The moment Draco got back, he immediately entered his Inner Universe. With the abundant energy here, he would have no problem crafting even Origin-grade items, much less Legendary.
He took out Pair Dadeni and Mjolnir who had not seen some action in a long time. After all, they had been relegated to slaves who continually spat out Epic Rank equipment and potions without rest or reimburs.e.m.e.nt.
It was obvious enough to anyone who looked that the two items were not pleased in the least with their circ.u.mstances. Just as they wanted to revolt and show Draco what it meant to be bullied, he grabbed the two of them and began working immediately without a care for their protests.
His time was valuable, as the things Helia had told him had changed his entire outlook on this tower. Not just the items he promised her, Draco planned to dedicate the next month to crafting Legendary items non-stop.
His plan? Wasn't it obvious enough?
He would make Legendary items and trade them for the things he or Eva needed, as well as things that might help Zaine, Roma, or Hikari. He would also collect one of every item he could and then store it so he could learn its molecular composition then reproduce it whenever he wanted with Refinement.
So then, what about his plan to use his score points and redeemable tokens to gather materials for the same purposes?
That idea was not scrapped, but replaced but a better one. Why waste the one-time tokens that could get him a range of options when he could exchange the same resources from others?
Heck, he could even have people sue their own score points to exchange for the things he needed then give them Legendary items in exchange, especially those who were lower on the rankings.
This was something Helia had explained to him, her own understanding of the tower. She and most of the other trial takers had fumbled their entire climb from the get-go. Most of them exchanged for rare materials that would sell well outside or were very precious.
Now that the closing time was at hand, they all realized that they would be returning to whence they came. Some would be hunted for these items while some couldn't even use this stuff because while it was precious, they didn't have access to skills that could turn them into something useful.
Or they didn't have access to craftsmen who could do just that. So, it was the equivalent of having a bag full of gold while stranded smack deep in a desert with hundreds of kilometers of sand in all directions.
You're indubitably rich, but it meant absolutely nothing to you since you couldn't use it. That's where Draco came in.
He was like a mysterious mirage who appeared in the desert and told the parched desert walker to give up his gold in exchange for heaps of food, water, and vehicle to traverse the sand as well as fuel for the vehicle.
Of course, the person in question would happily throw away their useless gold for all these things that would ensure their life. It was a beneficial trade for both sides.
However, Helia had warned Draco to be careful once they went out. After all, the moment a human being was out of peril, their dark nature would resurface as their wants would supersede their needs.
Once home and out of the desert, the fellow would sigh and be grateful for the first few days, thanking his savior. After a while of being safe and comfortable, he would begin to regret selling his gold, as he felt like it was a waste.
However, his mind would tell him he exchanged it for his life, which was fair. After a while longer, such consideration would disappear as the person in question would feel like they had been cheated.
The fellow obviously had the means to save his life, so why did he have to take his gold? Clearly, he was taking advantage of his misfortune to rob him! His gold had been taken away unfairly by that heartless bastard!
As such, the formerly grateful fellow would now harbor thoughts about taking what was 'his' back.
The gist of this was that Helia was worried that all the people Draco would trade with would have second thoughts upon growing their power with the same Legendary items he gave them once they came out.
Then, they would all target him for his wealth and try to either coerce him or kill him for them. However, Draco had just chuckled and told the Princess not to worry, as he had his means.
Helia dropped it there, thinking that Draco had some huge power to rely on outside. While this was partly true, it had more to do with the fact that those fellows would get Thanos'ed at the end.
Otherwise, Draco had an even more despicable plan. He would create endless Legendary items and trade with the others for their resources. Then, once the trial ended and the no fighting penalty was removed, he would kill everyone.
He would take back his Legendary crafts to either sell or equipment his members of Umbra at him while keeping the resources she had rightfully traded for in the first place. A win-win in the truest sense.
However, Draco had a backup plan for that. He could just make hundreds of Legendary items and then have them disappear into nothingness. He could have sat in the Aether Castle and done the same for his members of Umbra if he wasn't so busy with so many things.
Finally finding a shortcut, how could he hold back?
Whatever the case, Draco worked hard for the entire one-month duration. Many of his concubines were from the Goddess Descendants and even one or two were blacksmiths, like the petite Lovelia who was a human Grandmaster Blacksmith.
She opted to help reduce Draco's burden by working alongside him. His other Master-stage blacksmith concubines acted as their assistants, while his other master-stage concubines skilled in Alchemy helped out too.
Unfortunately, the only other Grandmasters were the cute Ophelia and the s.e.xy Natasha who was like a slightly weaker version of Zaine. The halfling was a Grandmaster Brewer and the birdwoman was a Grandmaster Cook, so they could only help the large family eat and drink well during the retreat.
Incidentally, this period of time helped the entire family bond and mesh together. Previously, they had each been largely doing their own thing in their own chosen homes in this Inner Universe, aware of each other but not really interacting.
Now though, they had been given a catalyst that allowed them to get closer to each other which was Draco's presence and community goal. Now, many of them were comfortable with each other and even let their kids play together more.
Normally, it happened much sooner for normal babies, but the duo had special bloodlines in them which made their aging/growth slower than normal kids their age. Zaine and Roma were now teaching the two to walk, but were a bit sad that they could carry the two in their arms as much.
Draco also paused his work occasionally to chip in a hand. This was an important moment in the lives of his two first kids, so how could he waste his time behind the forge?
It usually took babies a few weeks if not months to walk competently, but just as it took his kids this long to reach this stage, it also meant that they would take a shorter time compared to others.
By 4 days, Rosella was already walking normally like she had been doing so all her life. By 7 days, Loki too achieved the ability to competently walk about, which give the little fellow endless joy as most of his nefarious schemes couldn't work due to his limited movement range.
Now though, nothing was stopping him from bringing chaos and misfortune to the world. The little fellow laughed loudly with glee, and the women nearby 'awww'ed thinking that the young lad was happy that he could walk.
Draco, Qiong Qi, and Clarent though, had narrowed eyes as they felt something was fishy. It was a kind of sense that could only be gained by a fellow troublemaker that allowed them to sense each other, and the three sensed that this fellow might have way more potential than the three of them combined.
This left the three stooges in dismay, and they planned to teach the little fellow a lesson to establish dominance and create the pecking order. However, seeing the little fellow being passed around by all the women, they could only slink away in fear, as they would be beaten to death if they tried anything funny.
Eva, who was looking on like a matriarch watching over her clan, had her lips twitch. She gazed at the three stooges who were walking away with a strange glance, almost speechless by their thoughts.
"Not even willing to let a baby go… truly, three evildoers." She commented as she shook her head.
Many were left shaken, wondering just what kind of beast this Draco fellow was. Since he came, the safe zone has been shaken up three times. First when he cleared the first floor so monstrously and when he came back after 2 months and scattered the second floor like it was a kid's game.
Now, he had done so again, the ripple effect was far larger than the previous two combined. Literally every one of the still alive 1000 trial takers was eagerly waiting for his return, some disbelieving of his prowess while others looking to fish in troubled waters.
Many people trusted the information from Helia as she showed her contract with Draco at her stand, not to mention she was one of the few in the top 30 who didn't take her own forces or cause trouble, just single-mindedly climbing the floors.
The people that were hit hardest by this revelation were the top 3. They paled greatly as they understood what kind of menace Draco had suddenly become and how they could no longer easily suppress him anymore.
In fact, they even believed they had finally found out what was so special about him. While the foundational floors stripped all skills, titles, and whatnot, they did not strip Tradeskills.
So, they believed that Draco must have acquired a class relating to one of his two Grandmaster Tradeskills, which gave him a lofty position. Then, he either equipped a force of mercenaries to fight off the bandits on floor 1 and the knights on floor 2, or simply paid them off with his amazing items.
That would certainly explain his high rating, as in both cases, as long as he played his cards right, it could be completed quickly and without himself or the villagers coming to harm!
How lucky!
This was their evaluation of Draco's achievements so far, and it was not just them, but a large majority of those in the safe zone right now. They weren't at fault for thinking that Draco was a weak crafter, as there were three reasons for their thoughts.
Secondly, they were aware of the marking scheme, at least for the earlier floors. They knew that the important point was to ensure the safety of Ironwood on Floor 1 and 2, and with the ability of a blacksmith, one could achieve this while staying within the limitations of the floor. This would net him a far better performance than what they got since they all had combat classes and were low-level.
Thirdly and most importantly, they had no clue what an Immortal Adventurer was. Normally when NPCs heard about immortal Adventurers for the first time or encountered one, they would all freeze and be updated by the AI about common sense regarding Immortal Adventurers.
However, this had not occurred in the tower because according to the plot background, these fellows had been here for up to a century with no outside contact, so it was impossible to know about them.
Also, it seemed like the AI deigned them unworthy of the effort, so did not automatically update them when they first encountered Draco. So, unless he himself sat down to explain it to them, they would assume he was one of them, an NPC.
The top three then had their faces darken. Even if it was luck as they felt it, it was undeniable that luck was a crucial thing to have in this tower, they didn't look down on him for it, rather finding it to be troublesome.
As they knew what came next, his abilities might actually see him pass many floors until he reached their level! This was intolerable, a horrible catastrophe that could not occur!
The top three understood what the likes of Helia thought, that since the tower was about to close, why not just settle down and wait for the end? However, they were all aware that the final ranking when the tower ended had different benefits.
The top 3 would get a certain amount of time to explore the 100th floor, the first place getting 10 minutes, second place 1 minute, and third place 10 seconds. This was what the top 3 were relying on and what they were looking for, which was why they were so active in preventing others from surpassing them.
Now that a variable occurred how could they sit still? Especially the third place, James L.u.s.ter. He was about to foam at the mouth from panic and worry, and so the actions he took were the most drastic among the three.
Dorothy at second was not happy falling to third place If Draco continued, as her 1 minute she had long calculated and allocated was cut by 1/6th right away. Even worse was Gavin Guy who was comfortable with his 10 minutes of fame, which would likely be cut down 1/10 to a mere minute!
Their actions were also tough, but not that bad. The top 3 mobilized their forces and cornered Helia Nuer, demanding to know what Draco told her and what she told him. In the one month Draco was away, they had hounded her endlessly, not letting her sleep or flee into the portal to escape their harassment.
They could not fight, sure, but they could certainly disturb and irritate. This was what they had been doing to subdue all those who challenged them. Sure, you could endure it for a day or two, but what about a week? Or a month? Or a year?
Eventually, one would break and do their bidding. Helia thought, only sat at her stall 24.7 with a bored expression. Even as they tried to irritate her and blockade her business, she was unbothered.
When the lackeys reported to their boss, they came over themselves. Interestingly, Helia did not ignore them and actually spoke with them. When James demanded to know what she told Draco, she smirked and mouthed slowly;
"Everything."
Hearing this, the world of the top 3 began to spin. They felt like they had just gone on the most violent ride and had just landed, nausea hounding their bodies. If 8th place told Draco everything about the tower, then what at all could stop him now?
"Oh, there seems to be a party going on here. Why wasn't I invited?" A voice sounded from the back of the crowd as everyone turned to see who would dare to speak to casually in this situation.
All expressions changed when they saw it was the man of the hour himself, Draco, who walked through the crowd confidently, approaching the kiosk. When there, Helia rose to her feet and bowed to him respectfully.
"Greetings, Grandmaster Draco. Are you here to see me?"
Draco nodded. "That's right, I finished your order. As per the contract, I am here to deliver what's yours."
He then dramatically took out a heap of Legendary items and potions, dazzling the crowd to stupefaction as he gave them to Helia. The princess was incomparably excited as she quickly pocketed them and bowed even lower to Draco.
"T-Thank you, Grandmaster!"
Draco smiled benevolently. "Not a problem my friend."
He then turned to the crowd. "I also made some other Legendary stuff in passing. I'll be opening a kiosk here where you can purchase them if you so wish, so make sure to look through if there is something you want."
The crowd began to murmur excitedly, forgetting why they had even assembled here as they waited for Draco to open his store. However, some of them quickly formed a circle around Draco with weird smiles on their faces.
This made the fellow frown with confusion. "What the hell are you doing?"
James L.u.s.ter stopped forward with a cryptic smile. "Nothing. My boys are just standing where they want to. Is there a problem?"
Draco looked around and use his psychic abilities to read their emotions and surface thoughts. Once he did, he chuckled with amus.e.m.e.nt as he shook his head.
"I see your scheme. This is what you must've been doing all these years to keep others frustrated and suppressed under your boot. After all, if I knuckle away any of these fellows, it would be counted as causing a fight, right? Interesting."
Draco then showed a truly cruel smile. "There are a hundred and one ways for me to deal with this without getting penalized but I will choose the cruelest in order to teach you a lesson."
Draco waved a hand to his side as two portals opened on either side of his body, showing a location on the other side that was cloaked in darkness.
"I truly wanted to keep them sealed for the good of mankind, but it seems I must release these two to bring suffering and pain to you all." Draco said with an expression of slight regret.
"Zhie zhie zhie …"
"Ken ken ken…"
With ominous laughter, the outline of two forms began to emerge from the portals.
Two Ancient Evils had been released into the world!
