"Innovation is birth, fire, and sacrifice—and we were the midwives of ruin."
---
The obelisk split down the middle with a slow mechanical groan.
Cold air rushed from within as hidden gears ground against timeworn channels, unlocking a hidden hatch. A set of circular metal stairs uncoiled downward, vanishing into darkness.
Kai stepped forward slowly, cloak rustling around his boots.
His heart pounded not with fear, but that electrifying, manic thrill of discovery. This wasn't a trap. It wasn't a decoy.
It was a vault.
An entrance meant only for someone who understood.
He glanced at the interface band.
[Blueprint: Environmental anomaly confirmed. Source architecture: hybrid techno-rune design. Estimated age: 432 years.]
Kai exhaled. "Almost half a millennium. No wonder it smells like history down there."
He activated the faint lighting nodes on his Sparknet and began the descent.
The stairs were smooth iron inset with faded glyphs, the walls lined with dull conduit tubes and anchor runes. Every few meters, motion sensors clicked softly then flickered to life with pale blue light, illuminating Kai's path.
At the bottom, a sealed archway awaited.
Hexagonal, just like the token.
He inserted the coin-shaped key.
Click.
The archway irised open.
Warm air hissed out, scented with dust, oil, and something else, ozone and scorched copper.
Kai stepped inside.
The chamber beyond was vast.
A cathedral-sized forge, buried into the roots of the mountain. High above, metal rafters formed a cross-weave canopy. Rusted chains hung from ancient cranes. Enormous inactive furnaces lined the far wall, their heat long extinguished.
A circular platform sat in the center surrounded by broken workbenches, shattered mana tubes, and shelves covered in blueprints sealed beneath cracked crystal.
But what caught Kai's eye was the centerpiece.
A massive arcane construct.
A mechanical core, ten feet wide, humming softly in its dormant state.
[Blueprint: Core Node identified. Purpose - Advanced Modular Crafting Nexus.]
[Warning: Internal network inactive. Attempting handshake…]
Kai moved toward the forge core. As he passed a shattered bench, he knelt beside it.
Old schematics lay curled and yellowed. He unrolled one.
Despite the age, the diagram was pristine beneath its glossy coating.
Modular forge arms. Adjustable casting ports. Embedded control sigils and a seven-point capacitor lattice.
"Whoever built this wasn't just skilled. They were mad geniuses."
He traced a finger along the etched signature.
Artifex Saelen, 3rd Innovator Circle
His breath caught.
That name… Saelen. He remembered it from a late-night scribble session into the "Forbidden Threads" section of his Reborn Engineering Compendium, the notebook he'd been assembling from memory since waking in this world.
Saelen had been banished from different companies for "unethical augmentation research."
No one knew what happened after that.
Now Kai did.
He looked up at the massive forge core.
"Guess I found your graveyard, Saelen."
The forge pulsed.
A shimmer passed through the room as the token in Kai's pocket warmed again.
Then…
A voice echoed through the chamber.
Not the system. Deeper. More mechanical.
"Authorization confirmed. Innovator lineage…acknowledged."
Kai froze.
"That wasn't you, Blueprint."
[Correct. External AI core awakening. Local subsystem: designation F.I.N.E. (Forge-Integrated Neural Engine)]
The massive construct before him flickered to life.
Dozens of faint mana lines lit up like veins across its body, and a central rune flared with energy.
The voice returned.
"Welcome, Arcane Mechanic candidate. You have accessed a Legacy Node."
"This facility is now bonded to your identity key."
[Blueprint: Local system compatible. Attempting synchronization for data inheritance.]
Kai stepped back as both systems linked.
Blueprint's interface flickering with cascading lines of glowing script and ancient code.
Then the flood hit.
His vision blurred as dozens of blueprints surged into his mind:
Multi-element circuit branches
Adaptive mana reprocessors
Magnetic focus lenses
And most prominently, The Crafting Core Table v0.0.1
[Blueprint Unlocked: Crafting Core Table v0.0.1
Type: Modular Construction Platform
Purpose: Centralized crafting, forging, and rune-inscription hub
Key Components:
Tempered Foundation Plate (x1)
Runic Rail Guides (x4)
Elemental Stabilization Node (x2)
Integrated Schematic Uplink Band
Articulated Craft Arm (optional)
Socket Points for upgrades: Pressure Press, Rune Etcher, Core Analyzer
Minimum Required Skill Tier: Arcane Mechanic
Status: Partially unlocked—advanced modules corrupted]
Kai grinned like a lunatic.
"This is what I've been missing."
No more separate tools scattered across a dusty bench.
No more sketching runes by hand on cracked leather.
With this, he could centralize his operations. He could scale.
But the grin faded as he read the notes scrawled across the ancient design margins.
"Warning: Core Table V1 corrupted during prototype stress test. Mana overload reached critical. Do not exceed 37% total input without triple-shielded stabilizers."
[Blueprint: Recommend partial assembly only. Advanced modules beyond current power rating. Risk of feedback implosion.]
"Got it. Start slow. Don't explode."
---
After cataloging what he could, Kai began to explore the rest of the forge.
He found a side corridor lined with wall panels engraved with names.
Engineers. Innovators. Tinkerers.
Every one of them had died here.
Some walls bore murals, battles between machine-bound warriors and robed spellcasters. Construct suits powered by lightning clashing against spell circles. Great elemental storms.
This place had once been a fortress.
Then something happened.
He found the cause in a small back room.
A skeleton resting against a collapsed bench. A single hand still clutching a writing rod.
On the wall behind it, written in blood or rust:
"If you're reading this, then you've already paid the price."
"Creation costs. We built gods. Then we buried them."
"Don't finish what we started."
Kai stood in silence for a long time.
Then turned back toward the central forge.
"I won't finish what you started," he muttered. "I'll do it better."
[System XP +20 | Total XP: 110 / 150]
[Lightning Affinity Integration: 12% – Spark color shifted to bright white-blue]
[Stat Gains:]
Strength +1 Magic +1 Focus +2
[Blueprint: Synchronization complete. Legacy Access retained. You are now the inheritor of Innovator Node #017.]
Kai sat at the base of the forge, token now inert in his hand.
The weight of it all settled on his shoulders.
He wasn't just crafting anymore.
He was rebuilding something ancient.
Something the world had tried to forget.
And that meant others would try to stop him.
Good.
Let them try.