Tempest Cliff, Tempest Branch Alliance, within one of the rooms found in the Tower of Seclusion.

"Oh G.o.d…my mind hurts…" A voice could be heard inside one room, complaining about what it was doing for quite a long time already. When one looked at the origin of the voice, one's vision would be able to see a wooden sculpture vibrant green in color near one corner of the room, the presence of energy being extremely prevalent around it.

"Note to self…don't do this ever again," the wooden sculpture said to itself, pondering as to why it did this in the first place. Soon after, it remembered that it was doing it for the sake of the members of the alliance it's a part of, taking in a few deep breaths before inwardly letting out a sigh of relief. "Then again, I've already crafted the amount of equipment sets needed to protect every member in this alliance."

This wooden sculpture was none other than Aurus, who had taken it upon himself to craft a lot of equipment sets in order for his alliance mates to have a greater chance of surviving in the upcoming war against Chonk and his army. Due to the fact that he had been crafting equipment sets for quite a long while, he lost track of time after around the 10th equipment set he crafted, his mind seemingly in an automated state.

Not only that, due to his mind being in an automated state, most of the skill experience he obtained from crafting equipment sets went to waste, only allowing him to evolve [Ancient Modular Flux Equipment Fabrication] to the S-grade Transcendent level instead of a higher level possible with the amount of skill experience he obtained. This was also the same case for [Supreme Spirit-Flux Chiliocosm], only reaching a grade of X-grade Transcendent level. Fortunately, the S-grade Transcendent level was enough for Aurus to be able to craft Transcendent level equipment sets, allowing him to truly fulfill his plan.

Although he regretted the fact that he had wasted a huge amount of skill experience, he was still satisfied with the equipment sets he had created, with each and every equipment having the name 'Devourer of the Living'.

"System, how much time left until the clone is finished?" Since he was now finished crafting equipment sets, he now decided to focus on his clone, which was one of his strongest trump cards against Chonk and his army. Not only that, by asking the time remaining for his clone to be formed, he would also know how much time had pa.s.sed since he started crafting equipment sets monotonously.

Ding!

'Time remaining: 02:11:35:21.' This was what was written on the holographic screen in front of Aurus' field of vision not long after. Taking only a few moments to calculate the amount of time he took up, using the time that was shown on the screen before and after crafting those equipment sets, he muttered to himself, "So…I've taken around 12 hours or so to craft all of those equipment sets."

"I don't know if taking less time to craft a lot of sets is beneficial or detrimental." Thinking about the time he took a bit further, he could not help but dryly laugh at himself for quite a bit. "Since I took less time to craft all those sets, I could go ahead and use the remaining time to focus on more of my trump cards or even perhaps craft more equipment sets in order for everyone to be more prepared."

"On the other hand, since I took less time to craft those sets, the dread of knowing that Chonk and his army would come at any moment while I'm waiting instead of being alerted fills me with intense nervousness that I just can't help but think of multiple what ifs."

After a few seconds of silence after saying those things, he laughed yet again, this time over his baseless worries. In the end, he thought that there's no use worrying over the future…unless he was some sort of being great at divination, which he wasn't.

"Anyways, time to check on the equipment I've made," Aurus said soon after as he commanded the system to open up his weapon inventory, before adding, "I might've crafted Epic level equipment instead of Legendary level equipment while I was in the monotonous state. Since I still have a lot of time, I could go ahead and discard those to craft some more Legendary level equipment."

Whoos.h.!.+

A short moment later, a rift in the s.p.a.ce appeared in front of his field of vision, allowing him to view the vast amounts of equipment sets he had crafted after those 12 hours, with each and every one glistening either a gold, rainbow, or a silver light. Not only that, if one looked closely on every individual set, one would notice that one set differed in appearance from another set, which was quite shocking when one knew the fact that Aurus was in his automated state.

"One…two…three…" It took a while for Aurus to count if he had made enough equipment sets for every member in the alliance, taking around three minutes or so to let out a sigh of relief after finding out that he did not make any Epic level equipment, nor did he craft less equipment sets than the specified amount.

After that, he closed his weapon inventory, pondering over the multiple things he could be doing right now while waiting for Chonk and his army to get closer to the alliance. At one point, he thought about ways to speed up the formation of his clone, since having more time to adapt to the movements of his clone would be beneficial when fighting against the alliance's enemies.

But before he could think any further about it, a thought surfaced in his mind all of a sudden, prompting him to put the thought of speeding up his clone's formation at the back of his mind as he pondered over the thought that surfaced just a while ago.

'Now that I think about it, why have I only been making equipment that's focused on fighting against Animates?' Aurus pondered to himself, the thought in his mind getting gradually bigger. 'There are only two Animates in the enemy's army, while the majority is just Inanimates.'

'In other words, the majority of the equipment I've made should've been focused on fighting against Inanimates,' Aurus got to this conclusion soon after, before another idea replaced this. It was around this time that the thought in his mind had burst, bringing him a great amount of inspiration as he muttered, "Why not create equipment that has an ability that is advantageous not only when fighting Inanimates, but fighting Animates as well? Who knows if the members finish fighting against the Inanimates earlier than expected, allowing them to help in dealing damage against the Animates."

"That's it, I've decided," Aurus shouted inwardly, making sure to not alert Fenrir and Charisa, who were still grinding their skills as of late. "All of the equipment sets for the normal and Executive level members shall be all-around equipment sets, while Pillar level members would get two equipment sets, one focused on fighting Animates and one all-around equipment set."

"Since they're Pillar level members, they would surely have multiple abilities to allow them to receive less damage, giving them more time to swap between sets," Aurus continued to talk to himself, only to end up asking himself a question.

"How about equipment sets for me and Herellia then? Should I also craft all-around sets for the both of us?"

After asking that question to himself, he pondered over it for a bit, ending up with the conclusion that there was no need for the two of them to have the same kind of equipment set as the other alliance members. The both of them had enough firepower to destroy X-grade Inanimates even without the help of an equipment set like that.

"Then again, it would be better for the two of us to kill more Inanimates faster so that everyone can focus their firepower on the Animates," Aurus muttered with an aura of determination around him before adding, "Which means we need unique equipment sets that boosts our abilities."

And so, Aurus opened up his weapon inventory and discarded all of the Legendary level equipment sets he had made without hesitation. Then again, on the back of his mind, he could not help but sigh since the Legendary level equipment sets definitely took up a huge chunk of the 12 hours he used to craft those equipment sets.

Nonetheless, he knew that this was for the better, possibly giving them greater chances of fighting against the whole army. Soon after, he opened up the equipment fabrication screen, choosing to make an Ignition type equipment set like usual.

After that, the system asked him to name the equipment set like usual. This time though, instead of going with 'Devourer of the Living', he was thinking up of a name that would allow the equipment sets to give a boost not only in offense, but in defense as well.

Fortunately, it only took a few seconds before Aurus came up with a suitable name for the equipment set.

"I would like this equipment set to be called 'Blessed by the Heavens'," Aurus said, to which the system accepted soon after. A few seconds later, the system showed new information on the holographic screen, allowing Aurus to know the effects of the name he gave. Taking a quick glance over the name's effects, he was quite satisfied and then finished up the fabrication of the equipment, creating the first Legendary level equipment that bore the name of 'Blessed by the Heavens'.

'The name 'Blessed by the Heavens' has been given. Due to the name of the equipment set, all damage dealt by the user wearing this set shall be increased by 15 percent while all damage received by the user shall be mitigated by 15 percent.'

After that, he now thought about the name of the equipment sets he would craft for him and Herellia. Just as he was about to continue thinking up of suitable names that would enhance their fighting prowess, a thought entered his mind all of a sudden, a thought that made him pity the person that would obtain the Legendary level equipment set he just made.

"Ah…I haven't upgraded [Nine Flux Transformation] to the max level yet," Aurus said to himself before letting out a sigh. "How did that only occur in my mind right now and not before I started crafting all of those equipment sets?"

Was he going to discard the Mythic and Transcendent level sets that he made meant for fighting against Animates? Due to the fact that he had belief in their survival ability, he decided that he would not craft it again, deciding to just have the sets he crafted now and onward to have the max level Flux.

Ding!

'Nine Flux Transformation has been upgraded to the maximum level.'

Whoos.h.!.+

After undergoing four upgrades, the Flux that was circulating throughout Aurus' body, which allowed him to look like a green wooden sculpture, now took own a more dark green color, akin to the color of unpolished jade. Nonetheless, although the color of the Flux became less distracting, the power behind each point of Flux was more plentiful than before.

"Okay, let's start thinking of names again." After upgrading his Flux to the max level, he went back to thinking up names for the equipment sets he would be crafting.

Surprisingly, this time, it only took a few seconds for Aurus to think up of what seemed to be suitable names for him. Opening up the equipment fabrication screen and going through the usual first step, the system asked him the name of the equipment set he was crafting.

Taking in a deep breath, he then said with confidence, "I would like this equipment set to be called 'Overlord of All Things Regarding Blood Across the Myriad Universes'."

An awkward silence occurred after Aurus said that name, with the system not responding for a couple of minutes.

Ding!

'The name has been denied.' When the system did respond to the name, it was that of disapproval, making Aurus feel embara.s.sed that he said that.

Thankfully, he was able to regain his composure, pondering as to what the limits of naming equipment sets were. Thinking about it for a bit more, he thought about incorporating royal ranks into the names, adding the rank Duke to the equipment set he was making for Herellia. Surprisingly enough, it was denied yet again, prompting him to tone down the name one more notch.

Eventually, Aurus found a name that was suitable.

"I would like to name the equipment set 'Marchioness of Blood'," Aurus said…expectant to find out if this name was accepted or not.

Ding!

'The name 'Marchioness of Blood' has been given to the equipment set. Due to the name of the equipment set, all blood-related abilities shall be enhanced by 20 percent, and the user has a guaranteed chance to lifesteal 20% of the damage dealt by the user.' Aurus could not help but radiate an intense aura of happiness after finding out that his name had finally been accepted, continuing through the subsequent steps until he finally finished the equipment set.

Whoos.h.!.+

"Now that I know the naming limits, I should go ahead and craft my unique equipment set," Aurus said to himself after obtaining a notification that the 'Marchioness of Blood' equipment set has been successfully crafted. Opening up the equipment fabrication screen one more time, he chose Ignition for the type of equipment set he wanted to craft before being asked the same question, which was a question regarding the equipment set's name.

"Ehem." Aurus cleared his throat before responding.

"I would like the equipment set to be called 'Marquis of Magical Destruction'."

Ding!

'The name 'Marquis of Magical Destruction' has been given to the equipment set. Due to the name of the equipment set, all abilities that use up of energy will have their damage be increased by 35 percent. In addition, the amount of energy needed to activate those abilities shall be decreased by 10 percent, while the cooldown time shall be reduced by 20 percent. There is also a 5 percent chance to deal double damage to an enemy hit with the ability.'

__________

Yo, Truedawn here.

I wrote a novel for the WN Spirity Awards ent.i.tled 'Den of Freedom'. It's a Sci-fi novel I've made that more or less a VRMMORPG novel. I would appreciate it if you checked it out!