418 Rushing Through Elite Rank

Draco smacked his lips. Since his accumulation of top-grade Aether Crystals made him into a bonafide silk-pants young master, he didn't have to think long about it and just bought them all. Some of these devices were bound to be useful. He was especially eyeing that exothermic device, which was just fancy talk for a bomb. 

He had always wondered how the Goblins and Gnomes were able to craft those contraptions of theirs. With his current knowledge, it wouldn't surprise Draco if they simply turned out to be like Master Rank Magical Engineers. Perhaps he should visit them after this Unique Quest was done. If his theory turned out to be right, the wealth of their items and skill might surpass his prior estimation. 

(Author's Note: I think I may have hinted at it somewhere before, but when stuff like 'no one can afford this on the main plane' is mentioned, it's referring primarily to humans, who get brutalized every 1,000 years. Most other races are largely fine and live in other continents that are either inaccessible until the players reach a certain point, or the exact location is just unknown overall.) 

He had used a Goblinwerk bomb before when he had been Rank 0 to get rid of some losers in the marketplace of Stagnant Moss town. To Draco, those first few hours since he reincarnated and entered the game were like a fever dream. 

He almost felt like it wasn't himself, but someone else being guided by the hands of a dashing fellow with limitless grandeur behind the screen… but he knew that it was just his imagination. 

If anything, it was a dashing retard with limitless idiocy that would be the one in such a situation, so Draco snickered and activated the lesson for the Exothermic Implosion Device. 

As he expected, it was the same bomb he had used back then. He was even in the body of a goblin this time, though the system once again prevented him from suffering any mental burdens that might occur for such a change. 

Draco had a sinking feeling that most designs from this point would no longer be created by humans, but those vile green skins. Draco disdained goblins and orcs secretly, since they had butchered him many times in his newbie phase during the previous timeline! 

After learning the design for the Exothermic Implosion Device, Draco went on to learn the designs for the rest of his purchases. It was no problem, barely an inconvenience for him with his eidetic and muscle memory. 

What did bother him was that the materials for some of the parts were not readily accessible outside. Of course, in here he could easily get them for all grades, but in the main plane? Too hard. 

At least at the current time. Things would drastically change after the Great War. In the previous timeline, the destruction and mayhem had been greatly reduced due to the presence of players, though they had been slaughtered like dogs in the process. 

This was only natural. Under normal circumstances about 99% of the overall human population would have been killed, leaving 1% to furiously reproduce each time to restore the previous number. Instead of conquering new land, what they mostly did was just re-take the old land that had been lost. 

What was the point? We take new land and get slaughtered anyway, so let's just maintain civilization as best as we can until something changes. 

Players had become the factor to change that status quo. After the Great War, the status of players had skyrocketed to obscene heights. This was how losers like the old edgy Draco and the tormented Riveting Night managed to eventually get access to the Divine Auction. 

For these types of materials and stuff to become commonly available, the Great War had to come and pass. This time, with the presence of Draco, Eva, and Umbra… the Demons would be lucky to kill 5% of humanity, meaning that the growth boom afterward would be horrendous for monsters and non-humans. 

Just like in the previous timeline, all other races would realize the benefit the Demons had given them by slaughtering humans. However, the next Great War was 1,000 years away, more than enough time for humans to completely flip the world over. 

In this timeline, it would be far worse, since Draco would be leading the charge. As the future overlord of the entire Western Fantasy section, he planned to sow some seeds here and there to make his later conquest easier. 

Draco paused for a bit to rest as he assimilated the knowledge into his mind. Once he was done, he requested the necessary materials from Hoover and began crafting the simplest of the lot, the Basic Personnel Identification Device. 

This tool would not really be useful for players, since they could easily tell who was who through nametags or guild emblems, but it would be a hotcake among NPC organizations. Of course, its value would not surpass the Advanced Spatial Creation Device, as very little could do so, but it was good enough for practice and to earn some cheap change, or gain some favors. 

Draco spent 3 days making 200 of them. Firstly, they were much smaller than the Advanced Spatial Creation Device, and secondly, their complexity was nowhere near the latter. 

Ultimately, he had only earned 64% Tradeskill experience, making him shake his head. Trying to rise quickly in Epic and above Tradeskills was like scaling Mount Everest with your donger flapping in the wind - or titties for a woman - and the end result can be imagined. 

He moved onto the Basic Area Cloaking Device. This one was basically a tool for hiding certain things like buildings, rooms, or whatnot from most forms of detection like sight, smell, and hearing. 

It would be useful for hiding things like treasuries and precious items or secret warehouses for lower-tier organizations. Draco knuckled down and started work on one. 

Unfortunately, the complexity of this particular device was far higher than the one before, so after spending 5 days on them he ended up with 50! At least, the Tradeskill experience was better, reaching a total of 123%. 

After putting these aside, Draco took a short break by taking an actual bath, chatting with Ophie, and checking up on Doris, who was still wrapped in bandages from head to toe like a mummy. 

Draco cast a few healing spells on her but was told not to worry by Hoover. She would recover in about 3 months, so she just needed to rest. 

As for Natasha, Draco avoided her. It wasn't that he wanted to ignore her, but that he had been slightly traumatized by the weight of her lust. He was used to being the dominant party during sex, but he feared the kind of beast Natasha would become if that sea of lust was set free. 

He feared that it might end in a situation similar to him losing his virginity to Maria in the previous timeline. She might even press him down and do the pounding instead! 

As such, he kept away, waiting for it to hopefully simmer down. He returned to his workroom and started on the next device on the list, which was the Basic Area Monitoring Device. 

The beloved item of governments and information collection agencies, the CCTV camera! Obviously, not that exact item, but something similar enough that worked with mana. 

It couldn't store images since mana was no replacement for hard drives, but it could relay images to a designated target for them to sift through it. Such an item must not enter the world carelessly, otherwise the age of being monitored by the government 24/7 would start in Boundless. 

Draco only spent 1 day making about 10 of them. He only did it for the experience and scrapped them right away. Such items did not need to see the light of day anyway. 

Due to the low quantity, he only got 18% Tradeskill experience. Meh. 

The Advanced Mana Conversion Device, though, Draco did not skimp with. Such an item would be to die for among mages and casters, so he made sure to dedicate a lot of time to this. 

He spent 2 weeks making 1,000 of them, and had to pause here to take another break. This was his longest period of seclusion so far, and he felt he would go mad if he stayed there any longer. 

Thankfully, his madness earned him 721% Tradeskill experience, so it was something at least. He was surprised to find that the competition still had not begun, but took it with a grain of salt. 

Draco moved onto the Basic Mana Blocking Device. This one basically sealed mages and magical casters upon capture, making them no different from normal human beings. 

As a mage himself - in a sense - he limited the creation of them to only 20, of which all would be kept for his personal use. This took a day and a half, and also gave 79% experience for his Tradeskill. 

Draco was familiar with the Advanced Equipment Maintenance Device's predecessor, the Basic Equipment Maintenance Device. It was useful for players as it helped restore the durability of items, and this version restored much more than before. 

As such, he also went crazy with it, making 2,000 after spending half a month on it. Its complexity was about half of the Mana Conversion Device thankfully, and it also gave 451% experience. 

Draco sighed. He couldn't wait until he unlocked the Grandmaster menu for Magical Engineering since he could just let all this stuff be auto-crafted. Speaking of that, Pair Dadeni and Mjolnir had been hard at work pumping out endless potions and equipment. 

Draco solely used Auto-Craft now, and he was done with the Dragorugio set, so he had the hammer produce a wide variety of weapons based on his own designs. 

By the time he returned to the main plane, even the dogs in Umbra would be wearing Epic equipment! Also, every dog would have a complimentary Angel's Kiss potion in case it got scratched by a flea and wanted to recover! 

The workroom was no longer just a workroom but a bloody factory at this point. Draco moved onto the Advanced Spatial Enlargement Device. This one's predecessors had given birth to the Advanced Spatial Creation Device, so it could be said that it was a cinch for Draco. 

He only bothered to make 10 of them in the span of half a day, granting him 84% experience. He would rather make Advanced Spatial Creation Device's than waste time on these super downgraded versions. 

Next was the Advanced Energy Converter Device. Since this was trash compared to his Divine Rank Energy Converter from the Altar of Tradeskills, he just spent about a day making 10 of them. 

This netted him 79% experience. 

Draco rubbed his grimy hands when he saw what was next. You guessed it, the Basic Exothermic Implosion Device! He began working on them with gusto, not planning to stop until he made 5,000 of them at least. 

However, Draco had to stop at 1,500 when another 3 weeks passed because he hit his limit. He went out to find Ophie and Doris to chat with the former and bully the latter before coming back to his workroom. 

Still, 1,500 bombs were more than enough to wreak havoc, hehe. 

The final device on the list was the Basic Knowledge Compression Device. It was the second most expensive design on the list after the Advanced Spatial Enlargement Device, which showed its value. 

Basically… it was a sort of computer. One that ran on mana and used runes instead of motherboards with traces and transistors. It could store heaps of information and process it for the user, but it was extremely fragile. 

Not only that, but its memory functioned like RAM. It needed a constant infusion of mana to work. Once that flow was cut, poof!, everything was lost. One would have to start from scratch. 

Draco made about 3 of them before pausing. His expression changed rapidly as another crazy idea came to mind, just like the time he made the Advanced Spatial Creation Device. 

He looked at the half-assembled fourth device and decided to take a gamble. If it succeeded, he would usher in a new era for the world of Boundless and be praised for his endless grandeur! 

Of course, if he failed, he would eat a megaton explosion right in the face. The risks were high, but Draco's stupidity was higher, so he began working on his idea immediately!