God Of Crafting

The crafting process never started with the crafting itself, not even back when I still could rely on that strange power hidden inside of me.

Normally, there were two ways for me to start crafting—either by having a concrete idea of what I needed and at least a general idea of how to make it, or by doing my due research and then finding out something I thought I could abuse by bringing it beyond its current, traditional limits.

And right now, with my mind still partially occupied by the softness of Claire's lips and the warmth of her welcoming body, I didn't really have any ideas at all.

Any ideas save for what Claire hoped I would be able to craft—a crutch for herself, her father, and me to help us out in case our return to the modern world wouldn't be as easy as we hoped for it to be.

Still, having the goal in mind wasn't the same as having a detailed design. And so, having no other option, I happily abused the very slow-down effect on time created by this green crystal, even if it came at the cost of flattening the worth of our intimacy.

'Should I start with the books, or…?' Thinking to myself, I ventured into the more cramped part of the workshop, only to stop at the crossroads between the area filled with bookshelves and the warehousing area holding all the precious and ordinary items Chihiro and Leila supplied.

"No, that doesn't make sense," I muttered to myself, only to turn away from the books and move over to the supply areas. "What's the point of learning designs of old, when I'm looking forward to making something new? And let's not bring up the fact that those designs, even if I wanted to copy them, might require resources that we simply don't have here."

Talking to myself to reason out this choice, I gulped my saliva before stepping toward the nearest of the boxes.

With the steep price of prolonging the time-stop within the place, I didn't really feel like wasting time doing research. Anything that wasn't strictly related to molding stuff out of its former shape and giving it a new form and actual purpose felt like a huge waste of the precious time.

Yet, even if it had been quite a while since I'd last crafted something, I could still remember the reality—without the proper research or an idea, the best thing I could craft would be the replicas, or maybe upgraded versions of the prototypes that I'd constructed in the past.

"That by itself wouldn't be that bad of an idea, but…"

I shook my head before clearing my thoughts as I focused on the small, palm-sized booklet hanging on a silvery string from the side of the inventory crate.

'For that to happen, I need to find out which designs I can actually upgrade by using higher-grade items. Figuring out how to incorporate them into designs is already the next step.'

"What are you up to?"

Right as I finally managed to clear my thoughts and reach out for the strange book hanging off the side of the crate, Claire appeared from behind my back, only to lean in over my hand, her eyes darting to the booklet in my hand.

"Trying to figure out what is what," I explained as I opened up the manual-like piece and scanned its first few pages in a matter of seconds.

'Storage stones, huh?' I thought, compiling several lines of text and then some specification tables into the simple result.

"Would you like me to help?" Claire asked while cutely leaning her head over her shoulder, all the while bowing forward and down while looking up with hints of excited attachment flashing in her eyes.

Seeing her face, all happy over something as simple as merely joining me in the activity I often allowed to consume me, how could I ever imagine refusing?

"Sure," I smiled back. "Could you go around, quickly reading through those manuals," I raised the booklet up to make sure we were on the same page, "and just compile in a few words what the items within those crates are?"

I requested before turning my eyes back to the crate, letting go of the booklet and then grabbing the edge of its nailed-shut wooden top, only to pry it open with a single pull of my fingers.

"Oh, and once you are done, could you pick up one item out of the crate, leave it half-open, and then arrange said items in order on some table?"

"Keeping the boxes open I understand, this way we won't go to the same crate twice, but arranging them out?" she asked, leaning her head over her other shoulder before pushing a stray strand of her fluffy, brown hair out of her face. "What do you need that for?"

"The human mind operates in weird ways," I claimed, only to pick up the storage stone out of the crate and then turn around, taking a second to locate an empty machining table before taking the short trip and leaving the stone on its top. "Sometimes, seeing something, I can get ideas I wouldn't otherwise."

"Sure thing," Claire smiled, only to grab onto my arm, climb up on her tiptoes, and then sneak a kiss upon my cheek, retreating with a huge grin on her mouth.

"What?" she then asked as I gave her a puzzled stare. "We've already kissed, so it's not like I'm wasting a potential escalation, am I?"

Hearing this sort of logical yet also cheeky explanation, I couldn't help but smile myself.

"That's surely a point for you," I admitted before shaking my head a bit while already moving over to the next crate. "On that point, do you have any clue how long this time-stop will work?"

Claire squinted her eyes as she focused for a moment, either going back to how she felt when this strange magic applied or maybe sensing the effects it currently had on the spiritual energy within the workshop?

'If only we could substitute that excitement into something else while somehow turning that massive stone into but a small fraction of its current size…' I thought, my eyes turning over to the massive, green crystal, only for me to then freeze. 'Wait, that's one hell of an interesting point to consider,' I thought, making a mental note of a potential discovery. 'For now, though…'

Turning my eyes back to the huge array of crates of all types, shapes, and sizes, I couldn't help but sigh my worries away.

'This really is going to be…'

"I can't say for sure, but I think somewhere within the ballpark of four, maybe five hours?" Claire claimed, stopping my train of thought for a moment.

Yet, now that she came up with an answer, my feeling… No, the logic behind my realization only reinforced itself, now supported by numbers—a detail much more concrete than just the feelings I'd operated on before.

"Yeah, it seems I was right," I muttered, only to shake my head and sigh out yet again.
Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire

"Right about what?" Curious, Claire leaned in with an increasingly happy look on her smile.

Somehow, she seemed to be perfectly happy, perfectly content with herself as long as she could just… participate in whatever I was doing.

'A gem of a woman, isn't she?' I thought, staring at the girl with awe. 'Which makes me wonder again, just how many nations did I save in my past life from extinction to end up with her in this life?'

I shook my head, chasing those useless and ultimately pointless thoughts away.

"This is going to be the longest night of our lives, it seems," I finished my earlier thought, only to then smirk a little as I turned my attention back to the girl and leaned in to sneak a kiss on Claire's cheek. "Which isn't to say, we aren't going to enjoy every last second of it!"