IN THAT CASE...

Leonel continued to make armors and weapons for those that came to him. There was something about the monotony that made him feel at peace.

He had always liked Crafting. Well, ever since it was introduced to him by his father. There was something about the process that always made him feel like he was... winning. And there was nothing he liked more than winning.

Every step in Crafting was like hand-to-hand combat with the laws of the world, and every tweak and change was like a master move on a chessboard.

This was the first time that he had spent time Crafting what others wanted. Generally speaking, he had always been Crafting what he wanted, or what he thought others needed. Regardless of which of the two it was, it was always something that he personally deduced.

But this time, his cousins were coming to him with their own prepared materials and their own visions for what they wanted. And, it was up to Leonel to forge what they envisioned while also ensuring that they received the best version possible.

It was a different sort of challenge, but he found himself settling into the groove quite easily. And for a moment, he almost forgot that he was trying to come up with a solution...

It was when another unexpected visitor came that it finally clicked for Leonel...

The Third Imperial Prince walked into the Crafting Factory to find Leonel staring off into space again. The latter suddenly looked his way and they fell into silence for a long while.

The Third Imperial Prince was one of the few who knew just how powerful Leonel was. Many probably still thought that he was a cripple with great Crafting talent, but the results on the battlefield said something completely different.

He, himself, had been quite surprised that the Emperor had chosen to assign Leonel here. But it wasn't long before news spread and he understood exactly why that was.

It might even be said that Leonel's Crafting talent was even beyond his combat talent. And it seemed that every time his combat strength took a huge leap forward, the result for his Crafting was a mirror of that increase.

It wasn't hard to tell why. Often, an increase to Leonel's power came with an increase to his Dream Force, so it was only natural.

"If you're free, I would like to ask if you could work on my gauntlets for me!

Leonel looked at the spatial ring his uncle held in his hands and surprisingly just nodded. "Sure."

The Third Imperial Prince was taken aback that it was truly so easy, and a part of him even began to worry if Leonel just wanted to sabotage them. But then... Leonel began to mutter to himself and even speak.

The easiest things for Leonel to forge were armors, spears, and bows. He had the absolute most familiarity with them, and it came naturally.

This was ironic considering in the past, he couldn't even touch unacknowledged spears, let alone forge them. But he had obviously left that version of himself well behind.

Gauntlets like this one for a fist master like his uncle were trickier.

This wasn't in the sense that he couldn't do them, because he could. With ease, even.

The problem was that they weren't up to his standards, and he didn't like that.

He could create a top-class bow like the one he made for Honey in just a few minutes. Even without much effort, it would definitely light up at least 45 runes on the Truth Pillar of the Minerva. However, if he had the same casualness for his uncle's gauntlets, it would barely light up like 27. That was still excellent, of course. But only relatively so, and definitely not enough for an expert of his uncle's level either.

The good news this time was that these gauntlets already had the foundation here. That made it. somewhat easier. Improving on a design was much easier than creating one from scratch. But it could get complicated if he misunderstood the intentions of the original Crafter. By then, he just might have to redo all of it, which would be beside the point.

'Going with the flow, huh...'

It was something that he had been doing these last few days.

In truth, he was just biding time for Anastasia to finish helping him build his army. He also didn't want to be caught up in a battle while his wife was giving birth. Even if she would be safe in the Segmented Cube, he wanted to actually be there himself.

So, he had just been allowing himself to sway with the wind, taking in the tasks that came to him and then staring off into the distance when they didn't.

His thoughts moved so freely, and his heart was at case these days. It didn't even seem like he had to make much effort for his Crafting skill to continuously improve.

'The flow...'

A Dream World cube formed around the gauntlet. It looked like a matrix grid line that quickly took shape, analyzing everything.

Suddenly, with the addition of Time Force, Leonel could see the past and the potential simulated futures of where he could take the gauntlet. But then, he paused...

"This isn't the Self Path...Content © provided by .

If he followed the flow, he could take the Life Path to an absolute extreme. He could probably become the best Crafter in Existence this instant if he did such a thing. In fact, technically he just might already be just by virtue of realizing he could use his Simulation abilities like this.

But there was something else missing in the equation.

The Life Path was all about maximizing the paths of the Ores you used and allowing them to display their greatest strengths and abilities as a part of a new whole.

But the Self Path was about forcing change onto an Ore, suppressing some aspects of it and increasing others until you gained a completely new product.

'In that case..."