One thing Rex hadn't properly accounted for when drafting his grand plans was his utter lack of knowledge about something called Arcane Stems. He'd heard the term tossed around a few times, mostly by Garron and Selene, but it had meant little to him back then. That ignorance came back to bite him the very next morning.
So when dawn came, Rex wasted no time. He jumped out of bed, threw on his gear, and sprinted across the compound toward the Den, the industrial heart of the settlement. The air there was already heavy with the smell of molten metal and burnt mana—thick, sharp, and almost sweet if inhaled too long. Sparks flew as engineers began lighting furnaces, preparing for the long workday ahead.
Rex spotted one of them—a guy about his age, broad-shouldered with soot on his arms and a bandana tied tightly around his head. A single stalk of wheat dangled from his mouth, lazily bobbing as he moved.
Rex approached him. "Hey, I'm Rex—"
"Yeah, I know who you are," the guy interrupted immediately, not even glancing up. "You're the new guy Nyra's rollin' with."
He carried a heavy bucket filled with quartz stones, which he poured into the blazing blast furnace beside him. The white-hot glow reflected in his eyes, and the intense heat made Rex's skin prickle.
"Oh... uh, great!" Rex said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "You're—?"
"Genya."
"Well, hi Genya," Rex said quickly, forcing a grin. "I was hoping to find someone who knows anything about Arcane Stems—"
That got the man's attention. "Arcane Stems? What do you need those for?" Genya asked, squinting suspiciously.
"Well, that's—uh..." Rex stammered. "Garron said I could find someone here who knew the basics."
Genya gave him a long look, weighing his words. Then, with a shrug, he turned and started walking toward another section of the Den.
"Hey—hey, come on!" Rex called, jogging after him. The floor vibrated slightly beneath his boots from the hum of machinery.
Genya didn't respond right away. Instead, he shoved a metal cart into Rex's hands mid-stride. "Here. Make yourself useful."
Rex blinked, confused. "What—?"
"Fill it up with quartz stones," Genya said, already grabbing another cart.
Still trying to win the man's cooperation, Rex did as told—loading one cart, then another, his words tumbling out between breaths. "So... you're gonna help me, right? With the Arcane Stem thing?"
Genya just grunted.
By the time Rex realized what was happening, he'd filled two carts full of stones while Genya watched, looking mildly entertained. They pushed the carts back to the furnace together and dumped them into the fire, molten sparks splashing against the surrounding grates.
"Come on—just tell me what you know!" Rex pleaded.
Genya smirked. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you what I know about Arcane Stems."
Rex's face lit up. "Yes! Finally!"
"But—" Genya raised a finger, "you're gonna owe me one."
Rex narrowed his eyes. "What kind of favor?"
"Don't know yet." Genya shrugged. "But when I figure it out, you pay up. Deal?"
Rex sighed. "Deal."
"Good man."
Genya moved toward a large vat where liquid quartz was being funneled into molds. The air shimmered with heat. He picked up one of the raw stones from a nearby crate and held it up to the light.
"This," he said, "is a Quartz Stone. Straight from the mines. They're used because they can store a ton of pure mana—perfect for crafting mana-infused weapons."
He tossed it into the furnace with a hiss and a bright flash of light.
"Mana-infused weapons..." Rex repeated, his mind already jumping back to Nyra. Her weapon wasn't just any firearm—it was bound directly to her system, amplifying her mana with every shot. Rico and Luma from the Spinebreakers had similar setups—custom weapons fine-tuned to their own system parameters.
No wonder they'd always had the upper hand.
"I see," Rex said quietly. "So you make these weapons?"
"Me? Nah," Genya said with a grin. "That used to be Jack's job. But the idiot got caught in bed with his wife's sister. His wife made sure he'd never pull that stunt again."
Rex froze. "You mean—"
"Yep. Lost his jewels. Been a different man ever since." Genya chuckled to himself. "We also lost a lot of business with our partners in Justaputto because of it."
Rex frowned. "Right... okay then."
"I just refine the stones," Genya continued casually. "Gerald expects you to take care of the actual weapon creation from now on."
Rex blinked, realization dawning. So that's what Garron meant when he said Rex was supposed to keep the place alive.
He turned to the racks along the wall where half-finished weapons hung in various states of completion—some cracked, others warped or melted.
"What about those?" Rex asked.
Genya followed his gaze. "Those are failures," he said flatly. "We haven't been able to properly link the quartz cores to the weapon frames. The mana overloads and fries the circuits. Jack was the only one who knew how to stabilize them."
"I see..." Rex murmured, following Genya toward another workstation.
"This last boiler," Genya explained, tapping a metal pipe, "is where the liquid quartz is processed and purified. By now, every impurity's been burned out. What's left is like a capacitor—it stores and regulates mana."
Rex nodded, glancing at the glowing stream of molten quartz being diverted into several channels.
"What's that for?" he asked.
Genya smiled faintly. "This... is what you came here for. Arcane Stems. They're what determine how much mana a quartz crystal can safely handle."
He adjusted a valve and pointed at the flow. "Imagine putting a huge power crystal into a small surgical scalpel. The output would completely outweigh the demand. It'd burn out in seconds. That's why some weapons fail while others last for years."
Rex stood there, absorbing the information, his mind already racing with possibilities. That's when a familiar system chime rang in his ears.
---
> ARCANE STEM: STONE GUN
Tier: Prototype (Unclassified)
Material Base: Gueazz Stone (x20)
Estimated Mana Cost: 60 per shot
Efficiency: 41%
Danger Rating: Experimental — Handle With Care
Requirements: Basic knowledge of Arcane Stems (Acquired)
---
DING!!
> Level Up → Lv. 9
Mana +20
Intelligence +5
Achievement: You asked the right questions and got the right answer!
New Title: Novice Scholar!
---
Rex blinked, stunned. He'd just gained a level—just from listening. He even got a new title.
He couldn't help grinning. "Oh, hell yeah."
He clapped a hand on Genya's shoulder. "Thanks! I'll be right back."
Before Genya could respond, Rex dashed toward one of the unused furnaces at the far end of the Den.
"Genya, can I use this one?"
"Sure," Genya said. "The guy who runs it doesn't come in on Tuesdays. Says it's his 'Day of Gratitude to Aristotle' or something dumb. Claims the old hero banished the world's evil viruses. Total nonsense, if you ask me. You know what I don't get—"
Rex had already stopped listening.
Genya was definitely a good guy—just a talker.
Opening his system interface, Rex reviewed his latest notification.
---
> New Title: Novice Scholar!
Milestone Reached — Intelligence ≥ 10
Knowledge of Arcane Stems Acquired
Mana cost for skills ↓ 47%
Mana regeneration ↑ 3%
Mana efficiency ↑ 0.6%
---
He whistled. "All that for listening to a guy talk? That's insane."
Fuzzy materialized beside him, his holographic form flickering to life.
"Wow! New title already?"
"Yeah, I know, right?" Rex said, grinning. "Alright, let's start the Arcane Stone Gun project."
"Agreed!" Fuzzy replied, eyes glowing bright. "Opening blueprint... and voilà!"
---
> ARCANE STEM: STONE GUN
Tier: Prototype (Unclassified)
Material Base: Gueazz Stone (x20)
Estimated Mana Cost: 60 per shot
Efficiency: 41%
Danger Rating: Experimental — Handle With Care
Requirements: Basic knowledge of Arcane Stems
---
The blueprint unfolded before them in glowing light—part crossbow, part rifle, with transparent mana conduits running along its body and quartz chambers pulsing faintly at the core.
"Fuzzy, activate Scrapmeld."
"Activating Scrapmeld..."
A low, mechanical hum filled the forge as twenty Gueazz Stones from Rex's inventory materialized in midair, clinking one by one into the cauldron. The heat flared, and the stones began to melt—slowly, beautifully—shedding fragments of light like falling stars.
.
.
.
.
---
Little Geography for Readers:
Justaputto is one of the ten major cities Aristotle reclaimed after the Great Collapse. Classified as a Class B City, it's known for its advanced infrastructure, clean streets, and strong trade network. It lies to the west of Caldrath, serving as a bridge city between industrial and research zones.