Draco added on another week, in which he made 50,000 sheets of Aether-imbued paper as well as an extra 5,000 liters of Aether-imbued ink. With these two combined, he continued to replicate the 246 Common spells over and over again.
He had previously written down 7 sets of these spells, meaning he had 1,722 spellbooks in total. With these new materials, he could make 10 additional sets, with enough leftover sheets to create some of his Common skillbooks for Archery and Swordsmanship.
This naturally took 17 days, meaning that in total, Draco had spent 44 days on the Scrivener Tradeskill, just about 1.5 months! In these new sets, he had made 2460 spellbooks, and coupled with the former amount, the total was now 4,182.
He reckoned that this should be enough to give to the talented mages in the guild from the original 3,000. As for those who were recruited later, they needed to prove themselves to him.
Draco paused. 'Ah, since it's been almost 8 months since I started this quest, they should have definitely proven their worth to Eva by now. Hm… still, I can't be bothered to start all over again, so they'll have to wait until I feel less lazy.'
Thinking that there were about 4 months until the quest's timeline would come to an end, Draco couldn't help but feel pensive. He had achieved many of his goals, yet the competition was still taking so long, so what exactly was happening?!
Taking a deep breath, he gauged his Tradeskill experience gained in this time. He had acquired 1,845% Tradeskill experience over the last 6.5 weeks, which made him pause in shock.
This was even more than when he made the first 250 that sent him almost to the Elite Rank! How was it possible to practically blaze through the Elite Rank of a LEGENDARY Tradeskill like this?!
Look, for Magical Engineering, it was believable and somewhat logical given the time and effort he put in, but this was just nonsensical. He was crafting spellbooks 1 Rank below his current stature, so how could this even be possible?!
If this was the case, then shouldn't there be an overflow of Scriveners? Anyone with slightly moderate dexterity could become a printing press that flew through the Ranks with ease!
Draco calmed down and first tried to analyze why this happened. Maybe he could replicate it for the higher Ranks and other Legendary Tradeskills if he ever acquired them.
He first did the math. The amount of Tradeskill experience he earned against the number of spellbooks he made in this time…
Hm, so it seemed that making a Common Rank spell/skillbook at the Elite Rank gave him 0.5% Tradeskill experience. Previously it had given him 1% Tradeskill experience when at the Common Rank, so this made sense.
Draco then thought about it some more and his shock alleviated. Thinking about it, every Tradeskill had a factor that limited growth and boosted it conversely.
For Magical Engineering, it was the cost of learning the designs, as well as the rarity of materials. Still, this Epic Tradeskill was nice enough to allow for a boost in growth with the ease of learning designs with the Personal Workbench simulation system.
For Scrivener, it seemed to be that the limitation was the exorbitant Aether Crystal costs, yet what boosted it was the mindless mass productivity.
Counting it now, Draco had spent a total of 500 top-grade Aether Crystals on this entire session of Scrivening, from converting techniques, speeding up conversion, and then preparing the materials in such a huge number.
Who the f.u.c.k had 500 top-grade crystals lying around to waste like this?! Even in the old era, where a top-grade crystal wasn't priceless, this was still a gigantic waste for just the Amateur and Elite Rank of one Tradeskill!
When the evil spirits of shame and self-reproach tried to whisper into Draco's ears to make him feel remorse, they were blown back by the magnificent aura exploding from his body.
This was not a silk-pants young master… no! He…he had evolved!
Now, he had become a wastrel young lord! His magnificence made those evil spirits wail in terror and regret for ever daring to cross a fellow like this. This was a person who had lost his sense of value and respect for money!
To him, 1 bronze and 1 platinum coin were practically the same thing! Why did he need to care about the color or number on the coins when he had an infinite amount of them?
Draco collected his skill/spellbooks and gazed at his character sheet.
｢ Name: Draco
Class: Abyssal Prime
Race: Hybrid (Human/Ultima Sunt)
Rank: Lord (2)
Level: 52
Exp: 50%
Str: 100
Dex: 100
End: 100
Int: 70
Spr: 72
Cha: 70
Lck: 100
Combat Skills: Dragon Form (Rank 2), Demon Form (Rank 2), Devil Form (Rank 2), Necrotic Hands, Malevolent Spirit, Cruel Beast Summoning, Evil Curse, Life Steal, Divination, Sinister Shot, Dark Resurrection, Beckon, Subsume, Angel's Blessing (Corrupted), Mind Blast, Charm.
Non-Combat Skills: Soul Bond, Charm, Insight, Foresight, Flexibility, Illusion, Confusion, Evolution, Ultimate Stealth, Pinnacle Intelligence, Species Shift, Dragobond, Aether Conversion, Devil's Guile (Rank 2), Demonic Might (Rank 2), Draconic Superiority (Rank 2).
Tradeskills: Smithing (level 81, 25%), Alchemy (level 81, 25%), Enchanting (level 100, 0%), Magical Engineering (level 41, 2%), Scrivener (level 39, 71%), Privateering (level 1, 0%)｣
Draco rubbed his chin. Apparently, he was only 29% away from the Expert Rank? But he hadn't even made a single Uncommon skill/spellbook yet! The crazy thing was that taking in his Sword Skills plus the Uncommon spells, he had 283 of them waiting for his loving touch!
While licking his lips, Draco paused. Since he had the time, he could try a few of the Uncommon skillbooks. Hitting the Expert Rank might be a bit sudden, but he felt it was better than hovering at the edge for no real reason aside from laziness.
So, he prepped a few sheets that were slightly more costly and complex than the Common variants, as well as the equivalent ink. With that, he scrivened Sword Skill 91 to 96.
This gave him 30% Tradeskill experience, which meant that he had hit level 40, 1% for Scrivener. With a big sigh, Draco came out of his Tradeskill seclusion and went to take a bath.
This one was drawn by Lovelia, the arrogant Grandmaster who he had brutally seeded a while back. Currently, her aura of superiority was gone and was replaced by gentleness.
Draco watched her wash his body with a smile. Her change wasn't so shocking. For a small percentage of women who were strong-willed, intense s.e.x.u.a.l domination was the key to lowering their barriers and gaining their true affection.
Zaine had been like this and so was Lovelia. However, this method did not work most of the time, so anyone who tried to mimic this would either end up creating mental trauma for the female in question, or would find themselves in the criminal court on trial.
After Lovelia washed him up, Draco went down to dine. Ophie was busy this time with her crafts. Apparently, she was on the cusp of a breakthrough to the Grandmaster Rank, so Draco did not want to bother her.
Doris had also recovered and was in charge of preparing his meal for the day as Natasha was also trying to raise her Rank. The human maid didn't make any moves towards Draco, but he could smell her desire.
She literally wanted to be put right back into a hospital bed right after coming out. In his entire life, Draco had never met a girl as freaky and wild as Doris. It was crazy, because Doris wasn't super curvy, but pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way.
She looked like a quiet girl who would not bother anyone and would always keep to herself. Then again, it was always the quiet ones that harbored the limits of darkness in their hearts.
Draco needed her to take over for Natasha and Ophie, so he couldn't accede to her wishes. As such, he pretended he didn't notice anything, and Doris looked visibly disappointed until Hoover gave her a dark glance.
She then fixed her expression and pretended like nothing ever happened, but Hoover only snorted coldly. Draco chuckled and began pondering his next move.
The issue was that he had accomplished almost all his major goals in this Treasury already. Grandmaster in both Blacksmithing and Alchemy, Elite or above in both Magical Engineering and Scrivener.
Getting rid of Tactics, Taming, Cooking and Brewing had been an unforeseen opportunity he was glad for, but acquiring extra Tradeskill spaces as well as the Energy Converter had been the real boon. He could begin working on Privateering and the new Tradeskills he had acquired, but he was feeling resistant.
Doing the same thing for almost 4 months straight had made him averse to it. Especially the idea of starting a new Tradeskill, where there would be a steep learning curve, was supremely unattractive to him at the moment.
It was also impossible to fight anything while here in order to release stress. There were no dungeons, enemies, or monsters of any kind. This was a purely Tradeskill oriented quest, with only the early segment having to do with combat.
Now that his combat capabilities had been confirmed, it was time to confirm his Tradeskill capabilities, right?
Then why the HELL was it taking so long to get the competition underway? Was the spirit of the Refinement God waiting for him to beg on his knees? Or was it just waiting until the last possible second to add some spice to the event which had so far been dull?
Draco finished his meal and returned to his room, where he lay on his bed in silence. He placed his hands behind his head and crossed his legs as he gazed at the canopy above him.
Draco felt that spending time in the game was good, but he needed a break. The best place to be would be the real world, where he had quite a few things to do but had postponed them due to the current quest.
Since he had spent about 3 and a half months in deep seclusion, it meant that almost a month had passed in the real world. There were many things to check up on, as well as more than a few things he needed to sort out.
And then, there was the extra bonus that was getting to see and spend time with Eva. Excited by the prospect of seeing his soulmate after such a long and stressful period, Draco unhesitatingly logged out.
There was a slight chance that the competition could be held while he was logged out, but he wasn't worried. He had already put measures in place with the help of Clarent and Qiong Qi to make sure that they would not be on the losing end no matter what.
Going through the familiar logout animation, Draco's pod slowly opened to let him out. He was totally n.a.k.e.d and covered in a film of nanites that had entered his skin as nourishment.
He stretched for a bit and then walked over to Eva's pod. The sight of his immersed soulmate made him smile gently, especially the baby bump that had gotten slightly bigger on her.
He typed some commands on her pod to inform her that he was out and wanted to spend time with her if she wasn't too busy. He wouldn't feel good if he was interrupting Eva in case she was in the midst of something important.
Just as he stood up and planned to get dressed, Eva's pod slowly opened. The Celestial Beauty slowly wobbled out of it. She needed some time to steady herself, and Draco rushed to her side.
"You okay, babe?" he asked with concern.
Eva nodded with a charming smile. "Now that I get to see you, of course I am."
The duo hugged then kissed for a long time before parting. Draco rubbed her protruding belly with a chuckle. "Our little monster is slowly forming. How do you feel?"
Eva pouted. "That 'little monster' is truly wicked. He's been draining my bloodline source steadily all this while, not even sparing me for a second."
Draco laughed. "I can imagine. It took about half of my own source at once, so it will probably take the same amount from you over time."
Eva nodded. "It's just weird getting progressively weaker over time. I guess I shouldn't complain given how exemplary our child is bound to be."
"True. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?" Draco asked while leading Eva over to the dressing room.
"Hm, not really. I think I was just about to have my account deleted when you called me out, so thanks for that." Eva answered nonchalantly, but Draco practically tripped over himself when he heard that.
(Editor's Note: But with the power of love from receiving Draco's 'Babe me horny' message she prevailed!)
What the heck?!