Chapter 115 - Unexpected Results

"Be careful, now."

Rynold heard the Spirit of Fire: Prominence Alpha's voice in his head as he reached in the hole to grab the Exanite.

"Don't have to tell me something I already know," Rynold answered while clenching his teeth.

He couldn't help but feel a bit pressured trying to grab a rare material with metal tongs. As it stands, Rynold's dexterity wasn't as on the same level as he wanted it to be.

However, grabbing the Exanite with the metal tongs was a lot better than using his hands. He wouldn't want to have his Mana Channels in his hands be destroyed, after all. It was obviously better than the alternative.

Rynold held his breath as his hands inched closer to the Exanite.

Soon enough, Rynold managed to grab ahold of the small piece of Exanite and examine its appearance. Since the light was a bit less concentrated, Rynold could see traces of a shape.

The small piece of ore appeared to be spherical at first glance. But, as Rynold stared at the thing, he realized that there were also some rough edges on the thing as if unrefined.

Regardless though, the shape was a good enough fit for the casing that he had just made.

"Alright, let's see if this works."

His hands sturdy as an oak tree, Rynold gently placed the small piece of Exanite onto the casing. With a small sound of the thing fitting onto the small cone-shaped enclosure, Rynold's operation of moving it was a success.

He then used the same pair of tongs and grabbed the lid. Gently placing it on the top of the basin, the purple light coming from the Exanite slowly faded until it disappeared.

"It appears that your craftsmanship has worked, Human," Prominence Alpha acknowledged Rynold's efforts as the small orb encased the properties of the Exanite completely.

"Heh," Rynold scoffed. "As much as I want to take credit for that, I wouldn't be able to do it without your help. So, it's a — collaborative effort."

Rynold approached the orb and slowly reached out his hand to grab it.

Sensing that the interruptions in his Mana Flow were completely gone, Rynold was glad to have been able to do something like this on his first try. Normally, it would've taken a long time to be able to do something he had so specifically theorized would work...

[Crafting Complete!]

The same series of windows appeared before Rynold's eyes as the smile on his face reached ear to ear.

[Calculating Results...]

[Calculation Complete!]

===

[Encased Exanite]

A small orb containing the rare ore Exanite. Removing the Exanite would result in the complete destruction of the encasement. Can be opened and closed.

===

'Heh. Simple enough,' Rynold thought to himself as he placed the new item into his inventory.

"I have to admit, Human," the Spirit of Fire suddenly grabbed Rynold's attention. "It has been quite a while since I have been used as a forge fire. You have been the first to talk to me on equal footing compared to those who tried to suck up to me."

Rynold looked at the Spirit of Fire's proud-looking lion face and smiled.

"Let's just say that I'm not for pleasantries and all that nonsense. More often than not, I'd rather do things myself without needing to rely on others."

"An admirable, yet somewhat foolish quality, Human," Prominence Alpha snickered before suddenly asking, "How did you know that the ore would work in providing an encasing for the Exanite?"

Before answering, Rynold grabbed another piece of ore. The ore was of the same quality and shape as the one that he had previously used.

From a distance, the ore looked and felt the exact same as regular stone. But, from Rynold's experience, things never really appeared what they seemed.

"I don't really know how to put it in words," Rynold explained, "But, I figured that the stone surrounding a buried Exanite for who knows how long should have properties that would naturally inhibit the properties of the Exanite.

"It's not an exact science, sure. But, I read somewhere that even regular stone has the properties of Earth Mana within them. Meanwhile, these stones don't appear to have any. Either that or I'm just guessing off my ass here."

"Heh. Fair enough, Human," the Spirit of Fire responded with a snicker of respect towards Rynold's intuition.

The two spent whatever time of the night down in the cave mostly working.

Apart from encasing the Exanite, Rynold had to patch the hole that he had made by digging the tunnel. It's not exactly a good thing to leave a gaping hole in the middle of the room.

Rynold worked on making repairs for about an hour and a half to make up something that would act as a trap hole for the tunnel hole. While carrying the appearance of the same concrete floor, Rynold would be able to jump in and out of the cave whenever he had to.

Next, he focused on making new gear — a process that took most of his time. There wasn't much time for him to conceptualize something new, but it was enough for him to try something new here and there.

Since Axiom was now uninterrupted by the Exanite, Rynold was able to keep tabs with whoever and whatever was outside his cage with relative ease. And, on occasion, check on Lissa as well.

Suffice it to say, Rynold hadn't spent any time sleeping. He used it all on working at the makeshift workshop that he had set up.

At about dawn, Rynold had finished checking on his gear. It didn't take much, after all, since there wasn't much to make, to begin with. It wasn't until dawn that he noticed something changed. It was subtle, but he was surprised to see something about his workflow improved.

'Wait, that's new,' Rynold thought as he checked the engravings on the [Hammer of the Worthwhile] and noticed that something about it seemed different.

Without spending a single moment of doubt, Rynold immediately pulled up the information window of his hammer.

===

[Hammer of the Worthwhile]

Smithing Equipment

Durability: Infinite

Equipment Requirements: Strength 20, Intelligence 20, Mana Bond

An old hammer that used to belong to a master blacksmith. Throughout the master's early days, this hammer and his skills were all that he had. The experiences and hardships that this hammer went through infused it with strong mana.

Additional Passive Skill: Worthwhile Hammering

- Increases production speed by 12% and success rate when producing items by 6% to a certain degree of rank.

===

'Huh, so that's why it feels different.'

A crucial piece of information slipped his mind regarding the evolution of his Mana Core.

For the very simple ability to improve one's Mana Core, the items that are Mana Bonded to that person would also improve.

It was something that the Mech God has so explicitly mentioned to him beforehand. Although, the guy never really mentioned how much it would improve.

Regardless, Rynold welcomed the increase in his overall strength because his Mana Gauntlets also managed to improve as well.

However, Rynold thought that now wasn't the time to check that.

That is because Rynold had to make a few more things that would help with some quality of life issues.

With a newfound motivation akin to that of a second wind, Rynold pulled a few boards and pieces of wood that would help him make a simple wooden bed. Unfortunately, though, he lacked the necessary items to make it a comfortable one.

But still, it was a lot better compared to sleeping on the cold, hard floor.

Grabbing a saw, Rynold started making a simple bed frame. It didn't take much time to make a simple one, nor does it really need a recipe. Anyone with half a brain could do something as simple as putting random pieces of wood together.

Time quickly passed by.

Half an hour later, Rynold wiped off his sweat as he placed the wooden bed frame on the ground a few feet away from the temporary workshop setup.

Admiring his craftsmanship on the newly constructed furniture, Rynold smiled and nodded. What surprised him, though, was what came soon after.

[Crafting Complete!]

The same window appeared even though he had crafted something completely out of line from what he would normally make.

[Calculating Results...]

[Calculation Complete!]

===

[Exquisite Wooden Bed Frame]

Furniture - Bed Set

A wooden bed frame that was made with perfect craftsmanship worthy of the gods. Whoever created such a masterpiece should be proud of their achievement.

Passive Buff: Comfortable Rest

- Increases the base recovery speed of Health, Mana, and Stamina by 35% when resting on this bed frame. Can be stacked with other bonuses from the same Set.

===

'Are you fucking kidding me right now?'

Rynold was stunned.

He hadn't expected such a result coming from the craftsmanship that he had made on the fly. Well, it's not like it was a bad thing to be greeted with such a result.

But, with the simple fact of it being one of the greatest things he had ever made, Rynold was on the fence about being happy or just really depressed.