"Thank you, come patronize me next time," a young man with long black hair, a sharp jawline, and a pair of electric blue eyes, appreciated the person going out with a smile adorning his lips.
"Humphed! If not Master Aris' smith shop is full and out of order for today, why would I patronize your defective shop to repair equipment?" The man snapped angrily without looking back. Then he muttered, "I don't know what is wrong in the head of this Artificer to set a ridiculous price, more expensive than a Craftsmith, when he is just third-rate compared to Craftsmith."
Cyrus merely chuckled at the man's complaint before heading off to relax and restore his etherion after work.
His gaze lingered outside his shop as he sat down carefreely, and he happened to see a young girl, no older than ten from his estimation, poking her younger brother on his chest as she chided him with her cheek puffed angrily.
Slowly, his eyes grew dull and clouded as memories of his past flooded his mind.
He thought absentmindedly, 'It's been five years since I left home, right? I wonder how that log-headed sister of mine is doing. I can't believe I'm already 20, but I'm almost done with my part of the plan.'
A knock jolted him awake. Cyrus turned to see a tall woman dressed in tight warrior attire that accentuated her curves. However, the wild look in her eyes made the faint-hearted avoid her gaze.
Cyrus saw her staring at him intently and he smiled in response because… what he was waiting for was here. A thing that would change his fate. Something he has been trying to get for a while.
"Tracy, you got it?" He asked calmly, trying to hide his bubbling excitement.
"Yes, but…" Tracy stretched her hand with a serious expression etched on her face, "My sword."
"Relax girl. Who would dare cheat you?" Cyrus laughed at her fierce expression while demanding her payment.
Walking deeper into his shop, Cyrus returned with a long sword held in a dull, black sheath.
When he gave it to Tracy, she quickly snatched it from his hand like she was scared he would retract his previous offer. Then with a bated breath, she slowly unsheathed it, her eyes shining with a mix of happiness and curiosity. Her eyes stared at the empty air like she was reading something.
The sword was as dark as the night, adorned with red runes inscribed on both faces, giving it an air of mystery. Both edges were sharp, featuring a crossguard that separated the black handle from the blade. At the end of the handle, a spherical crystal pommel gleamed faintly.
"Don't swing it in my shop and damage my little things, or you will pay," Cyrus quickly warned when he noticed she had raised the blade, ready to test it.
Tracy quickly took a deep breath to calm her tingling heart that was roaring at her, 'Swing it just once! Just swing it!! SWING IT!!!'
"Where did you get a Rank 3 weapon?" Tracy asked Cyrus.
"I thought we've already gone past that phase?" Cyrus' shoulder slouched. "I told you I picked it up when I was coming to this place."
"So, it's the weapon of the dead?" She questioned.
"Can you stop interrogating me and give me the payment, or return the blade if you don't want it," Cyrus finally snapped.
Tracy stared at Cyrus' face which was growing impatient. She dipped her hand into her pocket and brought out a prism crystal that trapped tiny, glimmering dots that looked like twinkling stars of the sky.
"This is a locking skill shard. The seller said that it was most likely the overpowered Spatial Locking skill," she said with a smile, her happiness still evident from receiving the sword.
Cyrus rolled his eyes at her statement but still collected it calmly and replied, "Thank you."
After she left, Cyrus hurriedly locked the door of his shop from inside, before using a door that led to the basement of the shop.
His eyes were firm and determined as he used the stairs that descended into the dark basement. It was supposed to be a store for the shop but he changed it to a research room, making a light scent of decay suffuse in the air.
Walking up to a chair in the middle, Cyrus sat down before removing his shirt, revealing his athletic build behind it.
Then he summoned his Artisan Scribbler in his right hand — a black pen with a pointed tip, with a balanced and perfect weight in his hand.
In his left hand, Cyrus lifted the prism crystal he collected from Tracy. Then he activated his only unique ability and evidence of him being a Peak class Artificer—Eyes of Void.
Darkness coalesced at the center of his iris, expanding outward and enveloping his eyes in an eerie darkness that consumed all light. It was as if a shadowy abyss had taken residence within his eyes, devouring every flicker of brightness that dared to approach, leaving only an unsettling darkness in its wake.
The prism crystal in his hand gradually morphed into a prismatic skeletal framework, while its contents transformed into a complex 2D rune. This intricate design twisted and spiraled like jumbled threads, hovering enigmatically within the prism's luminous depths.
Cyrus stared at the hovering rune with unwavering focus on it, not daring to miss anything because his life depended on it.
Then he copied it to the ground to test his precision and accuracy. He was naturally able to see in the dark, and the transformation in his eyes made him capable of seeing through physical matter.
After copying it onto the floor, he kept the prism crystal aside and was ready to perform the final phase — Body Inscription. But his hand shook because he knew he might not survive it.
"This might be my last time seeing the sunlight… eh, darkness," he muttered to himself, his eyes glazing over. "I was ready to face death when I chose this path, but it seems death is still frightening. What lies on the other side? The underworld? The river of souls? Nirvana? The Nether? Humans—very amusing creatures—who have never crossed over yet can vividly paint a picture of the afterlife."
He chuckled dryly, his eyes clouding over as if veiled by a distant storm. Memories surged within him, pulling him back to the moment when he made that fateful decision.
***
He had a good elder sister, aside from her apathetic side, and she also awoke a Peak talent. She was three years older than him. She became a fighting force for humanity after awakening her ability, so there was no reason for them to be poor. Cyrus was happy being rich but it grew boring after some time.
When he clocked fifteen, Cyrus awoke his ability. And to his disappointment, he awoke the Artificer class, even though his talent was rated as Peak. Artificers are third-rate equipment repairers that can only repair low-level equipment; unlike craftsmiths, who can create and repair both high and low level equipment. So, Artificers are less valuable in society.
That night, Cyrus made one decision after much thought — the choice to change his fate. And to do that, he needed to leave home and hide from his sister. But he never made that decision because he was chasing an ethereal excitement or for power only. He made the choice to stop his insane sister from going on a suicidal journey.
His log-headed sister decided to go on a suicidal journey across the seas but because of Cyrus being unawakened, she always postponed her journey.
But Cyrus, who also knew a lot about her character, calculated that if he went missing without leaving any contact, she would postpone her journey indefinitely until she found him, or confirmed that he was dead, before embarking on the trip.
That was how his adventure began. Taking enough cash with him, he spent three years learning and repairing equipment from safe zones to dangerous zones. Of course, it wasn't easy at first because his rank was at the bottom level, but he had no choice other than to avoid cities and mostly entered only villages, to prevent his sister from finding him.
Throughout that period, he strenuously studied the Power Module that awakens when some human clock fifteen, watching how the runes interact, but it was useless at his level; it only brought him heart-wrenching headaches and bleeding eyes when he used the Eyes of Void to study it.
Artificers generally have three skills — an Artisan Scribbler, Artifice Flame, and Eye of Word.
But Cyrus already realized that he had special eyes—Eyes of Void, which made him capable of seeing through the state of things. That aided him to see the ethereal structure of the Power Module… and it was a jumble of rubbish to him.
After three years, he finally settled in a medium-sized town called Silvaran, and the reason was simple — it was close to the wild, and the rate of finding freshly dead bodies was easier.
Because of his moral boundaries against experimenting on living humans, he settled on freshly dead bodies, even though experimenting on them felt inappropriate and uncomfortable for him at first.
Only freshly dead bodies have their Power Module, which is situated in the chest region, still active. But after about six hours, the Power Module would disintegrate. So he scoured many locations to look for freshly dead bodies, and with a spatial ring, he would return with them to his basement. That was where the experiment took place.
Two years have gone by and Cyrus has come to the conclusion: his body has the Null Physique, which rejects other elements, and only neutral classes and skills are allowed. But learning it naturally proved impossible.
He settled on making it.
However, inscribing the class runes was out of the question; when he encountered the complexity of the class runes in the Power Module, even the simplest designs overwhelmed him. They were a three-dimensional, shapeless combination of infinite lines and threads, seemingly adorned in the air, defying comprehension.
So, he changed his mind about getting a neutral class and aimed for a skill, and that was the deal he made with Tracy. Because the ones he could acquire with his connection will be weak.
All that remained was to accurately draw the runes for locking skill on his chest, ensuring they wouldn't disrupt the flow of Etherion. The runes needed to connect seamlessly to his Etherion vessels, allowing the skill to function even without the inherent class. It was a delicate balance, requiring precision and understanding, which he spent years practicing.
***
Cyrus' trembling hand stabilized and his eyes became limpid like a calm well, even though his heart was thumping in fear.
Of course, he would be scared. He had tried it on many dead bodies, and for anyone whom he inscribed a skill that did not agree with their class Etherion and Power Module, the Power Module collapsed. He tried inscribing other skills, with various elements, on the few Artificer dead bodies he managed to get, and the case was worse — not only did their Power Module collapse but their bodies also collapsed.
This time, he couldn't get any body of an Artificer, after all, Artificers love working in the comfort of a safe zone, or working for a company to repair equipment; they hardly go for dangerous operations. But even if they go, there are some places Cyrus couldn't go because he was weak.
So he inscribed neutral skills like body augmentation, hair color change, and a few other skills on any body he found and it functioned without affecting the Power Module or body.
Right now, he was about to take that gamble — inscribe a neutral skill on his body which had the Null Physique — because he was getting desperate as he aged, feeling his potential draining.
With a firm grip, Cyrus began to draw the runes he had seen on the Skill Shard, taking care not to rush and risk errors in his inscription. The Artisan Scribbler flowed effortlessly under his hand. Each precise stroke brought the intricate design to life, channeling his concentration into the work at hand.
After about three hours, a complex tattoo emerged on the left side of his chest, resembling an intricate weave of lines. The design was both mesmerizing and precise, a display of his patience and skill in capturing the essence of the runes.
'So, what now?' Cyrus thought.
He summoned his Power Module but only a glitching panel appeared, hovering in his vision.
'Hell! What is going on?'
His breath hitched.
Squinting his eyes, Cyrus peered at his supposed stat panel, trying to see the words covered by the glitches.
'T…a…b…'
"Taboo creation?"
Cyrus lowered his head and stared at his chest, and what he saw made his face scrunch up in a nasty scowl.