IRM Chapter 89

“Ideas, huh…” Linton pinched his chin, his gaze lingering on the chaotic annotations on the manuscript paper as he pondered, “I’ve compiled statistics on the winning equipments from previous competitions. Longswords and wands accounted for the majority, followed by armor and shields. Of course, it’s also possible that there are simply more engineers skilled in these types… But I think, if we want to immediately catch the judges’ attention, perhaps we could try crafting other types of equipments.”

After finishing, Linton quickly glanced at Bard and hastily added, “This is just a small suggestion from me. I’ll follow Master’s arrangements completely.”

Bard didn’t show displeasure. On the contrary, he quite enjoyed this feeling of mutual discussion with his student.

He nodded. “Your thinking is good. Crafting weapons and defensive equipment in competitions is indeed the path most engineers would choose. If we want to pursue novelty, trying other equipment isn’t necessarily impossible, but it’s also a very risky path. A good idea can lead to easy victory, but once something goes wrong, there will be no way to recover.”

As Bard spoke, he drew two circles on the manuscript paper, writing “weapons and defensive equipment” inside one and marking “others” on the other.

“What do you think, Ji Chi?” Bard propped the quill pen to one side and turned to look at Ji Chi.

He and Ji Chi were quite familiar now, and he deeply understood that this kid’s thought process was rather different from ordinary people. Although some of his ideas could easily make people want to beat him up, sometimes they really needed his crazy ideas that exceeded common sense to break through and forge a new path.

Sure enough, Ji Chi glanced left and right at the two circles on the manuscript paper and laughed frivolously. “Only children make choices; adults naturally want both!”

He reached out to take the pen and drew a large plus sign between the circles.

Bard couldn’t understand that special symbol, but his intuition told him nothing good would come of it. Suppressing his temper, he frowned. “This is no time for jokes. Where has there ever been anyone taking two design blueprints to compete!”

Ji Chi looked at him with incomprehension, drew a stick figure in a blank area with a few strokes, then circled the figure and said, “Look, isn’t this one a blueprint? Why would you need to split up a set?”

In Ji Chi’s view, a set occupied one inventory slot, and individual pieces also occupied one inventory slot. Strictly speaking, both could be considered one item, so there was no need to view them separately.

But what he overlooked was that ordinary players didn’t have his leisure, money, or dedication. Some couldn’t afford individual pieces, and some couldn’t complete sets. How could they be like him, casually obtaining a complete set of equipment?

Linton looked at Ji Chi with an expression of “he’s beyond saving”. “You really dare to say that… But unfortunately, a set is a combination of several equipments. Even if the judges were blind in one eye, there would be no way to view them as one item!”

Ji Chi said nothing, only blinked his eyes, turned his head to look at Chloe, then looked at Bard. He repeated this several times until Bard’s expression gradually changed from displeasure to understanding.

After understanding, Bard suddenly smiled and sighed. “You’re right. How did I not think of it…”

Linton. “Right, sets and such—”

“We can indeed try to develop a unique set.” Bard smiled as he gazed at Chloe. “That would certainly be a one-of-a-kind equipment.”

Linton. “???”

“Wait wait wait… What are you talking about? Why can’t I understand?” Linton held his head as he looked at them, his face full of existential doubt. “We’re making a set? Can this pass the first selection???”

An endless stream of inspiration flooded into Bard’s mind. His eyes were shining remarkably bright at this moment as he laughed heartily at Linton. “Young man, you still haven’t broken out of your limitations! Then let me ask you, in your view, what does an equipment look like?”

Linton lowered his hands and glanced sideways at the scattered components on the workbench, hesitating. “A handheld item? A piece of clothing? Or a pair of shoes?”

Bard shook his head. “No, it can also be something more complete, like a house, or… a person.”

Linton was shocked, laughing dryly with a stammer. “Ha ha, how—how is that possible? That’s too absurd! How could an equipment be a person…”

Chloe stopped fiddling with the doll in her hands, narrowed her eyes at Linton, looking quite displeased.

Linton misunderstood her expression and asked her with hopeful eyes. “Chloe, what—what do you think?”

Chloe turned her head away and said coldly, “Chloe obeys all of Master’s commands.”

Linton suffered a critical blow to his soul. Clutching his chest, he looked at her with heartache. “Sob sob, don’t be afraid, speak boldly! I will definitely find a way to buy your slave contract and let you become a free person…”

Bard also shot Ji Chi a sour glance, sighed, then turned to patiently explain to Linton. “Set is just a general term. We can connect all the pieces of the set together to form a whole, and thus it can become an independent equipment. As for whether an equipment can possibly be other things… you’ll know in the future.”

Worried that Linton still couldn’t understand, Bard added connected equipment onto the stick figure Ji Chi had drawn, covering everything from fingers to toes. “Like this, we can give the hands of this equipment attacking power, provide defense on the body, increase speed in the legs and feet. It can be both a whole and possess multiple functions.”

“However, this would only be exploiting a loophole. We can still add a unique ability to it.” Ji Chi thought for a moment, lowered his head to gaze at his palm, and magic power escaped from it, quickly attracting various elements floating in the air.

He controlled them to transform into each other and said with a smile, “What do you think—would it be exciting if we could use an equipment to package an all-element, all-capable mage?”

Time passed bit by bit. Not just the Royal Academy, but everyone was paying attention to this competition that was causing a sensation across the continent. The victorious engineer would not only stand proud among peers in their own field but would also be sought after by all professions.

The Royal Academy had given the participating students an early vacation, allowing them to fully devote themselves to research and prepare for the upcoming first selection.

At the same time, screams kept coming one after another from inside the [Forging House] at 223 North Street.

“Ahhh! Look at this! A corundum furnace from the Northland!” Linton was incredulous!

“A black gold anvil from Dark Night Forest!” Bard was pleasantly surprised!

“Phosphorescent ice fire from the Burial Grounds!” Linton’s eyes widened!

“Soul amber from beneath the Abyss!” Bard clutched his head and cried out!

Ji Chi’s face was grave. He was beginning to regret bringing these two crafting maniacs here.

He rubbed his ears and helplessly watched the figures darting madly around the house, very much wanting to reload a save.

Chloe was very familiar with this place. She had first opened her eyes on the forge table on the right-hand side, appreciating the colorful world. Chloe observed the Forging House inch by inch. It hadn’t changed much here—all the tools were in perfect condition, the furnace was clean, and the precious materials had not decreased but increased. They had all been well cared for by the new owner.

The corners of Chloe’s mouth unconsciously lifted into a smile. She recalled the times when Phaestus had added components for her, and casually picked up a small hammer and tapped it on her wrist.

“Clang clang—” The sound of metal striking metal called back the two madmen’s rationality. Linton looked back at Chloe in confusion, habitually trying to guess what material was producing that striking sound.

However, Chloe was only holding a delicate small hammer, her other hand completely empty.

Linton ignored the strange feeling that crossed his mind, his face flushed with excitement. He felt like he had arrived in heaven, floating on air. “Oh my god, Ji Chi! Are you the favored son of the God of Forging? Do you know what all this is! I’ve only seen them in ancient texts!”

Bard pressed against the furnace beside him, stroking it fondly. “These are all long-lost crafts. How did you get them…”

Ji Chi sighed and evaded the topic. “Speaking of which, now isn’t the time for sightseeing, right? I remember someone was complaining about wasting time coming here before?”

Bard coughed twice, then said seriously, “That’s right. We don’t have much time. We still need to confirm materials, clarify our thoughts, assign tasks… Mm, let’s start right away.”

The sounds of hammering, experimenting, and arguing in the Forging House continued for nearly a month. The first selection was finally at hand.

A month of non-stop research and experimentation had drained everyone’s energy. After Ji Chi exhausted all his magic power in testing, he collapsed half-dead on the ground and was eventually picked up by Chloe like garbage and thrown onto a temporarily set up bed.

Bard’s energy was not as vigorous as a young person’s to begin with, so he had curled up in a corner early on and closed his eyes to rest.

Only Linton forced himself to stay alert, sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding the completed design blueprint and looking at it for a long time.

A flickering light appeared in his eyes. He reached out to take a sheet of manuscript paper, placed it on top of the original design blueprint and traced it. When he reached the most crucial magic conversion part, he thought for a long time, still bit his lip, put pen to paper and traced it, completing it bit by bit.

When the tracing was finished, Linton straightened his aching back, casually rolled up both design blueprints, and tucked one of them into his magic bag.

He stood up shakily, yawned hugely, and said to Chloe. “Chloe, it’s getting late. Are you heading back now?”

Chloe took a blanket and gently covered Ji Chi and Bard with it. With her back to Linton, she shook her head and said softly, “You go ahead. Chloe still needs to send Grandpa Bard home in a bit.”

Linton was so sleepy his eyelids were fighting. He waved at her groggily. “Then I’ll go first. See you tomorrow.”

After a month, Linton finally slept soundly in his dormitory. He opened his eyes full of energy in the morning light streaming into the room.

The dormitory was empty. Only Linton was there.

Linton had long been accustomed to sharing a room with others, so he felt rather uncomfortable in the complete silence. He rubbed his face, hummed a tune as he tidied himself up, locked the door, and headed toward North Street with a bright expression.

From the Royal Academy to North Street, one had to pass through Central Street. Linton stopped to think for a moment and decided to reward himself by going to the main street to buy a fragrant meat pie for breakfast.

Although it was still early, there were already quite a few passersby on the street. Linton queued for a while before buying three meat pies. While secretly aching over the coins he had spent, he walked toward Bard’s shop with a smile.

He remembered that Bard had praised this shop’s meat pies, so he must really like eating them. He just didn’t know what Chloe liked… Thinking carefully, this past month he seemed to have hardly seen her eat anything.

No wonder her waist is so slender… Linton’s face flushed red, and he hurriedly shook off the images that surfaced in his mind, burying his head as he walked quickly forward.

Bard had also slept a rare good night’s sleep at home last night. He slowly climbed out of bed, opened the shop door blearily, and light refracted gorgeous colors among the display cases and cabinets in the shop. Bard took advantage of the light and turned to look around.

Chloe wasn’t in the shop. She must have run off to Ji Chi’s place early in the morning.

Bard turned down the corners of his mouth and gave a soft snort, like a child whose beloved candy had been stolen, walking into the shop somewhat unhappily.

At that moment, the silver bell on the door frame rang crisply—a signal that a customer was entering.

Bard didn’t turn around and said in an unfriendly tone. “Sorry, we’re closed today. Please leave, customer.”

There was no response from behind, nor any sound of someone leaving. Bard frowned and turned around, his eyes meeting those of a smiling young man.

The young man was wearing a gorgeous shirt woven from gold-threaded silk, standing elegantly and gracefully among the cramped display cases, completely out of place with the plain and simple shop.

Bard observed him for quite a while before asking this obviously aristocratic-dressed young man with puzzlement. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”

The young man laughed softly, bowing slightly to perform a special salute. “Good morning, Master Borg. I’m also an engineer. My name is William.”

He raised his head, seeing Bard’s shocked gaze, and said softly, “I want to make a deal with you.”

After his initial surprise, Bard’s expression returned to indifference. “So it’s Your Highness the First Prince. However, I imagine you wouldn’t be interested in any of the equipments in my shop.”

William shook his head gently. “I’m very sorry I don’t have time to appreciate your works today. I have more important business to discuss with you—it’s about tomorrow’s first selection.”

Bard furrowed his brow. “What do you want to say?”

William curved the corners of his mouth upward. Without speaking, he took out a rolled manuscript paper from his magic bag and slowly unrolled it before Bard.

“What a surprising design.” William gazed at the design blueprint in his hands with admiration in his eyes. “If I hadn’t spent a high price to buy it, I might have truly missed out on this competition…”

Seeing the familiar manuscript, Bard’s face suddenly turned pale. He looked at William with shock and fury.