Max sat on a sturdy wooden chair, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, sipping on a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
The rich aroma filled the small room, blending with the faint hum of his phone's holographic projection. His sharp eyes focused on the screen floating in the air before him.
The news anchor's voice was calm but carried the weight of impending calamity.
"We bring you urgent news from Rusead City," the anchor began.
"The entire city was obliterated in an unprecedented event. Authorities have confirmed that no survivors remain. Investigators report lingering traces of mana in the area, leading to speculation of a magical attack. However, there is a possibility that someone is framing the Mage Tower to incite conflict."
The holographic feed shifted to a grim scene. The land where Rusead City had stood was now barren, coated in ash.
Blackened ruins hinted at the grandeur that once was. Max's expression remained neutral, though his mind raced.
"In light of the incident," the anchor continued, "continental diplomacy between the Start Continent and the Mage Tower is at a critical juncture. Both sides have agreed to a high stakes meeting to discuss the situation and prevent further escalation."
The feed shifted to shots of Grim faced ambassadors preparing to meet, with headlines speculating on the potential for war.
Max leaned back, swirling the remaining coffee in his mug.
"And to think I have been there not long ago." He took another sip, his thoughts gathering.
His best guess? This wasn't the Mage Tower's doing. The timing and scope of the event were suspicious. If the Mage Tower wanted to obliterate a city, they wouldn't have left traces so obvious. No, this had the hallmarks of something orchestrated to provoke chaos.
"Probably the dungeon inhabitants," Max mused to himself, though he knew it was just a theory. The world was filled with schemes, and playing factions against each other was as old as the hills.
Max's guess was off the mark this time, and he would never know that by simply flying, and ignoring a certain falling obstacle he had single handedly caused the destruction of Rusead City.
.....
Max dismissed the projection with a wave of his hand and set his empty mug on the desk. Stretching his arms overhead, Max exhaled and called out.
"Lucy, it's time."
Lucy, appeared out of thin air, and flitted toward him. Her glowing, translucent wings sparkled faintly, casting a soft light across the room.
'Time? Time for what' her voice chirped telepathically, carrying the tone of curiosity but reluctants.
Through his phone Max pulled out a blueprint and had it project in the holographic screen in front of Lucy. The intricate designs glowed faintly, detailing the schematics of a space cube.
It was the blueprint he chose with the Kraxtal weaving.
"This," Max said, tapping the blueprint. "you'll be learning how to make a space cube. It's a storage device, similar to the space rings you've seen, but with a different approach. It doesn't need special mystical materials. Just the right metals and the Kraxtal weaving technique. And advanced physics."
Lucy crossed her tiny arms, her face scrunched into a pout. 'Physics…!!!!! No more. '
Max smirked. "You'll have to learn it anyway. Let's get started."
....
For the next few hours, the room echoed with Max's patient instructions and Lucy's begrudging protests.
Max pulled up holographic diagrams to illustrate key concepts, explaining the forces at play when folding space into a compact storage dimension. Lucy hovered over the desk, her tiny hands tugging at her hair in frustration.
In all honesty Max didn't understand any of it, but he didn't need to, all he needed was to read it aloud, anyway that's what most teachers do nowadays.
'Why need all this… boring stuff? Gunpowder Make it go boom, solve all problems, easy!'
"You can't just 'make it go boom.' This is delicate work," Max said, sipping another cup of coffee. "You want to create something functional, not blow things up. "
Lucy stomped her feet in the air, her wings fluttering rapidly. "No like numbers. Too many!"
"You'll like them when they help you bring loads of Treasures from the dream world someday," Max countered.
As the lesson continued, Max occasionally suppressed a chuckle. Lucy's telepathic exclamations grew more dramatic, turning into absurd complaints about numbers being alive and plotting against her.
At one point, Lucy threw her hands up. "Physics is enemy!"
Max laughed, shaking his head. "No fighting physics. You're learning it whether you like it or not."
.....
By the time the night deepened, Lucy had grudgingly absorbed the basics of the process. She fluttered to the desk, her glowing wings dimmer than usual, as Max reviewed the day's progress.
"Alright, you've done enough," Max said, setting the blueprint aside. "Tomorrow, you'll put it all into practice. For now, just memorize everything. We'll work on understanding it later."
Lucy perked up at this. 'Just remember? Easy!'
Max smirked. He'd expected this reaction. Getting Lucy to go through the trouble of learning had been a challenge, but he knew from the start that memorization would be the real goal.
He leaned back in his chair, watching as Lucy gleefully spun in the air, her earlier complaints forgotten.
.....
By morning, the room was quiet except for the faint hum of Max's new coffee maker. He poured himself another cup, savoring the warmth as he glanced at Lucy, who was already perched by the blueprint, her earlier frustrations replaced with excitement, she spent most of the time in her Mountain form with Max calling her back to check is she was lazing around from time to time.
"Alright," Max said, setting down his mug. "you get to rest for now, we'll get to work after the cooldown is over."
Lucy didn't even cheer but simply disappeared in into a cloud of green light.
Max just shook his head, inside the simulation Lucy will have no choice other than to study slowly since there is little nothing else to do.
Checking the simulator's cooldown it was still not over.
[0d. 14h. 32m. 20s]
Max pulled the Kraxtal weaving method on his phone and decided to do some study in the meantime.
He didn't intend to learn how to forge the space cube, it was for Lucy to bring items out of the simulation.
However the items was indeed impressive, as the blueprint has different layers depending on the level of mastery in the Kraxtal weaving, it starts from E-rank which is the one Lucy is learning, and can go up to the S++, gaining different features.
"hmm I'd consider making one of the S grade when I am capable of doing, anything else is worthless to me."
Max relaxed on his bed as the holographic screen kept scrolling...