The third floor of the Sinux Magic Tower was very simple like the rest of the floors. It didn't have some beautiful crystals or pictures describing great scenes, just the plain walls that the magic tower has, a sample of the pragmatic inclination of whoever designed it.
The entire floor was filled with tidy shelves in which there were boxes of all sizes, some boxes attracted natural energies proving that whatever was in them was something precious.
Before the shelves, there was a podium with a crystal sphere in his center, two lion-like statues like the one on the first floor were by its side and in front of it, there was a metallic humanoid of 2 meters.
The portal of the floor flashed as Zatiel's figure was shown. The moment he arrives at the floor, the first thing that calls his attention are the statues around the podium, especially the humanoid one.
'With my current abilities, although I can't defeat a rank 1 Magus, I can still escape with my life but I can feel that the metallic golem can kill me. This level of security is to be expected. After all, some of those boxes have items that are extremely valuable.'
As Zatiel came closer to the podium, the statue's eyes lit up, and the humanoid talked.
"Apprentice Zatiel, use the podium sphere to go through the available materials. You can currently only access rank 0 and rank 1 materials," the statue spoke in a robotic voice before its eyes shut down.
Zatiel stared at the statue for a moment before putting his hand on the sphere.
Immediately, 5 rows were shown in his consciousness.
The first one had rank 0 written on it and the last one had rank 4.
Only the ones with rank 0 and rank 1 were lit while the others were gray.
Zatiel tried to enter the one that says Rank 2 but words show up saying "rank and accumulative merit points insufficient".
'I see, it doesn't matter. Even if I could access them, the prices will be too high for my current wealth.'
Instead of going through the list searching for the items he needs, he gave this task to the chip.
"Chip, scan the list and search for the material needed for rune crafting and also search for diagrams for rank 0 runes and present them to me"
Immediately the chip's robotic voice was heard in his consciousness.
[Bip... Scanning items and searching for the material and runes.
Done.
Equipment for rune crafting costs 740 magic crystals.
Displaying a list of the diagrams of rank 0 runes available.]
A list of rank 0 runes appears in Zatiel's consciousness.
Although in his current memories, Zatiel has some diagrams, if he shows rank 0 runes from obtained from other places, it will attract unwanted attention. So to save trouble, for the time being he will only use the ones he gets from the tower.
After going through the diagrams, he finally chose two for the ones for which he already has the necessary materials to craft.
After deciding the items he wanted, he used the crystal to pay for them. The moment the transaction was done, some boxes moved on their own and landed at his feet.
Zatiel didn't waste time and picked up the boxes, and he left straight for his house on the second floor to use the experiment room and start crafting the runes.
Once he reached his place, he organized the equipment and took out the materials to craft runes of his spatial sack.
The first rune that Zatiel was going to craft was called Secondary Consciousness. It was a rank 0 rune that allows the individual to create another consciousness to act parallel to their own.
Although the second consciousness had limited cognitive abilities, meaning that it could not be used for complex thoughts, it was still very useful.
For example, it could allow someone to have a constant watch over their surroundings as their original consciousness focuses on their enemy.
For this rune, a lot of materials were needed, but the most important was the brain of harpies.
Processing the materials is a very important part in rune crafting and normally it takes a lot of time, but Zatiel was moving his hands without stopping, finishing with one part and going straight for the next.
But even more amazing was that none of them suffered even the most minimal drop in quality, showing the great proficiency that he had.
But of course, some credit was because of the chip that was constantly assessing the material and informing him if any error was going to happen.
Having finished with the materials, he charges them in the rune pencil and takes a piece of magical creature skin to inscribe it.
Rank 0 runes didn't need exceptional abilities to be crafted, but you must have absolute precision, writing every rune in the right order and not making a single mistake or else all that you did before is lost.
Having already memorized the diagram thanks to the chip, he starts to craft the rune.
Zatiel uses the pencil and writes every single line of the rune in the right order. His movements were harmonious, not stopping at any moment.
His eyes were focused as he moved the pencil just the right amount in every direction.
As he continues working, he becomes more and more tired.
Crafting runes consume mental capacity and energy reserves, and this rune was in the upper end of the rank 0, so even with Zatiel's abilities, it still took a lot of work.
When he was finally finished, a beautiful rune was inscribed on the skin, periodically pulsing with energy.
"Very good, its effect is even better than the one described in the diagram" Zatiel smiled as he assessed his work.
The diagrams are only a standard of the rune. If the one who inscribed the rune does an excellent job, the effect will be better, and it will become worse if it is badly done.
After having finished the rune, Zatiel goes to bed.
Although meditation could also help him recharge his energy, sleeping is something that he still needs, besides the effect on his recovery will be better.
.....
As Zatiel was recovering, Ezequiel was in his own house going through the information in a crystal. As he researched, he was constantly making a troubled face.
This crystal was given to him when he attended his first lesson in magical crafting.
The course was taught by a Rank 1 Magus named Ruben, and the first thing he did was to give a crystal with the basic information one needed to know for those who want to learn to create magical equipment for every apprentice in the room.
After that he ordered everyone to memorize the information and have a basic understanding of the principles that are taught.
According to the Magus, if they are not able to do this, then they are just wasting his time.
"Master was right, magical equipment crafting is truly complex, but still, it is not something that can defeat me."
Ezequiel's eyes were determined as he continued to go through the information.
