"well, this chest doesn't seem too useful anyway.
Let's just use the universal key Brute Force, but before that, cover the place with Mist just in case. "
Mist circled around Max in no time as he started.
Still, he didn't want to harm the things inside, so he didn't use his hammer to open it, instead he used telekinesis with most of his focus on the lock.
clatter! clatter!
the lock twisted with Max increasing the pressure slowly.
And ding!
The lid of the chest flew away, and Max stopped using telekinesis, putting the chest in front of him.
Inside
-A rusty metal bottle.
-A corroded palm sized glass-like object. 'this should be the fang of that white python.'
-A folded large map bigger than Max himself.
-A small pitch black bonsai with black leaves and few red flowers.
And finally, a bunch of minerals, not much though.
First, Max opened the Rusty bottle and poured the luminous bright red blood inside a proper glass bottle.
This was origin blood. It should be useful for enhancing his talent [Crimson brilliance], still he has to confirm with the simulator first.
"Simulator, scan everything here."
Rows of data appeared in front of Max as he inspected them in detail.
As he expected, the tree was the most valuable thing inside.
The wood alone is tougher than D-rank metal approaching the C-rank, while the leaves were considered C- rank alchemy materials. But because of the heavy radiation inside them, they were judged as useless for Alchemy.
The tree overall can be considered a B-rank or higher material if someone was able to utilize it, although max had no idea if that was possible.
The python fan was a peak D-rank material that got degraded to the E-rank.
As for the minerals, they were average. Around the E-rank & F-rank, the only unique thing about them was the radiation they held inside.
But what surprised Max the most was the map, because it wasn't a normal map.
-Name: nameless world map
-Grade : E
- using either blood or spiritual energy, this map can repair itself over time.
Apparently, after hundreds of years of taking care of that python's skin and feeding it the blood of different mutated creatures from all around the world, it somehow became an E-rank artifact.
Artifacts are items with magical properties, but unlike equipment, they are completely useless.
Max picked up the map and opened it on the floor, just to be instantly impressed.
The map was bigger than himself and was a piece of art in its own right.
"wow, I've seen a lot of ancient maps, but this one has the most charm. "
The map was detailed to the point that Lucy even added a map key, representing the variation of radiation levels, mutated creatures inhabited zones, interesting locations, and such.
Max wondered how many different creatures Lucy killed for their blood because the map literally had every color there was.
On the back of the map in small text, Lucy wrote informations about different creatures she met all around the world, like a true biologist.
There was also the new blueprint for the treasure chest.
' look great'. Lucy suddenly added.
She finished Max's orders quickly and switched her focus here, excited to see what was inside the chest.
At first she was really sad because she couldn't figure out how to open it, and thus failed to complete Max's order, but when she saw the map she completely forgot about that.
"you like it?"
'yes.'
"well it's actually you who made it, inside the dream world."
Lucy was stunned on the spot, forgetting how to speak.
'really? '
Max smiled. "yep it's your work."
Wooosh!
The map suddenly flew away.
Lucy was too excited and had to show off to the crows.
The map flew away from Max, only for Lucy to remember that the crows are still in that strange space.
Thinking for a moment, the map flew back to the confused Max, and Lucy pushed it towards his eyes, trying to let the crows see her work, through Max's eyes.
Max didn't know what she was on about.
"Lucy, I still need that, so be careful with it. "
Max also liked the map, so he planned to keep it as a permanent decoration on his bedroom, thus he didn't want to see it destroyed.
Taking the map, he stored it inside the space ring, despite the unwilling Lucy.
He also stored the minerals and the bottle of blood.
Through the scan, he found out that the blood was useless.
He couldn't use it to enhance [Crimson brilliance], because it was too little.
He could still consume it and the simulator will make him a new talent, but because of the low amount, the new talent would be too weak.
Max had expected this, so he wasn't too disappointed.
After all, that will of the world was too weak, that ever Lucy, after weathering so much hardships and exhausted from all the radiation, was able to beat it.
Next, Max held the black bonsai. He had to admit that it looked good.
While Max Was admiring the tree, three seeds fell from it.
Such a thing didn't happen in hundreds of years. It's either that the tree felt the surroundings being extremely beneficial to its growth.
Or it might've felt danger from Max seeking a way to continue its kind.
However, Max's speed was no joke, as his hand flashed, picking the three seeds before they reached the ground.
" interesting!".
Max looked at the data of the tree again.
The seeds were the most useless, completely useless.
Just as Lucy commented, this tree only takes and never gives, but if it does that, it would give back completely useless garbage.
Max stored two seeds, and threw the third to the ground, simply out of curiosity.
The seed started growing black roots immediately and soon grew a few centimeters big.
Max scanned the new growing tree, only to be disappointed right after.
This thing didn't have the same stats as the bonsai. The wood wasn't even F-rank.
Maybe it would grow to that point in hundreds of years, just like the bonsai.
"How disappointing."
Max ignored the plant and went towards the new room made by Lucy.
.....
Inside, it was a perfect smithy with all kinds of tools spread according to Max's orders.
In the middle was a floating ball of molten metal, with a pit of fire under to make sure the metal wouldn't cool down.
"hmm, I see you're already proficient with telekinesis. "
'love it'.
Excitement was evident in Lucy's voice, and Max just smiled.
"glad you like it. Now I need you to take this small tree and keep it safe while I am working, and also feed it some emerald water. "
'okay'
This bonsai could probably survive inside Max's space ring, but he didn't want to damage such a unique material, thus he'd have to carry it around from now on, at least until he gets some equipment suitable for storing plants.
As the Pitch Black tree was taken away by Lucy, Max focused on the floating ball of metal.
But before starting, he gave the job of making gunpowder to Lucy, since it was easier for her to deal with chemical reactions since she can literally see them.
Anyway, the gunpowder is not the most important part. As long as it was the same as the formula, it's okay.
After explaining the recipe to Lucy, Max started forging
Using his own telekinetic powers, he scooped a small amount of molten metal and started shaping it into a bullet cartridge.
Of course, he wouldn't start immediately. He started by getting used to the ratios.
How much metal is used, precise shape and making sure to fit the size of the bullet cartridge to the same one as the bullets used by his twin pistols.
Soon Max started to get the hang of it and made the first blank cartridge.
It was golden, with a unique rune on the back. It was a simple forging rune for fire, recorded in the book he read last night.
After checking the shape, it was slightly off and Max started again.
He wasn't disappointed nor discouraged and just kept at it.
The second one was also a failure, but the third was almost perfect.
After the first success, Max made the second and the third gaining proficiency.
Soon enough, he started forging three at the same time, then 6 than 40.
As time passed, the metal was used up, and Max was left with almost 700 cartridges.
Without stopping, Max took out the bird he hunted earlier and extracted all the blood, having it float in front of him using telekinesis.
The blood was golden, and even now it was still hot.
Max moved it to form an array around the cartridges.
This was the blood forging method after he modified it crudely last night.
It ignored proficiency and quality, focusing only on speed, and unlike the forging method, this array doesn't make equipment out of blood but slightly enhance or modifies an already made equipment.
Max deemed it useless, but today he was solely interested in the experience.
Under Max's scrutinizing eyes, the blood started glowing and merged with the cartridges slowly.
....
Looking at the time, three hours have passed and Max didn't feel it at all.
Lucy finished working on the gunpowder earlier, so Max didn't stop.
Since the gunpowder was ready, he filled the cartridges and closed them, all of that using his telekinesis.
Some of them exploded in the process, but Max didn't mind since what's left was enough for him to use for a long time.
.....
"Simulator scan."
[Ding :
-D-rank bullet.
- can increase the fire power by one rank. (the limit is C-rank).
- special effect : every shot will leave fire dust within the muzzle, and after accumulating enough dust after three shots, the fourth one will carry all of it as it ignites, doubling the damage and adding a burning effect.
Note : if left in contact with the oxygen for long periods, there is a chance for it to ignite and explode.
Max smiled, satisfied with his work.
" success. "
Next, Max needs to forge 2 gadgets for his mirror skills.
His skill [Mirror image] that he didn't test yet, gets stronger based on the mirror used, so having tougher mirrors is welcomed.
Plus, his [mirror prison] also function better with stronger mirrors, although it wasn't mentioned in the details.
First, Max took out a small chunk of dense silver and malted it.
After that, using telekinesis, he shaped it into a ring, and he didn't forget to add some engravings just for the sake of making it look better.
After it cooled down, Max took out a bottle of that special reagent.
Using telekinesis, he carefully lifted a drop of it and used it on the inner surface of the ring, since the mirror had to be in contact with his skin.
In no time, the inner surface looked like a perfect mirror to the point Max couldn't believe it was made of silver.
Putting the ring on, Max smirked.
On his hand, the mirror part wasn't apparent, and it looked like a normal silver ring.
In case he was in a situation where he couldn't reach out to a mirror, nor take one out from his space ring, and he wanted to escape.
He could directly use [World of mirrors], and escape to the mirror world through the ring.
The ring would be left behind, but it wasn't even an equipment so Max wouldn't care much.
Max made a few more rings, and after that he left the forging room, giving all the dense silver to Lucy.
"Lu, make me some cards using that silver similar to the playing cards you saw in the series.
Make them thin and smooth, also I need you to use your full telekinetic powers to pressure them. I need you to squeeze them as much as possible. "
Lucy listened intently as Max carefully explained his requirements.
'OK'.
....
While Lucy was doing her job, Max decided to test his [Mirror image].
Using a regular mirror, he used [mirror image].
His energy was being consumed rapidly, causing the mirror to transform and expand in size.
Within moments, its shape began to resemble that of Max, and then it gradually shifted colors until it became an exact replica of him.
Max's vision suddenly split, giving him a strong headache out of nowhere.
It was as if he was playing a video game with two monitors, each showing different angles.
Max tried to move, only to feel disoriented.
For a moment, he couldn't judge right from left.
"using both my body and the mirror at the same time needs lots of practice."
Max stopped controlling the mirror, focusing on his real body instead.
"Sigh, why do I only get the headache inducing skills? "
The mirror was like a puppet, unmoving.
Next, Max closed his eyes, moving his focus to the Mirror Image this time.
Opening his eyes, Max was amazed, looking at his real body, still eyes closed.
Walking around, Max was impressed.
This body even had all five senses, although they were extremely dull.
His Vision and hearing were pretty bad while the sense of touch was almost nonexistent
...
As Max was done testing, Lucy brought him a 2 sets of silver cards.
One set was smooth on both sides, while the other had one side with different engravings, from dragons two eggs to cartoons..
That was what Max asked of her. It was simply to confuse the enemy if there was a need to.
Taking the cards, Max felt how heavy they were and smiled in satisfaction.
Without wasting anymore time, Max used the reagent only leaving the side with the carvings.