The Hammer of Creation and the Mechanic's Blueprint

There were exactly two things I was good at. One was mechanical engineering. The other was El Pandor Luntera. And now, one of those two was about to disappear.

The game I had poured eleven years into, El Pandor Luntera, had just dropped its shutdown notice.

Even if I had to go, I was determined to go out with a bang. There were sixty days left until shutdown. For the next sixty days, they were running a “New Character Creation” event for the remaining hardcore players. The details were simple: if you decomposed your main account, you’d receive special abilities and items for a new character equal to the value of the account you sacrificed.

It hurt to break apart an account I’d raised like my own child, but there was no reason to turn down the chance to get a new class and items. As a player who loved this game, I wanted to challenge myself with something new until the very end.

That was when I boldly decomposed my main account’s character.

The results were, as expected, spectacular. My account had been the number one ranked character in El Pandor Luntera — “Overpowered Engineering.” Being rank one meant the rewards were insane. I had obtained two items of the never-before-seen [Eternal] grade.

Humming cheerfully, I transferred all the items to my new account. My fresh character would be starting with two Unique-grade items and sixty days to run wild.

“Wait, what the hell is this?”

There was one strange item mixed in with the rest. An official server entry ticket for El Pandor Luntera. What was that supposed to do? The game only had one server.

Curious, I used the item.

“Whoa—!”

And just like that, I was possessed.

*

Two months had passed since I was possessed. During that time, I had learned several important facts.

First, the world I had been transported into really was El Pandor Luntera. Second, I had been dropped into the early part of the story — the Academy arc.

“Ed! Are you still not done?”

And third, I had possessed a third-rate extra who had never once appeared in the game’s story.

The extra’s name was Edga Fix. He was usually called by the nickname “Ed.” Since two months had already passed since my possession, being called Ed had started to feel fairly natural.

“Yes, Father! I’m almost finished!”

Father. Edga had a blacksmith for a father. His name was James. At first, calling James “Father” had felt incredibly awkward, but after trying to adapt to this new world, it had started to roll off the tongue. Personally, I saw him more as a mentor than a father, but either way, I was adjusting well.

“Hahaha! Are you trying to make your old man die of anticipation? I’m itching so badly to see my son’s masterpiece!”

Over the past two months, however, James had become a complete doting parent. The reason was simple: Edga, who had never once shown his face in the forge, had suddenly taken an interest in crafting equipment and displayed remarkable talent in just a single month.

Of course, that’s because I possessed him.

I had obtained the Creator's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hammer and Mechanic Blueprint by decomposing my main account. In exchange for binding those Unique-grade items, I had gained an innate talent for equipment crafting.

The Creator's Hammer was the item that had turned me into a genius at equipment crafting. It came with three hidden-grade bound effects, and every single one of them was related to crafting. No wonder Edga, who had never swung a hammer before, could suddenly become a crafting prodigy.

James seemed to believe it was because his son had inherited the blood of a blacksmith.

Whew!

Anyway, the equipment I had spent the past week working on was finally complete. This marked the birth of my third Rare-grade item.

I suddenly remembered the first time I had crafted a Rare-grade piece. Along with the message that my skills had leveled up, the “Sealed Creator's Hammer” had upgraded into the “Imperfect Creator's Hammer.” At the same time, the new skill Lv.1 Magic Engineering had been added. It was a skill that allowed me to imbue equipment with magic to create special effects.

Click.

And this gauntlet was the first one I had ever imbued with magic. I had engraved the spell using the lowest-grade magic scroll that James had obtained for me.

Of course, imbuing equipment with magic wasn’t something just anyone could do. No matter how experienced a blacksmith was, without an understanding of mana, it was impossible.

Whoosh!

But I had managed it in just two months. When I lightly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swung the gauntlet, the “Lowest-grade Wave” effect I had imbued activated. A gust of wind shot out from the end of the gauntlet, sending all the various parts scattered across the table clattering to the floor.

“Son! Is it finally finished?!”

The loud crash brought James bursting through the door and into the workshop. I smirked and waved the gauntlet on my hand. He rushed over immediately to examine it.

“Ooooooh!!!! You are the pride of the Fix family! How did you manage to create such a high-level piece in only two months?!”

High-level piece, huh. From my perspective, this was nothing more than practice. After all, I still couldn’t even craft the lowest-tier components listed in the Mechanic Blueprint.

So, to remind myself not to get cocky over something this simple, I opened the Mechanic Blueprint.

A holographic screen appeared in mid-air.

Yeah… I still had a long way to go. I couldn’t even make a Mana Storage Device yet. There was no way I could be satisfied with just one Rare-grade gauntlet.

My current goal was the Plasma Beam Titanium Alloy Gauntlet. That sleek gauntlet that looked exactly like Iron Man’s was my target. Not this crude Rare-grade gauntlet.

“Hahahaha! Ed! You’re going to become the greatest blacksmith in the empire!”

Well, James seemed perfectly satisfied with my current level.

Still, I need to start making that Mana Storage Device soon…

The gauntlet I had just finished was a successful prototype for my goal. If the Plasma Beam Titanium Alloy Gauntlet fired plasma beams, the one I made fired waves. So it was time to seriously start crafting the lower-grade materials.

I clicked on one of the required materials for the Plasma Beam Titanium Alloy Gauntlet — the “Mana Storage Device [Lv.4]” — and checked the necessary combination recipe.

Even this wasn’t easy. All the materials needed for the Mana Storage Device were expensive. Both mana stones and blue jade stones came from high-risk dungeons, so they weren’t easy to obtain.

I decided to look at the Mana Stabilizer first.

Finally, I saw a material I could actually make. Impurity-Free Iron. Through relentless daily training over the past two months, I had become able to produce iron with nearly zero impurities.

However, the Mana Absorption Scroll was something I would need to learn myself or obtain a scroll for, which was difficult at the moment. The “Precisely Crafted Glass Tube” seemed like something I could make with a bit more practice.

I decided to start there.

As expected, once I went down to the lower recipe, the difficulty dropped significantly. With just sand and simple tools, I could make a glass tube.

Hmm… If I can freely shape glass, I could apply it to other equipment as well.

Glass was a cooled liquid with high light transmittance. Since mana in this world had the properties of light, glass was a suitable material for containing and emitting mana. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It had the downside of being fragile, but with good engineering design, that weakness could be compensated for.

Alright. If I mix glass into the Rare gauntlet I just made…

The efficiency of the spell engraved on the gauntlet would increase. Right now it only emitted a weak wave when swung, but if I added glass to the output port, it could be strengthened into a much more powerful wave.

“Hehehe. Look at you, already lost in thought about making more equipment.”

At that moment, James ruffled my hair with a warm smile. Honey was practically dripping from his eyes. It was a little embarrassing.

“Ahem. More importantly, Father. Shouldn’t we get ready? Today’s an important day.”

An important day. Yes, today was truly a big day for James. It was the day of the bidding competition for training equipment at the newly established Imperial Academy.

“Hahaha! Your dad’s already finished preparing!”

And for me as well, today was an important day. Because the Imperial Academy was where the main story of El Pandor Luntera took place. If I wanted to prepare for the “Doom” scenario that would happen far in the future, I needed to build up my strength there. Even if it meant sneaking in.

“Is my son all ready?”

“Yes. I don’t really have anything to prepare.”

“Hehehe! Then let’s go!”

“Yep.”

The bidding competition for training equipment at the Imperial Academy. All the empire’s renowned blacksmiths would be gathering, but I didn’t think we would lose. After all, James — my teacher and Ed’s father — was the only blacksmith NPC at the Imperial Academy. Barring any major variables, James’s product would be selected.

And I’ll be entering the academy as his assistant.

I planned to stay in the forge inside the academy and help James with his work. Of course, my real goal was to use the free time to sneak ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in some training…

Either way, I was definitely going to attend the “Basics of Mana Studies” class taught by the empire’s strongest mage, Elena. If I could handle mana well, equipment crafting would become much easier.

Well then, shall we go?

Today was the day I would take the first step toward achieving all of that.