Chapter 105: Drone Completion

Chapter 105: Drone CompletionThree days had gone by in the blink of an eye for Adrian, with each second consumed by the drone project that had seized his imagination.

Adrian hadn’t wasted a single moment. Every time the Factory’s cooldown reset, he plunged back into the workshop, his mind ablaze with schematics, calculations, and refinements.

The cooldown periods were spent wrestling with propulsion equations and various adjustments.

Even in rest, his thoughts never strayed from the drone. He had not stepped outside the underground capsule in the Corrupted Lands since he began.

The world beyond the cauldron’s walls had faded into a distant memory, irrelevant compared to the potential brewing in his hands.

This drone wasn’t just a tool; it was a cornerstone, a proof of concept for a future he could barely glimpse.

Adrian was ambitious, and this fusion of magic and technology, had ignited a hunger in him he hadn’t known existed.

He could see it now: swarms of drones, aircraft fleets, spaceships, and entire systems of interconnected magi-tech that could rival, maybe even surpass, Earth’s technological peak.

But those were dreams for another day. Right now, he was still at the bottom, clawing his way up, and this drone was the foundation for everything to come.

The advanced workshop had been his salvation. Without its automated fabricators, runic engravers, and instantaneous reconfiguration systems, the drone would’ve taken months to build, not days.

But it wasn’t just the tech that had propelled him forward. His recent assimilation of Mana Theory 3 had been a revelation, a flood of knowledge that reshaped his understanding of mana’s flow and manipulation.



It was like a veil had lifted, revealing inefficiencies in his earlier inventions that he itched to refine. He could see it so clearly now: better mana conduits, tighter runic arrays, more efficient energy transfers.

A wild thought flickered in his mind with more knowledge: what if he could harness ambient mana like the System’s tech?

If he could tap into the world’s natural mana currents, he’d never need magic crystals again.

The cost savings would be staggering, and the possibilities of advanced inventions being powered by the world itself would be limitless.

But that was a very distant goal. For now, the knowledge gave him enough tools to tackle the drone’s hellish complexity, and that was enough to keep him going.

Adrian’s obsession with the Factory had grown into something almost alarming.

The workshop had become his universe, its sterile glow and mechanical hum more familiar than sunlight or open air.

His mood darkened every time the Factory’s timer ran out, and his mind never stopped, even when his body begged for rest.

He would make mental sketches and mutter calculations, even staring at the capsule’s ceiling, visualizing the drone’s propulsion system in excruciating detail.

Rest came only when he had no other choice, when his vision blurred and his hands shook from fatigue.

Even then, it was minimal. A few hours of sleep with the Power Suit in a restricted space wasn’t exactly refreshing.

But Adrian didn’t care, as the drone still consumed him. It wasn’t just because it could confirm the presence of mana in the Corrupted Lands, but because it represented something greater.

It was a leap forward, a system that could scale, adapt, and evolve. If he could perfect this, he could build many more related projects.

And finally, his three days of unrelenting effort had borne fruit.

The drone stood proudly on the workable gleaming under the Factory’s lights.

Its Sylvaris frame was sleek and aerodynamic and its curves were designed to slice through the Corrupted Lands’ turbulent winds with ease.

Enchanted gyroscopes hummed faintly at its core, ensuring stability even in the harshest conditions.

Two 3-Star magic crystals powered its propulsion system, their soft glow visible through transparent panels, while a third crystal fueled the mana detector, its intricate circuitry etched with runes that pulsed with latent energy.

The drone was compact, no larger than a hawk, but robust, capable of covering vast distances without faltering. Its surface shimmered with runic engravings, each one painstakingly crafted to trigger the mana-volatile formation upon detecting external mana.

A tiny magnet and compass were embedded in its frame, feeding positional data to the GPS tracker Adrian had designed.

The signal receiver, a palm-sized device clipped to his Power Suit, lay nearby, ready to emit a sharp beep if the drone found mana.

Adrian ran his gloved fingers along the drone’s surface, feeling the cool, smooth metal beneath.

’What a marvel!’



The Tech Core’s voice cut through his thoughts:

[You have completed an Invention!]

[Analyzing Invention: Drone]

[Type: Magical Tool]

[Functionality: A+]

[Practicality: A+]

[Complexity: A]

[Integrity: A]

[?? - F-]

[Overall Grade: A]

[Remark: A triumph of magi-tech engineering, this drone combines advanced flight mechanics with sensitive mana detection and swarm synchronization.]

[Reward: +5500 EXP | +5500 TP]

Adrian’s lips curled into a smile after seeing the generous rewards, but he couldn’t stop here.

One drone wasn’t enough. He needed a swarm. Ten, at least to scout the 20,000-square-kilometer expanse of the Corrupted Lands efficiently.

And he sure as hell wasn’t crafting nine more by hand. "Moments like this make me glad the assembly room exists," he muttered, a wry grin breaking through his fatigue.

For the first time in three days, Adrian left the workshop, his Power Suit’s boots echoing as he strode toward the assembly room.

The assembly room buzzed with activity, its dual production lines churning out Magic Heaters with mechanical precision. Adrian didn’t hesitate.

He approached the central console, his fingers flying across the interface as he halted the current production. With a few taps, he uploaded the drone’s blueprint, now registered by the System as a completed invention. The console pinged afterwards:

[Sourcing materials from Inventory...]

[Specify quantity.]

Adrian selected five units for each production line, ten drones total. The console calculated:

[Total time for 5 units: 10 hours]

He nodded, not surprised by the time. The lines worked simultaneously, so all ten would be ready in ten hours. He confirmed the order, and both lines chimed in unison:



[5 units confirmed]

The assembly arms whirred to life, their movements a mesmerizing dance of precision.

Adrian watched for a moment, captivated, before checking his [Inventory] and his heart sank slightly.

He had 185 3-Star magic crystals. The drones would use 33, and he planned to use 100 for grenades, leaving him with just 52 for future projects.

"Damn it," he muttered, slapping his forehead. "Why didn’t I stock up before coming here?"

A 3-Star crystal cost 500 gold coins, and while he had enough gold to buy thousands, his funds weren’t infinite. He’d need to plan carefully.

"I have to figure out a way to get more," he said. "If it comes to it, I’ll hunt beasts for crystals. With the grenades, that’ll be a breeze." But that was a problem for later.

Another priority still called to him. Adrian felt removed, like he had drifted too far from the world.

The last two cooldowns had been spent brainstorming without any bit of rest, and it was taking a great toll on his body.

He needed to step outside and feel the solid ground, breathe natural air, and receive sunlight. He had to feel nature for a while.

As the drones were assembled, Adrian decided he would take a break to walk around and clear his head, before maybe sleeping properly.

He glanced at the assembly arms one last time, their rhythmic dance a promise of progress, before saying, "Exit Factory."