"Cleaning?" Lukas was in disbelief.
Cleaning my ass!
And here he thought that he finally had a customer. Who would've thought that this 'customer' turned out to be a nut job! What bad luck!
If Claude could read his mind, he wouldn't know whether he should laugh or cry. In his perspective, he was just picking up blue orbs.
"Okay, do you want to buy something?" After a moment of silence, Lukas spoke up.
In any case, this person was the first person who entered his store in over a month. He couldn't treat him too bad; after all, there's a slight chance that he might buy something.
"I do, actually." Claude replied as he got up from the ground and patted the dust off his hands, "What are you selling, anyway?"
Initially, Claude wanted to buy a weapon for himself. However, he got distracted by the blue orbs that fell off from the young man's body.
When he entered this store, Claude didn't actually know what the store was selling. He just wanted to pick up the blue orbs so he could rank up quickly.
"Didn't you read the sign?" Lukas stared at him dumbly. Seeing Claude's blank look, he sighed in resignation, "As an Artificer, I sell all sorts of stuff regarding magic. For instance, this new invention of mine which could theoretically hasten the speed of which Mana can travel around the body."
Lukas hurriedly took the object he was tinkering with earlier. It looked like an ordinary bracelet that one could find virtually anywhere.
Although Claude had a hunch that this was a ploy to scam him out of his money, he still played along, "What does it do?"
At this point, Lukas puffed his chest and said rather proudly, "Well, theoretically, when the travel speed of mana is hastened, the casting speed of the user will be increased significantly. As such, you will gain a competitive advantage against your opponent."
"Theoretically?"
"...Theoretically" Lukas' voice suddenly lowered to a degree.
"Then it doesn't work right?" Claude said in a sarcastic tone.
"Yes..." Lukas' previously confident look turned into a pathetic one.
"Wait, don't leave just yet!" Knowing that this 'customer' wasn't convinced, he wore the bracelet and proceeded to test it, "I've done some modifications earlier, so it might work... theoretically."
Crossing his arms, Claude observed with a straight face.
After Lukas wore the bracelet, he immediately started casting a spell.
Circle Formation...
Rune Inscribing....
When he got to the last step, Spell Discharge, a few breaths had already passed. This essentially means that his 'modified' bracelet didn't work.
"This... How can it be!" Lukas was in disbelief and his cheeks reddened.
He was pretty sure that he made the right modifications. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so confident with his new invention. Despite all the modifications he did, it still didn't work.
What's more embarrassing is that it didn't work when he wanted to test it in front of a customer. This is basically a slap in the face.
Seeing Lukas being in the midst of disbelief, Claude shook his head and chuckled. After which, he thought about Lukas' invention seriously.
A few minutes passed and Claude's eyes lit up, "It's not that your invention didn't work, it's just that you got it all wrong!"
"What? How is it wrong?" Lukas wiped his tears and glared at Claude coldly.
Even though he went to a reasonably weak Magic school, it is still a fact that he studied there for five years. On top of that, he consistently ranked in the top ten. It is natural that he has a lot of confidence about his knowledge in magic.
"Your perspective about Artificing!" Claude answered directly, "An Artificer's purpose is to create gadgets which help their user externally."
Seeing Lukas' puzzled look, Claude continued, "Take your gadget for example. Its aim is to help the user hasten their mana circulation, which is done internally. As a result, it didn't hasten your mana circulation like you expected. It doesn't mean that your gadget didn't work, in fact, it worked perfectly. It's just that it only affected things which are external."
Hearing this, Lukas' eyes glistened in excitement, "I get it! Is that why it felt so smooth when I created a Mana Circle and started inscribing runes?"
Claude nodded with a smile.
Both Circle Formation and Rune Inscribing requires mana to perform. Therefore, it is naturally affected by the effects of the bracelet.
"T-Then, how do I make it affect things internally?" Lukas asked hurriedly, "Can it even be done?"
"Of course it can be done! In fact, that is the most simplest thing you can do. However, you need a specific person to do it." Claude replied as he stepped forward and picked up the blue orb beneath Lukas.
"W-Who?" Lukas ignored Claude's strange behavior and asked.
"A Rune Maker!"
[Ding! +1 Mana]
[Ding! Successfully advanced to 2nd-Class Mage]
[Ding! The Host received the Artificer Occupation.]
Claude glanced at the notification calmly before calling his status panel.
[Host: Claude Dawnbreaker
Rank: Primary 2nd-Class Mage
Skills: Basic Circle Forming, Basic Rune Inscribing
Occupations: Artificing 0/100
Strength: 23
Mana: 26/30
Comprehension: 1]
'Hm? Do I also have to pick up orbs in order to rank up the Artificer Occupation?' Claude asked to no one in particular.
[Ding! Indeed. The same goes for other occupations that the Host receives in the future.]
Claude nodded, 'It seems that I have to visit other stores in the future to rank up.'
"A Rune Master huh... " Lukas said quietly as he stared at Claude with a grateful look. Then, a frown appeared on his face, "But there doesn't seem to be any Rune Masters here in River City. I'll have to visit other places in the future in order to find one."
"Anyways, do you sell weapons here?" Claude asked as he closed his status panel.
"No."
"..."