Nevermore menggelengkan kepala setelah melemparkan manusia muda itu keluar dari Challenge Dungeon. Instance dungeon yang tadinya ia tempati sudah mulai terurai dan didaur ulang, dengan satu-satunya hal yang tersisa adalah sepuluh Creation yang telah ia serahkan serta domain pribadinya yang baru.
Dari sekian banyak Creation, marmer arcane sejauh ini adalah yang paling menarik dan akan menjadi item yang hebat untuk diserap oleh World Wonder. Ia juga punya banyak pemikiran tentang orang yang menyerahkannya dan sifatnya yang aneh. Nevermore juga tidak bisa menahan tawa kecil melihatnya menanyakan bonus 25% seolah-olah itu adalah sesuatu yang diharapkan oleh siapa pun. Meskipun, sulit juga untuk menyalahkannya, mengingat ia sudah mendapatkannya dua kali.
Seandainya ia menghabiskan waktu lebih lama, mungkin ia bisa mencapai target 25% yang ia kejar, tetapi ia meragukannya. Jika ia ingin mencapai evaluasi itu, ia harus memperluas cakupan pekerjaannya secara menyeluruh. Sebagai seorang alkemis, ia sudah memiliki banyak keuntungan yang berbeda, tetapi, sedengar aneh apa pun, Bloodline-nya justru menjadi pembatas utamanya.
Sayang sekali, ia jelas merupakan salah satu yang terbaik. Nevermore tidak akan bilang kalau ia kecewa dengan kurangnya minat dari kebanyakan jenius muda dalam hal crafting. Meskipun, itu memang sedikit mengecewakan. Bagaimanapun, Creation adalah salah satu kemampuan paling penting yang bisa dimiliki seseorang untuk menyebarkan Records mereka.
Ini juga alasan mengapa ia sangat menghargai ketika seseorang muncul sebagai kreator sejati. Seseorang yang tidak sekadar meraih skor tinggi dengan menggunakan Bloodline atau Transcendent milik mereka. Yang Terpilih dari Yip of Yore itu sudah meninggalkan kesan buruk di benaknya atas cara ia meraih skornya yang—meskipun mengesankan—tersebut.
Untungnya, ada satu orang yang juga berkaitan dengan Chosen of the Malefic Viper yang benar-benar membuatnya terkesan. Seorang pria tanpa Bloodline, skill Transcendent, atau hal semacam itu. Hanya pikiran yang kreatif.
Ia bahkan tidak berjalan-jalan dengan gelar seperti Chosen of the Malefic Viper, melainkan hanya menggunakan nama Arnold. Ia adalah seorang pria yang tidak memancarkan sedikit pun keangkuhan atau bahkan rasa percaya diri. Ia adalah lembaran kosong yang tampak sama sekali tidak terusik oleh apa pun yang tidak menarik minatnya.
Tindakan-tindakannya begitu dingin. Dunia-dunia itu tidak lebih dari sarana produksi baginya, dan terlepas dari kenyataan bahwa sumber daya di planet-planet itu tidak dimaksudkan untuk digunakan dalam crafting, ia tetap melakukannya. Murid dari Chosen of the Vipers telah melenyapkan salah satu dari dunia-dunia itu sementara Arnold justru mengubah ketujuh dunia tersebut saat ia menyedot seluruh sumber daya mereka. Kecuali dua dunia, tentu saja, yang ia anggap tidak layak untuk dipanen. Untuk kedua dunia itu, ia malah berhasil memanfaatkan energi yang mengalir ke portal-portal tersebut dan menyerap seluruh energi dengan cara itu, mengubahnya menjadi generator.
Creation yang diserahkannya semuanya luar biasa dan sangat beragam. Pria itu tidak dibatasi oleh afinitas, dan ia juga tidak membatasi penggunaan materialnya. Creation berbasis void yang ia serahkan semuanya sangat menakjubkan, dan skala dari semua tindakannya benar-benar melampaui batas kesan. Mengubah dunia tempat asal murid Chosen of the Malefic Viper menjadi apa yang pada dasarnya adalah satu planet industri besar hanya dalam kurun waktu dua tahun bahkan terasa tidak realistis untuk ukuran level C, namun ia berhasil melakukannya.
Pencapaian ini diraihnya melalui konstruksi yang dapat mereplikasi diri. Ia akan membuat satu konstruksi yang kemudian bisa membuat konstruksi lainnya, yang terus bergulir tanpa henti. Biasanya, hal ini tidak mungkin dilakukan, tetapi Kreator asli mereka mewujudkannya dengan cara terus terhubung dengan konstruksi-konstruksi itu. Ia memiliki cara untuk menyuplai mereka dengan energi melalui koneksi berbasis void—ia tidak meragukan lagi bahwa Oras ikut campur tangan di sini—sehingga ia dapat berfungsi secara efektif sebagai pusat kendali.
Dalam banyak hal, ia mengingatkan Nevermore pada ras automata. Mentalitas, cara pendekatannya terhadap berbagai hal, kurangnya emosi secara umum, dan teknik pemecahan masalah yang analitis—hanya saja ia membawa konsep itu ke tingkat ekstrem yang membuat yang lain tampak kerdil. Terlebih lagi, ia memanfaatkan sepenuhnya fakta bahwa ia masih seorang manusia dan tidak memiliki batasan yang sama seperti automata, terutama pada opsi evolusi dan adaptasi diri biologis mereka yang sangat kurang.
Nevermore pernah memberi tahu Jake bahwa ada orang lain di luar sana yang juga bisa berdiri di hadapan dewa tanpa terpengaruh dan tanpa pengaruh dari Bloodline-nya. Pria ini adalah salah satunya. Bukan karena ia resisten terhadap perbedaan antar-grade, atau karena ia tidak menyadari kesenjangan itu. Hanya saja ia secara aktif tidak menganggap hal itu sebagai faktor yang relevan dalam interaksinya Sebagian besar waktu. Mencoba menekannya dengan aura superior bagaikan mencoba menyiarkan cahaya terang untuk membutakan pria yang tidak punya mata. Ia tampaknya sama sekali tidak memiliki otak yang memproses perbedaan itu seperti orang lain—yang mungkin juga menjadi alasan mengapa ia bisa membawa Legacy of Oras tanpa menghancurkan pikirannya:
Pikiran itu sudah rusak sejak awal.
Namun Dewata yang Terikat tidak melihat ada yang salah dengan hal ini. Sedikit rusak berarti berbeda, dan sebagai imbalan atas bagian-bagian Arnold yang tidak berfungsi sebagaimana mestinya, ia mendapatkan pikiran yang brankas sebagai gantinya.
Melihat dua Creation paling mengesankan yang telah ia serahkan, ia merasa kagum pada keduanya. Salah satunya adalah perangkat aneh yang ia gunakan untuk menyedot energi dari portal-portal tersebut. Perangkat itu dipenuhi dengan sihir void yang aneh dan mampu mengeksploitasi energi tak terbatas yang disediakan oleh sistem untuk menjaga agar portal tetap aktif. Itu adalah item yang terbelah dua, tampak seperti dua cincin dengan benang hitam tipis di antara keduanya, di mana satu bagian masuk ke dalam portal, dan bagian lainnya tetap berada di sisi seberang. Setidaknya kelihatannya begitu.
Faktanya, kedua item tersebut terus-menerus bertukar posisi jutaan kali setiap detik. Setiap kali sesuatu masuk atau keluar dari portal, seberkas kecil energi yang sangat samar akan dilepaskan, jumlah yang begitu sedikit hingga hampir tidak terdeteksi. Namun, tetap saja ada energi. Kedua cincin void aneh ini akan menyerap energi tersebut di setiap pertukaran posisi. Karena mereka bertukar posisi yang pastinya mencapai triliunan kali setiap detik, energi yang diserap menjadi sangat astronomis, dengan setiap serpihan energi itu mengalir ke Arnold, yang sekadar berfungsi sebagai saluran untuk menyebarkannya ke mesin-mesinnya yang lain. Setidaknya, itulah yang ia lakukan untuk waktu yang cukup lama sampai ia membuat Creation kedua yang ia lihat.
Item lain yang ia amati adalah sesuatu yang disebut matriks kontrol. Perangkat yang dibuat untuk melacak—dan seperti namanya—mengendalikan segala sesuatu yang telah ia buat. Itu adalah item yang terus-menerus ia kembangkan selama jalannya House of the Architect, perlahan-lahan menyempurnakannya dengan lapisan-lapisan baru mantra sihir. Bagaikan pikiran buatan semacam itu, perangkat tersebut perlahan mengambil beban mental dan tugas-tugas dari Arnold seiring berjalannya waktu, memungkinkannya untuk membebaskan otaknya untuk proyek-proyek lain tanpa memperlambat produksi apa pun.
Keduanya adalah item legendaris, dan bukan item legendaris yang buruk pula.
Arnold sudah berada di jalur yang tepat menuju skor 20% yang luar biasa hingga Creation terakhirnya yang mendorongnya melewati batas. Dengan setiap item yang diserahkan Arnold, ia membuat replika persisnya agar ia bisa terus menggunakannya karena semuanya akan diperlukan untuk pengiriman akhirnya.
Pengiriman akhirnya bukan sekadar item, melainkan seluruh sistem yang telah ia ciptakan. Ia telah sepenuhnya menjadikan seluruh House of the Architect sebagai miliknya, mengintegrasikan setiap Attendant, dan menyiapkan pesanan pembelian otomatis dengan Toko Merit Point. Ia secara efektif mengeksploitasi fakta bahwa merakit bahan mentah dari toko hampir selalu menghasilkan produk yang dapat dijual kembali untuk mendapatkan lebih banyak Merit Point daripada biayanya. Dengan seluruh proses crafting yang berubah menjadi sepenuhnya otomatis, ia menciptakan apa yang hanya bisa digambarkan sebagai mesin yang terus tumbuh yang akan terus berkembang dan tidak pernah kehabisan sumber daya.
Segala sesuatu yang telah ia lakukan mengarah pada satu kesatuan yang, ketika digabungkan, memungkinkan Arnold untuk memproduksi apa pun yang ia inginkan secara sepenuhnya otonom. Ia telah menciptakan sesuatu yang akan tetap bertahan bahkan setelah ia meninggalkan Challenge Dungeon dan menyerahkannya sebagai Creation terakhirnya. Itu bukan sekadar item, tetapi jika Nevermore harus mengklasifikasikannya sebagai item, dan mempertimbangkan semua bagian yang berperan, tidak diragukan lagi item itu akan dianggap berperingkat mythical.
Tingkat pemikiran ke depan, perencanaan, dan kecerdikan yang murni sangatlah menginspirasi. Terutama fakta bahwa ia telah mempertimbangkan segala sesuatu yang disediakan oleh House of the Architect dan mengintegrasikannya ke dalam rencana besarnya membuktikan bahwa ia tidak hanya merencanakan semuanya sebelumnya sebelum memasuki Challenge Dungeon. Itu adalah bukti bahwa ia hanya mengandalkan tingkat skill dasar yang sangat tinggi untuk mewujudkan semuanya, secara aktif mengeksploitasi dungeon dengan segala cara yang ia bisa, semuanya tanpa mengandalkan kemampuan apa pun yang dianggap berada di luar sistem.
Ia adalah seorang jenius yang sah di ranah crafting, tidak diragukan lagi.
Mengenai seberapa bagus kemampuannya di bidang lain—yah, ia sangat timpang dalam skill-nya. Ia bisa melangkah jauh, tetapi ia bukan penantang sejati untuk Papan Peringkat Nevermore, terutama dengan orang-orang seperti Chosen of the Malefic Viper yang ada dalam daftar, yang memiliki kumpulan kemampuan yang jauh lebih umum dan tingkat adaptasi yang tinggi terhadap lingkungannya.
Yang pasti akan sangat berguna baginya di Challenge Dungeon terakhir—sesuatu yang tidak bisa ia katakan tentang skill Arnold di sana.
Vilastromoz membuka matanya tepat saat dewa lain di ruangan itu melontarkan luapan emosi yang sudah bisa ditebak.
Nevermore shook her head after she threw the young human out of the Challenge Dungeon. The instance of the dungeon he had been occupying was already dematerializing and getting recycled, with the only thing remaining the ten Creations he had submitted and his new personal domain.
Of the Creations, the arcane marble was by far the most interesting and would be a great item to absorb for the World Wonder. She also had plenty of thoughts on the one who had submitted it and his peculiar nature. Nevermore also couldnt help but find it funny he had asked about the 25% bonus as if it was something anyone ever expected to get. Though, it was hard to blame him, considering he had already obtained it two times.
Perhaps if he had spent longer, he could have reached the 25% he strived for, but she doubted it. If he had wanted to reach that evaluation, he would have had to thoroughly expand the scope of what he worked with. As an alchemist, he already had many different advantages, but, as odd as it sounds, his Bloodline became his ultimate limiter.
Alas, he had been one of the better ones for sure. Nevermore wouldnt say she was disappointed at the lack of interest from most young geniuses when it came to crafting. It was a bit discouraging, though. Creation was, after all, one of the most important abilities one could ever have for spreading their Records.
This is also why she truly appreciated when someone showed up who was a true creator. Someone who didnt merely achieve a high score through using their Bloodlines or Transcendents. That Chosen of Yip of Yore had already left a bad taste in her mouth with the way he had achieved his albeit impressive score.
Luckily, there had been one person also related to the Chosen of the Malefic Viper who had truly impressed her. A man without a Bloodline, Transcendant skill, or anything like that. Just a creative mind.
He didnt even walk around with a title like the Chosen of the Malefic Viper but had simply gone by Arnold. He was a man who didnt radiate the slightest arrogance or even confidence. He was a blank slate that seemed entirely unbothered with anything that didnt interest him.
His actions were cold. The worlds were nothing more than a means of production to him, and despite the fact that the resources on the planets werent meant to be used for crafting, he had done so anyway. The student of the Vipers Chosen had wiped out one of the worlds Arnold had transformed all seven of them as he drained them all of their resources. Except for two, that is, which he deemed unsuitable for harvest. For those, he instead managed to tap into the energy powering the portals and absorbed all the energy that way, turning them into generators.
The Creations submitted had all been sublime and incredibly diverse. The man was not limited by affinities, nor did he limit his use of materials. The void-based Creations he submitted were all sights to behold, and the sheer scale of all his actions was beyond impressive. To turn the world that the Malefic Vipers Chosens student had come from into what was effectively one big industrial planet within only two years didnt even seem realistic for a C-grade, yet he had done it.
He achieved this through self-replicating constructs. He would make one construct that could then make others, which snowballed endlessly. Usually, this would not be possible, but their original Creator made it so by constantly remaining connected to them. He had a way of feeding them energy through a void-based connection, she didnt doubt Oras had a hand in and allowed himself to effectively function as a central hub.
In many ways, he reminded Nevermore of the automata race. His mentality, approach to things, general lack of emotions, and analytical problem-solving technique except he put them to shame with how extreme he took the concept. Moreover, he took full advantage of the fact he still remained a human and didnt have the same limitations automata would have primarily their severely lacking evolution and biological self-adaptation options.
Nevermore had told Jake that there were others out there who could also stand before a god unaffected without influence from his Bloodline. This man was one of them. It wasnt because he was resistant to the difference between grades, nor that he didnt recognize the gap. It was simply that he didnt actively consider it a relevant factor to his interactions most of the time. To try and suppress him with a superior aura was like trying to shine a bright light to blind a man without eyes. He simply didnt appear to have a brain that computed the difference like everyone else which was probably also the reason he could carry the Legacy of Oras without breaking his mind:
It was already broken from the beginning.
Yet the Bound God saw nothing wrong with this. To be slightly broken was to be different, and in trade for parts of Arnold not functioning as one would expect, he gained a brilliant mind in turn.
Looking at the two of the most impressive Creations he had submitted, she felt in awe at both. One of them was one of the odd devices he had used to drain the energy of the portals. It was filled with odd void magic and had been capable of exploiting the endless energy provided by the system to keep the portals active. It was an item split in two, looking like two rings with a thin black thread between them, where one part entered the portal, and the other remained on the other side. At least it looked like that.
In fact, the two items were constantly switching positions countless times every single second. Every time something entered or exited the portal, a very faint wisp of energy would be released, an amount so little that it barely registered. However, there was still some energy. These two odd void rings would absorb this energy at every position swap. As they switched what had to be easily trillions of times every single second, the energy absorbed was astronomical, with every shred of it feeding into Arnold, who merely functioned as a conduit to spread it out to his other machines. At least, he did for a good while until he made the second Creation she looked at.
The other item she looked at was something called a control matrix. A device made to keep track of and as the name implied control everything else he had made. It was an item he repeatedly expanded upon during the entirety of House of the Architect, slowly improving with new layers of magical scripts. Like an artificial mind of sorts, it slowly took the mental load and jobs off Arnold as time progressed, allowing him to free up his brain for other projects without slowing down any production.
They had both been legendary items and not bad legendary items either.
Arnold had been well on his way to a remarkable 20% score until the very last Creation that pushed him over the edge. With every item Arnold turned in, he had made exact replicas so he could keep using them because they would all be necessary for his final submission.
His final submission wasnt merely an item but the entire system he had created. He had thoroughly made the entire House of the Architect his own, integrated every single Attendant, and set up automatic purchase orders with the Merit Point Store. He effectively exploited that putting together raw materials from the store would nearly always result in a product one could sell back for more Merit Points than the cost. With the entire crafting process turning entirely automated, he made what could only described as an ever-growing machine that would continually expand and never run out of resources.
Everything he had done had been building toward a whole that, when it came together, allowed Arnold to produce whatever he wanted completely autonomously. He had created something that would persist even after he had left the Challenge Dungeon and submitted that as his final Creation. It wasnt merely an item, but if Nevermore had to classify it as one, and considering all the parts in play, it would no doubt have been considered mythical rarity.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The sheer level of forethought, planning, and ingenuity had been inspiring. Especially the fact he had taken everything the House of the Architect provided into consideration and integrated it into his grand plan proved he hadnt simply pre-planned the entire thing before entering the Challenge Dungeon. Proof that he had simply relied on an incredibly high level of base skill to make everything happen, actively exploiting the dungeon in every way he could, all without relying on any abilities considered outside the system.
He was a legitimate genius in the realm of creation, no doubt about it.
As for how good he was in other areas well, he was very lopsided in his skills. He could go far, but he wasnt truly a contender for the Nevermore Leaderboards, especially not with people like the Chosen of the Malefic Viper in the mix, who had a far more general set of abilities and a high level of adaptability to his environment.
Which was bound to serve him well in the final Challenge Dungeon something she couldnt say about Arnolds skills in there.
Vilastromoz opened his eyes just as another god in the room had a somewhat expected outburst.
Finally! God damn, I was getting tired of that horrible Challenge Dungeon. It sucked all the fun out of this otherwise wonderful viewing party! Minaga complained loudly, waking many of the gods in the room from their temporary slumber.
Alright, perhaps slumber was not the right word for what had just been them focusing their attention elsewhere than the avatar in the room. The majority of them were only there to observe what the influential gods said, after all, so they didnt bother to focus on it most of the time.
For the last two years or so, the Holy Mother, Blightfather, Valdemar, Malefic Viper, and Natures Attendant had all simply observed their own private livestreams of those they were interested in, and any communication had happened through telepathy. In truth, the only person the gods openly discussed was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, Jake.
Not to say the gods werent interested in how others did. As they were in Nevermore anyway with an avatar, they had little excuse to not peek at how their C-grade prospects were doing. Valdemar and the Blightfatherdid also have a brief exchange when the young Ghost King known as Azal managed to gain Valdemars recognition within the Colosseum of Mortals.
Besides these small comments and exchanges here and there, when a member from one of the Primordials factions did something impressive, there had mostly been silence. That is until Minaga suddenly had his outburst, marking that the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was out of the Challenge Dungeon and available to be observed.
You know why the rules are in place to restrict any viewing, the Wyrmgod sighed.
Yeah, because Nevermore is stingy as hell and anti-fun, Minaga grumbled, clearly not a fan of the Bound God of the World Wonder.
From what the Viper knew, this dislike stemmed from the Bound God being what could best be described as a balancing voice in the World Wonder. She was the one who imposed restrictions on Minaga here and there, and as she spoke for the system, she had quickly become the boogieman in the Unique Lifeforms eyes.
Are you still angry she wont give out any details about the Creations submitted? Vilastromoz asked. The information she can give, I mean.
Damn straight I am, Minaga nodded. Bending the rules of the system is just what youre supposed to do, so why is she being such a stickler with things like that? In my opinion, the right to privacy is a scam and not something anyone needs. Heck, look at me. Ive never been alone for a single conscious moment in my entire life, and I turned out just fine!
Sure, sure, the Viper just shook his head. Now, what is this Endless Journey Challenge Dungeon? The first time I remember seeing this one. Minagas Labyrinth was too, but at least that one was easy to see through.
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