Chapter 227: 227
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 amusement .
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 .
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 fuck?!
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 fuck! 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 circumstances, 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 .
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