I spent the first ten minutes in the skill's display, reading all the item's descriptions. It was a fruitful time spent, as the "flavor texts" were pretty varied and even explained things that weren't included in what was already known by crafters.
After making sure that I read all of it, I turned to the crafting table and did the same thing to the tools, seeing if they had any sort of hidden information or something. Unfortunately, there were none. It was a little disappointing, but, well, it was pretty obvious.
"Then, I'll begin crafting," I announced as I turned to where Toki was before, but her figure had already vanished from within the room before I realized. "Is she preoccupied perhaps?"
I just shrugged my shoulders and ignored her absence.
First things first, I want to try to integrate the storage skill with the crafting process. Taking out the tools and materials for one set, I started working. The entire process wasn't different, and other than the initial part where I took out the materials, there was nothing else that needed me to use it at all.
About half an hour later, the first Blast Wand was completed. The time it took to create it didn't change much, so I felt a little discouraged. "But that's just for a single wand! What if I make a lot of them in parallel?"
I took a short break of about five minutes before working on the next step. Five Sets! While crafting one, there were instances where I would be forced to wait idly, so I could use that time to make more instead. It was similar to how I made two wands at the same time before, but this time I increased the quantity.
"Well, I guess it'll fail though." I sighed lightly, not expecting too much from this experiment.
I worked immediately, taking out two sets of materials and processing them one at a time. Then, while their initial processes reached the point where I needed to wait for them to dry, I took out three more sets and did the same thing. It was tiring since my hands were moving nonstop and with high precision, so sweat was rolling down my forehead rapidly.
I forgot to watch the time, but I finished all five wands one after another as if timed perfectly. "Nice! So, how long did it..."
When I checked the clock, only forty minutes had passed. A little more than before, but this time, I made five wands at once! That means I improved it from 30 minutes per piece to roughly 8 minutes per piece. It's a major improvement, but the mental fatigue on my part was pretty severe. Furthermore, it required me to use the storage three times, consuming 30 MP from my total.
I called for room service using the button that Toki pointed out to me before. As I pressed it, a robotic voice echoed, asking me what I wanted. Without beating around the bush, I quickly told it that I needed water, some salty foods as snacks, and drinks with electrolytes. I was sweating bullets earlier, after all. I should be careful of dehydration.
After taking my order, the voice said that I should wait for a few minutes. I sat down on the bench on the other side and waited patiently, wiping the sweat off of me with the towel prepared by Toki beforehand.
Soon, the door leading to the workshop opened, and an automated trolley entered, carrying the things that I ordered. There was nobody that came together with it, so I guess Toki's joke earlier was just to tease me. Well, never mind.
After a short break to replenish my liquids and salts, I continued working on the orders. As I continued to do the same task over and over, not only did my crafting skill reach level 9 by the end, but I was even able to complete seventy sets of Blast Wands!
The time was close to 8 p.m. so it was just in time for dinner. Toki didn't return, so I guess I have to go back on my own. I went out of the workshop and headed for the nearest staircase. But stopped after reaching the top. I could see beyond the darkness ahead of the glass walls that the mages from before were still lying in wait around the facility.
"..."
Having no choice, I turned back, pulled out my phone, and tried to call Toki. After three rings, she dropped the line. "What?"
Before I could even redial her number, a message came telling me to go back on my own. The message also contained a barcode of some sort as an attachment, making me wonder where to use it.
When I walked back, tracing the path we took earlier in the morning, I reached the first wall. As usual, it didn't budge at all, no matter how hard I pushed it. It was pretty d*mn solid!
"Now, how do I... The barcode?"
A sudden inspiration made me use the barcode that Toki gave me and press it against the retinal scanner. With a small beep, the scanner turned green before the sturdy gates opened.
"So this is like a universal key?" I wondered as I examined the barcode.
I'm not sure if that's true, but using the same method, I managed to bypass all doors and reach the ground floor of the neighboring building. I walked up the stairs from there and exited the premises, sending an inconspicuous glance to the mages who were lurking around the dismantling facility.
I already sent a message to Toki regarding the finished 70 sets of Blast Wands, so I guess that should be enough to send them home. I hope.
The building where the penthouse was, the one that Toki mentioned before, was about 200 meters away. It didn't take long before I reached the entrance. The lobby was so extravagantly decorated that I felt like I, in my school uniform, was so out of place.
"Mr. Giza Mahiro, I presume?"
As I was staring around like an idiot, a woman approached me with an amicable smile. Looking at her clothes, she must be a staff member of this building. "Yes, I am."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mary, and I'm tasked with taking you to your room. Please follow me."
She immediately turned around after a light bow, as if she were in a hurry. I followed closely behind her as instructed, and we soon reached an elevator with red tape around it, like a VIP section, as if to keep it out of use by normal residents.
We entered the elevator, and to my surprise, there were only two buttons there. The Penthouse Floor and the Ground Floor. As soon as I entered, the lady pressed the button for the Penthouse Floor and closed the door. Soon, the elevator started moving, making me feel a light pressure on my body as we rapidly moved higher and higher.
The entire 30 floors were traversed in less than 10 seconds. That was fast! As I left the elevator and waited for her to guide me further, I noticed her bowing her head and apologizing.
"Sorry, Mr. Giza, but from this point on, I am not allowed to enter. Your room should be the third one from the right, so it should be easy to see."
As she said so, she quickly closed the elevator and left.
"Third room?" I tilted my head as I walked onward. I looked at my right side, making sure not to miss any doors, and counted until the third one. I turned the knob and was surprised that it was actually already open.
When I entered, I was quickly enamored by the interior of the room. It was wide—as wide as our entire house with both floors lined up! Right before my eyes, the living room expanded. Two sets of sofas were arranged neatly over a green velvet carpet, with a 325-inch flatscreen LCD TV on one side of the wall.
Before I explore the room, I need to go to one place first. After all, I had been starting to smell like sweat and dust for almost two days without taking a bath. I quickly entered the shower, which was just a few steps away from the door for some reason, and removed all my clothes.
I had no change of clothes available, so I chucked my uniform inside what looked like a combo washer-dryer before entering the shower area. My clothes would finish in 30 minutes, so I need to stay for at least that long.
Looking around the shower room, there were several different brands of shampoo, conditioner, body soap, facial wash, and other beauty products lined up. I'm a man, so of course, the body soap and shampoo alone were more than enough.
After turning the shower knob to "warm" water, I took a handful of body soap and used it all over my body. The suds covered me from head to toe shortly after. As I made doubly sure that I cleaned every nook and cranny, removing all the dirt and sweat all over my body, I turned to get the shampoo and started scrubbing my head.
"Ouch!"
As I was careless, the shampoo's suds entered my eyes, irritating them. I was scratching it, washing the bubbles away with water when I heard the sound of the frosted glass door rolling open. I turned around, but my vision was still blurred; nevertheless, the silvery-white hair was too striking for me to not recognize.
"... Toki?"
A shrill scream echoed before she slammed the door shut, almost as if aiming to smash the glass door to pieces. I tilted my head, scrubbing my eyes, wondering two things. "Why did she enter my room's bathroom?" and "Why did she scream?"