Mythshaper

I was at a loss. Nothing had gone amiss. I had just enough time to complete my forging if I stuck to my initial plan. The issue was that I had suddenly come up with a better idea, which might not raise the class of the fabricator, but it would certainly make the ward far more worthwhile to use, its defences far more robust.

Unfortunately, I would not have enough time to complete it even if I implemented [Rune Imprint] without reservation, nor was I eager to experiment during the important examination. Besides, any good idea needed a good amount of time to come to fruition.

However, considering that the winner of the crafting competition might be decided on the subtotal of all the rounds, I could not simply be content with a simple ward formation.

Without delaying my work, I made a mental calculation of how much time I could save by substituting the engraving with Rune Imprint. Taking the Will expenditure into consideration, it might just save me half an hour to add something new into the formation. With that in mind, I began visualising an improvised design of the ward. Thankfully, there was still a lot of room to work with in the discs.

A couple of minutes later, I had great confidence in making it work. It was not something new. I was merely compiling half a dozen scripts I had worked on before. That was also the only reason I could complete the design in my mind with little measurement or calculation. If there were even a single script I was not completely familiar with, I would have had to put pen to paper.

Still, I sifted through the formation in my mind's eye a couple more times, as once I began working on it, there would be no room to readjust. There was only a small concern regarding the output, but I was certain the improved formation would raise it. As for how much, I could only wait and see.

A couple of weeks preceding the prefectural competition, Mum had been helping me craft with [Rune Imprint]. It was certainly a great deal more exhausting to make imprints that were lasting, compared to the fleeting, elementary rune scripts I utilised to boost my strength and speed.

After completing the drawing with the engraving pen, I switched to Rune Imprinting. Concentrating my Will, I visualised the tiny strands of essence connecting together to form an intricate formation in the thin air. Making sure its balance and symmetry were flawless, I swiftly laid it down on the disc, further emboldening my Will into it.

A quick examination found no fault in the new runes carved into the gold plate. Moreover, there might even be a slight improvement on my already textbook-perfect engraving. After all, despite all the mastery, an engraving pen was like writing by hand, while Rune Imprint was closer to printing books with a weave.

It was not that there was no room for error, but the intrinsic inclination of Fractal Sight made the process of visualisation easier.

Now, I would just have to go through the imprinting process sixty-odd times over the seven other discs. Obviously, the ability to imprint the full formation in one go was still beyond me. I could perhaps lay three or four scripts in one go, but that would leave a lot of room for error. I dared not play around when it was a matter of importance.

It barely took half an hour to carve out the external ward formation before I began weaving the essence veins through the discs, with strands of refined silver only as thick as a braided essence thread. With the material I was working with, making it any thinner or more intricate would only chip away at its efficiency and output.

Only after having my hands free did I begin laying the runes from the improved design into the formation. They were no more difficult than the other runes, only time-consuming.

With a quick look at my wristwatch, my shoulders relaxed a little. There might not be any time to review once the formation was complete.

I guess I just have to make sure there is no mistake.

A bell rang, alerting everyone.

"Time's up," Administrator Aurine said. "Keep your hands off your work, or you may be eliminated."

Many artisans even withdrew a couple of steps to be safe, whereas I was already too exhausted to make any improvement to my fabricator. Thankfully, there was no need.

"Stay at your position," she further instructed. "We'll each visit your bench to inspect your craft one by one."

I could not wait for their verdict and probed Spell for its inspection. While it might not be as thorough as putting the equipment to the test, it was still reliable.

[Fabricator: Ward Formation

Class: Prestigious | Durability: 25/25

A defensive fabricator that can hold its own against Prestigious class attack.

Enchantments:

Ward: A ward that utilised multiple kinetic shields to upraise its defences.

Oscillation: can alternate between two patterns of kinetic oscillation to disperse blunt and penetrative force, respectively.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Restoration: Restoration runes make it easily repairable.]

Although it was mostly good news, especially the Oscillation and Restoration enchantments, which were the hardest to pin down, the durability of the fabricator was merely stronger than regular Noble Class equipment. Moreover, it was a ward, which meant it would only lose rune integrity the more blows it took. All because it was crafted with common material. The Restoration runes could only restore so much.

Still, I was quite content with the product. With the material and time at hand, there was nothing more I could improve upon.

I had not yet tested it, but I felt that even my full force blow would not be able to penetrate its defence. The only chance would be to wear down its integrity.

Satisfied, my gaze drifted to the other workbenches, eager to find anything interesting among my competitors. I had not even checked two tables before I caught someone gazing deeply in my direction. My eyes instinctively turned and found a girl of darker skin tone. She had a head full of hair dyed in glossy platinum locks tied into braids. Her eyes matched the same tone, staring piercingly at my fabricator.

She lifted her eyes, meeting my gaze, lips curving upwards. "Are you copying me?"

I failed to understand what she meant until my eyes fell upon her table. There lay a finished set of fabricators which was, oddly enough, made with the same principle as my wards, though she did not seem too keen on the symmetry of the number eight at all.

Despite my intrigue, I replied, "Funny, I should be the one asking you that."

The girl's smile only widened. "Quite cocky. Your ward formation looks like its straight up cut from a centurion armour set."

That was almost too close to the truth, only that the centurion armour's ward did not use multiple layers of shields, but one powerful one externally, and another internal one as backup. Moreover, its dispersing oscillation was different, since the armour set alone was tough to begin with.

"I guess you're quite capable," she continued, still keeping the imperious air.

For anyone, her comment might as well have been a compliment, being able to craft prestigious-grade defensive equipment with common materials, but she clearly did not mean it to be. I was almost embarrassed, diverting my eyes, only to remember hers were no different.

"Not capable as you," I snorted, eyeing her fabricator. "If by number alone, you have me beaten by half a margin."

Although I could not see the actual runework from afar, it should have taken a considerable amount of mastery to complete twelve discs in two hours, even if a few of them might be engraved with fewer scripts than mine. Despite there being twelve discs, eight of them worked in pairs, still maintaining symmetry.

Was that worrying?

I would be lying if I said it was not.

Shaking my head, I swiftly dispersed the thought.

"Perhaps I'll beat you by half a margin," the girl laughed. "Let's wait and see."

I was about to return a retort when Master Luc's voice came our way. "Children, I expect a little more decorum."

The girl was quick to apologise, and I followed suit after her, before diverting my attention to the other competitors. The judges had already made their way through a handful of contestants, at most giving a couple of minutes of scrutiny if the fabricator required it, though in most cases, they barely took a few moments testing the product. They were not declaring the result right away, but their examination made it clear enough.

A few of the participants had already left in dejection. To my great surprise, a number of them had failed to complete their fabricators in time. Among the others, I found that a handful had opted for wards or large shields with kinetic rune formations, but none of them seemed to be as complex as mine or the girl's.

The judges seemed to find something worthwhile on a table, and even my brows lifted as I gazed upon the hardwood barrel a competitor had crafted. It was a fair girl of medium build with a monocle over one eye, which might have been an artefact that helped in her craft. I was unsure whether such items were allowed during the test, but since she had it, it might not have been an issue. The interesting part, however, was that she had actually used the hardwood barrel as one of the main materials for her project.

Genius, I thought. To think, none other than her even thought of something like this. It was unconventional, but I could not deny the ingenuity. Besides, it fell more on the aspect of creativity, whereas a large number of competitors had gone for practicality.

The girl was a little timid when describing her project. Thankfully, the judges gave her adequate time to show its abilities before testing it themselves. The main aspect of the barrel was that it was a Purification, and clearly not something similar to the wine barrel I had made in my early years. The purification here was of demonic aura. It could float in the air, sucking in large amounts of suffocating aura before purifying it.

"It cannot compare to a Prestigious Class shaper with apt skill," Master Luc said, nodding. "But there are only so many shapers.

With that, they moved to the next bench, where a youth had crafted a fine sword. By the look of it, it was of Prestigious Class. He was most proud of shooting a bolt of lightning with it. Its power was mediocre, perhaps only capable of stunning elite demons, but it was certainly eye-catching. The judges examined its efficiency, its inner formation and output, took notes, and moved on to the next table.

Among the few other noteworthy projects, there were a pair of vambraces, one of which could shoot energy blasts, the other with a protective ward that could work as a weightless shield, magic wands with various elemental spells, and a couple of other machetes and blades. Interestingly, I noted a somewhat familiar figure among the contestants. It was actually the artisan Paximus had lodged a complaint against for making him an unbalanced spear. Ultimately, Paximus's father forced him to withdraw the complaint, and she came out of it without scrutiny.

However, today, she had produced something much more controversial. It was an essence-binding chain with a lightning enchantment.

"Young lady," Mistress Aurine said in admonition, "are you aware you're not allowed to keep or distribute items like this without a permit?"

She nodded, and then shook her head, wiping her forehead. "I was only aware that we are not allowed to own them."

"Where did you even get the design to make it?" Master Luc said, scrutinising it.

"I'm not from around here. . ." Finding that was not enough, she elaborated, "Back in my homeland, there's no restriction on essence-binding fabricators."

"There's a rule here," Aurine said, "and like everyone else, you'll have to abide by it. For the sake of the competition, I'll allow you this once, but only if you have a permit to craft them."

"I do," the young woman said rather quickly. "Umm, it's not on me."

"Bring it by tomorrow morning, or you'll be disqualified."

She could only bow her head in agreement.

The examination carried on until finally it was my turn.

"Dear lord, such sophistication," Master Luc said before I even began my demonstration. "The formation feels like a waste on common materials like that."

Then you should have given better material.