Once the paraters of my experint were clear, I opened a portal to the fourth floor. Terry was working with Logan, while Jennifer was sowhat ahead of them, shaping various plants into living weapons against the endless horde of insects, her face showing an unfamiliar smile.
"Impressive developnt," I said as I moved closer to them, alerting Terry and Logan of my presence.
"Professor," Logan greeted happily. "I have a new class. Warrior of the Woods."
"Excellent news," I replied. It certainly was, especially considering how stingy the System was for the farrs. "Why don't you give a summary of the benefits while Terry reads this?" I said as I passed him the notes I had written earlier.
For a mont, Logan looked hesitant. "I-it doesn't have any magic stats."
I didn't need Wisdom to see how tense Logan was. He was a man of few words, and opening like that was enough to show he was feeling guilty. A misguided attempt at best.
"Doesn't matter, as long as you are happy with it," I replied. "What we're doing here is about exploring the limits of the System in diverse directions. Had the magic part been the most important, I would have pushed you to take Tend," I explained.
"Thanks, professor," he replied with a gentle nod. "The new class gives one point of Strength and Dexterity each level, and four points of Vitality," he said.
"Four points of Vitality?" I asked, surprised. "That's a good amount."
It certainly was. While it was below my current class in terms of Vitality, Smith of Decay was not exactly a fair benchmark for any class.
"And, what about the skill?" I continued.
"It changed to sothing called Harmonize, allowing to transform living trees into weapons. I know it's underwhelming —" he started.
"Not necessarily," I replied. "Let's not make a judgnt before we explore what it truly offers," I replied. I sighed. "I wish I had ti to assist you, but I have another crisis to handle first. Both you and Jessica need to handle the initial exploration alone," I said.
"Don't worry, professor. Terry is doing an excellent job," he said, while Terry blushed at the complint.
"Nothing impressive. I'm just copying what you did for , sir," Terry started. "Professor," he corrected after I looked at him sharply.
"I'm sure you are doing well, but unfortunately, I have another task for you," I said to Terry before I looked at Logan. "You have to handle it alone for the next few days, the experint needs soone with Wisdom to run, and Rebecca's greenhouse task is too critical to pull her for this."
Logan looked at , unable to rein in his disappointnt. "Don't worry, professor. I already have ideas on how to explore my new class. I have learned well."
"I like the attitude," I said as I patted the shoulder of the young man. "I promise I'll work with you the mont things calm down."
He nodded in appreciation before walking away, leaving with Terry. "Is everything alright, professor?" Terry asked. "It's not like you to interrupt a promising experint like that."
"You're not wrong," I said. "We have another battle on the horizon."
"Already?" he asked, surprised.
"Unfortunately," I replied. I didn't want to worry them too much, but hiding the truth from them would have been a disservice. "But I already have so plans that will give us an advantage, so there's no need to worry," I said. I gave him the prototype sword I created. "Check it."
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"T-this is…?" he muttered in fascination as he touched the blade. One benefit of having Wisdom, it allowed him to see through the true nature of my work without using it.
"The new weapon series I'm going to create, and also the reason why I'm not afraid of the upcoming battle," I declared. A bit exaggerated, but I didn't want them panicking needlessly.
He raised the notes he was still holding. "I'm guessing that you have experints outlined here regarding that," he said.
"Yes," I said. "Using Wisdom to create them is possible, but using dungeon products to do so is far more preferable in terms of ti managent," I said. He nodded, quick to connect the dots. Since he also had Wisdom, I didn't need to explain the basics.
"Why are the notes explicitly about the chanical aspects," he asked.
"Because I need a way to outsource so of the ti-consuming aspects," I said. "We still don't understand the basics of conceptual transformation. Outsourcing the chanical aspect seed like a reasonable target. Preferably with a less wasteful thod than slicing them into a thin film."
He frowned. "Yes. Eighty percent potency loss doesn't sound sustainable. Do you really think there's still value in brute force experints? The notes show that it has barely moved the needle."
"True," I said. "You don't have to stick to chanical breakdowns. What I give you is not an exhaustive list of possibilities. Feel free to add more experints."
He gave a slow nod, brow wrinkled in thought. "I will do my best, but there's a limited amount of ti I could put on it."
"That's why you're not going to do it alone. Ask for the assistance of Liam, and as many smithing assistants as you need."
That earned another frown. "I …" he muttered, surprisingly hesitant.
"Tell ," I said.
"I'm not sure I can do it," he said.
"Really? I have seen you lead larger teams with no problem."
"Yes, but back then, I wasn't trying to keep secrets. Now, I have too many things I have to keep secret. What if I let sothing critical slip?"
That made smile, though it was more rueful than excited. "Luckily, that's not a problem anymore."
"What do you an, professor?" he asked.
"We are no longer keeping any secrets," I replied. "Feel free to share anything you discover. No limitations."
His eyes widened. "Are you sure, professor? What about the risks?"
"Since they declared war already, we have nothing to worry about," I replied. "Share anything you wish. We'll even distribute them to other towns."
"That's exciting!" he gasped.
"It is, but let's focus on the experint for the mont. Give a summary of our objectives."
"Our first aim is to get a better understanding of how shape and form affect potency," he said. "Ideally, we need to discover a uniform shape that allows mana to diffuse perfectly, but with a creation less wasteful than the thin film thod."
"Yes," I said. "I'm hopeful in various polyhedra patterns, despite the variants of beehive or other hexagon patterns not working as well as I had hoped," I said. "We might need a different fundantal shape for beast parts, and it might not be the sa for all of them."
Terry nodded even as he scribbled notes on a scrap paper. "That's fairly straightforward, especially once we have the smithing apprentices' assistance."
"Good," I said.
"The next step is to test the impact of movent and other environntal tests, like rotation, constant stress, and other thods," he said, then frowned. "Would that really work?"
"Honestly, I don't know," I said. "My experints did not, but I was just manipulating them physically. Maybe if we add so kind of abrasive, maybe inject so mana to the environnt…"
"And, maybe speed variation could assist as well," he said.
"It's not impossible," I said. "The conceptual manipulation operates on a level I'm struggling to understand, even with skills," I said.
"But, you have created such an incredible weapon," Terry responded as he brought down the blade, leaving a red aftermath.
"That's only with the assistance of the skill. The true chanics are still a mystery, and…"
"Without understanding the chanics, we stay dependent on the skill, which is unacceptable," he completed, summarizing the main ssage of my many lessons.
"Perfectly put," I said. "How about the third step?"
"The impact of temperature situation, which can be done by ice baths, boiling, direct heat exposure, both in rapidly shifting situations, and extended exposure," he completed. "I have a feeling it'll be more effective on the claws," he said.
"Yes, but be careful about the explosive side effects," I warned. "The concept of fla might not interact well with the constant cold attacks." With that, I opened a portal that led to the first floor. "Just ask Harold's help if there's any problem with resource allocation."
"I'll do so, professor," he said as he took a step toward the portal.
"And, when it cos to temperature manipulation or other risky steps…"
He nodded. "I'll make sure to test it behind thick tal walls, sir. Just as you taught us, safety first," he said.
"Good," I said, happy that he had learned it.
Safety first was sothing I truly believed in … for my students. I had to admit, I wasn't the best when it ca to following that principle.
As I returned to my own workshop, I had a feeling that tonight would not be another exception…
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