Sora went down to the kitchen, reheated the food, and then carried a tray of it up to the second floor.
"Kei, it’s time to eat."
She set down a bowl of hot rice, several side dishes, and a small bowl of soup on the table before realizing Kei had barely heard her. He was hunched over his desk, his gaze fixed intently on a small silver frame placed in front of him.
In Kei’s hand was a thin engraving knife. The tip of the blade traced slowly across the metal surface, leaving behind lines so fine they were nearly invisible without close inspection. The mana patterns linked together, interweaving into a complex structure.
Sora stood beside him, watching for a moment. She had a feeling she had seen this style somewhere before.
"What are you doing? Making jewelry?"
Kei didn’t lift his head.
"I’m engraving mana patterns, not just making jewelry."
"I can see that." Sora rested her hands on the desk, leaning in curiously. "I mean, what are you engraving on?"
Kei paused the knife. He looked at the silver frame in his hand, then slowly pulled out an old wooden box from beside him.
The box was opened, revealing a damaged ring inside.
The silver band of the ring was cracked in several places, and the spatial gem mounted on top had a chipped corner. Even so, the remaining mana patterns still emitted a faint glow, like a flame about to die but clinging to its last shred of warmth.
Sora’s eyes widened immediately.
"This is..."
"A broken space ring."
"Oh!"
She leaned in closer, her expression instantly becoming excited. Kim Sora had never been exposed to the hunter’s world before coming to Dong-San City, so things belonging to that world were still very unfamiliar to her.
"So you’re trying to make a space ring? I’ve always been curious about them, it feels like playing an MMORPG."
"Not exactly. I can’t make a space ring yet."
Kei set down the engraving knife, his voice much calmer than before.
"I’m trying to repair it."
"Repair a broken space ring?" Sora’s mouth hung open in astonishment.
Kei clicked his tongue and nodded.
"Yeah."
Sora looked at the ring, then at the silver frame in Kei’s hand. She didn’t understand anything about mana patterns or item crafting, but just looking at the dense engravings on the silver frame was enough to know this was no simple task.
Simply memorizing these patterns was already a huge challenge to one’s memory. Indeed, these kinds of things could only be done by those who had awakened special skills and abilities.
Sora swallowed and asked hesitantly:
"Can it actually be fixed?"
"Not sure yet, I’m still figuring it out. I only awakened the Craftsman skill not too long ago."
Kei glanced down at his hand. Since picking up the engraving knife, he had nicked his fingers countless times. His dexterity stat was only F+, which didn’t help much. Kei could only feel that his fingers seemed slightly more nimble than before.
"I’m just trying."
He said it as if he didn’t have high hopes for the outcome. But the fingers holding the engraving knife were very careful, and every single stroke showed no intention of being careless.
Sora pulled a chair over and sat down beside him, watching Kei’s nimble fingers closely.
"So how do you plan to fix it?"
Kei was silent for a moment, then explained:
"I got the principle from Thunder. He lent me a book called ’Craftsman Beginner,’ for a fee, of course."
"Thunder? That A-rank blacksmith?"
Sora let out an exclamation. She had an impression of the blacksmith who sold goods wholesale to their small shop. Two days ago, she had gone to the market at the address Kei gave her to stock up on goods and had met Thunder.
Kei nodded.
"First, I need to re-engrave the mana patterns onto a new silver frame. The old patterns are already damaged, and if I keep the old, damaged frame, I can’t stabilize the space inside the ring."
He pointed at the half-engraved silver frame in front of him.
"Then, I’ll set a new spatial gem into the frame.""Then add a fragment of the old, broken stone onto the new silver frame."
Sora frowned.
"Why do you have to use a piece of the broken old stone?"
"Because the remaining space inside it hasn’t completely disappeared yet."
Kei picked up a small shard and placed it beside the silver frame. The shard was only as big as a fraction of a fingernail, with web-like cracks still visible on its surface.
"It’s damaged, but the energy inside hasn’t fully died out. If we discard the entire broken stone, this ring will lose the original space that the hunter has been using to store belongings. I need to preserve that link."
Sora listened intently.
"And then?"
"Use control energy to make the space of the new stone devour the damaged space of the old one."
Kei said it as naturally as if it were a simple step. Though Kei had never tried it, using energy to make spaces devour each other felt like using magic to do it, so Kei thought it wouldn’t be too difficult for him.
Sora looked again at the old shard in his hand.
"Devour?"
"Not devouring in the usual sense."
Kei hesitated slightly, trying to find a clearer way to explain.
"The new space will envelop the old one, then replace it. If it works, the ring will regain its storage ability. If it fails..."
"What then?"
"The space inside will collapse, and all the belongings the hunter stored in the ring will be lost completely."
Sora fell silent.
"Is it dangerous? You won’t get hurt, right?"
Just hearing about the space collapsing made Kim Sora so scared that goosebumps spread all over her body. Kei was only an F-rank awakener, and Sora was afraid he might end up in danger while doing this.
Kim Sora was just an ordinary person, she couldn’t save him.