Adrian focused not on the simulation itself, but on the newly acquired skill. He envisioned the soul imprint he’d just placed on the bridge.
He willed the Rover, and all within it, to activate [Translocate] and move to that anchor point.
"Translocate," he commanded.
His view dissolved into pure, blinding white light, but the white vanished as quickly as it ca.
He was still sitting in the Rover’s driver’s seat. But now, the vehicle was parked squarely on the tal grate of the bridge walkway. Unfortunately, the bone was gone from the passenger seat.
That still didn’t dampen Adrian’s mood because he was still excited for what this ant. "This is teleportation!"
He had confird the potential of the skill, and with that test complete, he had no further use for the Simulation Chamber.
With a focused thought, he dispelled the simulation dissolving into the familiar infinite expanse of white.
Without hesitation, he exited the chamber and strode purposefully toward the workshop, his mind already shifting to the next challenge.
As he stood before the worktable, Adrian’s thoughts crystallized.
"I would need a reliable way for transportation," he said aloud.
His return to the Corrupted Lands lood large in his plans, and he knew a traditional carriage wouldn’t suffice.
Traveling with a group ant efficiency was paramount, wasting ti on slow, cumberso thods was out of the question.
Once they arrived, they’d also need vehicles capable of navigating the harsh, unpredictable terrain to move around effectively.
"I can’t give out a Rover," Adrian continued, frowning slightly as he considered his options. "It’s simply too expensive to run, and it’s unnecessary for a task as mundane as only traveling. It won’t be appropriate to transport people either."
The Rover was a marvel of engineering, but its limitations were clear. With only one passenger seat alongside the driver’s, it was designed for solitary efficiency, not group transport.
Powering it with high-grade 3-Star magic crystals also made it impractical for widespread use. For this journey, he needed sothing more practical.
Determined, Adrian activated the holographic studio with a gesture.
He summoned the existing design of the Rover, and the sleek, compact model materialized in glowing blue lines, hovering above the worktable.
Studying it, he murmured, "It wouldn’t be as difficult as when I built the original design."
This..." he gestured at the holographic interface, manipulating a section of the chassis with a flick of his wrist,
"... This is definitely more efficient than paper." A wry smile touched his lips.
He had always preferred the tactile feel of sketches, but the sheer speed and flexibility of this system were undeniable advantages for rapid iteration.
As Adrian began to work, he outlined three clear objectives for this project.
First, he needed the vehicle to transport a group over long distances while conquering the rugged, uneven landscapes of the Corrupted Lands. It needed to be robust yet practical and a workhorse for the expedition.
Next, he aid to make it as energy-efficient as possible, prioritizing sustainability over luxury features like speed or heavy defenses.
Unlike the Rover, which guzzled 3-Star magic crystals, this design couldn’t afford such extravagance.
The last objective Adrian planned to chase was the Autonomy rating.
"So far, I haven’t tried imprinting my soul imprint before an invention was complete," he mused aloud.
Typically, the Factory assigned a rating to his inventions only after they were finished. But that wasn’t the case when the ratings were improved.
Since he was finally working on another design, rather than channeling his will into the final product as he’d done before, Adrian could now explore the possibilities.
He could test if he could apply his soul imprint earlier in the proces, perhaps seeing an increase in the E rating.
With these goals firmly in mind, Adrian’s focus sharpened. The path ahead was clear, and with a resolute determination driving him, he wasted no ti.
He reached into the holographic Rover’s exterior, pulling it apart with deft movents of his hands, and began reshaping it into sothing new.
***
Adrian threw himself into the task, almost losing track of ti as he refined the design.
The hours blurred together, his hands moving fluidly across the console, tweaking lines and adjusting components, while running ntal calculations occasionally.
He wasn’t startled when a sudden burst of light enveloped him, pulling him from the Workshop and depositing him back onto the soft mattress of his bedroom.
Even amidst the intricate ntal demands of his work, Adrian remained attuned to his surroundins.
Seeing himself back on his bed, he groaned and pressed his face into the pillow.
"Damn it," he muttered in frustration.
System Factory Cooldown: [00:59:52]
The Factory interface hovered before him, its glowing display a stark reminder that only one hour remained before he could return to the Workshop.
But Adrian wasn’t satisfied.
"I was so close!" Adrian exclaid, his voice muffled by the pillow.
He had underestimated how swiftly the project would progress.
The original Rover had taken him five full days to design and fabricate, a painstaking process back then.
If he’d been his old self, he might’ve guessed this new vehicle would take a day less.
But that wasn’t the case now. His enhanced ntal strength and sharpened cognitive abilities, paired with the Holographic Design Studio’s seamless interface, had transford him into a far more efficient creator.
In just four hours within the Workshop, he’d pushed the design to its final stages, tantalizingly near completion. Yet, the Factory’s tir had cut him short, leaving him stranded with an unfinished masterpiece.
He sighed heavily, pulling the pillow away. "It’s unfortunate I can’t change anything," he said, staring at the countdown ticking down on the interface.
But then, resolve hardened within him. "I can’t waste this ti," he decided firmly.
His mind buzzed with options; continuing calculations ntally, perhaps, or cultivating his energy to pass the hour.
But instead, sothing unexpected surfaced, a whim he hadn’t indulged in personally.
"It’s a bit out of the blue, but I’ll give push-ups a shot," he said with a faint, self-aware chuckle.
Without overthinking it, he slid off the bed and dropped smoothly into a plank position, hands shoulder-width apart, body forming a rigid line from heels to crown.
The position was easy for him to assu, as it had been drilled into him countless tis from the morning drills with Von.
"One," Adrian counted silently as the rhythm began. Down. Up.
"Two... Three... Four... Five..."
The whole process seed too easy for him, allowing him to engage in other thoughts as he exercised.
’The suspension needs a secondary dampener for sudden lateral shifts... Nineteen... Perhaps a modified version of the Rover’s harmonic absorber?... Twenty-Five... Energy matrix node 47B is still drawing 0.3% more than projected... Thirty-One...’
Adrian kept on going, as he analyzed his progress. He didn’t plan on stopping until it was ti to return into the Factory again.
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