novelraw Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33 : Blueprint
Sal couldn't help but burst into laughter with the guild members.
Previously, the Reavers Guild had always been a source of tension, whether due to their name or Vila's reputation.
But seeing them exchange jokes and laugh heartily like this, they didn't seem so terrifying.
Of course, there was no doubt that if necessary, they could wipe away that cheerfulness and transform into fearsome warriors.
Sal just had to focus on his own work.
If he did, he could earn Q-Credits and build trust with them.
Through the small talk, Sal learned that Watcher was one of the guild's team leaders, and Blink and Trench were his seniors.
Although most of the loot had already been appraised, it seemed they wanted to show off some of the top-tier equipment they possessed after hearing rumors that Sal was a talent who had received a Silver Token.
Trench belonged to the Defender class and requested an appraisal of his boots.
To Sal, it was a simple issue.
The quality of the laces was poor, so the boots were nearly bursting open after every battle.
Trench wasn't exactly friendly or talkative, and perhaps his personality was a bit prickly.
Judging by his tone and attitude, Sal didn't want to spend much time with him.
He certainly wasn't the cheerful type like Blink or Watcher.
Overall, the Reavers guild members seemed satisfied with Sal's appraisal skills, and Sal conversed with them for quite a long time.
Sal told them that if they wanted to commission an appraisal in the future, they should designate him by name during the evening hours after class.
If they wanted an in-person appraisal, he told them it would have to be done in the workshop downstairs from now on, and the guild members readily accepted the condition.
After they left, Sal filled out all the documents and recorded the time spent on each appraisal.
He rounded the time to the nearest whole number and signed his name at the end.
Instead of following the guild members to the VIP area, Sal opened the door on the opposite side of the appraisal room and returned to the hallway, heading back the way he came.
Greeting him again was the woman in uniform, wearing her practiced smile as usual.
Sal handed her the completed documents, and she raised an eyebrow slightly upon checking the ranks of the equipment but said nothing.
She nodded and processed the request, then asked for his Q-Card for identity verification.
But Sal held out the token instead and requested that the deposit be made to his student account.
He didn't want to reveal the information that he was a Mythos Crafter displayed on his Q-Card.
She hesitated briefly but soon skipped the standard procedure and proceeded.
After everything was processed, she handed him a document explaining the commission fees taken by the credit floor.
It was the cost for renting the facility and room here; while the conditions themselves were standard, the amount was clearly excessive.
Sal suddenly felt relieved that he had already told the Reavers Guild to meet him on the workshop floor from now on.
Sal pointed to the commission item specified in the document.
"I've arranged to meet them in the workshop from now on. I'll leave these high-end rooms to the more experienced appraisers. Can I pay here, or do I need to go to another desk?"
Her smile stiffened slightly, seemingly conscious of the lost rental income, but she still responded professionally.
"The client has already completed the payment. Watcher and Blink left a separate tip as well. There was also a note telling you to buy some new clothes for the party tonight."
She handed him a folded receipt across the desk.
Normally, it was customary to check it after leaving the auction house, but Sal didn't want to lose out on his first transaction, so he unfolded the paper to check the amount immediately.
Sal glanced at the final number and was surprised to see that he had earned 376 Q-Credits for two hours of work.
He recalled Jez using the example of a blacksmith earning 400 Q-Credits a week as doing well.
Considering that figure felt almost like an ideal goal during class, Sal's earnings today were certainly impressive.
However, he decided not to get conceited.
He folded the paper and put it away, offered a thank you to the receptionist along with a sincere smile and a fake "See you next time," then headed down the hallway toward the elevator.
Just then, Vanessa emerged from the shadows.
The relief on her face made it seem as if Sal had saved her from a desperate crisis.
"Ah, you received the message! I didn't expect you to come so quickly!"
Vanessa clasped her hands together and stood in front of Sal, speaking breathlessly.
Perhaps because the day was coming to an end, she had taken off her blazer at some point and was now wearing a form-fitting blouse.
Her appearance was enough to distract Sal.
"Actually, a request came in for Mythos! We haven't even properly introduced you to our team yet, and the internal procedures aren't fully finished... but this is a bit urgent, so I was wondering if you could take it on early."
Vanessa's smile was desperate, and a small sliver of sympathy bloomed in a corner of Sal's heart.
If only it had been another man instead of her who came to find him, the negotiation would have been much easier... He sighed inwardly and pointed to the elevator.
"I'm really sorry. I came up earlier because I had a meeting with an Argento Appraiser... and tonight I have a party with other students. I really don't have time these days. I want to help so much, but..."
Sal spread his hands to show his helplessness.
'It's not a lie. Talking to myself counts as a meeting.'
The most advantageous position in a negotiation is not making the first offer yourself.
Now that he had presented his constraints, it was time for Vanessa to dig into that gap.
To be honest, Vanessa was very skilled.
She tucked her hair behind one ear and gave Sal a meaningful smile.
"Hmm, it is quite a difficult situation. Would it still be impossible if I asked like this?"
Vanessa's posture shifted slightly.
It seemed she was trying to pressure Sal with her charming atmosphere.
"Actually, a batch of cores arrived yesterday. Once inspection is finished, some of them were designated for Mythos from a shipment due in two weeks. But if you start this job early now, I could give you those cores early too, right?"
Honestly, it was a quite tempting offer for Sal.
But he wanted to see what else Vanessa would put on the table besides this offer.
Vanessa leaned in close and whispered in his ear.
"It's a job connected to the Reavers Guild. They pay quite generously to talented people. If you ask the appraiser you met earlier, you'll know."
Her voice tickled Sal's ear like a song.
"If you take this job, I'll promote Mythos heavily to every guild that comes our way from now on. I can also sneak you some extra cores. And..."
She slowly turned her head to face Sal.
Anticipation sparkled in her eyes.
"Consider it me owing you one. How about it?"
Sal nodded.
He had intended to take the job on that gun anyway, and everything Vanessa mentioned afterward was a bonus.
Cores, introductions to each guild, and... the unbearable tension.
"Alright, let's make a contract. And don't worry about the debt. I look forward to working together in the future."
Sal said with the most sincere smile he could muster.
He needed to maintain a good working relationship with her.
The moment he looked like a puppy in love, everything could fall apart.
So Sal willingly played the role of a naive Crafter who didn't yet know his own worth.
Vanessa seemed unexpectedly delighted.
"Thank you so much!"
Sal was flustered when she suddenly hugged him, and he quickly pulled away before his body could react contrary to both his promise to himself and the negotiation.
With a gesture of thanks, Sal backed away toward the elevator, but he could still see her through the transparent wall.
As the elevator began to descend, Vanessa smiled brightly and deliberately approached the door to wave.
While going down, Sal looked up at her.
She was clearly showing that she still held the upper hand.
Looking at Vanessa posing as if telling him to look at her a little longer, Sal almost felt disgusted with himself.
Because he was displeased with himself for fixing his gaze on her just as she intended.
***
Sal lightly tagged his Q-Card to enter the blueprint room.
Upgrade had granted Sal access to this place only after explaining the rules for a long time.
Arbitrarily modifying existing blueprints was prohibited, and copying or altering advanced concepts required her permission.
She wanted Sal to demonstrate his skills to the fullest, but for now, she wanted him to learn techniques through repetition and practice.
"Sal, you'll have plenty of opportunities to participate in various projects in the future. Large projects that will bring positive change to society."
Recalling Upgrade's words, Sal picked up blank blueprint paper and sketching tools from the stationery set placed by the door.
He sat at one of the workbenches and switched the table to his profile.
The first thing that caught his eye was the drone, but he put that aside for later and opened a new file.
The table surface turned into a clean white sheet, ready for sketching.
Sal recalled Blink's dagger, reviving the memory as vividly as possible, and immediately began drafting.
He didn't know how it was possible, but the threads of Essence that flowed through the dagger were visible to Sal's eyes just as they were.
With ordinary items, he could see how to improve performance or upgrade them... but this dagger was completely different.
The story of its evolution, starting from Common rank, through Uncommon, Rare, and now to Epic rank, unfolded before his eyes.
Following the process of transformation through each rank like a chronicle, Sal was witnessing that evolution with his eyes.
Sal recorded every dimension, material, and the runes and engravings carved on the blade without omission.
Somehow, his eyes now seemed to possess the ability to recall every detail of an object, and Sal was able to transfer that information accurately onto paper.
There were elements, like some of the runes, that he didn't understand individually yet, but through his eyes, he knew that when those runes intertwined and harmonized, they granted evolutionary characteristics to the item.
The possibility of creating evolutionary equipment brought immense excitement to Sal.
But to maintain it, a powerful core was absolutely necessary.
Sal suddenly wondered what would happen if he left Blink's dagger in the core storage.
Would the dagger absorb Essence from the surrounding cores and continue to evolve? Or would it stay dormant until someone picked it up?
He looked over the energy consumption calculations he had written down.
'If I try to make this weapon even a little bigger, I'll need a massive amount of Essence. And a core to match.'
In the end, he reached the conclusion that the dagger itself might be the most suitable form for evolutionary characteristics.
Although his mind was briefly distracted by countless imaginations, Sal's hands didn't stop for a single moment.
His blueprint had already reached a level where another Crafter could replicate it exactly, but for Sal, that wasn't enough.
He continued to make adjustments and revisions according to the image of the dagger drawn in his mind.
The Mythos Crafter ability tried to suggest modifications to the dagger intermittently, but Sal suppressed it.
He intended to perfectly recreate the dagger first before using his ability to apply variations.
In less than a few minutes, Sal entered a state of complete immersion.
Refining the blueprint, he reproduced every scratch and flaw that existed on Blink's Epic rank dagger.
Once he completed a blueprint capable of perfectly replicating the dagger, Sal took a deep breath, smiled, and activated his Mythos Crafter ability.
At that moment, the blueprint began to change before his eyes.
Sal first saved the perfect replica he had made so far, and then began to create a new, enhanced version on top of it.
His logic was simple.
If this Epic rank dagger was the result of evolution, could he also design the ranks preceding it?
Based on his new abilities, what if he created a dagger with a better evolutionary path from the start?
Rather than spending immense time and resources to create a Mythos rank weapon, he concluded that creating a growth-type weapon capable of evolving into Mythos rank was more realistic.
Following the guidance shown by his eyes, Sal improved each part of the blueprint one by one.
Thoughts of the party had long vanished from his mind, but there was still plenty of time to attend anyway.