Titan's New Skills

The so-called "blueprint gamble" is the final method to obtain blueprints. By using skill points to learn two skills from two different designers and then fusing the skills, there's a chance to acquire a blueprint.

The higher the level of the fused skills, the greater the probability of obtaining a high-quality blueprint.

Of course, you could also max out both skills to level 10, only to end up with a blueprint for a non-combat mechanical tool, which would do nothing to improve your combat capabilities.

In rare cases, players with extraordinary luck might use two level-1 skills to fuse a high-tier blueprint. This extreme luck, akin to gambling on jade stones, has led players to call it "blueprint gambling."

In his previous life, Leon's luck had been consistently exceptional. He often fused high-quality blueprints at minimal cost, earning him the nickname "The Man Who Plays with His Lifespan."

Even though he had already pulled a Titan from the basic mech blueprint box, which hinted that his luck might not be great this time, Leon felt he should still give it another shot.

After all, even lions and tigers have off days.

Maybe his bad luck earlier was just a fluke. Even if he fused two skill points and ended up with a common-quality blueprint, it would still be worth it.

As for failing the gamble… surely he wouldn't fail every time, right?

[You have learned the skill "Basic Surveying" lv1. You have learned the skill "Basic Mechanical Engineering" lv1.]

[Would you like to proceed with skill fusion?]

Leon rubbed his hands together and, without hesitation, clicked "Confirm."

A wave of dizziness washed over him.

[Congratulations, you've obtained the blueprint: Precision Balance (Utility).]

[Precision Balance (Utility): A high-accuracy measurement tool used in scientific experiments and industrial production.]

[Note: Not entirely useless, but close.]

Leon's face was expressionless.

He turned over, got into bed, and pulled up the covers in one fluid motion.

"What kind of ridiculous system is this? Never fusing again!"

…

The next day, Leon woke up early.

With 22 points in Mental Attribute, his energy recovered quickly, requiring little sleep.

Now that he had decided to settle in Mo Family Village, Leon needed to prepare a variety of tools for mechanical crafting—smelting furnaces, mold makers… basically everything a blacksmith's shop required.

He opened his storage bag to take stock.

Inside were ten ordinary spirit stones and two fire-element spirit stones.

These were the remnants of the family fortune Leon had secretly stashed away before his stingy father's assets were confiscated. His resources were tight.

In Lingzhou, ordinary people used gold and silver as currency, while Beast Tamers relied on spirit stones.

The energy and unique properties contained within spirit stones greatly benefited spiritual beasts, making spirit stones the only true currency in the Beast Tamer world.

Typically, ten taels of gold could be exchanged for one non-elemental spirit stone. Ten non-elemental spirit stones could be exchanged for one elemental spirit stone, and ten elemental spirit stones could be exchanged for one spirit crystal.

The fire-element spirit stones were reserved as energy sources for the Titan. Leon only had ten ordinary spirit stones to spend.

Ten spirit stones could be converted into enough gold and silver to support an ordinary household for a year, but for a Beast Tamer, they'd be gone after buying just a few items.

Leon wasn't looking for a basic furnace, either. Since the village's iron ore was refined steel, only a high-temperature furnace would suffice.

After waking, Leon glanced at the Titan, which had stood in the yard all night.

Its body was still rusted and motionless.

Because its main frame used metal essence, it looked relatively clean and smooth, but its arms and some exposed components were rusted, making the Titan resemble a battle-hardened warrior.

However, the occasional bursts of steam from its head slightly undermined its intimidating appearance.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a full upgrade in the next few days!"

Leon opened his personal dimension and had the Titan step inside. Then, he made a list and went to ask Bernal where he could procure the items.

Curious about Leon's request,Bernal asked what the items were for. Leon explained that they were needed for the Titan's advancement and that he also required a large amount of refined steel.

Sympathetic to Leon, who had just lost his father and wealth,Bernal generously offered to handle everything without charging Leon. However, Leon still left a few spirit stones as payment.

Leon understood that to coexist with others in a community, one should never exploit people, even if it seemed justifiable.

That evening,Bernal and Black Tiger delivered everything Leon needed and even helped set up the equipment, leaving Leon with a good amount of refined steel.

After expressing his gratitude, Leon dove straight into his workshop.

…

Click!

In his room, Leon tightened the last screw and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Before him stood the Titan, now equipped with a brand-new right mechanical arm made of polished refined steel. The once plain, clunky metal sphere at the arm's end had been replaced with a claw-like mechanical hand.

Beneath its refined steel shell was a collapsible mechanical framework. When activated, the steam engine could trigger the mechanism at the shoulder, causing the mechanical arm to launch outward. The design was similar to the toy punching guns Leon had played with as a child but far more powerful.

This was the result of five days of effort: combining the [Primitive Mechanical Claw] and the [Worn Retractable Arm] into the Titan's new equipment.

[Primitive Retractable Arm]

Type: Mechanical Arm Quality: Common Length: 98 cm Weight: 45 kg Requirements: Mech Suit Attribute Bonus: +5 Strength Durability: 100/100 Additional Skill: Grappling Hook (The retractable arm extends over 7 meters to grab and pull a target.) Skill Cost: 20 (Cannot use again until the hook is retrieved.) Note: Tribute to League of Legends and Blitzcrank.

A common-quality piece of equipment.

Compared to the damaged-quality gear, this one had an added Durability attribute.

This was Leon's first common-quality creation since transmigrating, granting him 15 free skill points and slightly expanding the Titan's combat options.

It was a promising start.

Leon patted the Titan's head with satisfaction and placed the spirit stones back into the steam engine.

In an instant, the Titan's dim eyes lit up again.

Steam hissed from its head, accompanied by a whistle-like sound.

[Ding! Titan's components detected. Reassessing…]

[Assessment complete. Titan's overall attributes are too low. Upgrade failed. Current quality: Damaged.]

"There's still a long way to go," Leon muttered, stretching his stiff neck.

The upgrade failure didn't surprise him. After all, the Titan only had the [Primitive Retractable Arm] as a common-quality part, offering limited attribute boosts.

By Leon's calculations, he would need to replace all of the Titan's metal components with refined steel and equip it with three to four common-quality mech parts to elevate it to a basic common-quality mech.

The only reason he hadn't done so yet was… a lack of funds.

Smelting refined steel required the high temperatures provided by fire-element spirit stones. Out of the two fire-element stones he had, one was already depleted after five days of smelting, and the other had to be saved as a backup energy source for the Titan. He couldn't afford to use it.

Though he wasn't a real Beast Tamer, his resource consumption wasn't any less.

Sigh.

"Life is tough," Leon sighed.

He needed to figure out a way to acquire more spirit stones; otherwise, the Titan's full upgrade would remain out of reach.

But where could he find spirit stones in this remote mountain village?

Suddenly, Leon sensed something. He lowered his head and pulled open his shirt, revealing the jade talisman given to him by the Beast Tamer Association. It was faintly glowing.

Leon was stunned.

"A mission?"