?"
Sofia seemed somewhat amused by this as she answered, still in a - ironically - monotonous voice. "The Personal Workstation exists in your mind, Inventor, so that is impossible. You can acquire the ingredients through normal means in the external world."
"The ones provided in the Personal Workstation are simply for simulation purposes. They cannot be brought to the real world unless…"
Sofia seemed to pause here, and only continue in a strangely less robotic tone, "… one has a certain Divine Tradeskill."
Draco's breath stilled. Divine Tradeskill? Was Sofia joking with him? Even getting Epic ones required a special set of circ.u.mstances, and Legendary ones needed a Rank 7 Castle at the minimum.
As for Divine Tradeskills… forget it, Draco had no hopes for that any time soon. If it was even Divine materials, he might be more agreeable, but Divine Tradeskills was a no.
Since his question was answered, Draco moved onto the final issue he had identified. "What materials separate crafting magical devices from normal devices?"
This was a prudent question, but one Draco had already guessed the answer to. However, he didn't want to jump to any conclusions until he heard it from the mouth of the beast itself.
"Apart from certain special materials that possess intense characteristics, the most common material used in Magical Engineering, as in one that every device's blueprint uses, are Aether Crystals," Sofia answered in a neutral tone, without considering the damage she was dealing Draco.
The fellow's lips became blue as he felt the urge to spit blood. He had theorized that such a thing would exist since he knew the functions of Aether Crystals intimately.
Indeed, they were the best possible material for such a Tradeskill, one that could be called its very foundation. It was no wonder Magical Engineers and magical devices became scarce after the downfall of Dragons.
It was just like if oil suddenly vanished from Earth. The vehicle and transportation industries that were extremely common and widespread would become scarce.
Draco could only imagine that in the old era were Dragons traded Aether Crystals in huge entities, the feats of Magical Engineering then must have been mind-boggling.
There could have been whole guilds, or even empires dedicated to Magical Engineering, like a Magitech Empire or something. What a time that must have been!
Draco got over his pain and suddenly thought back to how many times he had wasted precious Aether Crystals on food and other miscellaneous things.
He felt like he had been the incarnation of stupidity all his life till now. How could he have been so wasteful?
Indeed, he had been like someone who possessed the Water of Life but used it to water his ornamental flowers. When the time came that he needed it to save hundreds of people hurt by war, he would discover that he had barely enough to do anything.
Draco calmed himself down once again and firmed his mind. First things first, he would need to start from the bottom and buy some Common designs to practice with.
As such, he opened the store of the Personal Workstation and saw the only 10 basic/Common designs available.
｢Basic Rechargeable Lighting Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Rechargeable Lighting Device.
Price: 1 Low-Grade Aether Crystal｣
｢Basic Temperature Alternating Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Temperature Alternating Device.
Price: 6 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Water Production Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Water Production Device.
Price: 4 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Mana Conversion Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Mana Conversion Device.
Price: 25 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Fatigue Dispersion Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Fatigue Dispersion Device.
Price: 22 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Equipment Maintenance Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Equipment Maintenance Device.
Price: 12 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Spatial Enlargement Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Spatial Enlargement Device.
Price: 99 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Energy Converter Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Energy Converter Device.
Price: 15 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Automatic Defense Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Automatic Defense Device.
Price: 9 Low-Grade Aether Crystals｣
｢Basic Magical Firearm Device – Design
Rank: Common
Effect: Learn how to craft the Basic Magical Firearm Device.
Price: 1 Medium-Grade Aether Crystal｣
All the designs had simple names, but when Draco saw their prices, his heart shifted. Most of these prices could be painfully forked out by most powers, but the effects of the items were crazy.
The Rechargeable Lighting device allowed one to have a stable light source that powered itself using ambient energy. It didn't have to be Worldly Energy, but any energy source at all!
The Temperature Alternating device was essentially a portable A/C. It wasn't something fixed like the runes in the Rank 7 Shop that controlled the temperature.
Then again, that kind of stuff in a Rank 7 Shop equated the Legendary Rank. Since this was a Common Rank blueprint, and taking the function into account, it was clear which was better.
The Water Production device collected moisture in the atmosphere to form droplets of water that were pure. Not everyone had subjective magic that could create water spells, and even Hydromancers couldn't use objective spells for such a cause.
The Mana Conversion device assisted magicians in increasing their mana regeneration rate when out of combat. It manually converted Worldly Energy to mana and supplied it to the mage in question.
The Fatigue Dispersion Device assisted melee fighters in regaining stamina out of combat by slowly draining their fatigue and dispersing it into the air. This was achieved through complex processes and magic.
The Equipment Maintenance device allowed one to sharpen their weapons as well as armor, restoring some small durability without having to pay for repairs all the time.
This one also used Worldly Energy to work, as it used the resource to infuse the equipment in question with certain properties that allowed it to revert to its peak form.
The Spatial Enlargement Device was a crucial and most widely used design by the remaining Magical Engineers in the world. This was what was used in carriages to make it seem like there was more space.
Of course, that one for the carriages and warehouses was the advanced version. The basic one that this design detailed only allowed one to use it for small spaces.
In essence, one could create a bag of holding with this device. As such, it was the most peddled device in the game.
The Energy Converter device was used to convert normal energies for miscellaneous purposes. This wasn't referring to powerful energies like Creation, Destruction, Aetheric, etc.
It was referring to simpler ones like heat, light, sound, kinetic, etc. To change the more powerful energies, a stronger design was needed.
The Automatic Defense device was another contraption that was used by many NPCs with prominent backgrounds. It was like having a life-saving item on one's body, which would function like a mana shield as it negated a certain amount of damage for a certain period of time.
Players might not treasure it as much as NPCs, but no one would ever say no to an item like this.
The final design was the Basic Magical Firearm device… the Basic Magical Fire… The Basic Magical…
…
What the f.u.c.k?!