In the middle of his bubble, a table held several gauntlet prototypes. They were dark silver with glowing gold patterns inscribed on them, just how Zack wanted them.

  Lev was slowly starting to realize that crafting Epic items was still far beyond him, at least until the quality was considered. Brute forcing them was an extreme waste of resources, which is why he meticulously planned every single part of the gauntlets.

  First came the flexibility. Learning how to create movable fingers was easy, for his barriers could be softened at the right places. Making them movable with the highest possible durability, however, was impossible with that method.

  That began the observation spree of how to create fingers the usual way, and with his high Perception, it hadn't taken more than a few days to become proficient in that. With the base model out of the way, he began adding enchantments to simplify the process.

  Two things made his life significantly easier once again: Friction and Adhesive runes. They both made it so that he could skip several metalworking steps to design the base gauntlet his own way, letting him eventually devise a model that was highly durable without any enchantments.

  Now, he beheld an unenchanted pair of gauntlets with a total of seven layers. The lowest and thickest layer wasn't meant to be touched, only to be adjusted according to the size of Zack's hands for maximum comfort. Fortunately for him, there was a small stock of inner padding available in the fort, probably for non-combatant crafters.

  He quietly stored two.

  Next up was the most intricate layer, the one bathed in the expensive sap for the longest. It held two runes: Arcane Barriers and Flameforged Constitution. Both of them were necessary to keep up with the brawler's strength while keeping the weapons themselves in serviceable shape.

  Layers three to six held the rest of the enchantments, which he had yet to carve, before things got trickier. The Arcane Barrier rune from the initial layer was responsible for automatically repairing the surface of the gauntlets when it inevitably cracked, meaning he was severely limited in how he could enchant it.

  Only one solution had presented itself in the form of the Stone Hardening rune. With something as simple, his class rune could just barely register the hardening rune as a part of the "blueprint," letting the final layer keep something worthwhile in the self-repair.

  All in all, try as he might, he could not find a flaw in his mental map. The enchantments should theoretically fit snugly in the small space, and they should all be compatible as well.

  Isabella sat opposite him when he grabbed the treated barrier gauntlets, curious about how he was going to work. Glancing at her, she understood that he didn't want to be disturbed now, so she crossed one leg over the other and leaned back to watch.

  Before starting to carve, Lev once again noted just how large the gauntlets were, a necessity for being able to fire beams from the palm, and checked his status. Skill level gains were rare, but he expected to see some during this crafting session.

  [

  Name: Lev

  Class: Arcane Maelstrom - Level 285

  Titles: Reinforced Mind, Extraordinary Soul, Youngest Prodigy, Goliath Slayer III, Daunting Steps VI, Champion Delver, Hunter, Seen, Survivor I, Titan Slayer, Master Pioneer, Seigebreaker I, Favored of Kassavin, Wisdom Specialist, Epic Crafter

  Attributes:

  Strength: 300

  Dexterity: 300

  Constitution: 675

  Intelligence: 785

  Wisdom: 1025

  Perception: 675

  Class Skills:

  Arcane Barrier Authority - 4th Level 4

  Unerring Volley - 4th Level 4

  Wrath of the Arcane - 4th Level 4

  Arcane Protection - 4th Level 4

  Superior Senses - 4th Level 5

  Expeditious Empowerment - 4th Level 4

  Arcane Passage - 4th Level 3

  Mage Conduit - 4th Level 5

  General Skills:

  Consistent Mana Channeling - 2nd Level 10

  Identify

  Aerial Maneuvers - 2nd Level 10

  Advanced Mana Perception - 2nd Level 9

  Gaze of the Marskman - 2nd Level 7

  Advanced Barrier Carving - 2nd Level 3

  Wanderer's Repository - 2nd Level 3

  Fracturing Wave - 2nd Level 2

  Self-Taught Beginner Glaive Mastery - 2nd Level 6

  ]

  Not enough Wisdom. Obviously.

  Smiling to himself, he put one of the gauntlets aside and started carving. Time stopped mattering immediately, and even when Isabella had to stop several curious hunters from coming to the bubble, he didn't let himself be distracted.

  Instead, all of his focus was on turning his mental blueprints into reality, and that required far more time than he ever expected. More focused than ever before, each singular rune was allowed ten times more time than he normally worked with, which easily made the hours blend together.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  [

  Advanced Barrier Carving has reached 2nd Level 4

  ]

  When the suns had moved from dawn to noon, he finally slumped down in relief, observing the finished product in his lap. Lev didn't need to know that he had succeeded— the expensive core slotted inside made all the enchantments glow like a tiny sun.

  [

  Sunkissed Demolishers - Epic

  Enchantments: Extreme Resilience, Fire Lance, Flameforged Integrity, Flame Discharge, Advanced Weight Manipulation, Basic Self-Repair, Comfortable, Extraordinary Capacity, Elemental Empowerment.

  ]

  Elemental Empowerment? He echoed in his head. What is that?

  Curiosity piqued, he eagerly dove into the enchantments. An outlier stood out, somehow present without being connected to any of the runes. Instead, it permeated the entire construct, empowering all fire that went through the gauntlet.

  "That's… unique," Isabella remarked, eyes gleaming with excitement. "And that's also not a lower Epic item, as far as I can tell. Congratulations."

  "Thanks…?" Lev replied distractedly. Where the hell did Elemental Empowerment come from? Is this like Dexterous Glaive enchantment? I knew Stargazer was much easier to manipulate than its previous version, but that enchantment is definitely the reason now.

  As far as he could tell, there were absolutely no downsides to the random enchantment. If anything, it made the item way stronger, and he was endlessly astonished that no one had ever told him about such occurrences.

  At the same time, he had no idea how he had just managed that. It made sense for people to withhold information related to higher levels of crafting.

  Pushing it to the back of his mind, he looked at the rest of the enchantments. Several minor ones were not listed, though they assisted the wearer all the same. He focused on the ones The System recognized.

  Fire Lance and Flame Discharge were the two "abilities" of the item. The former let the wearer create a short, condensed lance of fire for a brief instant. From personal experience, he knew how sharp and deadly that thing was going to be.

  Flame Discharge was the opposite, relying on a raw burst of fire that went in every direction. The enchantments aimed to make it more explosive than harmful, mainly to let the brawler create distance and absorb the flames back during that.

  The self-repair was targeted at the final layer holding the hardening runes, and the extraordinary capacity came from the tarantula's core. It also showed properties of durability and, surprisingly, mana conductivity, both of which worked fantastically for the gauntlet.

  Fortunately for him, Grand Strategist Wayne had a matching core, which Lev traded for several weaker third-threshold cores. It was a worthwhile exchange, in his opinion.

  Another few hours passed. Carving got slightly easier during that, signifying both marginally increasing efficiency and skill levels. By the time he had a second, identical gauntlet, Lev's brain felt like it was about to melt out of his nose.

  Isabella obviously didn't like how he was overworking himself. With his arm in her unrelenting grip, Lev was unceremoniously dragged to one of the bedrooms in the basement, where he promptly passed out.

  His last thought was that, at least now, he had a proper Epic item to show his mentor instead of the mess that was Heatwave.

  ****

  Waking up fresh was something he would never get tired of. Sleep firmly remained one of Lev's favorite activities, especially now that it was more akin to a hobby than a requirement to function.

  Taking a bath and dressing up, which was just changing his casual attire to another color, he left the basement. Grand Strategist was visibly busy with several active crystals, so he only greeted the man with a nod before looking for his mentor.

  Stepping outside the fort was mildly shocking. Instead of the usual walls, Lev beheld an expansive project. The previous walls had been uprooted and broken down into bricks. Stone shapers were already working hard at expanding the fort's size to four times its original size.

  Ignoring all of that, he activated the stealth formations on his armor with shadow mana and flew up to the invisible bubble. A small, barely noticeable pulse of mana occasionally shot out of it, the only reason Lev could locate the construct.

  The invisibility dropped for a moment, revealing a small door for him to enter through. Stepping inside, he smiled at how simplistic his mentor's bubble was, primarily because all the ongoing crafting projects were hidden by stealth enchantments.

  "You slept for a while," his mentor commented, creating a barrier seat for him.

  Lev nodded, sitting down. "I was carving non-stop all day yesterday. It took a lot more out of me than I was expecting."

  "Given the nature of runes you work with now, it's no surprise that your willpower was taxed. Their functions need to be fine-tuned according to the items, and that requires more than a little finesse. Now, spill. What did you make?"

  Wow, I should really visit him more often. It shouldn't be so easy to read me.

  Squinting his eyes at Alec, he ignored the slightly smug expression and summoned the pair of gauntlets.

  All humor was immediately forgotten. His mentor gazed at the items silently for a moment before getting up from his seat. With measured steps, he walked up and grabbed one of them, observing it from different angles.

  After testing the smoothness of the joints and the integrity of the rest of the construct, he returned it to Lev with a large smile, one that grew wider and wider as his eyes slowly returned to the present.

  Lev didn't even need to ask what was going through Alec's head. The man in front of him clearly remembered when a young orphan had walked up to the orphanage, boldly requesting an apprenticeship while claiming to have unlocked his System access six years earlier than usual.

  Fun times.

  Storing the gauntlets, Lev looked up, waiting for the praise that was taking a little too long to arrive. Alec chuckled at his expression, one that no doubt looked like an excited puppy, and shook his head to banish the distractions.

  "Well done."

  ****

  Later that day, Lev sat on top of his bubble. It had been cleaned up from the inside and compacted to its usual size. Most of it was now home to stacks upon stacks of barrier projectiles and constructs, hundreds of them with cores already slotted. He would have to be extra careful not to let any of them ignite, for that would result in a disastrous chain reaction.

  Around the fort, there were far too many people. Most of them were Adept, curiously glancing at the lone Master sitting on top of an invisible surface.

  Some Masters were also mixed in, and surprisingly, they were mostly non-combatants. It was his first time seeing a pure non-combatant of that rank, which told him just how rare they were.

  Three stone buildings had already been erected in one planned border of the new, enchanted tall walls. Grand Strategist Wayne had already moved into the middle one, the largest of the bunch. On the way, he had also wished Lev good luck on the upcoming hunt.

  A few minutes later, Alec's bubble flew close to his own, and Sherron stepped out of it. She was in formal attire, a stark contrast to the casual clothing he was used to seeing.

  She looked at his raised brow and rolled her eyes. A sound ward covered them before she spoke. "I need to keep up appearances. Can't have an Exalted walking around like a common worker."

  "You look good," Lev complimented and left it at that. "So, did they arrive?"

  "Yep. Elias and his team have already evolved, and they easily agreed to join you. They're currently patrolling the eastern region, making sure nothing nasty comes out of the Deadlands."

  "Aryan?"

  "He's still stuck in the second gap. The boy didn't even let me complete the offer before accepting."

  "Sounds like him," Lev smiled slightly, remembering the weird situation they had ended up in. I need to somehow bring up that topic without being too blunt.

  "What about you?" Sherron asked after a short pause. "Ready?"

  "Pretty much. There's little more I can do at this point. My preparations are overkill by most standards, but I'm certain I'll be proven wrong in no time."

  "Correct."

  "Other than that, I've redone my armor's enchantments several times now. The current variation I've settled on has a larger focus on defense and physical strength, mainly because flight speed isn't going to be that helpful. That will depend on my bubble."

  "That depends heavily on the circumstances, but the approach is valid. What about your weapon?"

  Lev blinked. "What about it?"

  "Have you looked inside?"

  "No? Why would I?"

  "I'm not asking you to steal the runes," Sherron clicked her tongue. "It's not like you can do that, anyway. Jimmy most likely left a surprise for you in there, so try poking the enchantments."

  The idea hadn't once crossed his mind. Noting that information for when he had the time, Lev looked at the gaggle of Masters jogging towards the fort. Even from that distance, he could tell that they were Elias's and Isabella's teams, and given the physical gestures, they were already busy arguing like old friends.