The next day, Nero was brimming with energy, eager to see the black card. He jumped out of bed, startling Altia awake.

"Hold your centaurs, Dungeon boy," She teased him. "We don't know if they will even allow you to touch the card."

Nero was busy donning his uniform. Bezzias informed him he could wear his full gear today. Nero did see some people armed yesterday but thankfully he wasn't when some students accosted him.

"I know. But that's not all. They said they would make me a [Gadgeteer]! I didn't even know that Class existed."

"Right. I wonder how they'll do that."

They got dressed and after eating breakfast with their host, the three walked to the Lyceum. There were no knights at the gates today but the tension was visible in the behavior of the students. Being part of the Lyceum staff, at least in name, and walking with a tenured professor didn't allow them to overhear the conversations because the students just stopped talking or changed the subject as they approached. Nero could pick up enough to understand what was happening. Some nereid students were forced to stay in house arrest in the dorms. Several hostile students harassed them yesterday and even some attempts at invading their dorm rooms to 'seize the traitor', as some noble scions in the student body were calling them.

"I thought all the foreign students were recalled back home," Nero commented.

"They did," Bezzias confirmed. "The nereids in the dorms are all citizens of this country. I doubt they are involved in any conspiracy. Anyway, the dean is reinforcing security around the dorms."

"I hope nothing bad happens," Altia said. "It is terrible to be shunned just because of what you are."

"We all know that, assistant Altia. We felt it on our skin."

They walked in silence, the sympathy for the plight of the nereids resonating on the hearts of the beastkin trio. They reached the lab where a certain gnome didn't catch a single wink. It was visible that Tinkwezilsky was tired.

"I got them damn values decoded!" He shouted his victory at his research colleagues. "We can measure Attribute strain now! Here! Try this one, Nero!"

The gnome handed Nero a blank card. He inserted it and after a while, it popped out on its own.

> Nero [Class ID: 45 - 0/0]

>

> Strength: +7 Strain: 35%

> Vigor +6 Strain: 47%

> Endurance +7 Strain: 11%

> Agility +11 Strain: 5%

> Dexterity +4 Strain: 56%

>

> Reason +3 Strain: 65%

> Willpower +3 Strain: 71%

> Perception +4 Strain: 37%

> Charisma +4 Strain: 78%

"My item bonuses are not shown," He explained to Nero.

"That's amazing, professor. But what is this 'Class ID'?"

"Every Card has a unique ID," Bezzias said. "They usually don't show unless you analyze the card in-depth but this shows that you indeed have a Class. IDs are usually five-digit codes and this is the first time seeing one that isn't but I guess the lower digits were reserved for the unique ones."

Nero pointed out at the card, and he could feel his worries resurfacing. If certain people knew he had a Unique Class, they could decide to kill him out of spite. He pointed at the card in the gnome's hands.

"Isn't this going to be a problem if someone sees this?"

"Nah, I'll erase these cards later, and our research is about Attributes, I'll let this information out as you requested. And don't worry, your secret is safe. Once Glom gets here, we are going to make you a [Gadgeteer]. Now you two get out of here and go enjoy your newlywed life. We'll work on the infuser. You can even join a lecture as observers."

"Observers?" Altia asked. She was very interested in higher learning.

"Yes, just enter a classroom that is not bursting at the seams with people, sit at the back and do not draw attention to yourselves. Obey the lecturer if they ask you to leave. You can take notes, watch the lecture, even take a nap."

Nero would like to go to the dungeoneering department but was certain his father was a better source of knowledge about Dungeons than the secluded scholars there. They would go to some class on alchemy as it was Altia's life goal to become a great alchemist.

"But refrain from any open displays of affection," Glom added from the doorway.

Nero looked at the door and tensed up as if he was about to chase something. Altia held his arm, decided to try and soften her husband's mood. Nero was too skittish, she believed.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Nero sighed and gave up. "Glom arrived but the mood left the room in a hurry."

He looked at the squiig gadgeteer. Glom crossed his arms and shrugged. "Har, har. Someone got hit on their fun bone tonight."

The mood really left the room, because Nero found just the venue to vent his anxiety. Even with Altia trying to get his attention, it still looked like he and the Squiig would fight each other. Bezzias came from behind and clapped Nero's shoulder. The young ape-kin sighed but it was Tinkwezilsky that disarmed the situation.

"Glom is here, we can go to the basement and synthesize some cards. What do you say, Nero? We can also go behind the building and let you fight someone with a third-tier Class."

What the gnome said made Nero forget everything. He turned around to see if he was lying.

"Synthesize a card? Is that even possible?"

Tinkwezilsky nodded. "Say, what do you think came first? The Arbitrium or the card?"

Nero was taken aback by the question. It was an old child's prank to make people think of these things. The card is worthless without an Arbitrium to activate it, and the Arbitrium wouldn't have slots if there were no cards. It was one of those paradoxes that had no answer, like the chicken and the egg or why girls had no... wait, he knew the answer for the last one now.

"Every kid knows that doesn't have an answer."

"Nonsense. I'll tell you the truth, they both came into being at the same time. Cards, Dungeons, and Arbitrii, they are two sides of the same coin. They are designed as a whole system. I see you don't believe me. Follow us."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

They took the elevator but now the gnome lifted a small panel and inserted a key. Then he pressed a floor button with a negative two printed on it. They went down for a long time. When the door opened, Nero felt moisture and the cold thrumming of motors. Tinkwezilsky led everyone down the corridors. A series of pipes ran through the ceiling, sometimes making a ninety-degree bend and disappearing into the wall or resurfacing, bending, and continuing down the tunnel. They passed several doors and reached one reinforced metal door. With another key, the gnome opened it and they entered a narrow room with two stations.

Each station had a tall chair facing a workbench with a lot of buttons, lamps, and gauges. A hopper to one side leading deep into the wall and a lid made of metal with a rectangular groove in the middle and a handle. Two latches would let the lid stay closed. Finally, a large tome was chained to the workbench.

"Here we can make cards. These cards are then either used or fed to a Dungeon as the seed for other spawns. That [Clockwork Sword] of yours is a product of this very lab here," Tinkwezilsky explained with pride.

"Why even delve then? Isn't it easier to just print the cards?"

The gnome just shook his head. "It costs about fifty to one hundred times the market value of a card to press it here. We don't print them. Cards are made of compressed Essence. The Dungeons have a ton of Essence lying around since monsters are just compressed Essence. And we still need Essence crystals to make the cards. So aside from a few cards, we can't let the Dungeons have, all the others are made there."

"Now, let's make you a Class card. We need three things. First, a template. Usually, it is another card of the same type, and this machine here has thousands of templates already stored but you could supply your own. Second, a lot of Essence. I believe that to make a black card you'd need tens of millions of Essence, at least. When you select or supply a template, the machine will tell you how much is needed. And third, you need to connect an Arbitrium."

"Why does it need an Arbitrium?"

"Because the device must be linked to the lifeforce of a person. It is one part of the Arbitrium we have the most difficulty duplicating, much less understanding. Now, you'll make your own card. Let me show you."

Tinkwezilsky taught Nero how to operate the card press. The first step was to take a rectangular ceramic slab-card with cables coming out of the top and insert it into the main slot of the Arbitrium. Then he had to type in the ID of the card he wanted, and the machine would tell if it was available or not. If not, he had to slot the card in his device. Once the machine had the template, he would be informed in the display of his device of the cost to make the card, and then once the machine was fed enough Essence through a hole in the workbench, it would press the Essence into the card.

"And if you supply more Essence than what's required, the grade of the card may improve. Now, for a [Gadgeteer] card, one hundred and fifty thousand Essence. I want you to make the card, Nero."

They went through the steps. Connect the slab-card to his device, lay the arm resting on the workbench as jiggling could jeopardize the connection even though it latched to the device. Then select the card ID. The tome had the IDs of the cards listed along with the recommended cost. Close the lid of what he called the "press", lock the latches, and put Essence crystals in the hopper. You could supply more Essence to attempt a higher-grade card or less Essence and bet on luck. It was an all-or-nothing kind of bet though.

Nero input the ID for the card, then Tinkwezilsky opened a safe and removed large Essence crystals, counting them until it was a bit over the required amount. The total was over the required amount by a little because crystals couldn't be split.

"We are leaving you there to operate. You must be alone to do so as other people in the room will contaminate the process. Good luck."

They left and Nero put himself to work. He turned the press on and a red light lit up on top of the door. He noticed a similar bulb was on the other side, probably to show the press was in use. Then he poured the crystals in the hopper, and after thinking a bit, added another twenty thousand Essence from his own stash. The crystals vanished, unable to be retrieved. If he was getting a Class card, why not aim for the stars? He input the code for the [Gadgeteer] card, and the display on his device lit up with a message.

> [Gadgeteer] - Class - Base cost, 125,000 Essence. Template ready. Press the red button to activate.

Tinkwezilsky put more Essence than necessary already. Flustered, Nero almost forgot to close and latch the press. There were forty-five thousand more than the necessary. Nero was feeling the butterflies in his stomach stir. He pressed the button. The sound of pressurized steam escaping, just like the train did when it stopped dominated the room. Some lamps on the workbench lit up in sequence and after a time they all became a relaxing green. With his heart pounding, Nero lifted the lid of the press. In the groove, a card awaited.

> [Gadgeteer] - yellow - requires level 1. Requires +5 Reason, +5 Willpower, +5 Dexterity - Bound to Nero.

>

> +1 Strength

> +1 Vigor

> +3 Endurance

> +1 Agility

> +5 Dexterity

>

> +5 Reason

> +6 Willpower

> +2 Perception

> +1 Charisma

>

> "You are not a police inspector."

>

> Special: Stability of all gadgets and parts created or in operation increased by 30%.

> Special: Durability of all gadgets created increased by 30%, damage to gadgets during operation reduced by 30%.

> Special: Damage received from explosions reduced by 30%.

He removed the card and cradled it like it was his firstborn. His device lit up again.

> Decontaminating ambient Essence. Please stand by.

He heard a pneumatic hiss and his ears popped as the air in the room was sucked out, lowering the pressure. It stopped and new cool air flowed from above just when Nero was feeling a bit dizzy as if he was on a tall mountain. The process repeated itself several times over until the red light went off and the door opened. Altia was the first person to enter.

"Yellow!" she gasped.

The three researchers came after her into the cramped room.

"Now, that is what I call a stroke of luck," Tinkwezilsky beamed. Then he looked at the display where two of the green lamps had turned off. "Damn. That's a month of cooldown."

Glom jumped on the workbench and examined the lights and the press. He tapped his device and muttered as he activated a Skill and checked a number on the display of his Arbitrium. "[Essence Analysis] - Reporting, the levels of Essence are still high after seven cycles."

"I told you it would happen like this," Bezzias gloated with a smug grin. "The kid absorbs no Essence. The device wasn't calibrated for that, but most of the Essence went into the card. And that's why the decompression couldn't help either. The remaining Essence lingering in the air was supposed to disappear into his Arbitrium. Now that we are here, it should be clear."

Glom repeated the measurement and indeed it was clean.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Activate the Class!" Bezzias clamored, a bit giddy because his theory was being confirmed over and over.

Nero shook his head. "I can't. I don't have the necessary Attributes to meet the requirement."

Tinkwezilsky shook his head and wriggled into the other workbench. "Well, how many points do you need?"

Nero checked his Status. "Two Willpower, two Reason, one Dexterity."

The gnome poured through the book. "I hear ya. Now, step outside, I'm going to make you a magician's amulet so you can equip it and meet the requirements of your Class. And fork over fifty thousand Essence."

"Okay. Take sixty or more, and try to give the item a little ooomph," Nero joked. Altia handed the gnome the necessary crystals.

"Now, begone." He shooed everyone out of the room and locked it behind him.

"He seemed in a bad mood," Nero commented once the red light lit up.

"Of course," Glom replied. "You locked up a station for a whole month."

"I didn't know," Nero shrugged.

Altia called Bezzias' attention and asked, "If Nero could achieve a better than expected result because of his low level, why not bring novices here to make cards?"

"It wouldn't work. Let me explain it to you. Essence is energy, energy operates in frequencies. Like the ripples in a still pond when you toss a rock. When a person interacts with Essence, there are two kinds of disturbances. The low-frequency ones, and the high-frequency ones. The low-frequency are usually stronger and they are associated with the absorption because of one's current cap. That's the ambient Essence glom measured.

"The high-frequencies, on the other hand, can be considered weaker from one point of view but they are also far-reaching and faster, that's why this door is so thick. Those are associated with the level cap and Anima. The infuser upstairs is capable of measuring both ranges and gauge the current level and the cap of the person inside. Any questions so far?"

"I... there's a slow but stronger kind of energy and a faster but subtle kind of energy. Is that it?"

The bat-kin thought for a while. "In layman's terms, it is not entirely wrong. I liked how you called the high-frequency subtle. Maybe it indeed is so."

Altia also kept thinking about it and after a few minutes of silence where the professor calmly waited for her to figure things out on her own, she came into a conclusion.

"The device inside operates using the high-frequency because it is related to Anima and the cards are created from Anima!"

Bezzias grinned like a father watching his child walk for the first time. "Assistant Altia, I am impressed with your progress. I think you deserve a raise."

Nero stopped cheating on his wife with the yellow card and perked up.

"Wait, we get paid?"