Private - Tinker Before You Act

Hidden: Thread Note

If you have TINKERING as one of your Masteries, feel free to join in. If you don't but for some reason still want to join this thread, you pretty much could do that but something might happen later that might leave your character behind.

For inquiries and concerns, feel free to hit me up here in the forums via PM or on Discord where I'm always giving people the best curry of their lives. *finger guns*

Iván was no stranger when it came to Stokbon. As one of the newest members of the Aristocracy, the novice tinkerer had been given every opportunity to explore the holy capital of Falderen. Yet, Iván has not taken full advantage of that opportunity. He simply did not have the time, or the motivation, to just walk around Stokbon for the sheer heck of it. But at least, he knew more about the city than your average, run-of-the-mill tourist, and boy, was this economic titan, this beautiful city, still on the verge of expansion, quite the attraction to a lot of different tourists, not to mention merchants and those who aspire to make it big in terms of fame and wealth.

Of course, Stokbon wasn't perfect. It had its flaws, including slum areas. You don't get to be a rich city, a honey trap for dreamers, and not have slum areas. These of course were where failed dreamers end up. Not everyone succeeds. At least, not at the same time. Some people will win this week, others will fall. Next week, it might be different. Or it might not. Who knows? Who truly knew what fate held for them? Iván surely wasn't that arrogant to assume he knew everything. Some things were meant to remain mysteries.

What Iván knew, what wasn't a mystery to him, was why he was at Stokbon at this time. The city was synonymous with business opportunities, and the man who was clothed from head-to-toe was taking a business opportunity, if not to merely satiate his curiosity. Three days ago, Iván received an invitation through his inbox. It was from a man named Albus Exceed who apparently wanted him to attend a convention he was holding. Mr. Exceed promised a weekend of genius, excitement, and a bunch of other flowery words meant to draw Iván in, to hype his interest. It worked perfectly.

The journey did not take long for Iván, as he was already in Stokbon to visit a friend from the Aristocracy. Well, to be fair, it wasn't just a visit. Iván needed information on the books he procured from a crippled alchemist whom he helped with a cursed town. In turn, the aforementioned friend wanted Iván to do something for them, something that wasn't a big deal but also wasn't a menial task. It was a middle-class request. Thus, Iván stayed in Stokbon for three days. He never left. He waited for the convention to arrive, and when it did, Iván was not disappointed.

Because the event was made private, exclusive, Iván did not expect to see a lot of Tinkerers inside the building. Maybe 10 or 20, even 50, but this crowd, this mob, was definitely more than 50 people. Maybe it was a 100. Maybe it was 200. Iván couldn't help himself as he marveled at every creation that was presented by all sorts of Tinkerers, from aspiring inventors to veteran creators. There was a bunch of thingamajigs in one corner and more whatsits in another, all were proudly on full display.

A magnificent and very detailed clock caught Iván's eye. It was presented on a table, with a bunch of other improvised mechanical constructs strewn about. Without him noticing it, Iván was already studying the piece, drawn to it like moth to flame. He admired the attention to detail its maker had, even the tiny arms of the clock had intricate designs. Iván felt like it was his birthday. He hasn't felt like that for a really long time.

"You like it?"

Iván looked up and found a blonde girl in a dress of yellow, white, and black. He found himself fixated on the ribbon around her neck. "I do." There was pride in her face. Iván was familiar with that, having spent some time training with a master of illusion and time masquerading as a tiny girl. "This is your creation?"

It was the girl's turn to be caught offguard. Her cheeks reddened a little but she managed to regain her composure, "Yes. You're very perceptive. Are you having something of yours on display, too?"

Before Iván could respond, the lights in the entire hall dimmed, with only one part of it retaining all the lighting it could. Magic torches, of course. Or maybe constructs housing light? Was there any difference? Iván turned towards the illuminated area before the blonde clockmaker told him to come with her as it was about to start. What it was, Iván did not know, but the girl already had him in her arms and a loud, booming voice, had him in its paw.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Exceed Expo," the voice called out with pride, entrancing almost everyone in that room to come near him. The man of the hour, the man who held everyone's attention, had a goatee that Iván could appreciate. It was a pretty interesting choice for facial hair, something that exuded both genius and charm. "My name is Albus Exceed, and I am honored and privileged to be hosting all of this genius for the first time ever in Stokbon."

Everyone clapped, cheered, and the man named Albus Exceed continued his speech. The blonde girl that had dragged Iván along had already let his arm go. Her full attention was on Mr. Exceed, her cheeks red and her eyes sparkling. This was the man behind Iván's invitation, the man behind this whole convention, the rich entrepreneur the pamphlets talked a lot about. Iván was mightily impressed, though he refused to show it. He wondered if he was also a Tinkerer. Iván realized he should have at least brought something he made, created, invented, but all he had with him at the moment were his hammer and spell ring, neither of which were created or even modified by him.

"Maybe they won't mind if I just spectate."

 

Tetsunosuke was surprised when one day, he received an invitation from a certain Albus Exceed inviting him to a certain convention of tinkerers that would happen within a night in the city of Stokbon. To be fair to him, he had only created contraptions that were only fit for battle, and those were quite simple enough that other people might have created them first before he had conceptualized them. And so, it came as a surprise to him that he was being invited to what it seemed to be an exclusive convention of elite tinkerers who were going to show their one-of a-kind crafts before an elite audience. And so Teusunosuke racked up his mind thinking about what to bring to this august event. Suddenly a thought popped in his mind. Surely this invention would be unthinkable by other people, but should be intriguing enough for others to notice it.

It was three days before the convention, and fortunately Tetsunosuke was finished with the contraption that he would bring to the convention. And so, the contraption being ready to roll, Tetsunosuke set it on a test run as he would travel from Honeyhome Village to the city of Stokbon. Fortunately the distance was quite small, while a good number of kinds of terrain and traffic would be encountered along the way, and so Tetsunosuke would have the time to analyze what changes should be made on the contraption in order for it to move in all kinds of terrain. And, so setting the inn where he stayed in Honeyhome Village as the start of the test run, he shoveled a good amount of coal into the chute leading to the small steam engine, and the contraption started to roll. The ride was quite smooth within the village, but when the forest clearings were reached, the ride started to get bumpy, until the main road to Stokbon was reached, where the ride was quite smooth, until he reached the city proper.

As he expected of the metropolis of the whole Kingdom of Falderen, Stokbon was a very advanced city within the whole of Terrasphere, as it resembled a city within the Renaissance period. Although it was quite far from being a full-fledged one - as slum areas were still quite visible within the city proper - it was still majestic as compared to the other cities within Terrasphere. And it should be apt that in here would the convention of tinkerers would be held.

Finally reaching the place where the convention would be held, Tetsunosuke stayed at a nearby inn to wait for the convention date while fixing what he had perceived to be the problems of his contraption, mainly adding some springs near the wheels of the contraption to account for the bumpy experience on the forest clearings. And when at last the convention date was reached, he entered the convention area riding the contraption. It looked like a toy scooter on the front end, but there were two wheels on the back end which were powered by a small steam engine situated near the wheels. The coal which was used for the engine was fed through the chute near the chimney of the steam engine, and the design was made to be unobtrusive to the rider of the contraption. With this, he hoped that he had brought something good enough for the convention.

 

There was a Tinkering convention. And of course, as one of the premier Tinkers of Terrasphere, Albus Exceed had contacted Emerath to show up. Emerath had been working on defining himself as the greatest Tinker Terrasphere had ever seen, and now was the time to put his money where his mouth is.

What Albus probably didn’t expect, was for Emerath to steal the show from him. And as the man announced that the Exceed Expo was officially started, Emerath stood in the rafters above the stage. It was time for him to show just what a Tinker was capable of.

Emerath muttered a spell and the wind began to blow around him, and it carried his voice as he called out to the crowd. “Ladies, gentlemen, children of all ages, come to see the technological marvels that our world has abound! Please direct your attention to me up in He rafters and I will give you a show you are not soon to forget!”

On Emerath’s back was his latest contraption. It was a backpack made of leather, with rope harnesses that tied around his waist and shoulders. In his hands was his Rainbow in the Dark. Without any further explanation, Emerath played a song.

He let the electric melody sink in as the crowd held their breath. The rainbow colored strings lit up the darkness as Emerath played, and between chords, Emerath pulled a lever on his waist. The switch released a pulley, which then sprouted wooden poles that pulled up on a leather wing looking apparatus. The wings appeared in a fashion similar to that of a wing suit, with the wood attached to Emerath’s pants by extra harnesses. The full span was between his arms and legs, and between his legs along his back, appearing as a sort of mechanical wing cape.

Putting the music aside, Emerath put away his lute, before wordlessly leaping from the rafters. Gasps all around, with a child or two’s screams, as the man made his descent, before the wings caught and he pulled on them to maneuver himself back into the air, gliding through the air like a flying squirrel.

The crowd watched in awe as the man soared over them, before circling back to the stage, close to the spot where he had initially jumped. But a simple wing suit wouldn’t have done it. He had more. He pulled himself taut, into an upright position, before releasing the harnesses on his legs. This caused the apparatus to release on hinges, moving from a wing suit to a parachute apparatus, and for effect Emerath pulled out his lute as the wind caught in the machine, and he gently floated down to the ground after resuming his song.

With a mischievous grin Emerath patted the stunned Albus on the shoulder before releasing the pack and putting it on the ground. “Unfortunately, putting it back is manual. I’ll have to work on that. But for a test run, it looks like everything went just fine,” Emerath explained, “and I like to call this little beauty the Wingchute. Patent pending.”

Emerath smiles at all the faces in awe, and he felt right at home. “But that isn’t all!” Emerath explained, “My name is Emerath Katou, and you may have heard of me, you may not have, but I am one of the greatest Tinkerers this world has ever seen! But great minds don’t make great things alone!”

Emerath patted his Wingchute contraption and told everyone, “Do you want one of these beauties? Well, turns out I’m trying to gather the greatest minds Terrasphere has to offer. I implore you, if you love Tinkering, then come join my company, the Lightning Ironworks!”

An eruption ripples from the crowd as everyone talked amongst themselves, from the skeptics to those in sheer awe. It mattered not to Emerath. It was finally time to realize his dreams.

 

"The Wingchute?" Iván muttered to himself.

To say that he was impressed by the man who had flown all the way down from the rafters to the stage, right next to Albus Exceed, was an understatement. Mobility was something that Iván thought he needed to improve himself in. He could just buy a mount or something, but he wanted to get, do, something that far exceeded his own expectations. Truth be told, he's been trying to think of ways to use his illusion magic to fly or teleport but so far, no good. It might not even be possible. Maybe the Wingcute, patent pending, was a better alternative. Could it fly over great distances, though? Or was it just for gliding?

"Emerath Katou? Lightning Ironworks?"

Iván contemplated the offer the flying man laid out. It could be a great opportunity for him to improve his skills in Tinkering. Maybe then, he could help invent something that could vastly improve mobility in the game. Maybe he can even invent something that could bolster, enhance, his illusion magic. He wondered if he could actually contribute anything, though. He didn't want to just waste anyone's time.

"Oh, that would be amazing!" the blonde girl exclaimed before turning to a surprised Iván, looking him directly in his eyes. Or at least where his eyes where, considering he was wearing dark-tinted goggles. "If only I didn't promise my dad I'd stick with the family business... But maybe you can join him, uhm, uhh, what's your name again?"

Iván sighed, "Iván Carl."

"You should join him, Iván Carl!" the blonde continued, clearly fangirling over Emerath. "It could be a great experience for a young Tinkerer like yourself!"

Young Tinkerer? Before Iván could say anything else, the blonde girl was suddenly approached by a couple of other girls, probably her friends. They started excitedly talking among themselves, with one of them declaring Emerath to be a genius. Maybe Iván should indeed join Lightning Ironworks. It would do him a lot of good, training under such a genius. Without wasting any more time, Iván walked towards the stage, passing by a blue-eyed man with some sort of scooter and leaving the blonde girl with her friends. He thought about getting her name but she didn't seem interested. Besides, she'll just be another distraction.

Emerath was talking to a couple other people when Iván approached him. Tapping Emerath on one shoulder, Iván expressed his intention to join his krewe, uhm, crew, "I would like to join Lightning Ironworks. Where do I sign up?"

Iván wondered if he would get rejected, considering he did not bring any invention with him. He did not think he needed to. He thought he was just going to go around and see what the fuss was all about. It never occurred to him that he would actually be a part of the convention, that he would try and be a part of something else. He was already a part of something, but the Aristocracy was more of a job, a community, a guild. This Lightning Ironworks thing might be something else, something more.

 

Emerath had been swarmed by hopefuls interested in joining up with the Lightning Ironworks, many of which he assured he would have to interview and talk to before guaranteeing them a position in a company that, actually, didn't even exist yet. But many of them took it in stride, and Emerath provided them with rough business cards that had his name on them. Eventually they would have an address on them. Later, though. For now, this was all him flying by the seat of his pants.

As he sent off another few hopefuls with a smile on his face, he turned to come face to face with a masked young man, who cut straight to the point with no introduction. Emerath's smile remained, as he pulled out another of the rough business cards to give to him. "Hi, I didn't quite catch your name," Emerath admitted, as he held the card out to the man. Regardless of whether or not he took it, he would continue, "Signing up is pretty simple. You tell me your Masteries, and I figure out if you're actually a fit for this business I'm cooking up."

Emerath hadn't yet taken the chance to put away the parts of the Wingchute yet, so as he talked to the young man he pulled out a crank and began to turn it, the ropes attached pulling the wooden pieces and the leather wings back into a neatly folded position against the backpack. "If you're a Tinkerer," Emerath explained as he worked, "then you're probably in. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people here that don't actually Tinker. They just like to come marvel at the odd contraptions us Tinkerers make. Makes me feel a bit like I'm a zoo attraction, really."

Emerath put the pack back on his back once it was all situated nicely, pushing the crank back into the pouch it had popped out of. "So, are you just another onlooker come to marvel at the man with the flying backpack? Or do you actually want to make a scientific difference in this world?" Emerath asked the man, a sly grin on his face.

 

Fortunately for Tetsunosuke, the steam scooter that he had made had passed the prying eyes of the examiner, and so he was allowed to display it in the area. Still riding the scooter, he then parked it at one spot where the exhibit was vacant, and he then tried to carry it on the pedestal so that he could better display it. But alas, the scooter was quite heavy, and his small frame could scarce make even one wheel move up a centimeter, much less fully lift it. Tetsunosuke had to materialize a block of wood that he had intended to use to create a weapon, split it evenly with his tantou such that the halves would take the shape of wedges, and then placed the two of them at the foot of the pedestal such that those two wedges are separated by the same measurement as the width between the two rear wheels, and then pushed the scooter towards the wedges so that it could be placed on the pedestal. This should hurt his money balance in the future, but if he could increase his prestige such that many would buy his works and munitions, it should be fine.

Finding a desk with some pieces of paper and varying writing instruments, Tetsunosuke then picked up a huge brush and then wrote with huge strokes on one long piece of paper: Transportation of the Future: the Tetsunosuke brand T-01 Steam Scooter "Ichiban". 01 since he had planned on modifying this invention in the near future. But as he wrote this name he thought it seemed quite bland, maybe he would come up with a better name in the near future. He then took a hammer and nails, and he nailed the piece of paper on the display board that was near the pedestal.

As he was writing up the documentation for the project that he had done, he then noticed something different at the main stage. Mainly a voice as loud as a foghorn distracted him from his thoughts as he turned towards his perceived source of the voice, which was the main stage. Specifically, the rafters at the main stage, and Tetsunosuke wondered what kind of an exhibitionist was there. The voice had said that the show that he was about to start would be unforgettable, but even now Tetsunosuke was interested. More so when the sound of a lute, which really reminded him of an electric guitar because of its techno-sounding overtones, started to play, and his eyes became glued to the rafters, until he had seen a great tinkering spectacle. Specifically it was a man who had dared to glide like a flying squirrel. Tetsunosuke would have swung his head with shame if he failed, but as he had landed safely by manipulating the wing apparatus yet again, he whistled. Another manipulation, he knew, would turn that apparatus into a true flying machine. He just did not know how at the moment. But the apparatus, since it could be converted into an unassuming leather backpack before everything, could be a staple for spy characters who seek a dramatic escape from a high place. The apparatus in total was a tinkering success, and it needed a huge number of parts in between transformations for it to work, making his scooter fail in comparison. Anyway, it managed to draw attention from everyone, making what was supposed to be an Albus Exceed expo into his own.

Emerath Katou of Lightning Ironworks? Tetsunosuke was definitely interested. If he could help him make his contraptions better with that kind of skill that he has, maybe he could do something that could shock everyone.

Immediately Tetsunosuke moved towards the show-stealer named Emerath, and he then said, "Looks like everyone's eyes are on you now. Well even mine is. Excellent invention you got there, mine really looked tame in comparison." He then glanced at the steam scooter at the pedestal. "Anyway I really want to be one of your students. Name's Tetsunosuke, I am quite a new person in terms of both the scientific and the supernatural, and I wanted to apply for a job within the Lightning Ironworks, if my memory serves me correctly. Despite that invention that I made, my expertise is on weaponry."

 

“Iván Carl,” Iván introduced himself dry before taking Emerath Katou’s business cards. He studied it as quickly but as intently as he could. It had Emerath’s name, of course, and the name of his company, Lightning Ironworks, as well as the logo that intrigued the aspiring Tinkerer. Iván turned to Emerath with a grin under his hood, mostly at the mention of the word cooking.

Iván had been studying what cooking means in Terra Sphere after his interest was piqued by the books he had received at the conclusion of a quest that involved a short-haired woman with magic cards and a long-haired woman who loved punching things dead. Oh, and there was a cursed village, too. Iván wondered if he should go back and visit that place, find out more about what happened to the people there, maybe find a solution for them? Though if an entire magic council has been stumped to this day, maybe he wouldn’t be any more successful? That was, unless, he grew in skill and knowledge.

“Illusion Magic, Tinkering, and Bludgeon,” Iván pointed at the common hammer slung across his back, emphasizing its head made for smashing things to paste. It should’ve given away, his preference for the Bludgeon Mastery, though he quickly realized it could’ve just been a prop and the genius before him might not have wanted to simply assume things. After all, he had a scientific mind. Assumptions are just assumptions until proven fact.

Iván turned around and took a sweeping gaze at the crowd. Emerath’s words held true. Although Iván himself was a Tinkerer, he was only there to marvel at the strange thingamajigs more experienced Tinkerers had on show. That was, at least, his original plan. Now, he wanted to be more than just an audience member. Now, he wanted to be a part of something greater. He turned his attention to the card in his hand once again before Emerath posed a pretty inspiring question, “I would like to learn to be a better Tinkerer.”

Not long after Iván made his intentions clear to Emerath did a new Player join them. Iván noted the name Tetsunosuke, his potential rival in his application to be a part of Lightning Ironworks. This man had an invention of his own, perhaps made just for this expo, and an expertise to boot. Iván wondered if he was going to get an expertise, too, if he should have gotten one before applying to be part of Emerath’s crew. Is cooking an expertise?

 

Emerath was happy when Ivan explained his reasoning, explained that he was a Tinkerer, and then was approached by another man, who had actively made something for the show. Waving off others who wished to speak with him, Emerath put all his focus on the two of them.

"Well then, looks like I have two prospects. That is exciting! And so soon!" Emerath smiled, before pulling the two away from the stage. "Alright then, so you two want to be exceptional Tinkerers. So you're in then. I won't even bother questioning the rest from there. But I am interested in the creation you made for the event here, Tetsunosuke." And so Emerath motioned for the young man to lead the way to where he had set up shop.

As they walked, Emerath asked the two, "So what are your specialties, if any? I personally am interested mostly in magitek and the possibilities it provides. Just look at my lute. Now unfortunately things like that aren't quite able to be replicated. I found the lute, you see, in a magitek dungeon. But I want to be able to make things like it someday. So what do each of you focus on with your creations?"

 

What? Emerath became interested in Tetsunosuke's craft? Tetsunosuke did not expect it. He thought that his design was too simple if the other exhibits were to be judged. He then said, still quite stunned, "Yes, this way." as he moved towards the place where he had parked the steam scooter. As they moved towards the scooter, as he was asked about their specialties, he then said, "As I was saying, I specialized in weaponry, but all of the tools that I had made for those originated from this creation right here. I could also work at the forge for the needed weapons and metal parts for the weaponry and other creations. As for the other specialties, I could commune with spirits and fight using anything that could cut. Currently I use this." He then held the tantou sheathed on his hip.

As they had reached the place with the board tacked with a paper that read: "Transportation of the Future: the Tetsunosuke brand T-01 Steam Scooter "Ichiban"", he then said, "Well here it is, the best invention I could muster at the time. 100 days in the making, but half is made 17 days before this expo. Not sure if I should be proud of it, since if it would be seen by some steam enthusiast, he would frown, although I had made it completely from scratch from materials and techniques available to most of the players at the time. The documentation should be available today or tomorrow, but since I should present it to a prospective employer, I will tell a glimpse of the documentation, as well as how did I make this, which I would not dare to write or state since the production is a trade secret, except for you two." He then coughed, as if in preparation for a very long story, and then continued to speak.

"It started when I was picking out masteries for this character. I was intrigued with Tinkering, thinking what could I do with that, and how far into technology could I reach, and so I picked the mastery and had arrived here. I then studied every city, and every village, while I am hunting down creatures and doing quests, and then I realized something. Coal is abundant here, while gasoline and kerosene were inexistent. And then I took a short time to think, and something popped in my mind: What about I create a steam engine? I then studied live steam events in the real world, watching how they construct steam engines, and then armed with that knowledge, dove back here. Back in the real world I could work brass, steel, and alloys, and so I am confident I could make the engine here. But then I remembered, the tools! I knew that there were lathes used for woodworking, but I did not see lathes that could be used for metal. And milling machines were inexistent, and so I would have to use a set of chisels used for sculpting metal and jewelry. And for some reason, I could not work with gears, even chain drives. And so, I pooled all my gold and bought the best lathe that was available, complete with gears so that it could work the hardest wood in Terrasphere, and after some time creating the parts, I had made it into a foot pedal driven metal lathe without touching the gearbox. Once I tried to build a locomotive, but as I was restrained by the size of creations I could make, I decided on a steam scooter instead. But as I was trying to make it; between having to fashion small metal tubes, operating the lathe, breaking some tools and created parts - you have not experienced the agony of having the lathe create its own part -; I felt like dropping the project altogether after some days since not only it was burdensome, it was stunting my progress in the game. It was just after I had received that letter from Albus Exceed that I decided to continue the project since I was not confident then in my created mechanized weapons. And so, after breaking more tools and quite short assembly, the steam scooter was created. Imagine: 500 hours of fabrication and 1 day of assembly. And so for the summary of the documentation, the engine that is used is of the type that was used for model engines and toys, the vertical type so as not to take up space on the scooter. It is mounted at the back so as not to obstruct the view of the rider and lessen the chance of exposure from smoke and steam. The fuel entrance, and the fuel is coal, is modified into a non-obstructive chute so that more fuel could be loaded, and fitted with a door so that the best amount of coal would be moved to the furnace. It can be detached easily using a hinge and a latch that is fitted with a wooden handle so as not to get hot, for cleaning purposes. The boiler is constructed so as to conduct superheated steam into the motor unit so that the steam will not be condensed in the motor unit. The oscillating cylinder motor unit conducts movement to a grooved flywheel that is connected to a similarly grooved small wheel within the back axle using the same leather multiple V-belt that I used in the lathe, since I could not use a chain drive as of yet. The condenser unit ensures more steam will be recycled to the boiler, while allowing the use of a steam whistle I fitted. Since the boiler is quite small, except for its weight, it only allows a quite small load as it can travel at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour in my estimation."

 

With Tetsunosuke leading their way, Iván decided to be the last one in their line-up. It would've been awkward if he proceeded to walk first, before Emerath, and besides, he preferred to always go last anyway. It gave him more wiggle room, so to speak, to react and plan his next move. This scenario didn't necessitate either of that, however, as it wasn't a dungeon, but still, Iván believed there was more power in being the last in turn. Even in chess, he would always prefer to play black.

Specialties? Iván suddenly felt himself the fish out of water. He should really have studied Tinkering before he attended the expo. Thankfully, as both Tetsunosuke and Emerath were in front of him, he was able to sneak in a quick browsing of the Palm Menu, finding suitable information on what specialties were possible with the Mastery in question. What he found was pretty linear, some default possibilities on what one could do with Tinkering, but two things caught his eye: potions and chemistry. Was it possible for him to specialize in those?

"I haven't actually created anything yet," Iván sounded a tad too robotic for anyone's taste, shrugging behind the pair, hiding his hands in his pockets. "But I am a little intrigued with the creation of potions and how chemistry works in this...place." He almost said the word world but caught himself. He wasn't sure how many NPCs were with them at the moment, if there were even NPCs in the expo, but it wouldn't have been safe to mention things that wouldn't make sense to them. This was a game to Players like himself, but to NPCs, this was their reality, the only reality they would ever know.

Iván listened intently to Tetsunosuke as he explained his own specialty, weapons, and marveled at the man's invention. He was apparently combining good old-fashioned weaponry with spirituality? That was interesting. Very interesting. Tetsunosuke ended up narrating quite the speech, but it was expected. He was probably just excited to show his creation to a genius, someone he looked up to, and Emerath fit that bill.

Tetsunosuke had been extensively traveling as well, all for the love of Tinkering, which made Iván admire him and maybe even envy him, specifically his dedication to the Mastery. Iván himself was fond of Engineering, though his confidence paled in comparison to that of his two new associates. If it hadn't been for those books he got from that alchemist, maybe he would've stuck to Engineering and joined Tetsunosuke in his endeavors. If only.