Birth Of The Crafts-God

"Youngster, don't you have anything to say? Or were you just dozing off all this while? Are you looking down on us or something?"

Lucas lifted this head and glanced at the man who had called him out. He was a bit astonished by the behaviour, but held himself back from reacting too strongly to those words.

Seeing Lucas ignore him, the man became further enraged as he glared at Lucas.
Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"I'm talking to you, kid."

Apart from Callus, the other members of the original team were all in their late twenties and above. Callus was the youngest member but also the most talented, charismatic and sociable, which was why they had easily quit their jobs and followed him. However, this respect was only given to Callus who had earned it.

For people like Lucas, even though he was the same age as Callus, they treated him as a member of the younger generation and not on equal footing.

"We've been discussing how to make modifications to the racing shuttle, but there's not been a single word from you. That doesn't seem right. Are you sure you even know how to do your job well?"

Despite clearly knowing Lucas' role, the man had suggested him to provide his opinion on improving the Juggernaut. It was clear that the man's intention was to see Lucas humiliate himself. But even knowing that, no one came to his help.

Callus wasn't close to Lucas and didn't see it necessary to get involved. While he did see a bit of Lucas' skill before, it wasn't like the role of a forger for the shuttle's chassis was irreplaceable. If anything, that was one of the easier roles to find a replacement. Also, the current forger wasn't low skilled either.

Havos was of a similar opinion too. While he wanted to snap back on Lucas' behalf, he hesitated. He also wanted to see the limits of Lucas' knowledge.

When it came to making weapons, Havos didn't doubt Lucas' skill, but the same couldn't be said in this situation. He knew Lucas had no experience with hover cars, much less racing shuttles. However, vestige-smithing still had a few general principles. Havos wanted to know how deep Lucas' knowledge and understanding of these principles were.

Seeing no one come to his aid, Lucas didn't mind much, although he was a bit bugged by it. When Havos, Luka and Callus met him two days ago, they were aware that he didn't know much about hover vehicles. Yet two days later, they expected him to be able to offer up a good idea.

Regardless, they had underestimated him because Lucas had 'some' idea of the mechanics of a hover vehicle.

"Who said I don't?"

Glancing at his modified blueprint, Lucas memorised it before undoing the changes. He then enlarged the projection and made it visible to everyone else.

The group was surprised that Lucas had already begun to act, and there was a mix of confusion all around. Havos and Callus, who had met Lucas before, were surprised and couldn't help but wonder what it was he was doing. As for the other five men, they were stunned and began to wonder whether Lucas was a genius just like Havos, but more reticent.

Lucas began to make a new set of changes to the blueprint, but he considered different factors this time around. Unlike the previous modifications, he took a different route in his thought pattern but also limited the number of changes. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain how he came about them since he was supposed to be new to this.

As Lucas drew with the light pen, the group was first stunned, then showed looks of contemplation. Some of them were confused, while some managed to figure something out from the drawings. The two strongest individuals, Havos and the Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith, could not help but widen their eyes in shock with gazes of astonishment and praise. Even Callus dumbfounded and he couldn't help but see Lucas in a different light.

"By making such changes to the fundamental operations, bypassing the arc flow and using a Triquetra-shaped chamber, he's increased the power by so much?! Why didn't I think of that?" Havos sucked in a cold breath of air with mixed feelings.

The Tier 1 vestige-smith was similarly stunned and couldn't help but calculate the chances of success as well as the improvement that would be brought about using those changes. The results showed that Lucas' means would bring about at least a staggering 8% increase in efficiency, a 8% increase in speed, and 2% increase in acceleration.

Although when compared to Havos' changes, Lucas' modifications appeared , the increase in top speed was 4% lower while the increase in acceleration was only 1% lower, increase in efficiency was up 1% when compared to the latter's. Overall, it might seem like Lucas' designs were poor, but they weren't.

Unlike Havos who pursued speed, Lucas went for stability. Whether it was the transmission or handling, the modifications Lucas made would give the Juggernaut a significant boost in these areas. What's more, Lucas' modifications could be done alongside those of Havos. In other words, the Juggernaut would see an incremented boost which wouldn't be as simple as 1+1.

"Are you sure this is your first time?" Havos couldn't resist asking.

Lucas had informed them the previous time that he wasn't familiar with vestige-smithing when it came to hover vehicles. Yet, his designs seemed to tell a different story. Lucas had tackled the problems of the Juggernaut from a fundamental level, while Havos did so from a knowledgeable angle about hover vehicles. It might seem rudimentary, but it was very impressive and not something an average vestige-smith could pull off.

"I took time out to get myself well informed about the basics and the theories." Lucas replied with a calm demeanour.

"I heard that geniuses even exist in the human race. People who had mastered the theoretical knowledge and foundations of vestige-smithing like the back of their hands. Their knowledge bank could even rival those of Tier 1 Masters, but they simply lacked the prerequisite stellar energy to be able to reach that level. I didn't think I would be meeting someone like that today." The Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith sighed.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, the truth was laid bare. When it came to fundamentals, Lucas had demonstrated that he was way ahead of him.

The short-fused fellow couldn't say a word seeing the most respected member of his team even acknowledging Lucas' skill. He grunted, but in the end apologised for causing trouble.

With two modifications that could work side by side available, there was no reason for the meeting to keep going on. The team quickly ended it and rushed to revamp the Juggernaut.

The drift race was the next day and the modifications had to be ready far before then. This was because after the revamping, they would have to test the shuttle and Callus would have to get used to it. In summary, they were very tight on time.

Even Lucas had to close the Heavenly Demonic Shop for the day, but he didn't forget to bring Melissa along with him. The little girl was happy that she would be following her brother to work. What's more, they would be working on a racing shuttle which was essentially a movable vestige.

At the same time that the new Black Star team got to work, Belfargos city-state welcomed a new set of tourists and visitors at its main port city, North-Wind City. Some were relocating to the city-state, while few were locals who had gone out on a trip. However, the majority of them came from different city-states to behold the region which was the centre of the planet.

These tourists were easily discerned as they had looks of amazement and fascination on their faces. Compared to their local city-states, the Steller energy concentration and purity in Belfargos was on a different level. The technological and architectural differences were also obvious.

Only a few city-states like Java and Paros city-states could compete with Belfargos city-state, but even they were a level behind the planet's capital region. Belfargos city-state was simply on an entirely different level compared to the others.

"Ah~ This is definitely peak region."

A young hyuman male with black hair and blue eyes breathed out as a sly grin hung on his face.

"Young master, please don't misbehave. Remember why we are here." A middle-aged man with brown hair who stood by the side reminded him.

"No need to be such a bummer, Alfrod. Can't I catch a break for just a second?" The black-haired young man snorted.

"You will catch a break once we are done here." An icy voice reverberated from behind.

The young man immediately froze before hurriedly switching to an ingratiating expression.

"Hehe. Elder sister is right. Definitely right."

The two visitors were none other than Vergil and Laura Mertens of Baylands City's top four factions, the Mertens family. The two had arrived in Belfargos city-state on the order of their family to handle a business deal with another top force here. This was the old man, Russel Mertens' way of training his children to be able to inherit the family's assets.

Instead of going on the trip himself, he decided to let his children handle it.

"So where to?" Vergil asked.

"... didn't you read the document?" Alfrod stared dumbfoundedly at Vergil.

"Eh..." Vergil turned the other direction.

Laura ignored him and walked forward with Alfrod following after her. Vergil immediately reacted and moved with the group alongside the team of six stellar practitioners who acted as their bodyguards.