Birth Of The Crafts-God

With Callus drawing attention towards the vestiges, Havos and Luka held back the talk and decided to go check them out as well. The duo then realised what made Callus awed, especially so for Havos who was a vestige-smith.

Although the vestiges Lucas had made exuded no aura, just the craftsmanship alone was astonishing.

Havos didn't think much about the absence of aura as even if Lucas was a vestige-smith, with him being a human, the best he could do was a Grade 1 vestige. Instead, he had his attention on the details of the vestiges.

Usually, most vestige-smiths would perform the entire process themselves as using machines could have some adverse effects. Although there were some vestige-smiths in Belfargos city-state who used machines to create the framework for vestiges, they sold those products as lower-end vestiges. Hand-crafted products were more valuable and they were slightly stronger than machine crafted ones. There was no scientific explanation for this; it was just so.

Because of the importance of one's forging skills, even hyuman vestige-smiths in Belfargos city-state occasionally had some talented human blacksmiths under their wings. This was because, unlike hyumans, humans almost never became vestige-smiths. But unwilling to quit, they worked hard on their blacksmithing abilities and perfected them even better than some hyuman vestige-smiths.

When he met Lucas in Baylands city-state, Havos had presumed that Lucas was one such blacksmith. However, their chance encounter here seemed to show that Lucas had successfully crossed that bridge and his forging skills were top tier.

"Are you interested in a deal?" Havos suddenly said as he turned towards Lucas.

Lucas glanced at Havos and waited for the latter to continue. As expected, the latter continued.

"Luka here is trying to run a drift racing team and he invited me to join the design team. I'd also like for you to work with me."

While weapons vestige-smithing was different from vehicle vestige-smithing, the basic principles were the same. Also, Havos didn't plan on having Lucas handle the complex or important parts of the vehicle. Instead, he simply needed his forging skills to be able produce precise vehicle parts.

"The remuneration would be to your liking and we won't need you to be busy 24/7. You can still run your store and help us with th design and development of the racing shuttle." Seeing Lucas not say a word yet, Havos added a few more perks.

Luka stood by the side and didn't say anything. Since Havos was to be the head of design and development, he has the right to hire the required staff. The only point Luka could make was on the number of staff, after all, he was the one paying for their wages.

At first, Lucas wanted to reject them, but he realised that even though he knew how to make a hover car thanks to the system, he still didn't know much about racing shuttles. Working with Havos would be the perfect opportunity to improve his knowledge and skill. He would also get into the drift racing sport.

If he experimented on the racing shuttle with his knowledge, Lucas could have a front cover for when he finally goes into the new industry. It was just like the Legacy Crafts dealership back in Baylands city-state, but this time around, Lucas would be hidden behind the light of Havos.

"I'll consider it after further discussion." Lucas replied.

"Great." Havos smiled brilliantly.

Having to work with someone both skilled and familiar with him made Havos satisfied for the day. But he still didn't forget what they came for.

Since he had decided to work with them, Lucas closed the shop temporary and left with Melissa to escort the group.

. . .

Two days later in a meeting room, Lucas, Havos, and Joker were once again gathered. There were also a few other members of the Black Star, the official drift racing team. These other members were the initial crew members of the original team; in other words, Callus' teammates and friends.
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The next race of the month, which also happened to the second of four, was to take place the following day. But prior that, the group wanted to discuss some possible changes they could make to the racing shuttle before the race. At the same time, they also wanted to have a lengthy talk on the direction of development the racing shuttle would take as well as the future improvements they would make on it.

With a tight schedule on their hands, it was impossible to make massive changes to the vehicle, but making minor ones that could boost the performance was still doable. The reason for this confidence was because the team's head of designs and development was Havos, a student of a Tier 1 Grandmaster vestige-smith and also a Tier 1 vestige-smith himself.

Despite not having broken through to the rank of Elite vestige-smith under Tier 1, Havos' skill was far ahead of a typical Tier 1 vestige-smith. He only lacked the stellar refinement of a fourth level stellar practitioner to be able to become a standard Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith. As such, his input was valuable and he was confident of being able to tweak the design of the shuttle.

However, not everyone agreed.

"I understand where you're coming from and all, but there isn't much we can do about it." One of Callus' original teammates said.

He didn't agree with Havos' opinion that modifications could be made to the shuttle in a one day window. It was the same as saying that the original team that worked on it was incapable.

The man didn't deny that major modifications could be made to the vehicle to improve it, but to say that alterations could be done in a one day window that would boost the shuttle's performance, that was absurd.

Havos might be the student of a Grandmaster, a genius and a Tier 1 vestige-smith, but the other vestige-smiths in the team were all at least Tier 1. Apart from that, there was even a Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith with them. The man was aware that the five of them couldn't compare to Havos. However, whether it was in terms of ability, experience, or skill, the man refused to believe that a youngster who recently became an adult could compete against five other vestige-smiths and make improvements within a one-day window.

That was laughable, to say the least.

Although the Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith had yet to say a word, the others in the team couldn't sit by and watch Havos insult their work.

"Heh. The only reason you think there's nothing to do is simply because you're unqualified to do more." Havos retorted indifferently.

Being a genius and a student of a Tier 1 Grandmaster vestige-smith, he definitely had his own pride.

"You...!"

Another of the crew members stood up and pointed at Havos, but the latter simply snorted at the provocation.

In the next second, curses began flying to and fro as Havos was engaged in a heated argument with four of the men who made up Callus' original team.

Lucas watched the two sides argue out who was smarter for a few seconds before shifting his attention to the blueprint projected before him.

The meeting had begun ten minutes ago and the blueprint of the 'Juggernaut', Callus' racing shuttle, had been displayed on separate projections for each member of the new design and development team.

As he was called in to be the forger for the shuttle, no one on the two parties asked for Lucas' opinion while they squabbled. This gave Lucas the 'peace of mind' he needed as he focused on the blueprint.

'Not bad.' Lucas thought as he studied the blueprint.

The Juggernaut was a truly powerful sare shuttle made with quality materials. Although it wasn't a first or even second-rate racing shuttle, it was still a work of art. The vehicle pursued speed, which was Callus' forte, as he possessed impressive reflexes. Whether it was the shape, structure, dynamics or mechanics of the vehicle and its engine, the were all top-notch.

'However, it's still lacking.' Lucas sighed inwardly.

One of the major downsides of the sare shuttle at a single glance was the materials used. When compared to the racing shuttles of other top drivers in the league like Red Devil or the racing shuttles of Lugo Vido Autos and Team Yoko-bunny, the Juggernaut was below the margin.

There was also the fact that the vestige-smiths behind the vehicles were all average Tier 1 vestige-smiths with only one Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith. When compared to the other top teams who had at least two Tier 1 Elite vestige-smiths working on their racing shuttles, the difference became obvious.

'Well, it's not my job to make major modifications and I can't stand out too much. I'll just change a few things here and there.'

Lucas slowly picked up a light pen and began to make adjustments to the blueprint while the two sides argued. Although it was his first time working on a racing shuttle or any kind of shuttle, Lucas was the true definition of a genius and he had a sun-load of experience. It wasn't difficult for Lucas to pull this off.