Chapter 64 : Chapter 64

Chapter 64. A Peculiar Creation

Inside one of the rooms in Fulan’s house, she was using Telekinetic Hand to toss coal into the simple furnace built beneath the water tank.

After throwing in a sufficient amount, she focused her gaze on the exhaust outlet.

As time slowly passed, a sudden, urgent roar erupted, followed by a jet of white mist.

A hint of joy rose in Fulan’s chest. It seemed the part she had constructed was functioning properly.

Using Telekinetic Hand, she immediately sealed the outlet that had been specially designed to test airtightness, then opened the air valve.

The urgent roar fell silent in an instant.

Fulan kept her eyes fixed on the cylinder.

Suddenly, the piston connected to the sliding rod began to move. It traced a semicircle through the air, driving the flywheel into rotation.

However, because the flywheel Fulan had commissioned was quite heavy, the sliding rod’s rotation was still relatively slow. It would need some time to accelerate.

When the sliding rod reached the lowest point of its arc, the cylinder expelled a burst of white steam.

The rod struck the reversing valve, causing the direction of the steam flow within the cylinder to change.

Only then did the rod regain power, continuing its rotation in the same direction, but now much faster.

The rod rose again to the top of the circle, releasing another jet of steam as the flywheel completed a full rotation.

The inertia of the spinning flywheel carried the rod forward in the same direction, the stored kinetic energy allowing the mechanism to repeat its earlier motions.

With every cycle, the steam drove the mechanism faster. The intervals between the explosive roars grew shorter and shorter.

Eventually, the entire steam engine erupted into a nearly continuous thunderous roar, its intervals impossible to distinguish as the flywheel spun at tremendous speed.

Fulan sat down on the ground and sighed.

“That was not easy at all!”

Then she once again felt that mysterious force surge through her body—the same sensation she had experienced when killing Richter. A moment later, it disappeared.

She understood.

She had once again verified the future she had foreseen.

Several notifications appeared in her mind.

[You have once again completed a future you previously observed. Astrology proficiency +200.]

[Astrology (Mastered) (Proficiency: 387/1000)]

Fulan raised an eyebrow.

Astrology had always been a spell that helped her greatly. She had long wanted to increase its proficiency, but her efforts had produced almost no results.

After observing a location once, observing it again granted no additional proficiency. Now, even when she stargazed every day, she only gained a tiny bit of progress occasionally.

So for Astrology, she could only leave it in the skill panel and let it slowly improve over time.

There were other notifications she had not yet examined. She dismissed the Astrology notification in her mind, and another message appeared.

[You have created something that has never existed before. At the same time, it possesses enormous potential and room for further development. It proves that your Forging skill far surpasses others. Forging proficiency +11000.]

“H-how much?”

Fulan’s eyes widened.

She carefully counted the zeros behind the proficiency number and discovered with delight that it was a five-digit increase.

“I’ve struck gold!”

She had expected that completing the steam engine would grant a large amount of proficiency—perhaps enough to push her Forging skill directly into the Proficient level.

But she had never imagined it would grant this much.

Earlier, she had already realized that proficiency gains depended on the significance of what you accomplished.

For example, if you learned Fireball and simply cast it once, you would gain only a small amount of proficiency.

But if you used that seemingly ordinary Fireball to defeat a terrifying enemy, the resulting proficiency gain could easily be a hundred times greater.

That was also why her Forging proficiency had increased rapidly when she attended Habos’s Weapon Forging class. Habos’s level was extremely high, so the proficiency gains were correspondingly large.

“In that case… my Forging must have reached Extraordinary now. Maybe the earlier trait has changed as well.”

Fulan silently summoned her panel.

[Name: Fulan

Profession: Alchemist (Half-Star), Rune Warrior (Half-Star), Craftsman (Half-Star)

Attributes: Physique 2.8, Mental 3.1

Skills:

Forging (Extraordinary) (Proficiency: 534/100000): You are now rarely matched in this field.

…(omitted)

Traits:

Master Craftsman (Weapons and equipment created by your hands appear to be far more powerful.)

…(omitted)]

The first thing she noticed was that her Magical Craftsman profession had upgraded. The prefix had disappeared, leaving simply Craftsman.

This likely meant the scope of the profession had broadened.

In any case, an upgrade was always good news. A name change for the profession was hardly important.

The Craftsman profession had also increased her mental attribute by 0.3, finally pushing it past three. That meant future increases to her Mental Power trait would be even greater.

At that moment, Fulan suddenly realized that the Mental Power trait was practically a god-tier ability for the late stages of development. It directly increased attributes with almost no drawbacks.

Could she possibly obtain a few more abilities like that?

Then there was the new trait.

Fulan tested it briefly and discovered that it functioned somewhat like the one granted by the Alchemist profession.

Although the description did not explicitly state it, she still had to expend mental power in order to enhance weapons and equipment.

Fulan picked up the Energy Potion beside her and drank it immediately.

The process of building the steam engine had made her clearly understand why Energy Potion sold so well.

One sip filled her entire body with strength. It was not merely a fleeting sensation—the effect was genuine and lasted for a considerable time. As long as she did not overuse it, there would be no negative consequences afterward.

Because of this effect, the potion’s price had already skyrocketed to sixty silver coins per bottle in the chaotic potion market.

Fortunately, she could still purchase the ingredients for only ten silver coins per batch and produce it herself.

However, her work was not finished yet.

She still needed to practice the spell Equipment Augmentation. With her mind excited and the Energy Potion still active, this was the perfect opportunity.

Following the instructions in her notes, she concentrated and engraved the rapidly operating steam engine into her mind.

The machine was running quickly, continuously releasing white mist that spread throughout the entire room.

Only then did Fulan realize that her room lacked a ventilation system. Although the windows were open, the cooling steam simply could not escape.

Her vision became completely white and hazy, the visibility greatly reduced.

Meanwhile, the temperature in the room was rising rapidly. Fortunately, Fulan’s Physique was strong enough to endure it.

But the most urgent task was to reach the Beginner stage of this spell. After that, she needed to shut down the steam engine immediately.

She carefully reconstructed the spell structure from memory. Once she confirmed everything was correct, she began her attempt.

However, the steam leaked within her mental structure.

She seemed to have failed to maintain proper airtightness.

A burst of white vapor suddenly escaped from her mouth. Her lips felt the searing heat, forcing her to stop and take several deep breaths to recover.

Although the attempt had failed, her eyes were filled with excitement.

Because it meant she could now practice this spell.

[You have made a failed attempt. Equipment Augmentation proficiency +1.]

Previously, she had not even been able to cast this spell.

Now she could finally begin increasing its proficiency.

But just as she was about to try again, a voice suddenly echoed within the room.

“A peculiar creation… It actually allows you to cast this spell!”