"Hah!" I jerked awake from my sleep and looked around. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, and the sun was shining down with a warm, comforting glow.

It should be around noon.

Right now, I acquired the two ouins I wanted, and it's really great, but I can't overly rely on them since there may be situations where I won't be able to use them.

So, it's time for me to create the weapons and a few pieces of equipment.

I know I said that I don't like being a fighter, but that doesn't mean I'm a pacifist. It simply means that, as much as possible, I want to avoid a fight.

However, if I'm being honest, I won't be able to survive in this world if I can't even put up a decent fight.

After all, this is a dog-eat-dog world.

After climbing back down, I went to stay in a motel as my train wouldn't depart for hours.

Settling my things down, I wore the earpiece from my bag and tapped it, turning it on.

"MERLIN, you there?" I called.

[As always, sire.] And as always, she emotionlessly replied. It kind of hurts that she's like this.

I didn't have the chance to use her since the World Tree interferes with the signal.

"I'll be doing a bit of window shopping in the downtown area. While I'm at it, find me the facilitator to 'that' market."

I couldn't help but notice a foul smell lingering in the air. It took me a moment to realize that the smell was coming from me.

I went into the bathroom and washed myself up. After a while, I got out with a towel wrapped around my waist, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Once I was dressed, I made my way toward the downtown area.

There were many mid to high-end stores and vendors advertising their products enthusiastically to the obvious tourists and passersby.

I checked out one of the electronic shops, and their products were reasonably priced and of great quality. However, some of them came from lesser-known brands, unlike the products in Dublin City, where every product that was being sold there was backed up by a popular brand but was overpriced by a huge margin.

I simply roamed around downtown for a bit since it was the first time I'd left Dublin City, so I wanted to explore more of my new environment while I waited for MERLIN's news.

—Bzzzz!

After an hour or so of roaming around, there were a few things I bought which would be useful in the future.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I tapped my earpiece, and the emotionless voice of MERLIN came, saying that she had found the facilitator, and she sent me their location.

I looked at the location on my phone, and they were somewhat close to me.

Following the location on the map, it led me to a corner of the city's park.

There were no people on this side but an old man sitting on the bench.

Is he the facilitator here?

I sensed mana leaking off of him. Yep, he is a facilitator.

Haaa, this is gonna physically hurt me.

Sitting down on the bench, I watched the scenery of the park before saying, "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Indeed, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing." The old man gave an amicable, warm smile.

"But what if the sun is just an illusion and the birds are mindless robots?"

The old man raised his eyebrow before giving off a hearty laugh. "Ah, but isn't everything just a matter of perception?"

"Perhaps. Or maybe reality is just a construct of our own making."

"It's possible. But regardless, here's a coin for your thoughts." The old man pulled a coin out of his pocket and handed it to me.

I accepted it. "Thank you. I'll be sure to put it towards discovering the truth."

“Get going, young one.” The old man slightly bowed, to which I returned in kind.

The line we exchanged was the password for him to give me the coin, which is the key to my next plan. It sounds childish, but it was the best I could do at that time, and I thought it was cool until I got older.

I placed the coin into my pocket and went on my way. I also told MERLIN to erase any recordings that show my interaction with him.

*****
***
*

There wasn't anything else that caught my eye, so I just aimlessly roamed the city to pass the time.

After I got back home to my condo unit, I immediately went to the workshop and continued to work on the blueprints of my projects.

The main problem I had when doing this was adapting the knowledge I had on Earth to this world.

Specifically, I had problems with using materials.

All of the materials on Earth can be found here on Vanteer, which should be great for me since I could just use them for my projects, but the problem is that they won't stand a chance under the stress of magic or any supernatural phenomenon.

So, I have to make use of the metals and materials exclusive to here.

There's something I'm very much interested in learning, and that would be runes, ancient symbols that could modify the properties of an object.

The tomes I used were an example of objects modified with runes.

Over the past couple of weeks, I did my research on it and have already formed a basic understanding of what it is.

My understanding of it can be summarized in two words: programming language.

Just like how programmers use programming languages to give instructions to a computer, runes are used to give commands to objects.

Each rune has a specific meaning and function, just like how different lines of code perform different tasks. And the more complex the task or function is, the more intricate the runes need to be.

Runes are mainly applied to two objects: weapons and equipment.

Here, when runes are applied to them, they are called something else entirely. They are relics and artifacts, respectively.

That is my next plan. To create relics and artifacts.

I took out several metal sheets and a fountain pen from my baggage.

These are the two materials I need to start.

These metal sheets are where I'll practice inscribing runes, while this fountain pen is the tool to inscribe the runes on the surface using mana.

Usually, only Total Mavens can become runesmiths because of their ability to manipulate mana, but I can do that too, thanks to <Lightweaving>.

I have learned the basic syntax and process to inscribe the rune, but I have yet to test out my knowledge, so now is the opportunity to do so.

I directed mana into the fountain pen, and it flowed to the tip. The tip became scalding hot as it turned orange. Then, I tried inscribing a fire rune on the sheet, but it would immediately break.

I repeated the process, and the result was mostly the same, but I took notes of what worked and what didn't.

After a bit of trial and error, I was able to successfully inscribe a rune on the sheet's surface.

Now, will it work?

Theoretically, yes, since I literally just copy-pasted the rune inscriptions on the different manuals to the surface.

Realistically, it was a 50/50 chance that it would work.

For it to activate, a catalyst is needed, and the most well-known catalyst is mana.

I carefully placed the sheet on the platform, then backed away.

Using <Lightweaving>, I activated it.

A small flame appeared and danced around the surface of the sheet.

However, with a sudden burst, the sheet into countless shards,
blasting outward in all directions like a burst of fireworks.

<Judgement's Call> activated. My arms were raised to shield my head from the incoming shards.

Because the ability decided to protect my head, the rest of my body was subjected to painful cuts and bruises from the shards.

"MERLIN, what the hell happened?"

She said, [Sire, rune smithing isn't that simple of a task. Just before it exploded, I analyzed the runes and compared them with several others from master-level runesmiths, and I found tens of discrepancies. They were small discrepancies, but they still affected the overall work.]

[Additionally, the sheets you provided wouldn't be able to handle the stress of the runes themselves. This is why not a single runesmith decided to use runes to increase the efficiency or durability of the machines we use in our daily lives; because it wouldn't work.]

Wow, that's really motivating.

Haa, I really thought I could do it without any problems, but I overestimated myself.

I already expected that the metal sheets wouldn't handle the stress, but I thought it would be fine if it was a simple rune, but even that isn't possible.

It's time to go to the underground market.

Honestly, as much as possible, I didn't want to involve myself with them, mostly because pretty much everyone there is a fugitive of some kind.

However, the materials I need aren't something I could buy by myself due to my age, especially if I want to stay inconspicuous as possible.

The reason why I want to stay like that is because although Pandora has not yet made their debut, they have spies everywhere and will try to rope in or kill anyone with talent.

And another reason is the story of my novel itself. I'm not naive to think that the story will stay the same, but as much as possible, I want to keep it that way since my knowledge of it will benefit me greatly.

Anyway, there is actually another reason why I want to go to the underworld market.

It's hypocritical for me to say it, but it's to form a connection.

Piers Spencer.

In my novel, he was introduced as the ruthless and cruel shadow boss of the underground market and a really strong Maven at that time.

When Max and his friends entered the market for the auction, they were caught in a scandal after Max offended Piers. It was Pier's little way of punishing them for their disrespect against him.

Fortunately, the truth behind the scandal was brought to light through their hard work, and authorities persecuted Piers but not without a fight. They won, but they were gravely injured that they had to recuperate for months.

Since it'll still be years until that happens, I decided to take advantage of his eventual growth.

But my cooperation with him will be done in a way that won't implicate me once he gets persecuted.