Once Luke and his friends left, Duncan turned to Issac. It was time to get to work on some personal crafting.
"Issac, get over here. I'll show you what to buy for the best results." Duncan said
Issac walked over and made his status visible to Duncan, and he immediately made Issac purchases: [Runecrafting] and [Runic Circuit].
[Runecrafting] - Lesser
Runecrafting allows the Rune Smith to add Runes into all of their crafting. Allowing the Runesmith to apply their knowledge of runes to any project
+1.25% to your Rune mastery per skill level
[Runic Circuit] - Uncommon
This skill allows the Rune Smith to create complex Runic Circuitry on an item that allows for myriad combinations of runes, allowing for greater and more exotic purposes.
Reduce the mana cost of using Runes by 0.5% per skill level.
Duncan nodded in satisfaction. Those two skills, along with the rest of Issac's build, would help fix his rune work. He would get Issac to pick up the [Blacksmithing] class for his next level so he could help Issac round out his build. Maybe get him the [Soul Flame], no definitely getting him the [Soul Flame] skill.
Issac also decided to drop his other classes and become a full-on level 6 [Runesmith]. Duncan made him keep the skills even if the sundering had weakened them slightly.
"So what are we going to be crafting?" Issac asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I don't think we're going to be able to help with the goblins beyond just showing up. Everyone is too low-leveled. Hell, I'm too low-leveled. I have two levels to assign, and I still need to reconsider my class." Duncan admitted.
"[Settler] not good enough?" Issac asked.
"Not by a long shot. Don't get me wrong, some people here are really good at some of the crafting, but they had no idea how to incorporate these skills into their crafting. So I'm having to do everything, and I don't have the skills to really make anything worthwhile. Instead, I've got them working on bunk beds, and there are plenty of those Cheval de frise things to grind out their skill levels and get us a little more protection. We should be finished up with both tomorrow, maybe the day after," Duncan said, looking nervous.
"Where are you going to assign your levels?" Issac asked.
Duncan froze.
"Hmm. I don't know," Duncan muttered to himself as he opened his status up.
"I've got two extra levels to assign. But I haven't bothered with the chaos going on." Duncan muttered to himself.
That wasn't a bad thing, shit had been hectic, and he had been freaking out. But now he was at their base, and it was time to take a hard look at his build and consider his options.
"So, what are you thinking of picking?" Issac asked again.
"Well, I need a crafting class. I really don't want to go back to being a frontline fighter again. I got a degree to be an engineer, not a hatchet man. To be perfectly honest. I think I'm going to sunder my [Settler] Class."
"What? Isn't that your only class?" Issac asked.
"So?" Duncan shrugged. "I took [Settler] because of a crisis. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was useful, and I'll probably keep all the skills I already have. But I'm not going to run off into the woods to build a town. On the other hand, now isn't the time to start throwing curve balls at myself. I should pick something I know works for me."
"And that is?" Issac asked, clearly frustrated by how vague he was being.
Duncan smiled.
"I mean a crafting build. Between my experience in-game and my diploma, it's the only thing I'm good for. The problem is so many crafting builds are specialized."
"Can't you just get a bunch of mastery skills?" Issac asked.
"I could, but that's not enough. Your [Runesmith] class doesn't just let you work runes into metal. It has other skills that can affect the end product. So even if I loaded up on mastery skills, my creations wouldn't be able to match yours, even if I'm an objectively better crafter than you," Duncan explained.
"But that leaves me with the second problem. Where do I go with my build? Enchanter? Smith? Ritualist? Glasser? Construction? Jeweler? Artificer? Alchemist? No, Abaddon has alchemy covered. But there's so much to do, and I have to reinvent everything. Maybe I should get some people to try to delegate, but then I'd be micromanaging everything instead of crafting."
"Isn't there a general crafter build?" Issac asked. "Something that just improves all of your crafting?"
Duncan paused as an idea came to him.
"Most of them aren't worth considering. Except for one. The [Dungeon Engineer]"
There was silence for a moment.
"Are you going to tell me what that is or …"
Duncan rolled his eyes.
"The [Dungeon Engineer] is the pinnacle crafting class. It allows the user access to every crafting skill and specialization."
"Then why the hell am I bothering with [Runesmith]?" Issac asked. "Why bother with any other crafting class?"
"Because [Dungeon Engineer] is for crafting only. A [Blacksmith] can use [Hammering Blows] on someone's head as easily as a sheet of metal, and a [Posioner] is just as toxic on the battlefield as off. But a [Dungeon Engineer] is limited purely to crafting. Most of the skills will only activate when crafting. Not only that, but it's such a generalized class that you're unlikely to ever max out your skills. I'm only considering it because I'm literally starting from nothing and need to build everything. Hmm, if I add in the [Gatherer] class, I could do a Minecraft build."
"Wait a minute, there's a Minecraft build?" Issac asked. "Does it do what I think it does?"
"[Gatherer] and [Crafter] combo, then you can rape the natural world for resources and build whatever you want. It's a fun build but not a great build for combat, as you basically have to sacrifice at least sixty levels to do it right. The main advantage is the fact that you can quickly build up anything you need with what's around you. But you tend to struggle in direct combat. But if I'm using [Dungeon Engineer], maybe I should look into high tier [Gatherer] classes, maybe add [Ritual Architect], and maybe." Duncan muttered to himself as he considered the possibilities.
"Okay, so what do you need to do to unlock the [Dungeon Engineer] class?" Issac asked.
"Five crafting classes with a total level not exceeding ten with five skills each."
"Fuuck," Issac muttered. "Yeah, I'm not doing that."
"Yeah, that's the other reason [Dungeon Engineer] isn't popular. It takes a lot of grinding to unlock. And if you don't know the requirements, you're likely to blow right past them," Duncan muttered as he started going over the various skills he would need to pick up.
"Issac, I need you to go to the kitchen and grab me the following," Duncan said as he penned a note for Issac.
"Is this a recipe for chocolate chip pancakes?" Issac asked.
"Yep, now go, meet me in the cauldron," Duncan said as he picked up two levels in [Blacksmith].
He moved over the cauldron, finding Abaddon inside.
"Hey, Duncan," Abaddon smiled and waved.
"Hey Abaddon. I need to unlock the [Dungeon Engineer] class." Duncan said.
Abaddon nodded in understanding. He knew the class requirements. Standing up, Abaddon prepared an alchemy station for Duncan.
"Are you really sure you want [Dungeon Engineer]? I mean, you normally need an entire dungeon to grind out its skills." Abaddon reminded him.
Duncan rolled his eyes. "I have an entire settlement to build. From scratch."
"Fair," Abaddon said as he returned to his own station
Duncan sat down at the station Abaddon had prepared and got to work. He created ten mana potions and ten poisons.
"Hey, Duncan, I got your pancakes with some assembly required," Issac said as he came into the room.
"Great, hand it over. I need to improve my cooking skill." Duncan said as he brought out everything he needed for cooking.
Ten minutes later, the three of them were chowing down on pancakes.
"Thanks, Duncan," Abaddon said as he ate the pancakes.
Duncan returned to the foundry and got to work. He started by sewing together some of the ruined clothing they had for an easy skill. It only took an hour to get the skill he wanted.
The part was more difficult. He stood in the foundry as Issac assisted him. The glow of his forge bathing the cluttered room in warm, flickering light. Tools lay meticulously arranged on one side of his bench, while raw materials—gold, gemstones, a soul stone, and a dozen shards of glass. He was going to try and knock out a bunch of skills all at once. While at the same time doing something for his girlfriend.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The forge roared as Issac fed it more fuel, its heat rising to perfection. He pulled on his gloves, grabbed some gold jewelry they had… liberated, and tossed it into the forge to melt it down. And not a small amount of gold; it was a lot of gold. He also smashed a few soul stones into a powder and added that to the mix. This would allow him to enchant the material later.
He had done this before, and he mostly worked off of routine as he melted down the gold. As he worked, Duncan murmured under his breath, infusing each movement with intent. He alloyed the gold with a hint of palladium. Once ready, he poured it into a snake-shaped mould.
Even as the metal filled the mould, he used magic to force more gold into it, making the material denser and heavier than it was supposed to be.
He turned his attention to the centrepiece: the gemstones. He had retrieved a few rough gemstones from his tutorial. Each one was massive by pre-system standards, and they glinted under the workshop’s light. The emeralds glittered in the firelight.
Duncan secured the emerald and set to work, a gem cutter’s wheel spinning with precision. He shaped the stone into an intricate, multifaceted cut, ensuring it would capture and refract light like a star caught in its depths. As he polished the stone to perfection, it began to glow faintly, a sign of its latent magical energy awakening. As the golden snake cooled, he set the two emeralds in its eyes.
He didn't need this next part, so he added Runes to the back of the golden snake to enhance the final product.
Then he moved onto the glass. Like the gold, before he added soul stone and glass to the forge, returning the glass to a molten material, then he added in iron oxides, titanium and a few sulfur compounds to turn it brown. Once the enchanted glass was ready, he took it out, rolling it into a rod. With steady breaths and deliberate movements, he coaxed the molten glass into shape. Once he felt it was solid enough, he wrapped the golden snake around his glass stick. He was using the glass to anchor the golden snake.
He also enchanted the glass for extra durability. He really didn't want this to break. He also enchanted the snake's main body.
As Duncan held the finished piece in his hand, a faint hum resonated through the room. He was inundated with notifications.
DING!!!
Congratulations!!!
You have created a: Rod of Asclepius - Lesser
Rod of Asclepius: Improves all Healing and Medicine skills in the vicinity of this sculpture by 26%
+6% for skills
+10% for shape
+10% for materials
Duncan held up the finished product. It looked pretty nice, a golden serpent wrapped around a not wooden stick with emerald eyes. Honestly, it was shit. But Eve would like it for both the aesthetic and the practical effects. And it was an easy way to get most of his skill grinding out of the way. Now that he was ready to upgrade his class. Opening his menu, he selected his choice.
Would you Like to Sunder your [Settler] Class?
Y/N
Duncan selected yes and then nearly collapsed to the ground as twenty levels worth of stats disappeared from his body all at once.
"Hey, are you ok?" Issac asked as he moved over.
"Yep. just sundered my class," Duncan groaned. "Oh, this is so much worse in real life."
Despite having just lost twenty levels, he could immediately reassign five of them, and he had two that he had never assigned in the first place, allowing him to bring his level back up to level 7.
He added his new skills to his new classes. Then, he spent five skill points getting the lore skill for each class and the remaining six skill points filling out each class's skill slots. Then, he activated [Zen Master] to combine his classes.
Congratulations!!!
You have combined [Blacksmith] + [Alchemist] + [Enchanter] + [Tailor] + [Construction] → [Dungeon Engineer] - Mythic
[Blacksmithing] + [Jewelry Crafting] + [Metallurgy] + [Dense Forging] + [Smiths Lore] → [Dungeon Smith] - Level 1
[Enchanting] + [Glassblowing] + [Gemcutting] + [Core Manipulation] + [Enchanters Lore] → [Dungeon Enchanter] - Level 1
[Basic Alchemy] + [Basic Poisons] + [Cooking] + [Distillation] + [Alchemists Lore] → [Dungeon Alchemist] - Level 1
[Leatherworking] + [Sewing] + [Seamless] + [Fine Motor Control] + [Tailors Lore] → [Dungeon Tailor] - Level 1
[Carpentry] + [Masonry] + [Reinforced Structure] + [Carver] + [Construction Lore] → [Dungeon Construction] - Level 1
[Dungeon Smith]: This skill enhances all smithing-related crafting by granting +5% mastery per skill level, improving precision, quality, and efficiency. It allows the user to copy any crafting skill related to smithing and metallurgy, seamlessly integrating it into their repertoire. Additionally, it boosts the ability to retain and organize smithing-related lore and knowledge, increasing recall efficiency by +5% per skill level. This skill is strictly limited to crafting activities and cannot be applied outside of crafting contexts.
[Dungeon Alchemist]: This skill grants the user +5% mastery to all alchemy mastery per skill level. It allows the user to copy any crafting skill related to alchemy and chemistry, seamlessly integrating it into their repertoire. Additionally, the skill enables perfect retention and organization of alchemical lore, including formulas, material properties, and advanced techniques, increasing the user's ability to recall and utilize this knowledge by 5% per skill level. This skill is strictly limited to crafting applications.
[Dungeon Enchanter]: This skill grants the user +5% to all Enchanting and Jeweling Mastery per skill level. The user can replicate any skill related to enchanting, glassblowing and gem cutting as long as it is related to crafting. Furthermore, the skill enhances the user's ability to retain and organize knowledge of runes, enchantment formulas, and magical properties, increasing recall and application efficiency by 5% per skill level. This skill is strictly limited to crafting and cannot be used for direct combat or utility purposes outside enchantment creation.
[Dungeon Tailor]: This skill grants the user +5% to all tailoring and leatherworking mastery per skill level. The user can replicate any skill related to sewing, weaving, embroidery, leather crafting, and textile manipulation as long as it is used for crafting. Additionally, the skill enhances the user's ability to retain and organize knowledge of patterns, material properties, and tailoring techniques, increasing recall and application efficiency by 5% per skill level. This skill is strictly limited to crafting and cannot be used for combat or utility purposes outside of creating tailored goods.
[Dungeon Construction]: This skill grants the user +5% to all construction-related crafting mastery per skill level. The user can replicate any skill associated with carpentry, masonry, architecture, and structural engineering, provided it is used for crafting. Additionally, this skill enhances the user's ability to retain and organize knowledge of building techniques, material properties, and structural designs, increasing recall and application efficiency by 5% per skill level. This skill is strictly limited to crafting and cannot be used for direct combat or utility outside of construction and crafting tasks.
"Oh, that is so much better," Duncan groaned as he finally had a proper crafting class. He could already feel ideas starting to form in his mind. Long-forgotten YouTube videos and ideas popped up as his project to create a scorpion ballista leaped forwards as he recalled episodes from the History Channel on creating the weapon, but it didn't stop. Everything he knew of woodworking, along with everything that he knew from Noralon, started to come together as a design came together.
"Issac," Duncan called out.
"Yeah," Issac looked up at him.
"You currently have the highest level in blacksmithing. I need you to make some of the following," Duncan said as he brought up what he needed on one of the … he still wasn't sure if I was an iPad mounted in the wall.
Issac looked over the list as he muttered to himself.
"Five hundred Iron nails, Chisels, saw, knife, hand drill and … what's a block planer?" Issac asked.
"It's for precision work. It's mostly used for planing end grain, bevelling edges, finishing joints, and other similar tasks." Duncan explained.
Issac clearly didn't understand.
"Don't worry about it," Duncan offered. One of the teams has been clearing out Home Depot for most of the day. They should have everything in storage. It will make creating the exploding ballista so much easier," Duncan said.
"I'm sorry, exploding Baslista?" Issac asked.
"Don't worry about it," Duncan said.
"I am extremely worried about it." Issac protested.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Duncan Coffeehouse
Race: Human
Type: Humanoid / Artificial
LVL: 7
SubRace: Caucasian
Age 25
Health: 280
Stamina: 630
Mana: 700
Health Regen: 3.5 per hour
Stamina Regen: 4.9 per min
Mana Regen: 2.8 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Awoken Myths
Immune
None
Resistances
Physical 65%, Mind 50%,
Weakness
Elemental 35%
Bane
Manslayer, Artslayer
Classes: Dungeon Engineer 7
Total
STR: 56
AGIL: 0
DEX: 28
CON: 21
END: 14
PER: 15
INT: 35
WILL: 14
SPIRIT: 14
EGO: 8
CHA: 0
LCK: 0
Base
STR: 56
AGIL: 0
DEX: 28
CON: 21
END: 14
PER: 14 +10%
INT: 35
WILL: 14
SPIRIT: 14
EGO: 8
CHA: 0 +10%
LCK: 0
Personal:+4 DEX +3 STR +3 INT +2 PER +2 WILL
Racial: +3 CON +2 END +2 SPIRIT +1 EGO
Bloodline: +5 STR +5 INT
Level Bonus: +2 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of the Arn Battle Cyborg] - Legendary: Your ancestors were part of the great Arn Empire as a front-line Battle Cyborg. These cyborgs were not only devastating shock troops, but their ability to self-repair and self-improve Transformed them into one of the most adaptable warriors in the galaxy. It also led to the fall of the Arn Empire when their cyborgs rebelled.
* [Kitchen Sink] - Level 27
* [Upgrade] - Level 1 >> Level 10
* [Work Horse] - Level 6 >> Level 16
* [War Horse] - Level 23
* [Techno-path] - Level 14
* [Machine Mind] - Level 22
* [Machine Learning] - Level 20
* [Nanite Heart] - Level 26
* +5 STR
* +5 INT
Skill Slots: 19/60: Skill Points: 6
Personal Skills
* [Storyteller] - Level N/A
* [Mapping] - Level 29
* [Storage] - Level 28
* [System Wiki] - Level 14
* [Zen Mastery] - Level 33
* [Arcane Awakening] - Level 23
* [Teacher] - Level 16 >> Level 17
* [Fang of Man] - Level 26
* [Aura of the Sun] - Level 33
* [Weather the Storm] - Level 30
* [Foreman] - Level 12
* [Heartseeker] - Level 14
* [All-Seeing Eye] - Level 22
* [Quest Giver] - Level 7
Dungeon Engineer 5/16
* [Dungeon Smith] - Level 1
* [Dungeon Enchanter] - Level 1
* [Dungeon Alchemist] - Level 1
* [Dungeon Tailor] - Level 1
* [Dungeon Construction] - Level 1