Spending My Retirement In A Game

Eisen squatted down onto the ground in front of the Automaton parts and continued using his Alchemy Crafting space. However, before he even started assembling the metal steed, a notification popped up that Eisen was incredibly happy, but at the same time confused with.

[Crafting Space reached Level 100 in Rank 1, upgrading to Rank 2]

[Complete control over tools within the skill area]

[Due to Ranking-up your Crafting Space Skill, you gained +1 STR and +1 END]

After reading through the skill notification, Eisen began to scratch his beard to figure out what that effect meant. What kind of control was it talking about?

Exactly while asking himself that question, the hammer lying next to him began to emit a very light pulsating glow, which only Eisen seemed to be able to see, as nobody else reacted to it. He concentrated on the hammer, and tried to control it in the only way that he could imagine could be meant, telekinetically.

The Hammer slowly began floating upward and toward Eisen’s hand while he imagined holding it, and the tool positioned itself perfectly within his hand. Of course, the smiths around him were extremely surprised and confused at this, but Eisen couldn’t stop grinning.

He may be able to already do this kind of thing by summoning his mana doubles, but this felt quite different. Eisen was controlling the tool itself, rather than the being holding it. It didn’t seem like he would be able to build up the force actually needed smith something with the hammer like this, but at least it was quite useful to be able to nearly instantly get whatever tool he needed.

Anyway, for now, he didn’t need his hammer, so he simply laid it back onto the ground before grabbing the first bones and starting to build the legs of the mechanical horse first, then the torso, and then at last the head.

Just like with Aulu, he used brass joints to make sure every part of the horse’s body could move properly, and once he had all the large parts, Eisen simply attached the limbs and head to the torso.

Once that was done, Eisen got to work placing the gears and tubes inside. First, though, Eisen affixed the Heart-shaped golem core to the brass spine, then began to build the Automaton’s innards up from the core.

While he was doing so, even the smiths that were working on other things before joined in and began watching Eisen closely, helping him by holding the brass horse up so that Eisen could reach every spot without worry, placing all of the mana crystal organs into the head as well. After another few hours, it was closely approaching evening and Eisen wanted to start, and maybe even finish, adding all of the muscles that he could. Considering how close he was to finishing this Automaton, Eisen really didn’t want to stop until he was done, so even if it took him until the middle of the night, he wanted to complete this project.

But before he continued, Eisen turned to Bree while taking a short break. "Hey, Bree, would you mind going over to Jekyll’s and grabbing me some leather? I’ll give you the money, so don’t worry about that."

"Mhm! Of course!" Bree said happily and took the money that Eisen handed her, then looked back up at him. "What kind of leather should I bring?"

"Anything strong, but flexible. And it should preferably include a large piece big enough to cover the whole torso."

"Okay~! I’ll be back soon!" Bree exclaimed and practically sprinted out of the smithy.

"Don’t let Jekyll scam you!" Eisen yelled after her, but Bree seemed to already be too far away.

So, now that that was being taken care of, Eisen walked over to the spinning wheel and the mountain of mana crystals that he grabbed out of Bree’s backpack, making sure to just so slightly soften them before turning them into thread one by one.

Seeing how this process took up an hour on its own, Eisen wanted to hurry up and start giving the Horse Automaton its muscles.

String by string, Eisen attached the mana crystal muscles to the different parts of the mechanical body, and while he was doing so, Bree returned with the leather that Eisen needed to give the automaton skin.

The rest of the night was filled with the quite monotonous work of Eisen attaching the strings to the metal base, as well as sewing the leather onto its outside.

Nonetheless, every single one of the smiths, as well as Bree and Caria, were watching closely and full of interest.

It was only when it was around midnight, actually the longest that Eisen has stayed up within the game so far, that people began to talk to each other about the soon-to-be finished product, and the small crowd became rowdier the closer Eisen came to completion.

Especially while Eisen was moving the brass ingots over the leather surface to create the brass fur with the help of transmutation and mana copy. After all, these smiths didn’t usually get to see such a scene, not even from the Grandmaster Blacksmith that they decided to work under.

The subtle movements of Eisen’s hand that seemed like they could change the shape of everything they touched, and the speed that only got faster the longer that this old man worked and the more he concentrated on his task. Not to mention the pure skill that he showed simply by grabbing his tools, as if they were merging together into a single being.

All of this was something that the smiths learned from, and even Denmir couldn’t help but watch in awe, although he still kept thinking back onto whenever he saw Eisen swing his hammer at the glowing hot metal in front of him.

Such beauty was the reason that he chose to take up the craft, and from the first moment that he saw such skillful handling of metals, the dwarf simply became obsessed. He practiced with whatever scraps that he could find until he was old enough to start an apprenticeship with the local blacksmith, spending day after day simply working in the scorching heat of the smithy to perfect his craft.

With every single completed item, he came closer toward the goal that he was still working toward to this day. The goal of being the same as that man he saw when he was merely five years old. This scene was deeply imbedded in Denmir’s mind as if it happened only a few minutes ago. That man was borrowing space in the local smithy, that was still much, much smaller than Denmir’s is now, and crowds of craftsmen came rushing in from all over to town to witness him work.

Young Denmir squeezed through the mass of people until he stood before him, the man that he was looking up to forever. With only simple steel, he created a masterpiece capable of slaying the strongest of beasts with a single scratch, but then smelted it back down with four simple words that he muttered to himself.

These words were those that Denmir kept telling himself everday like a mantra, and that helped him grow more motivated simply by hearing them. Most people seemed to have missed what that man said, but Denmir heard it as clear as if he himself said it.

"I can do better."

These four simple words, that some might see as cynical or self deprecating, were taken by Denmir in a different way: "I haven’t reached my full potential yet."

And the similarities between that man’s movements and Eisen’s were far, far too great to not be reminded of that scene.

It was as if... they were the same person.

---

[Gigantuon Steed Automaton (Golem)]

[Quality - Perfect][Rank - 3]

[DP - 3000][MP - 10]

[STR - 100][AGI - 60][INT - 10][WIS - 1]

[Description] A special type of Golem called an Automaton created by the Omni Craftsmaster Eisen. It’s main structure is made completely of Brass, and has different mana crystal constructs supporting it and giving it multiple bonus functions. The golem core has been enhanced with runes made of a beast gem, giving a bonus to the beast-like body, and allowing it to move more beast-like. This is also supported through the complex recreation of a Gigantuon Steed’s heart. The Mana-Crystal muscles allow it to be stronger and more agile. The Brain synchronizes with the fake-soul of the golem core and allows the automaton to have a growing Wisdom stat, since it can now store knowledge. This knowledge is collected through the mana crystal eyes, nose, ears and tongue. The wisdom stat will start of low, but can grow over time. The Agility stat will lose or gain effectiveness depending on the amount and quality of the lubricants passing through the automaton’s body.

[For creating something of overwhelming quality with the use of five skills, you gain +2 to STR, END, INT and WIS, as well as +1 to AGI]

[You have reached the maximum of Stat bonuses available through breaking through the Skills Tailoring and Leatherworking. It is easier to break through these skills, but you will cease to gain bonus stats through this action.]

These were the notifications that Eisen saw when he finally poured his mana into the Automaton’s body to activated it. Just like before with Aulu, the gears and joints started creaking as they started to move for the first time while the brass fur stood on end like small needles, but soon enough flatted down again.

The Giant-Dwarf Halfling that just created this magnificent creature moved his palm over the brass fur and looked the Gigantuon Horse Golem over to make sure everything was working properly.

Intensely, the numerous smiths were staring at Eisen and the Automaton, waiting for something to happen. And to not let them wait any longer, Eisen looked at the mechanical horse and gave it its first command. "Follow me." At the same time, Eisen walked a few steps away, prompting the Automaton to turn around and make its first steps.

The moment that its first hoof touched the stone floor underneath them again in a light clicking sound, the smiths began to cheer and celebrate the first movements of this automaton. They walked over to Eisen and congratulated him on such an amzing build, before finally making their way to their respective homes now that it was about 3am.

This left only Eisen, Bree and Denmir, as well as Caria and the two automatons, in the smithy. And just before they wanted to make their way out as well, Denmir stopped Eisen.

"Is everything alright?" Eisen asked the Dwarf, but he simply stayed silent for a few seconds before looking at Eisen with a deep frown.

"Eisen, do ye know about the five that peaked?" He suddenly asked, and full of confusion, Eisen shook his head. "No, sorry. Who are they?"

Denmir sighed and nodded. "Thought so... Listen ’ere. The five are those that reached the maximum level possible. They reached absolute immortality. No matter how often they die, they always come back. One of the five is a master of combat, who showed the world that we can fight back against monsters. Another has complete control over magic, and she showed the world the heights that magic can go. Then there is a woman that is so skilled in the arts that she can create masterpieces within minutes, and who can fell a whole kingdom with a single note of her voice. As for the fourth, he can toy with life in whatever ways he wants. He can make forests grow with a single snap, or raise a whole army from the dead with a yawn. And at last, there is a master of all crafts, that can turn even a pebble into the deadliest weapon ever seen, or create an impenetrable fortress out of air."

Eisen’s eyes immediately widened at those descriptions. Either this was the greatest coincidence ever that none of the developers noticed, or...

"Eisen... I think ye’re that master of all crafts."

---

[Eisen]

[Race - Giant-Dwarf Halfling][Occupation - Omni Craftsmaster][Level - 71]

[HP - 1865][MP - 1898]

[STR - 105][END - 105][AGI - 103][INT - 107][WIS - 108][CHA - 11]

[Titles]

-[Casanova]

-[Champion]

-[Original of the Mechanical Arts]

-[Limitbreaker V]

[Skills]

-[A Dwarf’s Hands][Rank - 2][Level - 96]

-[A Giant’s Strength][Rank - 2][Level - 75]

-[Alchemy][Rank - 2][Level - 49]

-[Blacksmithing][Rank - 2][Level - 56]

-[Cooking][Rank - 0][Level - 68]

-[Crafting Space][Rank - 2][Level - 2]

-[Dismembering][Rank - 0][Level - 1]

-[Drawing][Rank - 1][Level - 6]

-[Enchanting][Rank - 2][Level - 12]

-[Flame of the Earth Magic][Rank - 1][Level - 51]

-[Golemancy][Rank - 0][Level - 68]

-[Leatherworking][Rank - 2][Level - 16]

-[Lockpicking][Rank - 0][Level - 1]

-[Mana Copy][Rank - 1][Level - 26]

-[Mana Double][Rank - 2][Level - 46]

-[Mana Manipulation][Rank - 2][Level - 41]

-[Swordsmanship][Rank - 2][Level - 75]

-[Tailoring][Rank - 2][Level - 45]

-[Taming][Rank - 1][Level - 68]

-[Tool Connection][Rank - 1][Level - 89]

-[Truth Seeing Eye][Rank - 0][Level - 35]

-[Woodworking][Rank - 0][Level - 49]