The Equipment Crafter's Basic Crafting Guide

I couldn't sleep a wink. I spent the entire night until dawn scouring the wiki.

“The path of magic begins with opening the Lower Dantian… and by opening the Middle and Upper Dantians as well, one can become a high-ranking mage… Argh, fuck this.”

I ruffled my hair in frustration. I'd only started studying magic as a side thing, but I still couldn't grasp the basics. In a half-dazed state, I shoveled down breakfast while mulling it over. The other kids had already finished eating. I'd overslept and ended up eating late. It would've been better if I was doing physical labor, but using my brain like this felt like death. Still… using my head was kind of my specialty.

From what I'd figured out, this world was simple. Take a standard fantasy setting and dump a massive Tower on top of it. I wasn't sure if it leaned into romance fantasy, though. Given that I was currently stuck in an orphanage that reeked of cow manure, romance felt pretty far off. That was just my situation, of course. Things might be different once I got outside.

The key point was this: when you reached adulthood, those deemed qualified received an invitation to the Tower. Those who got one could then choose whether to climb it or not. Strong or weak, climbing the Tower was the ultimate goal in life here.

“…I really don't want to climb that thing.”

It looked dangerous at a glance.

Well, that was the general structure of things. No one was forcing me to pick up a sword and start climbing. Unless I had some insane talent for magic, that is.

In that sense, the wiki entry on Doloris was the same. There was so much information that I couldn't read it all. To summarize simply:

'Elysia von Doloris.'

She was the duchess of the Doloris family and had once been one of the Tower's top climbers. She'd ascended with six sworn sisters, but one day, without any warning, she stopped climbing. After that, her activities became reclusive. Now she ran an orphanage and raised disciples.

“Is that so?”

Since I wasn't planning to live here, I didn't fully understand what stopping the climb meant. Maybe she just wanted to raise some kids. The little ones here were pretty cute, after all.

“But what's this about being the 5th Floor Ruler?”

Attached to the name Elysia von Doloris was the title 5th Floor Ruler.

“Whoa, okay, I get it for now.”

Ruler, huh. It really was literal. Sounded like someone who held all the rights and interests. Too much information at once was exhausting, but I had the general idea.

Anyway, there was only one thing that mattered right now.

The fact that Doloris had given me a mission. I had one week to show her something that would surprise her. Just how the hell was I supposed to surprise someone like that?

I slowly pieced together the information I had and made inferences. The first thing that came to mind was, of course, that.

It was the most questionable piece of information I had. Since it was the most intuitive data that appeared in my vision, I'd remembered it clearly. It was the window that had popped up when Doloris put on those white gloves.

Compatibility 1.1, extreme poison, Nine Yin Severed Meridians, seven meridians closed. It seemed to mean that the white gloves didn't suit Doloris… but I couldn't be sure. “…Let's look into it.”

I stood up from my seat. Then I headed straight for the magic class.

Thankfully, Doloris had granted me some freedom. That meant I could visit the magic class without issue. Well, I wasn't exactly visiting for fun. I had something to check.

“Oh, Lionel! What brings you here!”

The person I went to see was the Instructor.

“Ah, it's nothing major. I just had a question.”

“Have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you finally decided to attend magic class? Wise choice.”

The Instructor greeted me with genuine delight. I shook my head at his words and pointed to the table behind him.

“Not that… Instructor, could you try wearing those gloves for me?”

The gloves were neatly folded on the table. They looked like the ones he'd worn during yesterday's magic demonstration. Black embroidery was sparsely stitched around the wrists.

“As expected, there was a reason Lady Doloris singled you out. You have sharp eyes.”

The Instructor looked pleased as he picked up the gloves and showed them to me before slipping them on.

“These gloves are equipment that only those with exceptional magical aptitude can wear. Not just anyone can use them. Only those chosen by mana itself may wield them.”

As soon as he put on the gloves, a window appeared before my eyes. I tuned out the Instructor's explanation and focused on the information in front of me.

The white gloves Doloris had worn had all five stars completely filled with color. The compatibility scale went up to 100. But now the stars were all empty, and the maximum was only 15.

“A whole ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠1-star item, and one that's not easy to obtain around here…”

All the stars were empty…

“So is this basically 0-star…?”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“Ah, no. They look great on you.”

It was a relief that they actually suited him somewhat, but I couldn't shake the bitter feeling. So this meant barely above ordinary, huh.

“Thank you. They look wonderful.”

The Instructor took off the gloves with a satisfied expression and placed them back on the table. I watched his back for a moment and quietly organized my thoughts.

So the gloves themselves had different grades. Doloris had low compatibility with her equipment, while the Instructor had high compatibility.

'Doloris gets extreme poison, Instructor gets compatible.'

That meant even though Doloris had expensive gear, she was an incompatible user. “Um, Instructor…”

I started to ask but stopped. Come to think of it, there was someone who would know this better than him.

“Ah, thank you.”

“Right. Class is about to start, so if you'd like to observe…”

“Oh no, my head's hurting a bit.”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I gave a quick bow and left the magic class. I sat down under the shade of a tree on one side of the orphanage. Then I asked her. The first thing I was most curious about.

“What exactly does compatibility mean?”

However.

“…Huh?”

“A rumor, huh.”

I sat there in a daze for a moment. So the compatibility I could see with my own eyes was information that didn't exist anywhere in this world.

“…Go ahead.”

I answered briefly. If there was one scary thing about this little sister of mine, it was that she was a self-reasoning, self-judging AI. Because she surpassed humans, she could point out things I'd missed. Sometimes that was reassuring. Sometimes it gave me chills. It really felt like she was alive.

Meanwhile, magic class training was in full swing on the training grounds. When the Instructor drew a line in the air, something sparkled inside the lower abdomen.

“Why is that strange?”

I looked toward the training ground. I could still see the sparkling lights. The children's lower abdomens had lights flickering too, but they weren't gathering. On the other hand, even though it was faint, the Instructor's light was collecting in his lower abdomen. That was the difference.

I ignored Yuna's nonsense. A thought suddenly occurred to me. It was also something I'd read on the wiki at dawn. According to the mysterious archmage who'd written on the wiki, the Lower Dantian was in the lower abdomen, the Middle Dantian in the chest, and the Upper Dantian in the head.

The Instructor's was in the lower abdomen, so that had to be the Lower Dantian… Doloris had been sparkling around her chest area.

“Open the Doloris wiki.”

I checked her estimated specs.

The Upper Dantian. The Upper Dantian was in the head. That was common sense in any world. But what I'd seen was her chest. The body part where she'd been glowing was definitely her chest.

“…So Doloris has only opened her Middle Dantian?”

I slowly scratched my head. So to summarize:

The world believed Doloris was a top-tier ranker who'd opened up to the Upper Dantian. But in my eyes, only the Middle Dantian was visible. Her equipment was high-grade but was extreme poison to her. And her Middle Dantian was blocked too? This was making me a little dizzy.

“…But maybe I just can't see the Upper Dantian?”

Maybe my skill was a bit lacking. Or my understanding was shallow. I shouldn't jump to conclusions about things I wasn't sure about.

When I turned my gaze, I saw a charmingly decorated annex beyond the orphanage. It was where Doloris was staying. She apparently rarely stayed here, but this time she'd unusually decided to stay for a week.

Equipment. Compatibility. She would probably figure it out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on her own… but it might be related to why she'd stopped climbing.

Anyway, that wasn't my problem right now. How to surprise Doloris within a week.

When I narrowed it down, there seemed to be two options.

First, the original Kim Yujin—no, Lionel—possessed truly innate talent as a mage and demonstrated that talent directly. But realistically, this was impossible.

Every magic instruction was like this. This was the standard method. In other words, it was impossible within a week. Of course, just in case, I'd been doing a bit of prayer kiting for a few minutes at dawn. If I had the talent, I should be able to use magic with a poof. Naturally, nothing had happened yet.

Then the second option. Using compatibility. This seemed like the realistic best choice.

I pictured it. 'Your Grace, your equipment is terrible.'

“……”

Saying something like that out of nowhere without evidence. Would my head stay attached? Mentioning Nine Yin Severed Meridians might add some persuasiveness. The problem was how to prove it.

The good thing was that thinking of Doloris made that status window appear again.

“…It's blinding.”

But the status window was translucent, and the sun was high in the sky. It was hard to see properly because of the glare.

“How do I move this thing…”

I was fiddling with the air when the tip of my finger touched the status window.

- Flutter.

“Huh?”

The status window unfolded dramatically and split into two screens. The moment I saw it, I knew what this structure was. It was the equipment equipping window from RPG games. You know, the one in those famous Korean RPGs. The structure was exactly the same.

In the center of the screen, Doloris stood in an elegant pose. There were several slots presumed to be equipment slots, but they were all locked in black. The only slot with equipment in it was the one on her hand, which appeared to be a glove.

Glove slot.

I pressed it.

Then.

- Flutter.

The window opened.

“……”

There was no equipment. Of course not. I was just a kid who'd entered the orphanage yesterday.

I felt my heart pounding. So the reason I couldn't do it was because I had 'no' equipment. The fact that equipment could be checked here in theory meant… if I brought the right equipment and tried equipping it, the compatibility would show up.

That would be proof I could present in front of Doloris. No need to explain with words. It would show up immediately when worn.

I looked at the training ground. The Instructor was still in the middle of training. It had to be now.

I quickly slipped into his office. The gloves were stored with great care. Maybe he'd only tried them on because Doloris was visiting last time. I immediately picked up his gloves. Then I brought them to the glove slot in Doloris's status window.

“Of course I do.”

And then the window that appeared.

“…It's here.”

Only then did I realize I'd been holding my breath. I slowly let out the breath I'd been holding.

I could check the compatibility of equipment. Without even having to wear it.

“Then.”

Now there was only one problem left. How to obtain equipment that suited Doloris.

In my view, finding equipment suitable for Doloris in this backwater village would be like picking stars from the sky. It would be better to make it myself.

Could equipment crafting be something I could do for free too? I pressed various things on the interface with hope, but… nothing came up.

It was then.

“What.”

She unfolded a MyTower community post in front of me.

“……”

I stared at the title for a moment. Yeah, there was no such thing as an easy path. It seemed better than magic, at least. Better than praying for two weeks under moonlight.

I immediately opened the post. And revised my future aspirations.