Crafting an iron ingot
As planned, the first thing Ivan did after arriving back at his room was to take out the iron rod, the goblin leather, and the Nanite Assembling tool.
Unlike the last time, where he already had a ready-made iron ingot, this time he didn't have this luxury. Instead, he would have to first decompose the iron rod into an ingot and then use it in the blueprint.
He first opened up the Nanite Assembling Tool (NAT) and then put the iron rod inside. Because he had selected the correct dimensions beforehand, the rod fitted in perfectly and after closing the lid, he could begin the process of transforming the rod into an ingot.
This was where a big difference was experienced by him, compared to the last time. The last time he had used the NAT to refine the knife, he just had to select the blueprint and everything else happened automatically.
Because he didn't have any blueprint for converting the iron rod into an ingot, he had to do this by hand. Or more correct, by the mind.
The NAT had an advanced option which was called free mode, which allowed the user to directly control the nanites inside the interior of the tool. They could then be used to disassemble the rod and use the iron atoms to reassemble an iron ingot. Luckily, the blueprint for the knife also came with the exact specification of the iron ingot required, so he had this to use as a goal.
Of course, it was impossible to direct every single nanite by itself. At least at his current level. But since it was possible to write scripts for them, he could do that and then have them do the job automatically. This was also how blueprints worked. In essence, they were a collection of scripts, directing the work of the nanites. Of course, with their high precision, such scripts would make the process of creating an item mechanic and without feeling or intent.
Basically, it would result in a difference, like a machine crafted item and a handcrafted item. A handcrafted item would most likely have small imperfections and differences from the original. But in exchange, it would be infused with the thoughts, will, and intent of the crafter. Sometimes this would make handcrafted items more comfortable than machine crafted 'perfect' items.
Creating the scripts for the nanites wasn't difficult since the NAT came with a well-designed interface, which required next to no explaining. There was also a tutorial, which would explain it in more detailed steps, but it was specially mentioned that it was only for those who had problems using the NAT, and since Ivan hadn't had any problems so far, he hadn't looked into it.
Following the steps on the interface, he first started the script recording and then directed a nanite. First, he moved it towards the iron rod, where he then scanned the first atom he arrived at. When the scan revealed that it was iron, he used the nanite to cut the connections and move the atom to a new slot according to the reference for the ingot.
He didn't understand how each of the steps worked, but this wasn't necessary either. The NAT and the programming of the nanites took care of these steps.
After positioning the atom, he then told the nanite to repeat the progress until no iron atoms were left at the position of the iron rod, or the ingot had been finished. Then he saved the script and ended the free mode.
As soon as he ended the free mode, a wave of exhaustion came over him. "Urgh.", he couldn't help but grunt. He hadn't realized how tiring it had been during the process, but now all that exhaustion hit him at the same time.
"Damn, that's much more exhausting than crafting that knife.", he exclaimed, while suppressing his falling eyelids.
If not for the pangs of hunger, he would have directly fallen asleep.
"And I haven't even started crafting the ingot. Would that be as exhausting?"
Thinking about it, filled him with fear. What would happen if he started executing the script and each atom would exhaust him, just like the one just now had? The NAT used a lot of nanites at the same time, so wouldn't he instantly die out of exhaustion?
Making his way to the kitchen in search of something fast to eat, he thought about it.
While eating some cold rice, he came to the decision that it was too dangerous for him to try, if the NAT didn't provide any fail-safes or options to improve the efficiency.
After filling his belly and getting rid of the hunger pangs, nothing kept him awake anymore. He just barely managed to reach his bed before falling asleep.
Surprisingly, even though he had felt that tired, he didn't sleep that long. He would have expected to only wake up when his alarm rings the next morning, but instead, it was still the same day when he woke up.
Feeling awake and full of energy again, he once again turned his focus towards the NAT.
Additional to the two options, "Free" and "Blueprint", there was now another option, which was "Scripts". In this section, the scripts he had made himself would be stored. He guessed that not every script could be called a blueprint. Thus scripts were something between free mode and blueprints.
After selecting the "Scripts" section a library similar to the "Blueprint" one appeared in his vision. Currently, there was only one script listed called, "Iron Rod to Iron Ingot". Besides the name and a small image showing the iron rod and iron ingot, there was also a number displayed. The number was 2 and by selecting the script he was able to see that this meant that there were two versions of the script.
One was the script he had created:
[[ Script: Iron Rod to Iron Ingot
Creator: Ivan King
Safety: Dangerous
Stability: Stable
Energy costs: Variable (depends on the raw material)
Input Material: Iron Rod (Tower of Challenge Floor 1 Drop)
Output: Iron Ingot (Standard)
A script for extracting an iron ingot out of an iron rod, which can be found on the first floor of the 'Tower of challenge' on the planet Terra.
]]
This was the full description of the script he had created and reading through it, some information about what the points mentioned, meant.
Most of them were self-explanatory, except for safety and stability. Safety was more important for him since it showed whether the use of the script was dangerous for the user. He guessed that this script was dangerous since it could sap the energy out of the user. After all, even a single molecule had taken so much energy. So how much would the full ingot use?
Stability on the other hand showed the risk of something going wrong during the process. A stable script could even be interrupted, while an unstable one might just lead to an explosion if interrupted.
The combination of those two aspects made it clear to Ivan that he shouldn't use the script.
Instead, he took a look at the other script, which he hadn't created himself.
[[ Script: Iron Rod to Iron Ingot
Optimization: A (Auto)
Creator: Ivan King
Safety: Safe
Stability: Stable
Energy costs: Variable (depends on the raw material)
Input Material: Iron Rod (Tower of Challenge Floor 1 Drop)
Output: Iron Ingot (Standard)
A script for extracting an iron ingot out of an iron rod, which can be found on the first floor of the 'Tower of challenge' on the planet Terra.
This script has been optimized by the integral software of the NAT to provide better safety and reduce energy consumption.
]]
There wasn't much difference between their description, but it meant a lot of difference for him. According to the description, the script had been optimized to increase safety and reduce energy consumption. And according to the standard usage of grades going from, A, B, C, D, E, F, a value of A for optimization meant that the change should be huge.
"Maybe now I can use it.", Ivan wondered. He then once again took a look at the safety evaluation and decided to risk it. Maybe it would once again consume a lot of energy or even fail to finish, leaving him unable to try the second floor as he had initially planned, but at least he wouldn't be in any danger.
Making his decision, he started the script, and once again he could feel the energy leaving his body. While this was going on, in his mind, he could observe the changes to the iron rod. It was slowly disappearing at the same time as an iron ingot appearing beside it. Just when he had the feeling that the last bit of his energy was running out, the iron rod disappeared fully and the iron ingot appeared in full.
[[ Congratulations, you have crafted an iron ingot using a self-developed script. You are the first person to create an item using a self-developed script. ]]