Chapter 180 Need a Large Amount of Magic Crystal
William tried casting the Enchantment spell.
No luck.
Sweat started forming on his forehead.
No luck again?
This was new for William.
He started thinking.
He pondered, 'When does the Enchantment spell fail? Only when using the same materials over and over, but this Mechanic is a brand-new robot Battle Pet. So why isn't it working?'
William added, 'And Devil's Gold is definitely high-quality, perfect for the Mechanic.'
He wondered, 'What's the issue?'
He thought, 'Could Devil's Gold expire? No way.'
Out of ideas, William tossed the Devil's Gold into the Sacrificial Gate. He hated using such a rare item, especially since he risked his life to get it from the Chain Prisoner. Using one piece meant one less, and he might never get another chance. Even if he did, the creature would probably be way stronger by now.
As the Devil's Gold was sacrificed, the energy level shot up, filling about one-eighth of the gem.
William hesitated, thinking about giving up on using Devil's Gold to fill the gem completely.
He still didn't know what the Sacrificial Gate would give him once it was full. If he sacrificed most of his Devil's Gold and got something less valuable in return, it would be a huge waste.
Since the Sacrificial Gate accepted the Devil's Gold, the problem wasn't the materials but the Mechanic itself.
William inspected the Mechanic from all angles. Finally, when he flipped over the 200-pound robot, he found three recessed holes on the bottom, arranged in a triangle.
Embedding slots?!
Seeing the holes, William's eyes lit up.
One of the often-overlooked skills of the Honorable Artisan profession was the Embedding spell.
Among the five major skills of the Honorable Artisan such as the gathering and refining, Homogeneous Strengthening, forging, Enchantment, and embedding; William rarely used the Embedding spell.
It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was just rare to find equipment with embedding slots.
Embedding slots weren't just holes you could drill into equipment. They were for embedding items to give the equipment new attributes, like a complex energy connection, similar to an organ transplant, requiring perfect integration.
There were only a few ways to get embedding slots; the equipment came with them, the artisan could create them, or you had a special, rare, single-use tool.
William hadn't used the Embedding spell before, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
Finding three embedding slots on the Mechanic made William almost whistle with joy.
Embedding slots were super valuable. Survivors even called them "small upgrades," meaning equipment with an embedding slot was considered advanced. This showed how beneficial they were.
The Enchantment spell not working on the Mechanic was likely due to its technical nature. But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. This Mechanic could be embedded.
Without hesitation, William embedded the Devil's Gold into one of the slots.
A halo of light flowed over the Mechanic, turning it jet black.
Not everything could be embedded; only gem-like items could be used. From this perspective, Devil's Gold was indeed powerful because it could be embedded to the robot.
After gaining one point of professional proficiency, a lot of information flooded into William's mind. He closed his eyes to process it and finally understood the Mechanic.
A voice said, "Avant-garde Mechanic (fragile level)."
The embedding of Devil's Gold gave the Mechanic a promising prefix, "Avant-garde."
Prompt: [Activate Form 1, Ray Turret (unlocked), minimum energy requirement 1 unit (Level: 1. Activation count: 1. Strength: 15PA. Range: 165 feet. Rate: 0.1 times/second.)]
Prompt: [Activate Form 2, Missile Turret (locked), minimum energy requirement 10 units (Level: 1. Activation count: 5. Strength: 5PA. Range: 330 feet. Rate: 1 time/second.)]
Prompt: [Activate Form 3, Lightning Turret (locked), minimum energy requirement 100 units (Level: 1. Activation count: 1. Strength: 20PA. Range: 230 feet. Coverage area: 100 square feet. Rate: 0.2 times/second.)]
Prompt: [Activate Form 4, Light Blade Turret (locked), minimum energy requirement 1000 units (Level: 1. Activation count: 1. Strength: 50PA. Range: 660 feet. Coverage area: 215 square feet. Rate: 0.1 times/second.)]
Prompt: [Activation cooldown count: 2. Activation duration: 30 hours.]
Prompt: [Durability: 200. Durability decreases with use. To restore it, inject energy. 1 durability = 100 units of energy.]
Prompt: [Energy needed to unlock: Activation Form 2—1 million units. Activation Form 3—5 million units. Activation Form 4—10 million units.]
Prompt: [Level-up method—Blueprints: Mechanic (Common), Mechanic (Sturdy), Mechanic (Excellent), Mechanic (Premium).]
William understood this info clearly. While it gave him hope, it also made him realize turning this Mechanic into a reliable helper would be a long journey.
Two points made his head spin. Unlocking the second activation form required 1 million energy units, equal to 1 million level 1 Magic Crystals. Even if converted to level 2 Magic Crystals, it would still need around 10,000 of them.
Ten thousand level 2 Magic Crystals meant ten thousand level 2 mutated beings!
Even if it was converted to level 3 Magic Crystals, following the conversion rule of hundreds, it would still need 100 level 3 Magic Crystals.
How many level 3 Magic Crystals did William have? Fifteen.
He got these at great risk. Unlocking the missile turret seemed like a distant dream.
The second point was the method to level up the Mechanic. Each level-up needed a blueprint. William knew how hard these were to come by. They weren't extremely rare, but finding the one you needed was like winning the lottery.
Once the Mechanic reached the premium level, its power would skyrocket, potentially threatening even the strongest beings.
But upgrading to the premium level? Obtaining those five blueprints alone would make William want to cry.
Thinking about the two valuable items he got from this adventure, each needing a massive amount of Magic Crystals, he realized he didn't have enough resources to satisfy their consumption.
William couldn't help but recall a saying, "Dreams can be enchanting, but reality can be harsh."
Of course, these complaints were just William talking to himself. If he told others about it, they'd probably just say, "Give them to me!"
Understanding his gains, William felt more confident. Despite his complaints, he couldn't deny the power of his items.
He didn't know what the attack strength PA meant or how strong that unit was, but he knew that if used well, his combat power would multiply thanks to the Mechanic.
After tidying up, William left the room and headed to where the red-haired Iron Corpse was kept.
This Human puppetry, made from a dying person's body, played a crucial role in the recent battle. Her body, tougher than an Evolving person's, withstood many attacks and protected Lucy at a critical moment.
Without it, Lucy might not have had the energy to cast the Restoration spell on Cecil, which could have been fatal and derailed their plan.
This was a meritorious Human puppetry.
William squatted beside it. Its eyes were open but had lost all connection with him. He unbuttoned its clothes and saw a massive wound stretching from below the collarbone across the torso to the hip bone. Lucy had treated it, so the wound was wrapped in cloth strips, but there was no sign of healing.
Her limbs also had varying degrees of injury, but none as severe as the torso wound.
William looked at the Iron Corpse's head and saw a dent on the left side of the back of her skull. If it were a human or even an Evolving person, it would have been dead long ago.
Strictly speaking, this Iron Corpse was already ruined.
These combat puppets, once they lost their mental connection with their creator, were considered damaged. Lucy insisted on bringing her back, and William agreed.
However, William did this only to consider Lucy's feelings, not because he had any real way to heal the Iron Corpse.
But now, William had some ideas.
He took out the Soul Pearl from the heart of the Heavy Armored Skull.
Unwrapping the cloth strips that was binding the wound, the wound immediately split open, and the red-haired Iron Corpse's perfectly shaped, firm chest shifted to the sides, making it look like her body was split in half; a terrifying and eerie sight.
William only glanced at it before focusing on the inside of the Iron Corpse's body.
Human puppetry was no longer considered human, at least not entirely. This was evident in the Iron Corpse's abdominal cavity, where the organs had become unrecognizable, except for the heart, which still retained some of its human characteristics.
However, her heart also had a cut, almost splitting the Iron Corpse's body.
William held the Soul Pearl and inserted the small red bead into her heart.
