"But Caelus, what do you think these halos actually are?" Sylvia asked.

"They recommended the Biblical faction to me when I was customizing my halo," she continued. "It is related to the gods. If you join them, you get a lot of perks."

"But I am sure you did not click on it," Caelus said.

"I did not," Sylvia nodded. "I know you are planning on making your own faction since we got the faction creation update."

"You know me well," Caelus said with a soft smile. "That is right. I plan on creating a faction."

As he spoke, he opened his system settings. There was a new option to create a faction right on the menu. He clicked it.

[Ding!]

[Please enter the domain to create a faction.]

[You need Domain Power to anchor your existence and give birth to faction perks and benefits.]

"Well, looks like we have to wait until we enter the domain again," Caelus said. "And as for the halos, we need to investigate more about it to find out. I have no idea either."

"Perhaps it is a way to achieve godhood?"

Sylvia nodded.

"Then, I will make some breakfast for us," Sylvia said.

She jumped out of Caelus’s embrace and rushed toward the kitchen.

"Wait for me. I already have something planned for you," she called back.

Caelus shook his head helplessly as he rose to his feet. He had a new plan in his mind now. He wanted to create his illusory blacksmith factory.

Most importantly, he did not need a miner talent to make it work. This was the modern age. Everything was efficient in this world.

He walked out to his backyard. There was plenty of open space here. He immediately activated his talent.

[Blacksmith Forgery (Lower A-Rank Talent)]

[Details: Use your blacksmith skill to continuously generate items. You can slot five blueprints into it and make custom modifications.]

[Cost: 150 CA for creation.]

Caelus sighed. This truly was a game-like world.

He activated the talent. Soon, a small building that looked like a shed appeared in the yard. It had an open front, a conveyor belt, and a drop box. A digital screen on the drop box read [0/100]. Behind the building, an ore depository displayed [0/100] as well.

[Ding!]

[Welcome to the Blacksmith Tycoon Simulator!]

[Your factory is Level 1.]

[Level up your factory to increase the drop box and ore depository capacity. Every level increases the total capacity.]

[Ding!]

[Please place raw ores into the back of the factory to start producing.]

Caelus did exactly as instructed. He placed a few pieces of ore into the back. Immediately, the conveyor belt began to move. Magic was happening inside the small factory.

’First off, let’s buy the entire stock of ores on the market,’ Caelus thought.

The common Tier 4 ore only cost 350 Origin Credits each. The factory would take this cheap common ore, convert it into a Mythical grade weapon with perfect 100/100 durability, and he could sell it for a massive profit.

Having talents was a literal cheat code. He had to abuse them as much as possible.

Caelus took his phone out and scanned the factory’s ore depository. He input the exact coordinates into his delivery app. A few minutes later, automated delivery drones rushed toward his backyard. They dropped off the ores, and weapons began crafting constantly.

"I wish I had a hacking talent," Caelus clicked his tongue.

If he had one, he could automate the entire selling process. But right now, once the drop box was full, he would have to manually list the items on the market. A hacking talent would reduce that annoying need. It was a pity.

’I need to reach Bronze II fast. The blacksmith level is capped right now due to my low rank.’

There was a specific reason he had not ranked up yet. It was because of racial awakening.

Racial awakening had to be done at the very first tier of specific ranks. For his race, it happened at Iron, Bronze, and Crown rank. It was the exact same rule for Sylvia.

They both urgently needed an Awakening Stone.

From there, they needed to complete their second awakening. It would make them much stronger and grant them a new set of abilities and powers.

Choosing a second awakening was always better than picking random skills from the system list. The awakening path gave a full package of powers. If he just bought skills normally, he would need three or four Chaos Stones just to match the power of a true awakening.

"Maybe I should try my luck at the Ancient Domains that opened up across the world."

Ancient Domains were part of the unexpected benefits of the Azure Origin Planet reaching the Middle Expanse tier. There was a lot of news about them on the internet forums.

Caelus scrolled through the posts on his phone. He saw images of massive pyramids, ruined shrines, and floating temples.

[Forum Post: "The Ancient Domain has a lot of rewards, everyone! I managed to obtain a progression card for my profession and even a talent generator. Everyone should try it out. Of course, the difficulty is very high. In these domains, there are special game modes. If you pass, you can even obtain a Mark of Divinity. It is wondrous."]

"Interesting," Caelus mumbled.

Just then, another drone hovered down beside Caelus.

"Oh, they are here."

He turned to the drone and picked up his package. Aside from the bulk ore, he had also purchased blueprints for runes.

He wanted to store some of his skills for later use. He also bought a blueprint for a management automation tool to place near the factory. It would automatically direct the delivery drones to the depository.

In this world, everything ran on mana. Even modern electronics had magic fused into them.

It was finally time to level up his engineering skill.

He went back inside the house. Sylvia had finished making breakfast. It was eggs, two sausages, and pancakes with blueberry sauce. It smelled amazing.

He and Sylvia quietly ate their food. Once they finished, Caelus went straight back to his room to begin working on the runes.

He took out the rune blueprints first.

The runes he planned to make could hold active skills so he could cast them instantly later. They could also be used as batteries to store raw Mana, Mind Power, or Aura.

Right now, Caelus had no fast way to restore his Mind Power and Aura during a fight. His plan was to store his excess energy into these runes every single day after leaving the domain. He would keep them in his inventory as emergency rations.

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A/N: If you are enjoying the book so far, support it with a power stone or two. Thank you.