Despite the night being long and cold, a dim candle light could be seen through the window of Alex' apartment on the second floor. Occasionally, although still dull, a stronger light could be seen emanating from the room.
Alex's furnace that he frequently used for smelting and molding various metals was frequently changing temperatures as Alex began his creations.
Alex sat on a stool at the base of his desk. The stool was barely the minimum to be considered a workplace stool. Four metal beams spread out at the base to keep it from falling over. The beams connected in the middle to a welded fifth beam which rose up to a rounded metal seat.
The table was crudely made of wood and seemed to be unprofessional in assembly. The top was smooth and clearly was made to not interfere with any work that was done on it. However the sides, which were for aesthetics and would not get in the way of work, were left as the unrefined wood that the desk had originally been.
While crafting without the "system" was advantageous for many tools and weapons, this level of devotion for not using the "system" appeared to just be obscured. An average person might have sensed that both were inefficient for work compared to the smooth desk that could be made. Or the chair that actually had wheels and a comfortable cushion. It would've been different if the desk or chair had a unique shape that couldn't be made with the system.
However, Alex was a fanatic. Everything he made he attempted to imbue with magic. There were attempts like with Mary and Devin's equipment, where despite him making them, they failed to maintain any magical properties. However, for the most part, everything had magic properties if it was made by Alex. Thus everything was made without the "system".
The stool had a magic status called [Water Breathing]... This was, for the most part, completely useless. If Alex spilled something on the stool, it wouldn't stain. And I supposed if he carried it underwater, he might be able to breathe longer. But the main reason for this was to test whether or not he would be able to apply statuses to items that would not be able to use those statuses.
This was essential for knowing whether or not a magic status could be relied upon. It would be a shame to take an item to an area with fire, expecting it to work, only to find out that the item is too flammable to use fire resistance.
This was also part of the reason he was obsessive about testing everything he made. Items dropped from monsters, creatures, or treasure chests were guaranteed to work as intended. But the same thing did not always apply to items that are crafted. The questionable durability, like the holy swords, were something to watch out for. But the chance that the item wouldn't work even once was also too dangerous to find out in the field.
Although the desk was more crudely made than the chair, its magic status was actually useful. The [Stability] status was for bows, and other projectile objects. However with items like furniture, it prevented them from wobbling. As Alex occasionally made items like jewelry, having a workspace that wouldn't move when doing detailed work was very useful.
Tonight there was a small crackling sound of the fire from the furnace. Occasionally you might hear a vise tightening to hold an item in place while doing detailed work. However, the most haunting sound came from a mortar and pestle that Alex had put on his desk. It sounded like a jelly was being grinded against stale bread.
There was clearly a liquid sound, but there was also the sound of something grinding which probably should not have been ground. A faint red glow that came from imbuing the mana while grinding.
When the red sludge appeared to be finished, Alex took out two clear crystals slightly smaller than his fists, which he had carved into the hollow halves of a heart. He poured the sludge, now an evenly thick liquid, into each half of the heart.
Then he placed a thin metal sheet over one of the halves and used that to flip the half onto the other half. It now looked like a heart with a metal plate stuck through the middle. Alex carefully pulled the metal plate while also pushing the two halves together firmly.
With the crystal heart filled and pushed together, all that was left was to seal and do any exterior decorations. Alex pulled a large Golden nugget from an item bag which had been sitting on the table. From the same bag, he also pulled out an object which looked like a pen. One side of the pen converged into a tip like a pen for a tablet. However the other side had a large blue gem.
Alex placed the Crystal heart into a Vise attached to the desk and tightened it. He picked up the pen and golden nugget. While holding the pen, the gem began to glow as he imbued magic into it. At the same time, the tip of the pen began to glow as if it had become extremely hot.
Once the pen was hot enough, he stopped focusing his mana into it, and instead focused the mana into the nugget of gold which he would use to seal the heart.
Once the heart had a line of gold, moving around the perimeter of the heart, he began using the gold for aesthetic purposes.
Alex went through a cycle of melting gold onto the crystal, deciding it wasn't quite right and removing it. By the time the sun had come up, Alex held a Crystaline red heart, with a beautiful cage of gold wrapped around its structure.
If you lived in a world with monsters, magic, and a very large tower, what would you really do?
Would you become the knight on a quest to conquer the tower and thus save the world?
Would you build a harem of women you'd never get in your old world?
Or, would you become a twisted blacksmith and hope to consume the world before it consumes you?
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