After demonstrating his new self revolving energy talent in action, meaning having 2 creepy old men touching his back while he was mobilizing his energy to infuse a machine, but while he was doing that, it continued cycling, and when even a small part of it was expended, it regenerated, his 2 mentors departed without saying anything.

They hadn’t been recalled just to say hello, they had a testimony to give to Eland. One to prove that everything Aven had told before was true.

Left alone if he forgot about his silent escort who kept a lazy eye on him, Aven continued infusing one of the massive integrated production lines with as much care as he could until it wouldn’t accept more energy.

Once he reached that stage, he pulled his hand and brought up his status as he began heading for another integrated production line to infuse.

Aven Amias

Faction: Nation of Eland Military

Energy Grade: 2

Energy Cultivation: 106/1 000

Energy Affinity: Tech

Physical Talents: None

Energy Talents: Basic Tech Energy Affinity, Basic Energy Sense, Basic Natural Energy Growth, Basic Self Revolving Energy

Spiritual Talents: Inquisitive Spirit, Intermediate Knowledge Integration

Universal Talents: Unawakened Fairy Ancestry

“What a… Cheat,” shaking his head in dismay at how his energy cultivation had increased by 3 points in only a single day of effort, he relativized it by reminding himself that even if he maintained this rhythm, it would still take him more than a year to reach grade 3.

It wasn’t 300 days as there was a point from which one of the energy cultivation trinity properties would stop being effective after all.

Yet, even by relativizing, he remained perplexed in regards to how everything had turned out.

Just doing a slow and methodical twirl to look all around this massive hall was enough for him to know that his current treatment wasn’t the treatment that should be given to someone you were wary of.

“It’s the treatment a genius should receive…” He whispered the undeniable truth, “Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with anything, I could even argue that what’s happening was bound to happen someday. I just accelerated that outcome by discovering a new major way of exploiting my own innate ability.”

Refocusing as he reached the console of the next integrated production line, he checked its state, ran a quick diagnostic, brought up its diagram to understand how it worked in detail, and started infusing his energy.

“It’s a task above my level, and it's a complete waste for me to have this whole building hosting these dozens of advanced integrated production lines just for myself… I know that. Yes, I know,” in a neutral tone, he established once more the truth as seen from his point of view.

The discrepancy of the situation was absolutely not lost on Aven.

He knew that all the machines he was infusing were Commander-level machines. They could also be called production tech super-level machines, or grade 3 machines depending on his mood, but that didn’t change what they were.

The majority were probably even designed and built by him, Rival, or both, to work in synergy with their grade 3 energy specialization: Undivided infusion for Commander, and massive infusion for Rival.

“And I also know…” Looking up at the gigantic machine as his massive knowledge was mobilized to be infused with his energy, he started remembering without finishing what he wanted to say… How production tech super-minded these integrated production lines were.

They were not designed for tech supers without an appropriate energy specialization to easily use, they were the result of only decades-old pioneering into how to push tech-production to an apex never seen before after all.

And it was a pioneering so successful that eventually, it led to the birth of Commander and Rival, who both individually saw the infinite potential of this new tech-production-defining technology concept.

The way such integrated production lines worked was relatively simple at the end of the day: Combine all the steps of a whole production line into a single connected whole, and infuse tech energy containing all the knowledge needed to make all its steps run better at once.

Vulgarized, doing it that way, not only was the combined energy cost and upkeep greatly reduced compared to when all the steps were split into individual machines, but the theoretical maximum efficiency of the infused energy also increased so dramatically due to the massively increased knowledge base complexity needed to work on every little detail…

That there was nothing to compare it with.

And dozens, 28, of such advanced integrated production lines, had been given to Aven to train his knowledge application skill with. Probably to expend his energy as well when he thought about it.

“Yeah~” He looked down, having finished his short contemplation, “In the end, I really have nothing to complain about. Why would I complain about being thrown in a gigantic hall full of advanced machines able to both optimize my knowledge application skill practice and get me an outlet to expend my limitless energy? There’s no downside. Not even on my energy cultivation speed.”

His energy cultivation could be increased by intense energy use, he had learned about that fact back at EMATE, and all his increases in cultivation prior to starting his investment had also originated from this phenomenon.

So, in the end, he couldn’t find a single reasonable con to the situation, not even the fact that what he was doing was done at the expense of the duration of his trinity… Which he could buy an infinite amount of, as long as he had a way to contribute to the military.

At this level, it just wasn’t a positive feedback loop anymore.

It was something that no one could find a term to describe. Except maybe exponential growth.

It was a scenario he was sure no one had ever got to live through.

And the one actually living through it was… A few months old super with ambition reaching the same height as his unnamable loop.

…

A whole day quickly passed without Aven being bothered by anyone, and while he had yet to fully reform his schedule to take into account his new condition, it hadn’t stopped him from doing his best and contribute his energy like never before.

And when he claimed his volunteering pay for the day, it perfectly reflected that fact.

Faction Contribution Quest: Nation of Eland Military

Volunteering: Contribute to the stability of your faction without asking for anything in return. The more time spent and the harder the tasks, the greater the contribution.

Reward: 662 400 FCP

“That’s just crazy…” Tiredly making this most simple observation, he simply didn’t know what else to say. His next 3 days of trinity cultivation package had been secured just like that.

Rubbing his eyes, he realized that maybe the excitement of the day had pushed him to not sleep as much as he should have. Now he was regretting it as it was hitting him hard.

His only relief was that he had already decided to sleep as much as he wanted, and that “tomorrow”, he would plan his new life.

Before going to sleep, however, he redeemed an additional trinity.

Greater Vow Grade 2 Energy Cultivation Base Increase Serum (Claim?)

Written Vow Grade 2 Energy Cultivation Cycle Sustaining Serum (Claim?)

Third Harmony Grade 2 Energy Cultivation Cycle Boosting Serum (Claim?)

The ensuing light and color show was still as mesmerizing, but once the 3 serums had materialized, it only took him a minute to drink them all, lay on his new unfamiliar bed, and create a pulse of psy energy to push him to sleep in an instant.

…

Waking up naturally the next day, Aven felt as if the whole sleep debt he had created from the moment he had started his all-in energy contribution plan had been drastically reduced.

Picking his phone, he was shocked to see that more than 12 hours had passed from the moment he went to sleep, “So much FCP lost… Is it strange that I don’t regret it at all?”

Leisurely standing up from his bed, he entered the unfamiliar living room and turned on the TV there, playing something random just to create background noise.

“Oh, that’s right~” Realizing something, he opened his faction contribution shop and claimed a trinity.

Greater Vow Grade 2 Energy Cultivation Base Increase Serum (Claim?)

Written Vow Grade 2 Energy Cultivation Cycle Sustaining Serum (Claim?)

Third Harmony Grade 2 Energy Cultivation Cycle Boosting Serum (Claim?)

As the 3 flasks started materializing, he chose one of the premade meals in the fridge and put it in the microwave. When everything was ready, he took everything and settled down before the TV.

He wanted to spend some quality morning time, so he wasn’t in a hurry to leave this makeshift home.

Half an hour later, he passed through a door and found himself in a lifeless corridor. Following it for half a minute, he reached the production area where a few dozens of integrated production lines were running at a low intensity, waiting for a grade 3 production tech super with an adequate energy specialization to infuse them.

“Let’s infuse a few, then I’ll switch to schedule revision,” telling himself what he planned to do, he headed for one of the integrated production lines he had already infused before he decided to go to sleep, so he somewhat knew his way around it.

Finding a balance between carefully mobilizing his knowledge to apply it and wildly spending his energy because he had more than enough anyway, he went through 6 integrated units in half an hour and decided to call it done.

Navigating through the production hall, he found a meeting room he had scouted with a glance yesterday and entered it.

Finding all the amenities he could expect from such a meeting room, he turned on neutral background music, brought a pile of blank papers to the table, added some pens of different colors to it, and started to revise his schedule.

“So~ What’s the best way to get around this new unexpected situation in the most optimized and healthy way?” Mumbling, Aven started writing one constraint he couldn’t ignore, “Sleep. Either I plan my schedule around it, or I start investing in ways drastically to reduce it.”

Jotting “tireless spirit spiritual talent” and “inexhaustible body physical talent” next to each other, he briefly opened his shop to see their price, “810 000 and 1 630 000, so… 2 440 000 FCP in total. That’s a bit less than a week of volunteering at full, unhealthy power.”

“And I need to confirm their effect anyway, no reason to remain inconspicuous at this point, right?” Sarcastically making a point, he circled those 2 talents and moved on to the next matter, “I think going back to a full sleep cycle per day is for the best… This way I don't have to care about waking up or going to sleep.”

Creating a 48 hours cycle and 28 squares below it, the number of integrated production lines in this building he had been given, he started trying different distributions to see in what world he would end up with nowhere to spend his energy while awake.

“5 minutes… So 135 minutes by the time I return to the first one… But for it to hold more than 2 hours… Never happening anytime soon? And between infusing efficient energy or wild energy… I don’t even have to consider the wild option, too wasteful no matter how I see it…” Juggling with different times, options, and consequences, Aven struggled for more than an hour before finally finding a compromise.

“Hahaha~ Well, in the end it’s just: Do your best, because no matter how you do it, you can’t do everything at the same time unless you suddenly become a grade 3 production tech super,” finding the 1-hour conclusion funny in itself, he took all the blank pages that turned into not-blank ones and arranged them all in an orderly pile before leaving the room with a smile.

And ending up face to face with… A small, human-like creature with wings bigger than its body, wearing a correspondingly small white military uniform.

“Finally,” it nodded after seeing him exit and close the door behind him, then it took one of the boxes larger than its body that was floating in the air beside it, and began opening it.

“A fairy…” Agape, Aven could say nothing else but state the obvious. The absurd obvious.

Clearly uncaring about his shocked state at witnessing a fairy for the first time in reality, the fairy finished opening his box, and a strange iridescent rainbow crystal flew out of it.

Looking around, the fairy found his silent escort and threw the crystal at him with a stern warning, “Don’t swallow.”

Then it turned back towards Aven, and with the same stern tone, ordered him, “You reported a fairy ancestry, right? Check your catalog.”

“Yes,” not even doing a military salute, the shocked young man opened his faction contribution shop.

Faction Contribution Shop: Nation of Eland Military

Faction Authority: Captain

Faction Contribution Points: 468 300

…

Perfected Evolution Elixir (670 000 FCP): An elixir refined with the topmost human and super biology knowledge available. Gives the drinker a deep and forceful DNA wash, allowing previously hidden physical talents to emerge. Only works one time and is not guaranteed to make a talent manifest itself.

Energy Growth Wonder Flower (780 000 FCP): A flower only found in nature in extremely luxuriant environments with growth conditions not yet understood. Awaken any life that eats it while also giving it the natural energy growth energy talent.

Tireless Apple (810 000 FCP): An apple that grows every decade from a tireless tree in good condition. Gives the eater the tireless spirit spiritual talent, a talent that can grow the more it is used.

Crafter’s Delight Drop (940 000 FCP): A spiritual substance only master craftsmen with a rare universal talent can produce. Due to the absence of signs related to having such a talent, and the spiritual substance quickly dissipating once exposed to the air, most of the stock relied on happenstance to be made. Gives the consumer the creative instinct universal talent.

…

Regeneration Leaf (1 370 000 FCP): A leaf from the legendary Athal Tree, a jealously guarded tree by beasts and humans alike. Gives the consumer the regenerating body physical talent.

Self Revolving Energy Mutation Elixir (1 460 000 FCP): An elixir created through an ancient rainbow fairy formula with most of its ingredients being extremely difficult to gather. Gives the self revolving energy energy talent to anyone consuming it.

Inexhaustible Body Mutation Serum (1 630 000 FCP): A serum made from both rare beasts and humans who had this physical talent before dying. Gives the consumer the inexhaustible body physical talent.

Energy Furnace Constitution Mutation Elixir (1 850 000 FCP): An elixir made through an extremely difficult process that cannot be fully controlled due to the need to add mixed-origin blood and organs from life already having such a constitution. Gives the consumer the energy furnace cells physical talent.

Armored Spirit Treasure Pill (1 900 000 FCP): A pill produced by the Eternal Vow Kingdom to give to its highest authority. Initially designed to help protect the spirit, it ended up accomplishing much more than that with the help it can provide to psy supers. Gives the consumer the armored spirit spiritual talent.

Fairy Crystal (189 000 000 FCP): A crystal formed when a fairy dies. This exotic is the purified crystallized form of a fairy energy origin and can help people with traces of fairy bloodline or ancestry to awaken as a violet fairy. Can also alternatively refine their awakened fairy bloodline up to blue grade.

“Fairy crystal, a crystal formed when a fairy dies,” he started retelling exactly what he was seeing, becoming numb to the shock of the situation, “This exotic is the purified crystallized form of a fairy energy origin and can help people with traces of fairy bloodline or ancestry to awaken as a violet fairy. Can also alternatively refine their awakened fairy bloodline up to blue grade…”

“Perfect,” the fairy nodded, then wrenched the crystal it had given his silent escort back with energy telekinesis, “Remember its price, and the day you gather enough to materialize one, contact the royal agency.”

Sealing the iridescent rainbow fairy crystal back in its box with more energy telekinesis, the fairy then proceeded to fly away with dozens of floating boxes accompanying it in its wake.

Also left in its wake was a silent escort looking in adoration at the leaving fairy and a repeatedly blinking Aven, questioning what just happened, followed by extreme relief when he saw Commander and Rival pass through the door the fairy had just left through.

“So?” Commander asked with the same caring elderly smile as ever, “What does it feel like to see a member of the royal family?”

“I think his identity doesn’t matter as much as the fact that he’s… You know? A fairy! He’s a freaking fairy! I’ve only seen them in videos before!” Recovering in a few seconds his sensation, the leftover feelings from having seen a fairy for the first time finally showed themselves.

“Hehe~ They’re the pride of Eland, so of course they need to be impactful,” he closed the subject with a small nugget of wisdom, “Anyway, it surprisingly turns out we didn’t conspire with you to take over Eland, and while they found it strange that you earned our investment so soon after encountering us, they didn’t find any psy manipulation at play. So in the end, you just earned us a few days of unexpected break for-”

“A few days lost down the drain, all my research had been moved to the other side. Same for him,” Rival cut in sharply, reminding Aven of the mistake he had committed by being so passive.

“Yeah… Sorry, for all it matters,” not trying to find an excuse, Aven simply apologized, a bit embarrassed at the situation he had caused.

“If you don’t see any problems, then for the next few days we can use the chance to guide you a bit more on using integrated production lines,” playing the role of the good cop to the perfection, Commander proposed something he obviously would never say no to, “You came in contact with them too early, but at least it works your knowledge application skill, right?”

“That’s for sure. And if you really have some time to help me, then I’m more than happy to accept,” letting through a bit of the difficulty he was facing working with such high-level machines, he looked at his 2 mentors in a new light.

It was time for them to really act their role as mentors, even if they had never agreed to become one.