[Basic Weapon Construction] covers the fundamentals of crafting firearms and melee weapons.
It cuts down the assembly steps needed to build basic armaments, boosts production efficiency, and makes every stage of the process more precise and less material-intensive.
[Modular Engineering ]is the core foundation of the Armaments branch.
It encompasses the design principles and assembly logic of modular components.
A mechanical device’s base performance comes down to its structural design, and solid modular engineering can get wildly different results out of the exact same materials.
It is also a required prerequisite for all higher-tier armor modifications.
Once he finished both books, several new notifications popped up on his system panel.
[You have mastered five foundational skills in the Modifications branch]
[You have learned new skill: Material Purification]
[You have learned new skill: Power Overload]
[You have obtained blueprint: Tactical Armor – Ranger]
Keran stared at the lines of text, a faint spark of interest in his eyes.
Material Purification let him run basic refinement processes on raw materials, raising their grade and performance ceiling.
It sounded unremarkable on paper, but Keran knew better.
Skills like this were the raw form of core abilities.
They only got more valuable the further you took them.
Refined materials saw qualitative leaps in strength, energy conduction efficiency, and machining tolerance.
Two identical gray-grade alloy plates, one refined and one raw, would produce armor plating with nearly double the impact resistance.
Power Overload was an active skill.
It consumed energy to force a piece of mechanical equipment’s output up by thirty to fifty percent for a short window, at the cost of heavy durability loss.
It was a burst tool, one use at a time, but it could save your life in a pinch.
Keran flexed the power arm on his right arm.
If he’d had this skill when he fought the bald brute yesterday, that energy blast would have packed at least twice the punch.
Finally, an active combat skill.
Tactical Armor: Ranger was a full blueprint for a set of modular light tactical armor.
It included full-body basic protection modules, was compatible with power drive hookups, and let the user swap module configurations to fit different combat needs.
The blueprint itself was entry-level, but it had enormous modification potential.
Defense-focused, assault focused, long-range support.
The build path was entirely up to what mods and upgrades he layered onto it later.
Keran ran through the full blueprint in his head and started mentally drafting a materials list.
He did not have enough parts on hand to build a full set, but he could start with the most critical piece.
He already had a first-generation power arm for his right arm.
Next, he could replace the scrap materials with refined lightweight alloy and reroute the energy conduction channels.
That alone would cut power waste by at least twenty percent.
The main chest plate was next on his priority list.
It would take a larger sheet of alloy, plus a small power drive core.
He could not afford one of those yet.
He would save up his earnings from Grey-jaw first.
With a clear plan in mind, he dug out the parts he’d brought back from the scrap yard and set to work at the bench.
A few bent energy conduits, two alloy plating scraps with chipped edges but intact main bodies, and a set of salvaged micro heat sinks.
It would be enough to make do.
Keran picked up his precision welding torch and leaned in to work.
His movements were steady, no wasted motion.
Before he laid down every weld, he ran a finger lightly along the joint first, checking the fit.
Ten minutes later, he finished rerouting the energy channels in his right power arm.
Output stability was noticeably improved, and charge time was cut by nearly a third.
Gareth wandered over, looking curious.
“You’ve been zoning out over there ever since you sat down. What’re you messing with?”
Keran glanced sidelong at him. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“You know you look ridiculous loitering around the workshop in that getup, right?”
Gareth looked down at his baggy sweatpants, shook his metal flask, and burped.
He saw absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Lira set her welding torch down hard.
Her face was flushed from the heat, and she rolled her eyes behind her safety goggles.
“Working hours. Loiterers can see themselves out.”
“Brat,” Gareth muttered.
He took another swig and sauntered outside, off to enjoy his nice, lazy day.
“Hey. You guys fix stuff around here?”
No sooner had Gareth left than a customer walked in.
A middle-aged man in plain clothes, but there was something off about his bearing.
Keran glanced at him.
The man was looking right back.
Their eyes met for a split second, then the man looked away.
Keran’s expression didn’t change, but he lowered his gaze.
The man’s steps were steady and almost silent.
He carried that practiced, restrained professionalism you only got from a certain line of work.
Eight out of ten chance this was DSD.
An agent sent to feel him out.
Lira stepped forward with a polite smile.
“Hello. What can we do for you?”
“My car broke down. It’s parked just around the corner.” The man spoke, but his eyes drifted past Lira, landing straight on Keran.
“Sure thing. I’ll take a look.” Lira reached for the tool kit when the man spoke up again.
“I’d like that young man to handle it, if you don’t mind.”
Lira blinked, a little deflated.
Did I look like I didn’t know what I was doing?
What kind of assumption was that?
“I got it.” Keran took the tool kit from a very put-out Lira.
They walked out of the alley together.
An old, beat-up ground car was parked by the curb, with a few obvious dents in the body.
“That’s the one.”
Keran popped the hood, glanced it over, and pulled his tools out to get to work.
The man leaned against the car, making casual small talk.
“You’re pretty young, aren’t you, kid?”
“Sure. I’m almost thirty.”
The man almost choked.
His mouth twitched.
Thirty?
You look barely out of your twenties.
Nice lie.
He cleared his throat and kept going.
“What’s your name, buddy?”
Keran didn’t look up from his work.
“Usually people offer a little common courtesy before they start asking for names.”
The man huffed a little.
“Name’s Colver.”
“Nice name.” Keran’s tone was perfectly flat. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
It did not sound like a compliment at all.
Colver had nothing to say to that.
It sounded about as sincere as complimenting a vending machine.
“Nah, you got it wrong.” Keran rolled his eyes.
“I just wanted a cigarette.”
Colver’s face stiffened.
He silently pulled out his cigarette pack and handed it over.
Keran lit one, tucked it in his mouth, and went back to work.
“You can call me Keran.”
Colver filed the name away and kept probing.
“Keran, huh. You’re not from Dawn City originally, are you? Where’d you…”
“Fixed.”
Every line Colver had prepared died in his throat.
His face looked like he’d just swallowed something sour.
Wait, that’s it?
I barely even started asking questions!
How is he this good?
Keran held out a hand, deadpan.
“Loose contact on the main control module and a broken circuit line. Eighty credits for labor.”
Oh please.
I know exactly what’s wrong with it.
I broke it on purpose.
Colver forced a smile and pulled out a comms device similar to a phone to send the payment.
He took his sweet time, trying to drag the conversation out and squeeze more info out of him.
“Impressive work. You teach yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“What’d you do before this?”
“Fixed stuff.”
“…”
Keran raised an eyebrow when Colver was still fumbling with the payment.
“You dropping hints that I should give you a discount?”
Colver coughed awkwardly and finally finished sending the credits.
He felt like he’d escaped something.
Keran pocketed the credits and huffed a dry laugh.
“First time I’ve seen someone take that long to send a payment. Thought you were gonna be there half an hour.”
Colver swore to himself; if this wasn’t an assignment, he would not have stuck around one extra second.
Keran whistled softly, hefted his tool kit, and sauntered back the way he came.
Colver stood there looking glum.
He walked two blocks away before he dialed an encrypted comms line.
“Preliminary observation. Target is almost certainly an engineer. Skill level is well above average. Cannot assess threat level at this time. Total contact time five minutes twenty-one seconds. Only confirmed name, self-reported as Keran. All other questions answered in three words or less. Recommend further observation, and…”
He paused.
“Recommend avoiding confrontation.”
“Personality assessment?”
Colver’s voice held a distinct edge of frustration.
“Extremely… difficult to get close to.”