The time that Spitzek estimated was almost right, as it took a full day until I was able to imprint a source mark on the badge. It felt like there was an intangible connection between me and the badge… How surreal.

With a will, I summoned the badge, and with a simple thought, it disappeared into my source heart. This was a miraculous ability that could make people worship me if they didn’t know better, which would be advantageous if there was such a society that didn’t know about this.

I stretched my stiff body that had been left sitting for almost twenty-four hours straight. Fortunately, I brought my backpack with me, so I wasn’t dehydrated nor famished.

“All right. Thanks a million for sharing knowledge about this ability!” I thanked Spitzek who had just returned from outside.

“No problem…” He nodded, gesturing for me to kindly leave.

Outside, the sky was pretty orange. The sun was about to set in less than an hour. Meanwhile, I didn’t bother to enjoy the great view and instead checked the mission to see the remaining time limit as I made my way back to the crash site.

Mission: One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

Your airship has become a hunk of junk. You better find someone capable to repair it soon, or else… No one can say what other inhabitants around this area will do once they find this.

Difficulty: C-

Time Limit: 30 days

Remaining Time: 8 days 14 hours 52 minutes

Reward: Repaired airship, a new companion

Failure: Losing the airship, possibly an information leak that will lead to death

By this time, a bit more than a week was left to complete the airship. If I didn’t hurry, it might be too late. Plus, to be completely honest, rebuilding an airship and even upgrading it in a span of less than one month was such an arduous task.

This time limit really worked me to the bone.

“Hah… if it wasn’t for the time limit, I can take my time to appreciate the town while drinking a beverage to my heart’s content,” I whined, shaking my head.

I didn’t know when, but the airship was already in sight. The exterior of the airship was now half completed. The frame, that extended by more than a hundred meters, was just a step away from finish. Rather than a simple upgrade, it was more like building a new one. Although, the old airship was attached above the new frame.

Each day, there would be significant changes; I wouldn’t have believed it if I wasn’t here as a witness of this absurd progress.

These rapid changes could be attributed to many things like how the materials for the hull were made to be light first through the use of runic inscription; the mechanical golem, Alfredo, worked tirelessly as if not knowing the word “tired”; Tulle with her highly dexterous hands at connecting the airship’s parts; Lunaria controlling Luna-1 to do the hard-to-reach places. We all worked in tandem.

***

A week passed in what appeared to be a long time.

Usually, time would elapse like it was nothing. But the constant working made it feel like the day was unending, seemingly infinite.

Other than that, I also made huge progress in increasing my power, despite most of my free time being spent doing labor. It wouldn’t take long for me to advance and become a Tier-2 source user.

To see how much I’d progressed, I used [Identification] on myself.

Maxim Peterson (Raymond Orton)

[…]

Source Level: Tier-1 enhancer | Tier-1 evoker
Source Element(s): All (basic)
Vocation(s): [All Elements] | [The Survivalist]

Stats:

• STR: E+ (33 → 36)
• AGI: E (34 → 35)
• VIT: E (30 → 33)
• SRC: E (31 → 33)
• SPR: E- (21 → 22)

Accumulation Points: 21 → 23 [E]

It was the first time that my STR stat exceeded my AGI stat. After all, apart from sparring with Tuilë in our little spare time, I hadn’t been moving a lot this past week and was lifting a lot of heavy things instead. As for who won the spars? Of course, it wasn’t me…

Still, after giving Tuilë two thousand source crystals, there wasn’t much of an excess — exactly forty source crystals, and I had used, like, twenty-five or so this past week. I had to wait until the ant carcasses were processed and sold to get more. By using those, I wondered what level I could reach…

As I drowned myself in my wishful thinking, Tuilë’s yell came from outside.

“Maxim! Come here, I have something to show you!”

Putting the thought at the back of my mind, I dashed toward the source of the voice. What met me outside was the completed airship anchored by a few steel cords. An airship that, at first glance, looked like a sci-fi product instead of fantasy. What I meant by that could be explained by the two large jet engine-like propellers on each side of the wing, a sizeable core at the bottom back, a long, pointed muzzle that extended from its fourth floor, as well as how it was refurbished with glass panes in a lot of places.

I already knew how it would look from the blueprint that Tuilë had shown a long time ago but seeing it up close was really breathtaking. One must know that my work was mostly involved in inscribing runes, so I hadn’t had a good glimpse of the finished product.

This was indeed one hell of an airship!

Normally, this thing wouldn’t be able to float, but that wasn’t the case when magic was counted in.

“Ta-da! As you can see, the airship is finished. While most of its weapons aren’t installed yet, it can already take flight just fine!” She showed me the brightest smile she had ever made.

After expending all my source crystals for this hemorrhaging, the airship was finally completed. Truly an expense that put a large hole in my wallet.

“Why are you so excited? What gives?”

While I couldn’t help feeling like my insides were vibrating upon the completion of this magnificent magical airship, she was, by many times, more so than me.

“You don’t get it? This is my magnum opus — the best creation I made so far!!”

“Is that right? It’s indeed a magnificent creation; one that is unmatched by any. Of course, it’s all thanks to you, O great Tuilë, the genius mechanic,” I praised, nodding my head. There was no harm in uttering a compliment or three, not that I lied in the first place.

“Hehe! I know, right?!” She grinned widely, enough to almost split her head.

“For you to have worked nonstop for the past month… Are you really fine not being paid anything else and only taking it as a favor?” I know she wants a free ride to her hometown, but it’s not even worth mentioning as a repayment.

“Aw shucks, you. It’s just an altruistic act on my part. Don’t mind it, don’t mind it!” said Tuilë, her cheeks flushed ever so slightly.

Strangely, I felt like something was missing.

I looked around the area and found nothing alike a floating drone. Thus, I asked Tuilë, who had been staying here for a while, a question.

“Speaking of, I haven’t seen Lunaria for a while… Where is she?”

“About that…” She turned left and right as if being scared of being heard and whispered, “Psst, come with me to the back of the shack; there’s something that I have to tell you about,” and gave me a wink.

Then, she took me to a secluded place right behind the shack.

What? What was she going to do to me?

However, such a thought was immediately pushed aside once I remembered that this was Tuilë we were talking about. After all, she only had her inventions and that alone inside her head.

Still, was she on to something? This probably concerned Lunaria. Although I had my own doubt, I better exchange opinions first with Tuilë.

“I’ve figured out a way to crack it open,” she said.

“Pardon? Figured what is open?

“Huh, you don’t know? I’m sure I told you like a few days ago… about ‘that room’ inside the airship.”

“Oh, yes, you did tell me ‘that.’” It almost doesn’t ring a bell… must have been occupied by something when she said that. “Anyways, stop beating around the bush; what’s up with that place?”

“Do you know why Lunaria has always been quiet these past few days? Although she never speaks much, it’s just weird, doesn’t it?”

I pondered for a moment and came up with a plausible answer: “Was it because she was keeping something secret?”

After all, the ship was originally hers, not mine. It wasn’t a far-fetched idea that the ship was holding at least a couple of secrets. I mean, I already had this suspicion for a long time. Every time I asked her about something concerning her past, she always brushed it off with her silence.

This prompted me to find the truth, now that it had come to this.

“Indeed. That’s what is on my mind. I’ve also realized that Lunaria isn’t the floating robot she was…” Tuilë nodded her head.

“For now, don’t alert her. The least we want is to make her anxious and make things worst…” I warned. If she, in the worst-case scenario, were to run off with the airship, I couldn’t think of what would come to us then…

“Gotcha.” She thumbed me, following my behest.

“Great. Now let’s see…”

I told her of a plan so that Lunaria would spill everything until she could no longer.

***

Lunaria’s Perspective

She was backed into a corner.

She felt guilty. Guilty of the thing that she wasn’t sure that she was supposed to be guilty about.

In one secluded corner of the new airship was a room that she had secretly kept out of reach from anyone, including “him.”

She had observed “him” for almost four months now. For her, no one else in this world was better acquainted than her. At least, her memories didn’t provide her with anything about her past… Whenever she tried to recall something, she was only met with emptiness.

But she knew that inside this room lay what was her most hidden secret that she wouldn’t open no matter what.

Why?

She didn’t know. It appeared that even the reason for doing this had long, long been forgotten…

In fact, she would’ve forgotten entirely about it if the ship wasn’t rebuilt.

However, she felt restless… Fearing about what was hidden inside, she didn’t dare to move forward and tell “him.”

It was then, when she was at her most unsettled moment, that “he” found her drone. Even though she had “eyes” all over the ship, he managed to bypass her unknowingly.

“Out with it, Lunaria,” the guy, who appeared to be in his late teenage years, said slowly, “I know everything…” and slowly reached out for her.

In an instant, she was struck silent.