The system-based crafting system was no less infuriating now than it had been before. Recipes didn’t show up at all unless you’d either crafted them in the past, or had all the prerequisites on hand. No hints for how to unlock them, no hints for which tree led to which outcomes, only a flat list of what you could do with what you had.

And, of course, the prerequisites didn’t interface with his storage containers, so he needed to actively withdraw and hold the various crafting items in various combinations to try and figure out what could be done with them.

Or, in Levi’s case, dump the entirety of his crafting supplies out in his lap and scan through the list that was generated from that.

He’d accumulated an impressive pile, actually, now that he pulled everything out of storage. A variety of ores and plants and monster parts, heavy on Destruction-types but with a good variety from the rest. Power stones, relatively useless at higher levels, but there were a few self-powered one-time-use items he could make with them. Elemental tokens. Plenty of those, if sparse on some of the exotic elements he’d likely need.

Of course, the list didn’t include things you hadn’t reached the correct unlocks for either, so you couldn’t even say ‘ah, I have what I need to craft a masterwork greatsword’ unless you’d already gone through the whole greatsword recipe progression. And, knowing the system, probably a half-dozen other recipe trees that had nothing to do with greatswords.

For the next several hours while waiting for Revive to finish its cooldown, Levi crafted a wide variety of items. He already had an assortment of tools from his earlier crafting attempts, but several of the more specialized ones had other prerequisites outside of the crafting-tool crafting branch.

In order to move beyond basic upgrades on armor and weapons, he needed first to reach the appropriate tools.

At least it was better than mundane crafting in that respect. Where a blacksmith or glassblower would need a large forge to get the kind of heat necessary, Fire tokens with proper Control amplification could be used as a complete substitute. Whether the metal needed to be slowly or rapidly heated, held at temperature, cooled slowly or quickly, the system-guided alternatives were substantially more portable and flexible.

He had the basic starting branches of herbology and alchemy, since everyone needed to know how to make a quick restorative in an emergency, but little beyond that. The later herbology levels were infamously difficult to perform, requiring time and materials in impossible quantities for a humanity on the run.

Levi pulled out his Dungeon Seed and fed it the majority of his free mana, as he’d been doing habitually when not about to enter combat. He had high hopes for it, either as a training facility or fortress, depending on whether it came out friendly or hostile. After days of everyone donating their mana to it every few hours, they were getting close to when it’d be ready for another element.

Unbound Dungeon Seed (Unique)

The soul of an unborn dungeon

Saturation: 57,120/60,000

Please provide mana to saturate your Dungeon Seed

Alignment: Control, Destruction, Ice, Beast

Progress to deployment: 1/2

The way the mana requirements kept jumping was a concern. If the pattern held, more than doubling each time, it would require close to five million mana to fully saturate by the time they reached the ninth element. Even if everyone in their team did nothing else but provide mana to it, that would take months to accumulate.

“A shame minions can’t contribute mana," Levi mused, not expecting a reply.

Centi tapped his shoulder.

“What, you can? But last time we tried—”

Centi shook his head and gestured four of his bladed legs at his own chest, then at the hovering tag over Levi’s head.

“I don’t…”

Centi tapped his legs on the floor, sparkling aggressively, and poked Levi’s nametag more forcefully.

Skarm popped up on the giant centipede’s head and began waving his arms excitedly.

“I already tried everything I could think of, I don’t know how to get to Centi’s class selection. It doesn’t have a convenient button like human classes do.”

But the suggestion did give him pause. “Are you saying that monsters with classes are allowed to donate mana?” It seemed a bit of a stretch, but his minions often had instincts about things that Levi’s own knowledge couldn’t explain. He glanced over his minion sheet at the mana regens. “Assuming you’re right, that means I should prioritize getting a class for Lash and Bladefin. That’d really increase the charging rate.”

Lash’s 27-per-minute was the best of Levi’s core minion team, while Bladefin’s 55-per-minute put him in the far forefront of the newer acquisitions.

Levi did out the calculations, then double checked to verify he wasn’t mistaken. “That’d add over a hundred thousand a day, just with the two of them.”

Couldn’t get too excited yet. For all he knew, there was some massive insane chain of coincidences required before a minion could gain a class.

Skarm squeaked loudly, jumping off Centi’s head and clinging to Levi’s shoulder. He grabbed Levi’s arm with one hand, trying to haul it around.

“What are you—”

Centi bowed his head just in time that Levi’s hand came down on the centipede’s forehead. Centi’s dark grey eyes stared into his own.

“What is it?”

Centi’s head nudged firmly against Levi’s hand.

Skarm hopped back across to Centi’s head, poking a finger through the centipede’s level tag.

Centi: Level 11+

(Stone Centipede)

Health 100%

“He’s level 11 now, yes.”

Levi opened the minion screen to confirm, then navigated to Centi’s personal stat page. Everything looked exactly as he’d expect. The existing abilities remained, the single stat point to spend. Levi dropped it into Psyche, in case they were able to get this working.

Skarm shook his head and hopped up and down, squeaking urgently.

Levi closed the panel. “I don’t know what more you want from me.” He went to drop his hand from Centi’s head, but the centipede pushed aggressively forward until Levi was backed up against the wall. He fought back the reflexive instinct to whip out his sword, reaching up to resume the contact.

Skarm pointed at Centi’s hovering level tag. He waved his hands around it, outlining it. He jabbed a finger through it. Then glowered at Levi as though he were being intentionally obtuse.

“You know I can only figure out what you’re trying to say half the time.”

Skarm sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and made wiggly motions with his hands through the air between himself and Centi’s level tag.

“Oh, why didn’t you say so.” Levi closed his eyes and concentrated on Centi’s level tag. His mind kept trying to slip back to the tried patterns of summoning the minion screen, but now he had an idea of what he was supposed to do. He remained intently focused, feeling the centipede’s slow movement.

Making someone’s level tag visible required one type of mental effort, but was ultimately simple concentration. Whatever he was doing now was fumbling in the dark.

Skarm hummed discordantly in the background. Levi resisted the urge to snap orders for silence, barely.

He began running through formulas and colors, in case one of them would be the key to… whatever this was.

Thoughts slid into place in unfamiliar sequence, sharp intent.

Grey. Stone. Weight.

A circle that is at the same time a square.

Patience as time passes. The shift of gravel and the fall of a mountain.

Levi blinked, staring at Centi. “Was that you?”

Centi nodded, pressing his forehead against Levi’s hand in reminder.

“Right. My turn.”

He replayed the progression of concepts as Centi had shared, as Skarm continued to squeak his dissonant song. Unconsciously, Levi’s cycle through the sequence began to fit in time to the music. Then Skarm sped up, and so did Levi.

Concepts flicked one to the next, then began to overlap. Finally, with a last triumphant screech from Skarm, Levi for a single moment held all six thoughts fully in his mind at the same instant.

Something clicked into place. A button appeared on Centi’s nametag.

Centi: Level 11+

CLASS PENDING

AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED

(Stone Centipede)

Health 100%

"Well. That's new."