From Player To Npc

Chapter 94: Preparations

He gave the staff some tries to see how well he could enable the design to draw mana and disable progress.

With the help of the Spirit Hammer's adjustments, he also changes the design to let out the boosted mana in a spherical shape at the top of the staff.

He gathered enough mana and cast his DOME OF SILENCE.

Shadows started being created by the tip of the staff and surrounding Shingi and started forming the Spell's usual spherical form.

The Spell finished forming in 10 seconds, which was better than the usual time that it was taking Shingi.

This was because he had to manipulate Dark Mana of the shadows surrounding him, which gave some resistance, so it was increasing the time to finish the Spell. But now, using the mana of the Mana Gem didn't have this kind of resistance and was almost like he used his mana if he could produce that Element with his Mana Pool.

He used his MANA SENSE to check the Mana Gem, and it seemed like this Spell alone had used almost half of the mana it had.

It would need more than one or two hours to replace that much mana, meaning he wouldn't be able to spam the Spell in a battle.

But the design worked better than he thought for the first try. 

The boost mechanic was using a lot of mana, and that's why it consumed so much mana. He had to make some adjustments to it, but it wouldn't decrease the consumption by a crazy amount.

He could erase parts of the design by using his Earth Element mana to close the carving. This was only possible with this special mana-infused wood and needed to happen not a long time after the carving happened as the more time passed, the harder it would be to close the carve.

This was also possible since he had the PROGRAMMING ENCHANTMENT Skill, which enabled him to erase Enchantments as he did on Karemon's at the shop.

He erased as much as he could and started reworking on it with the Spirit Hammer once again.

He redid this a couple of times but didn't use the Mana Gem as it could completely get empty and break.

He tried to get some of the Mana Gem's Dark Mana and hold it in the place where the Mana Gem would typically be. 

It wasn't enough mana to cast a Spell but enough for his test.

In the end, he seemed to have decreased significantly to almost a quarter of what the Mana Gem could have.

It was a sufficient number as the Mana Gem he was using wasn't one of the final designs, so the staff wasn't in full power yet.

He then made a wand version of it with space for the gem at the bottom on it instead.

He may not have as much space as with the staff, but his design wasn't that big, and with the help of the Spirit Hammer, he made it work.

He also noticed that more than an hour was spent using the Spirit Hammer and wasn't feeling any resistance as usual at that point, but some started slowly being build up after a while.

It seemed like he could use it for more time now, which would help to craft special equipment faster in the future.

He made the same tests in the wand, and since he already made it work on the staff, he didn't have to spend as much time but had to make some adjustments to make it more fit on a wand and do not be in touch with the hand of the users as it could cause some disturbance to it.

He Should work on their appearance as they were pretty plain and should make some protection around where the mana gems were residing but make it possible to change with a new Mana Gem is needed.

He also had to make designs for the rest of the Mana Gems, but he needed them to do that and work with Zhen on it.

He may have to bring him here someday or make similar Enchantments in the room at Zhen's lab to make the wands or staves they needed for personal use while working at this room for the shop's customers.

He took his wand and staff to show it at Volig, who was at a break as he had finished most of the orders.

Volig seemed impressed by them, and even he seemed to be able to use it.

When he was a Dwarf, he couldn't use any Mana, so he had to use other tools if needed to test equipment that needed mana.

But now that he had Earth Mana as part of his new race, he had learned the mana skills as they were beneficial for his crafting but no Spells.

He could strengthen the metals he was using by infusing them with some of his Earth Mana and making them stronger than expected.

"We should work on more wands and staves as Zhen shouldn't take too long to start producing some of them. I will go check him and Phoenix. Continue working on the orders, but when you have some time, try to make some for personal use for our people, and I will take care of the Enchantment."[Shingi]

Volig agreed and started his was at the other crafting room to work on those as he didn't have many things to work on in the forge that he needed to hurry with.

Shingi found Anna in an alley they had discussed to meet if needed.

She had given him a special bell that she was the only one to hear it, and he should ring it if they needed to meet.

He let her know about Wild Tycoon and how Zhen's and the new creations of his were going.

"Sounds good. But we should hurry. As you noticed, they started gathering, and our new friends informed me that more of them would be here in three days and plan something big. But they don't know what this may be. We should be ready for a fight by then."[Anna]

Shingi didn't like this at all as they seemed to move quicker than he thought.

'Maybe I hit them harder than I thought.'[Shingi]

He made his way back to Zhen's place to check his progress.

He noticed the lab to have changed a little. 

There was a new desk where Mizuneko was working on some of his Spell Scrolls. There was another one that Little Phoenix was working on creating a design on a body of Mana Gem while being instructed by Zhen and at the same time Wild Tycoon watching them and especially Zhen's moves.

Zhen seemed like he was in a fight not too long ago as there were bruises all over his body, especially his face.

"I see you have started the production. Does this mean you have finished with the designs?"[Shingi]

Zhen nodded to agree as he seemed he didn't want to speak while his face was in his current state.

He pointed at some pieces of paper which Shingi understood were the new designs.

For Air, Dark, Earth, Ice, and Water Elements, Light didn't seem to be finished yet. There was also the old design of the Fire one, which hadn't got any updates since they didn't have somebody with that Element within their Mana Pool.

Phoenix seemed to had taken the handle of making the Mana Gems and was helping at their production.

They had to make some prototypes, and then some of the Oozes of Zhen could produce more.

"I have brought a new project that we will need to work with it then."[Shingi]

He summoned from his Spatial Ring, the staff he made and then enabled the design for the small sphere of mana to form at the tip of it.

Zhen's eyes got wide, seeing this as he noticed the design of the staff to contain part of his design.

He noticed the smile on the face of Shingi as he knew that Zhen would most likely have this reaction.

"I have created staff and wand to work with the Dark Mana Gem, but it is the old version meaning it may need some adjustments but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. We need to make at least one of each Element, especially of Phoenix's and Mizuneko's. I will provide the wands and staves, which will be of higher quality than this but need your help for the final Enchantments and possible design. How does that sound to you? Interesting, right?"[Shingi]

Zhen nodded as he was a researcher at heart, but since he wasn't able to craft things like that by being limited from the System, he never thought of using his research in that way.

But seeing a tool empowered by his creation and for something as powerful as that and not just to warm up the room or clear the water, he was excited to work on that project.

"We also need to hurry. It seems we have three days as they seem to be on the move for something."

The three Players turned towards him and looked at him with worry. They had made a lot of progress these days, but they needed more time to prepare.

"Focus on the task of yours at hand. Tycoon, try to level up as much as you can and train on your new skills and fighting style. Mizuneko, keep working on the scrolls but don't forget to use some of the Ice Mana Gems, when they are ready, to raise your Mana Tree. Same for you, Phoenix. Help as much as you can on the production of the Mana Gems but don't forget to focus on your Mana Tree also. Also, try to use some of the Air Mana Gems to increase your proficiency to add it to your Mana Pool; Mizuneko can help you but don't merge it and keep it separate. Me and Zhen will work on the wands and staves for you and the daggers of Hineko since we will have some of the Mana Gems. You should call him to join us, Mizuneko."[Shingi]

It wasn't a secret that Players could communicate with each other, although NPCs couldn't use this function.

"But first, I think it is time to take care of something else."[Shingi]

Everyone looked at him, confused and waiting for him to tell what this something was.

But he didn't say anything but showed them as he summoned from his Spatial Ring a crystal which he had for a while.

The Class Crystal that Aneta had bought for him some time ago.

He still could progress some of his Skills a bit more, but with most of his Spells, he had reached his limit.

He would need some time to adjust with his Class as it could give him some new abilities, so three days were necessary simply to be safe.

He wasn't going to use his Player Character as it could reveal his identity and wanted to keep it a secret for as long as he could.

He focused on the crystal, and a panel appeared in front of him.

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Are you sure you want to use Medium Quality Class Crystal?

YES / NO

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Shingi took a deep breath as he picked the YES option.

The crystal started turning into dust, making a mini whirlwind with Shingi as its center and then getting attached to its body before disappearing.

A System notification appeared, but Shingi wasn't able to read it as he had passed out.