Chapter 15: Blueprints and Battle-Axes
We ended up staying at the tavern for another hour, eating some kind of slow-roasted, spiced meat and drinking a carbonated, fruity soda that hit the spot perfectly. The atmosphere was incredible—a chaotic mix of boasting veterans, nervous rookies, and the constant clinking of heavy mugs. It was the first time that I actually got to relax and just take it all in.
Eventually, we made our way back through the darkening streets to the Guild's parking bays.
Aria stepped up to the rough-hewn wooden back of the carriage
"Welcome to the actual Veil Sanctuary," she said, stepping inside.
She wasn't kidding about the six rooms. By tapping different panels on the walls, she channeled mana into specific anchor points, opening localized spatial gateways. She showed me the Workshop, packed with glowing mana-lathes and precision tools. Next was the Armory, currently empty but lined with heavy, reinforced weapon racks. Then came a fully functional Kitchen and, to my absolute relief, a Bathroom with magically heated water.
At the very back of the expanded hallway were the two Bedrooms.
Aria paused in front of the open doors. The rooms were neat, comfortable, and clearly lived-in. A heavy silence fell over us. This was where Silas and Elara, her retainers, were supposed to be sleeping tonight. I saw her grip tighten on the doorframe, but she pushed the grief down, her Halfling resilience shining through. She walked into the left room, picked up a small framed photo of her family from the side desk, and turned back to me.
"This one is yours," she said quietly, her noble mask firmly back in place. "Get cleaned up. I'll be in the main area."
I took full advantage of the magical shower to scrub days of forest dirt, monster ash, and sweat off my skin. Halfway through, the door cracked open just enough for a small hand to push a neatly folded stack of fabric onto the counter.
"These belonged to Silas," Aria called out through the door, her voice slightly muffled. "They should fit you well enough."
I dried off and pulled them on. It was a simple, well-tailored set of dark trousers and a breathable linen shirt. Since my Imagination Manifestation only worked on earth, ore, and metals—I definitely couldn't just magic up cotton or silk—I was incredibly grateful.
By the time I walked out into the central living room area in my new clothes, I felt like a completely new person. I looked around and jumped slightly. Standing perfectly still against the far wall, his green optics tracking my movement, was Bee. In all the excitement of the city, the giant artillery golem had completely slipped my mind. He was just silently, loyally observing the room.
Aria was sitting at the polished oak table, entirely engrossed in a massive spread of parchment maps and runic diagrams. I pulled up a chair and sat across from her.
"So," I said, leaning forward. "What's the plan?"
"I am currently only Level 2," she said, tapping a quill against her chin. "My long-term goal is to reach Level 10 safely. That is the milestone where mortals can awaken their primary Class. We have a lot of grinding to do before we get there, but I need to make sure I am doing the right kind of work now to set up the perfect engineering and support Class later. What about you? What are your plans?"
"Agreed," I said, leaning back in my chair. "But before we hit the training grounds tomorrow, we need to get on the same page. If your goal is to be the engineer for our crew, you need to understand exactly what I'm trying to build. Because where I come from, we don't just animate blocks of stone or clay."
Aria paused, her hand hovering over her rolled-up map. Her eyes, sharp and calculating, locked onto mine. "Explain."
I pulled a blank piece of parchment toward me and picked up a charcoal pencil. I wasn't a master artist, but I could sketch a schematic well enough. I started drawing a basic internal frame—a skeleton of pistons, joints, and hydraulic lines.
"In my world, we don't have magic," I began, watching her brow furrow in immediate disbelief. "We use science. Mathematics, electricity, and metallurgy. We build machines. They aren't held together by a single magical core; they are built from thousands of individual, perfectly machined parts working in sequence."
I tapped the sketch of the skeleton. "This is the Inner-Frame. The skeleton. The armor doesn't hold the construct together; it just bolts onto the outside to protect the vitals. It means the machine can move with the same range of motion as a living body."
Aria leaned in close, her Halfling intellect practically vibrating as she traced the charcoal lines of a knee joint. "That is... incredibly fragile but impossibly efficient. You bypass the mana-drag of moving heavy, solid stone by making the construct entirely hollow. You're creating artificial anatomy."
"Exactly," I grinned. She was getting it instantly. "And I don't just summon a golem out of thin air. I use my Imagination Manifestation to craft the individual pieces from memory. Gears, armor plating, optical sensors. I build them, combine them, and refine them until the physical machine is perfect."
I pointed to Bee. "Bee is just the start. Small, modular, highly specialized." Then I gestured to the silver orb sitting on the table, containing Fenris. "Fenris is a Wild type designed to mimic Animal characteristics."
"What is your ultimate goal with all of this?" Aria asked, her voice dropping to a whisper as she stared at the parchment.
I took a deep breath, looking down at the rough sketches. "I want to build my dreams, Aria. Back in my world, I grew up with stories of incredible machines. Things that could fly, things that could protect cities, machines that pushed the very limits of imagination. I want to build them here."
I looked up, meeting her gaze. "But a perfect machine is still just a metal shell. I can craft the parts and assemble the body, but I can't do the magic by myself. I'm too new to all of this.
Aria was completely silent. She stared at the drawings, then slowly looked up at me. The sheer scale of the concept was breaking every rule of traditional magic she had ever been taught. It wasn't just about making better golems; it was an entirely new branch of engineering.
A slow, terrifyingly ambitious smile spread across her face. The grief over her lost retainers and her fallen House seemed to recede, replaced by the burning fire of an engineer who had just been handed the blueprints to a new world.
"Level 10," she said firmly, slapping her hand down on the table. "It's a long climb from Level 2, but we need to start laying the groundwork tomorrow. You learn how to use your scythe, and I am going to see what the Guild has to offer for Classes."
I chuckled, standing up and stretching my back. "Let's focus on surviving the training pits first. One piece at a time."
The next morning, found us deep in the underground training arenas of the Adventurer's Guild. The basement was massive, lined with reinforced stone and echoing with the sound of clashing steel and magical detonations.
We were directed to a broad-shouldered, scarred veteran standing in the center of a weapon rack circle. He introduced himself as the Guild's primary Arms Master.
"My Talent is an A-Rank Arms Master," he explained, crossing his thick arms. "It means I can pick up any weapon—sword, spear, axe, bow—and immediately wield it with high proficiency. I can train anyone from the absolute basics up to advanced mastery. But if you're looking for highly specialized, master-tier techniques, you'll need to find a dedicated specialist."
I thought back to the fight in the clearing, to the heavy pulse of the storm and the massive, improvised blade I had forged.
"Do you have a scythe trainer?" I asked.
The Arms Master blinked, clearly not expecting that. He paused, scratching his bearded chin. "A scythe? Yeah... we do. But I'll warn you right now, she's a little... off."
I smiled. After the week I'd had, "off" sounded perfectly normal. "That's fine. As long as she can teach me how to actually use the thing without cutting my own legs off."
"Fair enough," the trainer grunted. "There should be at least one wooden training weapon matching what you need over in that rack. Go grab it. I'll send a runner to call for her."
I walked over to the weapon racks and pulled a long, wooden training scythe from the pegs.
It immediately felt wrong in my hands. I went through a few slow, awkward rotations, trying to get a feel for the balance, but it just felt like I was swinging a glorified piece of farming equipment. It wasn't anything like my magic anime scythe. Without the roaring sapphire lightning acting as a counterweight, the explosive recoil, and that dense, humming connection I felt with the Soul-Steel, it was just a dead piece of wood.
I let out a heavy sigh, leaning the wooden shaft against my shoulder. I turned my attention toward the arena entrance, waiting to see what exactly a "slightly off" scythe trainer looked like.
I watched Aria choose her own weapon and almost had my jaw hit the floor as she chose a giant war hammer, almost bigger than her.'
She must've felt me looking cause her head snapped to me, and I looked away to keep from laughing at the visuals and waited for my trainer