Adrian held the Mana Grenade in his hand, its Vyrillium casing cool against his palm as he studied the System’s notification.
The stats flashed before his eyes, and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride at his work.
But the mysterious [?? - F-] stat gnawed at him, as always. He’d seen it on every magic invention, an enigma he couldn’t crack.
With a ntal shrug, he dismissed it. Whatever it was, it hadn’t stopped his creations from working, and that was enough for now.
Glancing at the ti panel, Adrian’s heart sank slightly.
Access Ti Remaining: [00:43:12].
The hours had slipped away faster than he’d expected, consud by the ticulous work on the grenade.
"Forty-three minutes," he muttered. He considered starting the Magic Heater, his next planned invention, but the complexity of the design made him doubt he could finish in ti.
Still, he wasn’t one to waste a second in the Factory. "Might as well get a head start," he told himself, moving toward the workbench. If he could at least set up the frawork, it would save ti later.
The Magic Heater was a far more ambitious project than the Mana Grenade. While the grenade relied on a single volatile crystal and a simple casing, the heater required a delicate balance of magical and chanical components to generate and sustain heat efficiently.
In this world, heat for cooking or warmth ca from crude thods; charcoal, firewood and such fuels.
Adrian’s Magic Heater would revolutionize that. It would be efficient and powered by a single Magic Crystal, producing consistent heat without the need for constant fuel restocking or the choking smoke of traditional fires.
The concept was rooted in Adrian’s unique blend of scientific knowledge from his past life and the magical principles he currently had stuck in his head.
He envisioned a device that converted mana into thermal energy through a series of conduits.
The core chanism involved a 1-Star Magic Crystal, but instead of destabilizing it for an explosion, the crystal’s mana would be siphoned gradually.
A network of Thermic Runes would channel the mana into a heating elent made of Pyralis, a heat-conductive alloy he’d calculated he could make.
The Pyralis would radiate heat evenly, controlled by a mana regulator to prevent overheating.
The brilliance of the design lay in its efficiency. While initially, it would have been deed useless considering that an average family earning two gold coins a week couldn’t afford a 1-Star Magic Crystal.
But Adrian’s design for the heater was mind blowing. A single Magic Crystal would power the heater for approximately 940 hours!
Adrian had done the math in his head, cross-referencing mana output rates with the regulator’s consumption.
That was a whole lot of hours, considering the ti one would have to use the heater each day. It far surpassed the hours of heat a pile of firewood could provide.
The drawback was that the heat output wouldn’t be as intense as he’d ideally want; not enough to slt tal or boil water instantly, but it was more than sufficient for cooking.
And compared to the smoky, labor-intensive fires of this world, it was a ga-changer.
Adrian began gathering materials, pulling Vyrillium and Pyralis sheets out for usage.
The workshop’s auto-forging array humd as it shaped the Vyrillium into a cylindrical core, while Adrian manually prepared the Pyralis heating elent.
The Factory could only process one tal at a ti, so he took it upon himself to work on the secondary components, cutting and shaping smaller Vyrillium plates for the casing.
The design required precision: the Thermic Runes had to be etched in a difficult pattern around the core to ensure even mana flow, and the regulator needed to be calibrated to limit mana output to just the perfect rate.
As he worked, the Factory’s tools made the process seamless. The lathe shaved the Pyralis to a perfect thickness, and the crystalline engraver made his work a lot faster.
Adrian couldn’t help but marvel at the setup.
He was halfway through assembling the regulator when a notification pinged:
Access Ti Remaining: [00:00:10]
Adrian froze, glancing at the tir.
"Already?" he groaned in frustration.
The heater was far from complete, but ti was up. As the tir hit zero, a white light enveloped him, and the vibrant colors of the Factory faded.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in his dorm room, the familiar wooden walls grounding him to reality.
He sighed, rubbing his temples, but another notification appeared:
System Factory Cooldown: [01:59:59]
"Two hours," Adrian muttered in relief. It wasn’t too long to wait. Then, unexpectedly, a new prompt flashed:
[Would you like to make upgrades to your System Factory?]
Curiosity piqued, Adrian summoned his status panel:
[TECHCORE SYSTEM – STATUS PANEL]
Knight: ★
Mana: 0.09%
Na: Adrian | Age: 10
System Level: 10 | EXP: 5300 / 35120 | TP: 7600
[Stats: Speed - 11 | Strength - 12 | Constitution - 5]
[Inventions Created: 32]
...
His eyes lingered on the 7600 TP. It was enough to make a significant upgrade, and the prospect excited him. "Show the Factory upgrade options," he commanded.
The System responded with a sleek interface:
[System Factory Upgrade Options]
>> Extend Access Ti (2 hours → 3 hours)
[Cost: 5000 TP]
[Description: Increases the duration of each Factory session, allowing for longer uninterrupted work periods.]
>>Dual Production Line
[Cost: 5000 TP]
[Description: Upgrades the auto-forging array to process two inventions simultaneously, doubling production efficiency.]
>>Workshop Upgrade
[Cost: 5000 TP]
[Description: Improve the quality of production in the workshop, equipping it with better tools and improving its automation]
Adrian scanned the options. Upgrading the entire Factory for 100,000 TP was out of reach, but these targeted upgrades were within his grasp.
The Dual Production Line was tempting; doubling his output would be a massive boon for producing the ongoing communicators in bulk. But with only enough resources for about a hundred more communicators before his stockpile ran dry, it felt less urgent.
The Workshop Upgrade was equally appealing, but he was quite satisfied with its features at the mont, and didn’t need an upgrade yet.
His gut pulled him toward the ti extension. Three hours per session was a nice step up from the forr ti limit.
It was a practical choice, driven by his need to maximize every visit to the Factory. The decision might have impulsive, as be was still eager to keep working, but Adrian remained grounded in logic.
’More ti equals more progress.’
"Upgrade the Factory access ti to three hours," he instructed.
[Upgrading System Factory: Access Ti Extension]
[Deducting 5000 TP...]
The System pinged, and a mont later:
[Upgrade Completed! System Factory access ti increased to 3 hours per session.]
"Nice," Adrian said, a grin spreading across his face. His TP had dropped to 2600, but the investnt felt worth it.
"Return to [System Factory]," he commanded imdiately, willing himself back to his domain.
The world dissolved once again, and when his vision cleared, he stood once again under the colorful sky of his personal world, the Factory’s doors looming before him.
The tir appeared:
[Access Ti Remaining: 00:59:55].
A extra hour. Adrian’s grin widened.
"Let’s make the most of this," he said, pushing open the doors and stepping back into the workshop.
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