After Kaz evolved his skill, he began collecting more of the necessary materials to mass produce certain components, his main goal to create a network of resources by making miners, oil and gas pumps, and logistics. Kaz began working out blueprints from mining drills, gas pumps, and oil pumps as well as the transportations for those resources. After completing the schematics for the pipes and conveyor belts, Kaz started surveying the land with his prospecting skill , looking for any signs of oil residue.
After searching, he finally found some, and dug down and hit a huge oil vein. He then plopped down his oil pump and hooked up an oil line running to where he would base his operations. He began setting up a residence and putting out some workbenches for different purposes, not that he needed to but he did enjoy working with things using his hands. After getting his base established and connecting the oil line to an oil refinery he designed by running the oil through a filter then boiling the leftover impurities off the top at a level of heat perfect for diesel fuel, then connecting it to a big oil reservoir about half a kilometer from his house.
Finally, he worked out some gas generators for electricity and hooked up diesel lines to start his electric grid with several oversized batteries as well. After this, he made a material sorting area and made several storage containers for various materials. After fabricating the last storage container, he received a notification.
[Skill Level up: {Fabrication lvl. MAX}]
[New Milestone reached: Max an Evolved Skill]
[New Skill acquired: {Temporal Link lvl. MAX}]
[Temporal Link allows the user to link storage containers and their inventory with each other without needing to physically by expanding the inventory. Creating more storage and linking it will increase your storage capacity.]
This notification caught Kaz off guard, he had been using the fabrication skill a lot, but it maxed out at a lot faster than he expected, also the skill was a surprise since he hadn't run into issues with storage yet, he still had about 20% storage space remaining.
Kaz then decided to try out the new skill and created two storage units, and then he transferred materials between the containers. Even though the materials always appeared in his inventory, they only appeared in one container at a time. He then picked the containers back up and linked his other storages before he decided to experiment with them later after he set up some mining stations.
As he moved along towards the resource deposits he had marked on his map, he set up an energy line linked up to his network of electricity lines. He ran these lines to several deposits and at each deposit he also stopped to set up miners and resource transfers into a small storage building he created and linked it with temporal linking. He did this at several iron deposits, copper deposits and even a few nexus crystal deposits. He had discovered that most ruins were made over these deposits and marked them before when exploring. Finally after lining them all and setting up the storages he got an idea. He manufactured an upright storage container a little bigger than himself and linked it. He then stepped inside and attempted to transfer to an empty storage unit at his base.
At first nothing happened, causing Kaz to think it would be too good to be true, but then, as he was about to give up it happened. He suddenly felt his body being pulled up, down, in out, and any possible direction, he could feel his body being separated but connected. He felt as if he had been stretched then flipped inside out until finally it stopped just when he felt he was about to lose consciousness and he landed in a space that glowed an astral blue color as wisps of energy seemed to shift in various directions and was filled with various materials he recognized as the ones he collected.
[User has arrived at his inventory, or also called, 'Personal Temporal Space'. Due to the user being within the storage container a temporal paradox has occurred, since the transfer takes place within the user's inventory, the user has been transferred to their inventory for the time being.]
Kaz started to recoup himself and process what was going on.
"So, I'm basically in my own dimension?"
[Correct.]
[Paradox resolved, transferring user to the storage container.]
Kaz experienced that feeling he did when being put in his temporal space again before arriving inside a container with a thud.
[New skill 'Temporal Shift' unlocked.]
[Skill allows the user to access their temporal space from anywhere and choose to exit at their areas that are linked through temporal linking.]
Kaz stood there dazed taking in his new overpowered skill.
"This is basically teleportation, and more, it even allows me to effectively have a mobile home as well."
[Time moves at a rate of 10 times faster in the temporal space, so 10 days in there would be 1 day out here, be mindful of time differences there.]
Kaz now had been on this planet for what seemed to be a few days, but had yet to see anything besides the day when a question appeared in his mind.
"How long is this planet's day and night cycle, and how long have I been here?
[Aeloria has a 14 day cycle, 7 days of sunlight and 7 days without, you arrived on the second day and it is currently the 6th day of sunlight, 2 more days until the night cycle to come.]
"So I have survived this long without sleeping and food or water, why am I fine at this point?"
[You awakened your Nexus Gland on the 1st day here, this increased your aspects to 10x that of a human that has not awakened. This applies to your intake needs to be the same amount but ten times the length until you need to satisfy bodily demands, such as sleep, eating and water. This is because the nexus energy somewhat substitutes energy requirements.]
"I see, I should have noticed the lack of any urges or cravings, but this has all been new territory for me so I guess I just kind of forgot."
Kaz now just wished to gather more materials for the next part of his plan, so until then, he decided to let his machines work and continued to explore. Over the next few hours he continued to drive along on his bike and prospect materials, scavenge ruins and mark deposits for future expeditions. He eventually came to a huge deposit of nexus crystals with ruins around them, upon prospecting them he received another notification.
[Skill Level up: {Prospecting lvl. MAX}]
"Quick question, can I evolve all max level skills?"
[Yes, as there is no limit to evolution of skills except for your ability to conceive a new skill. Some skills can branch into another evolution, or follow a level path after maxing them out, and some skills have only 1 level and come maxed, but every skill can evolve to your comprehension if the system deems it appropriate. The only exception would be a skill token, which will allow the system to help you create and understand the process of a skill.]
Kaz looked through his skills to see quite a few maxed skills, in fact, every skill he had was maxed.
"Are they all easy to evolve?"
[Depends on the skill, generally, lower evolutions aren't as hard, and considering your first skill and your current expanse of information, it makes it a bit easier for you on lower levels. An example is manufacturing and fabrication, fabrication isn't a direct evolution of manufacturing, but a side branch that is fused with electrical engineering. Do to you using your manufacturing skill i a way that combined it with your first attempt with electricity, instead of you receiving a new skill, your manufacturing evolved to a parallel branch of skills between electrical engineering and manufacturing. This is why it maxed out quickly, since it is essentially on the same tier as manufacturing, just it combined with two skills, so it is only slightly harder to comprehend.]
This was useful information for Kaz, and after he was satisfied with his understanding of it he continued to observe the new landmark and eventually came across a huge structure with a dark entrance and he decided to enter. The ruins breathed history, a stale air filled with the whispered secrets of a bygone era. Walls adorned with crumbling frescoes bore witness to Kaz's solitary figure navigating through the once grand hallways. The fragments of the past lay underfoot, a shattered mosaic floor offering glimpses into the daily lives of a civilization long gone.
In a dim nexus-crystal induced luminescence, Kaz found himself before an expansive room with a glowing nexus crystal in the center, the heart of the ancient place. He stepped hesitantly, a chill running down his spine as he surveyed the surroundings, the strange eerie glow illuminating sharp contrasts of light and shadow.
A movement in his periphery seized his attention — a fleeting shape darting away, just at the edge of the light. Tension seized his frame. He swiftly pulled out a metal rod from his inventory, holding it before him like a lifeline in this world of unknown dangers.
His heartbeat pounded loud in his ears as he cautiously progressed, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow, every fiber of his being on high alert. And then, it emerged from a dark recess — a hunched, skeletal figure, dragging itself with a grotesque, halting gait, its tattered remnants fluttering like mournful banners of flesh.
Fear, raw and primal, spurred Kaz into motion. He turned and sprinted back the way he had come, the horrific figure pursuing with a frenzied speed that belied its decrepit form. A chase ensued, a desperate dance between light and shadow, life and death.
Kaz's breath came in ragged gasps as he burst out of the ruin's entrance into the blinding sunlight. Stumbling, he fell to the ground, the abrasive surface of the alien world scraping against his skin. Rolling over, he braced himself to face the monstrosity chasing him.
But there it halted, hovering at the threshold where darkness met daylight. The creature shrieked, the sunlight seeming to scald its flesh, forcing it back, yet its grotesque face bore a yearning, a longing as it stretched towards him, a sound of sheer desperation emanating from its open, maw-like mouth.
As Kaz lay there, his breath heaving in and out, he had the chance to truly see it — the pitiable, desolate creature trapped in perpetual darkness, torn between the urge to advance and the pain the sunlight inflicted upon it. Its body bore the tales of immense suffering, a being left to fend for itself in the remnants of a cruel, forsaken world. Its eyes, devoid of any recognizable emotion, bore into Kaz's, leaving a mark of deep-rooted fear in him.
[New Species Encountered: Husk]