The worm’s tunnel led to an open, underground cavern about the size of a football stadium. Inside the cavern, I could see and sense traces of D-rank ores buried in the floor, ceiling, and walls.

Samantha said.

I felt a rush of excitement at the thought of C-rank metals, but then Samantha quashed it. she said, immediately.

Petra did mention that he was going a bit stir-crazy. But can I really trust him not to steal what he finds?

Samantha said, dryly.

Oh, right. But what about the loot here? With my Luck, I can increase the loot significantly.

Samantha responded.

I spent the afternoon making D-rank Mana Shields. The metal base was Cerium. Abelino sold me the material, already fashioned the way I requested—a breastplate, with a groove in the middle a bit smaller than a fist.

The core of the D-rank Personal Mana Shield was the Compressed Mana Crystal, which slotted easily into the groove that Abelino’s blacksmiths left in the metal.

In addition to the breastplate version of the Personal Mana Shields, Samantha showed me how to make a smaller version.

Instead of a breastplate, this came as a belt, which had a pouch built in which was bigger on the inside, using the same rune patterns as an Interdimensional Pouch.

The belt had two benefits—it didn’t require that the watermelon-sized Mana Crystal be compressed, and it wouldn’t weigh me down the same way as a breastplate would, since the contents of the Interdimensional Pouch were weightless, due to the Rune Patterns.

As I was working on Rune Patterns, Samantha was double-tasking, giving me feedback on my work while reforming the missing runes on my right arm, in order to recreate the Mana Cannon on my arm.

Ethan was happily exploring the town I had created in South America. When he saw that I hadn’t named it yet, he insisted that I call it Barith Town, and I had eventually agreed.

Under Petra and Uman’s command, the mines around Nova City were being milked for all they were worth.

While Mana Beads were abundant, there were also several caverns that allowed easy access to Mana Shards.

Petra kept bugging me about the Belian Brambles and the Aether vent underneath it. It was a huge waste of space and resources, but I had no idea what to do about it.

The Belian Brambles had evolved to D-rank, thanks to the Aether vent, and trimming them was a continuous, exhausting endeavor. They seemed to almost take pleasure in bending away and then snapping back at anyone who tried to harm them.

If only it were so easy as building a factory on top of the vent to convert the Aether into a more useable form of energy, like mana crystals and so on.

But the thing about Aether was that it was harder to control. It was esoteric, and even the Schema couldn’t control it directly.

Instead, with Abelino’s permission, I had collected a seed from the Transcendent Taproot, as well as numerous seeds and living plants from the various valuable herbs we had found in the Rainforest.

According to Samantha, transplanting and growing D-rank plants was supposed to be extremely tricky, requiring a lot of skill and in many cases even a Gardener’s profession.

But all these problems can easily be solved with an Aether Vent. By absorbing this pure life force, the plants would be able to thrive even in the dark, sun-less environment that was Nova City. Their only threat would be competition between different plants.

It was disconcerting, knowing everything that was going on around me, but not actually doing the things myself.

As I made my D-rank Mana Shields, someone else was currently chopping down the Belian Brambles—or burning down, judging by the pillars of smoke I could see out my window.

At the same time, Ryker was preparing all the towns along the coast of California to be attacked by sea monsters, and Uman was organizing a search of Freedom City’s surroundings in order to find anything remotely valuable.

What should I do with the Treasury Token? I asked, as I continued working on another breastplate. I know you’ve mentioned that I will need a core that will increase my Soul Magic Affinity to C-rank. Should I buy one of those?

Samantha said, immediately.

But if I go to the Infinite Tower now, what if I miss the attack?

Samantha reassured me.

If the Infinite Tower is so important, should I wait until my skills have all reset?

What else should I know about the tower? I asked.

Well, you know my abilities. How should I approach it?

I couldn’t help but feel excited about the way I could cheat my way to victory with the Infinite Tower. So, do you think I can get an A-rank item, like Dawnbreaker?

Samantha snorted.