Armor, Assemble!

Once all the Power Armor components had been replicated, Carl raised her arms and shouted:

"Armor, assemble!"

Components surged in from every direction, rapidly reassembling and locking together on Carl's body.

In the blink of an eye, a silver-gray suit of Power Armor appeared in the Dream World.

The Power Armor's design was based on the appearance of Tiga Ultraman, whom Carl particularly liked.

However, its overall appearance leaned more toward the Ultraman armor from "Ultraman Suit."

There was a blue gem on the armor's chest, but it was not merely decorative to recreate the character's appearance. The Power Armor genuinely required one.

The Armorer's Power Armor came in two models: Guardian and Infiltrator. The Infiltrator Model required a gem-like node to be generated on the chest or fist to fire lightning energy.

Apart from that, Carl had some other ideas for the gem on the Power Armor's chest.

More than fifty years ago, someone had used Khyber Dragonshards' ability to bind elementals to develop a special technique that allowed armor to wield elemental power.

The spot where Carl had designed this blue gem was precisely reserved for a Khyber Dragonshard.

"I wonder how much of my design I can reproduce using that ordinary suit of armor."

Carl looked down at the Power Armor on her body and reluctantly stroked it as she began considering the realities of the situation.

An Armorer could transform a suit of ordinary armor into their own designed Power Armor while holding a spellcasting tool.

However, this ability was limited by the armor's quality and bulk.

Generally speaking, Power Armor completely covered every part of an Armorer's body and could even replace missing limbs, allowing them to function normally.

However, this transformation came at the cost of the Power Armor's overall thickness. Thus, under normal circumstances, Armorers tried to use heavy armor to make their Arcane Power Armor.

The suit of armor Carl had picked up at the Mind Flayer base could only be considered medium armor. No matter how she looked at it, it was impossible to perfectly reproduce the Power Armor she had designed.

"Forget it. It's the Infiltrator Model anyway, not the Guardian model meant for a frontal assault. A thinner armor is a thinner armor. I'll see how its offensive capabilities are first."

Standing in the Dream World, Carl brought her hands together before her chest and activated the gem-like node there.

A bolt of lightning shot out and only dissipated after flying more than fifty meters.

This lightning emitter was the Infiltrator Model's primary offensive method. It was considered a simple ranged weapon, with a minimum range of thirty meters and a maximum range of one hundred meters.

The range depended entirely on the Armorer's design, but its damage was not high.

Fortunately, this method of attack had no usage limit. It merely had a certain cooldown period to prevent overload.

Afterward, Carl also tested the Power Armor's powered stride and damping field abilities.

The former allowed Carl to move faster while wearing the Power Armor, while the latter reduced the sound she made while moving to a minimum.

Of course, if the Power Armor's design itself produced tremendous noise, this ability could only reduce the noise it made.

"Excellent. I've finished testing the main abilities. I'll return to reality first."

Psychic energy surged, and Carl opened her eyes in the real world.

She had not spent much time in the Dream World, so only a few minutes had passed since she entered it.

Seeing Hopp standing beside her and keeping watch with concern, Carl rose and patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm level 3 now too. Once I get familiar with my current abilities, we'll set out tomorrow to investigate!"

"That fast!"

When she heard that Carl had also reached level 3, Hopp looked somewhat discouraged.

But when she remembered that Carl was, in any case, a highly educated person, she accepted the fact that she had been easily caught up to in level.

After returning to the house, Carl took out the Wrench, put on the suit of armor, and transformed it into Arcane Power Armor.

Looking at the handsome Power Armor, Hopp was a Barbarian with no need for armor, but she still reached out and touched its outer shell.

As she stroked it, she exclaimed, "The Artificer's power really is incredible!"

"Heh heh! This is the wonder of combining science and magic! Next, I'm going to raise my Warrior level. Once my Warrior class reaches level 3 as well, the last few shortcomings of mine will be filled!"

Carl proudly waved an arm, then dismissed the Power Armor with a thought.

Looking at the Power Armor standing in the corner of the room, Hopp asked curiously, "Will this thing stay like this forever?"

"Yes. As long as I don't transform another suit of armor into Arcane Power Armor, it'll remain this way."

Picking up the Wrench again, Carl walked to the center of the room and began concentrating on casting her level 3 Artificer feature, Handy Tools.

A phantom machine formed from Arcane Energy extended through the air, as if someone were carrying out a strange kind of 3D modeling.

Whenever one part of the machine began gradually solidifying, Carl would move closer and make even finer adjustments to that area.

More than three hours later, a mechanical apparatus with various functions, including a machining lathe and wood-cutting equipment, appeared in the room.

"Phew~, I've finally finished this thing too. Once we return from investigating the area, we'll start expanding the house. There isn't enough space here for us to live comfortably anymore."

Looking at the machine occupying most of the room, Hopp tilted her head and pondered for a moment, feeling that something was off.

Isn't the thing taking up the most space the machine you just made?

Although she thought that, Hopp also knew that Carl had prepared this thing for processing wood later.

With it, they could finally say goodbye to the misery of cutting wood with flint daggers.

"Right, let's make some wooden cups and plates first, along with some wooden barrels for storing water. That way, we can stockpile more fresh water and salt water, and use the Alchemy Jug to prepare honey, beer, wine, and things like that for seasoning!"

Once she had decided to do it, Carl pulled wood out of the Bag of Holding. She then had Hopp turn the wheel while she held the wood and used the cutting equipment to make various items.

Soon, beer mugs resembling the ones used to drink beer in One Piece, along with wooden plates for holding food, were finished.

Making the barrels was somewhat more troublesome, but it still did not take Carl much time.

However, despite Carl's speed, she had actually already planned everything out in her head.

Back in the Dream World, she had already planned the furniture and other daily necessities she would need to make in the future.

Now, she was merely restoring those items according to the blueprints in her mind.

The Artificer class itself required its practitioners to possess excellent craftsmanship, and after formally taking the class, the class's Spiritual Core would also provide the practitioner with enhancements in related areas.

This phenomenon existed among practitioners of every class.

Within Arcanix, this phenomenon was called a spiritual enhancement. It was said to be one of the benefits brought by increasing one's level.

But Carl, who had played DND games, had another name for it—Proficiency Bonus.