Chapter 53: Chapter 53: The Power of the Crystal

The night grew darker, but Jon had yet to rest.

As a "little superman" with a Constitution four times greater than a normal person’s, a single day on the move wasn’t enough to tire him out. Besides, he still kept the night owl habits from his original world and wouldn’t even think about sleeping until he was drowsy.

Of course, now that he was in an Otherworld without a personal terminal, there were no short videos or forums to scroll through. He could only do something productive to pass the time.

The stranger sat before a coffee table, wearing an Observation Mirror shaped like a monocle. With a carving knife whose tip was as fine as a strand of hair, he carefully etched into a Silver Crystal secured on a carving stand.

He was attempting to craft an object using Engineering.

——

[Crystal Energy Core (Rare Blueprint): Agitates the Magic Power stored within a crystal, transforming it into the more active Crystal Energy. The properties of the Crystal Energy will vary depending on the type of crystal.]

[Required Materials (Minimum): Any type of crystal with a purity of 7.5 or higher]

[Required Skills (Minimum): Crystal Carving LV. 3, Magic Structure LV. 1]

"Note: Before confirming the final completion of the crystal carving, do not charge the crystal with Magic Power."

——

Crystals were a common medium used by Casters for storing Magic Power and activating Magic.

But in this day and age, no one had yet realized that they were, in fact, the key to opening the door to a new era.

Not only in the Harvia Empire, where Engineering was still in its infancy, but even in its birthplace, the [Fairy Kingdom of Mahārāja], the topic of how to utilize the power of crystals had long been discarded and forgotten.

This was perfectly normal.

Technological development is never driven by just one or two people. It requires a vast talent pool, an immense accumulation of experience, and a little bit of "luck" to make the leap from quantitative to qualitative change.

Take the [Crystal Energy Core] that Jon was currently trying to craft. In the game, this technology wasn’t developed until the fifth year. It was the creation of a Master Mechanical Artisan with the game ID "Fang Xing," from the top-tier player guild, [God’s Might].

But its significance was far greater than just "a new invention"; it directly rewrote the landscape of the world of Yino!

Before its debut, sword and Magic were the eternal melody of the Yino Continent. After its arrival, Engineering—once seen by the world as a discipline for making mere "tools" and "toys"—officially took the world stage, unleashing the dazzling radiance that was rightfully its own.

The entire Yino Continent sprinted into the "Crystal Wars" era!

A single invention led directly to a game expansion, triggered countless Major Events, and spurred an overhaul of the entire system of Transcendents!

Any fool unwilling to embrace the new era would be mercilessly crushed by the new era’s Transcendents wielding Crystal Energy Weapons!

Any ruler clinging to the glory of the old era would be ruthlessly trampled by War Constructs powered by Crystal Energy!

It was really that dramatic!

Back then, Jon had ridden that wave to greatly enhance his own power. After all, the Artisan School he had chosen was none other than the [Mechanical School], the one best suited to leveraging the might of [Crystal Energy Technology].

Before that, he had only one reason for joining the School: to use Mechanical Assembly Skills to compensate for the lack of agility from putting all his stat points into Constitution.

Who would have thought that one patch update would completely change the game? Suddenly, this short-legged Warrior could don Mechanical Armor and actually compete in speed with Rangers and assassins.

It was a perfect example of how making the right choice trumps hard work.

But those were all things of the past.

Now, he had crossed over into a real Yino, a world where the story had yet to begin and no players existed.

And this key to the new era was now in his hands. How he used it was entirely up to him.

Whether he used this knowledge as a foundation to build his own faction, or offered some watered-down versions of the technology to an existing commercial entity—like the Heta County Noble Union Chamber of Commerce—both were excellent options.

’Thanks to Master Fang Xing for open-sourcing his tech...’

Jon silently thanked the selfless master who had made the Crystal Energy Technology public. He let out a soft breath as the carving knife in his hand, guided by his [Crystal Carving] skill, slowly but firmly made its final cut.

HUMMM~

As a faint hum sounded, weak traces of Magic Power linked together inside the Silver Crystal, causing the egg-sized crystal to suddenly grow brighter.

"It’s done!"

[Engineering item crafted. 200 universal Experience Points gained.]

[Craftsmanship Skill Level +50]

Appearing along with the crafting completion notification were the Attributes of the Crystal Energy Core!

——

[Crystal Energy Core · Silver Crystal (Excellent · Component)]

[Weight: 29.4g, Purity: 7.55]

[Storable Crystal Energy: 282 points, Magic Power Conversion Rate: 83.2%]

[Output Power: 5-45 Crystal Energy/second]

[Crystal Energy Property · Stable: Chance of Crystal Energy turbulence reduced by 20%, overclocking power limit increased by 10%.]

——

After reviewing the Attributes of the Crystal Energy Core, the tension in Jon’s brow eased.

"Not bad. The storage capacity didn’t take too much of a hit during crafting, and the max power output is very close to the theoretical limit. The Magic Power conversion rate is just a little on the low side."

"Still, it’s not far from what I expected. It’s about 70% as good as a perfect-quality item."

Speaking of which, this brought up a key feature of using skills with the system’s guidance: it guaranteed a baseline result.

As long as you followed the guide, you couldn’t really mess up, but the trade-off was a lower ceiling on quality.

Jon was satisfied enough, though.

Without the system’s guidance, there was no way he could have performed such a high-level operation as "carving a crystal while simultaneously manipulating its internal Magic Structure" on his own.

Learning from the guide and eventually internalizing the knowledge behind the skill—that was the best way to use the system!

Now that he had finished crafting the [Crystal Energy Core], Jon was ready for the next step: integrating the power of "Crystal Energy" into his equipment to create real combat strength.

But before that, he couldn’t help but glance at his interface panel.

’Before Artisan reaches level 20 and unlocks the Mechanical School, is there really no way to make a [Crystal Energy Furnace]?’

It was a blueprint that glowed with a cyan light. It depicted a device shaped like a long cylinder with a translucent shell, inside of which was embedded a dazzling crystal.

——

[Crystal Energy Furnace (Perfect · Blueprint): The main drive for crystal energy. Depending on the scale, it can be equipped on personal gear and various models of Mechanical Bodies.]

[Required Components (Minimum): High-Strength Casing x1, Energy-Conducting Component x3, Crystal Energy Constraint Circuit x5, Crystal Energy Output Circuit x2, Crystal Energy Divertor x1, Crystal Energy Core x1]

[Required Skills (Minimum): Crystal Energy Summoning LV. 3 (Not Met), Mechanical Assembly LV. 5 (Not Met), Pathway Laying LV. 3 (Not Met)]

"Note: Before final assembly and activation, please confirm the crystal is in an uncharged state."

——

If the [Crystal Energy Core] in his hand was "coal," then the [Crystal Energy Furnace] was the "internal combustion engine" that could burn that coal completely and output its Energy to any piece of equipment adapted for Crystal Energy!

Its importance was self-evident!

Jon scanned the skills and recipes available at the Artisan stage, and an irrepressible idea surfaced.

’How about... I try making a lite version?’

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