"Rest in peace; your life will continue in another form!"
Deep within a mining cave in Tianqiong Mountain, Leon held three smoldering branches in hand. He solemnly bowed three times before a vaguely humanoid metallic block, then planted the "incense" in front of it. With that done, he grinned and dashed off to the side.
In front of him stood a nearly completed mechanical apparatus.
A boiler, pistons, cylinders, and a flywheel—this was the core of a robot.
A primitive yet functional steam engine.
Leon initially thought crafting this mini steam engine would take a considerable amount of time. But, to his surprise, upon reaching this abandoned iron mine, he encountered a newborn metal spirit!
In this world, everything—from animals and plants to rocks and metals—could develop a spirit. However, Leon hadn't expected to stumble upon a metal spirit.
The moment he laid eyes on it, Leon fell into deep thought.
From what he knew, lifeless materials like metal or stone had limited evolutionary potential. Their intelligence and growth capabilities were severely restricted, often unable to rise beyond the mundane level.
If nothing unexpected happened, this metal spirit would eventually leave the cave, only to face rejection by beast tamers and disdain from other spirits.
Ultimately, it would likely end up in some forgotten corner of Tianqiong Mountain, waiting to be disposed of like trash by Beast Taming Bureau experts.
As the first person the metal spirit encountered, Leon couldn't bear to let it face such a tragic fate.
Thus, driven by a noble mission to "save" the metal spirit, Leon swung his universal wrench with all his might.
The metal spirit… perished.
After knocking its head off, Leon discovered that its body was indeed hollow, just as he had recalled. With minor adjustments, it could serve as a robot's frame.
Leon's brilliance shone through once again!
He then mobilized the other spirit beasts he had captured, commanding them to help reshape and repurpose the metal spirit's body.
Excess metal was smelted and molded into components for the steam engine.
The robot's power source was now secured. With that foundation in place, the rest would be relatively simple.
"Come on, folks, just one last push, and you'll all be free!"
Leon turned and addressed the four or five spirit beasts behind him.
In the center of the cave stood a massive metal furnace, with the Groundfire Lizard perched beneath it, spitting intense flames. The boiler above glowed red with molten iron.
Nearby, a two-foot-long snow-white butterfly flapped its wings occasionally, significantly cooling the sweltering cave.
A fiery red monkey, unfazed by the heat, carried molten iron from the furnace to molds, while two primate-like spirit beasts worked in tandem to cool and solidify the components.
These spirit beasts had submitted to Leon after a few persuasive beatings and were now willingly laboring under his command.
"Chirp?"
Hearing Leon's words, the spirit beasts paused in surprise before their faces lit up with joy, working even harder than before.
"You're all so happy to leave… Just how bad is this cave?" Leon muttered, shaking his head.
In truth, over the past few days, aside from crafting the robot and its components, Leon had tried forming contracts with these spirit beasts.
The results? Rejected, yet again.
Though intimidated by Leon's enhanced combat strength, the spirit beasts reluctantly complied with his orders. But when Leon attempted to force a contract, their defiance was resolute—they'd rather die than submit.
It was as if they were saying:
"We can date, live together, and do everything a married couple would… but you'll never tie me down with a contract. You're not worthy—I deserve better!"
"Pfft! Ungrateful beasts!"
With a snort, Leon picked up his universal wrench and began polishing the freshly forged components.
Reflecting on the situation, he realized he felt no guilt exploiting the labor of these spirit beasts anymore.
…
"All right, time for the final step!"
Night had fallen, and the spirit beasts had been sent off. Leon stood before the metal spirit's hollow frame, surrounded by neatly categorized components, and took a deep breath.
Assembly time!
This was the thirteenth day since his transmigration, and the Beast Taming Bureau had only given the convicted beast tamers one month to redeem themselves.
He had just one shot at assembling the robot.
If he failed and damaged any components, there wouldn't be enough time to forge replacements. Every step had to be flawless.
This wasn't a game—there were no progress bars or retries.
It was all up to him.
With his universal wrench in hand, Leon dove into the pile of parts.
Gears, chains, bearings, torque mechanisms—piece by piece, Leon meticulously assembled over a thousand components.
As he worked, he silently thanked his luck for obtaining only a "broken" blueprint.
First, the mine's mixed-quality metals made crafting a premium-grade robot impossible.
Second, without advanced tools, all the polishing and finishing touches had to be done by hand. Despite Leon's best efforts, slight imperfections were unavoidable.
Had he received a premium blueprint, the precision requirements would have been far too stringent.
With the broken blueprint, however, he could make do with scrap metal and slightly flawed components.
By dawn, Leon's efforts had paid off—a robot stood complete before him.
About 1.5 meters tall, it had a cylindrical body, wide at the top and narrower at the bottom. Its oval head was partially recessed, with two rows of thumb-sized steam vents on top. Its mechanical eyes remained dim, awaiting activation.
Two steel arms hung at its sides, with jointed bearings for flexibility. In lieu of mechanical hands, its fists were solid iron spheres. Leon estimated that few first-grade spirit beasts could withstand a punch from those iron balls.
Given the robot's likely slow leg speed, Leon had added metal rollers to its knees and soles. By adopting a kneeling position, it could roll forward, significantly increasing its speed.
To Leon, who had piloted advanced mechas in his previous life, this robot was primitive and crude. But given his limited resources, it was the best he could manage.
[Ding! You've successfully crafted: Ancient Medieval Robot (Broken)]
[Gained 10 skill points, Spirit +3]
[Ancient Medieval Robot (Broken)]
Type: Basic Mech Quality: Broken Attributes: Defense 30, Strength 35, Speed 17, Energy 0/500 Height: 1.48m Weight: 175kg Power System: Steam Engine Combat Consumption: 5 energy/min Weaponry: None Passive Skill: Hardened – Can withstand attacks slightly beyond its defense stat. Note: "Don't think making this makes you Tony Stark, kid."
Leon ignored the snarky note and pulled a fist-sized, fiery red stone from his storage pouch.
As soon as it emerged, the air filled with a faint sulfuric scent.
This was the power source Leon had planned for the steam engine—a fire-element spirit stone.
Though small, it could generate far more energy than hundreds of kilograms of coal.
Ah, the wonders of this mystical world.
Whirr—
Once the spirit stone was inserted, the robot came to life. Its once-dim eyes now glowed red, and steam puffed out from its top vents like a train.
The system prompted Leon to name his creation, and he chose the same name as his previous life's main combat mech: Titan.
Leon then spent 7 skill points unlocking the second tier of the Basic Mech skill tree and invested the remaining 3 points in Mech Control.
With Mech Control, he could now issue simple voice commands to Titan.
"From today onward…"
Leon placed a hand on Titan's dome-shaped head. "You're my spirit beast."
Hoooot—
Titan's eyes flickered, emitting a whistle akin to a train horn, as though it truly understood its master's words.