Chapter 37: Copycat
Mishun ran meals by me to judge as I struggled to keep up with the heavy morning breakfast dishes. I offered small tweaks to help her improve her dishes without telling her anything big. I was still a little bitter that she made me waste my time doing something as pointless as cleaning.
“Are you going to teach me anything today?” I finally asked after I’d had enough.
She waggled her finger at me. “As a matter of practice, I don’t reward employees who are late.”
The morning dragged on. The hot water and soap stung my fingers as I tried desperately to scrub off food that was caked onto some of the pots. The advice I got from Analysis was not what I was expecting.
Info: Kraken ink can be used to create a skin-safe water-resistant seal. An Arcane Circle can also be used to create a seal that lasts for an hour.
Mishun stared at me when I started drawing the Arcane Circle directly onto my hand.
“What is that for?” She asked.
I didn’t reply as I added the finishing touches. Then I placed my hands together like I was praying and pushed mana into the ritual. My hands glowed for a moment and I felt a rubbery substance coat my skin up to my forearms. It was invisible to the naked eye.
“It’s waterproof now,” I explained and resumed washing.
“You could have just asked me for some gloves,” Mishun replied, pointing to a pair hanging on the wall.
I groaned. “You could have told me about that.”
She shrugged. “You never asked.”
Even though she was a tough boss, Mishun made sure I was well-fed. A plate heaped with hotcakes and meat waited for me when I finished. I devoured it, only just realizing how hungry I’d been. Mishun also prepared me a basket filled with sandwiches for later. I snuck out while she was in the back, worried she was about to ask me to Analyze something else and make me even later.
I picked up fresh delivery quests before heading off at a sprint for the magic market in Central Park. Part of me was still amazed when the lake parted as I stepped on the rock by the shore. Even though magic was part of my daily routine, the whole thing still felt surreal.
I wasted no time shopping and headed straight for Mr. Yu’s shop. He stood behind the counter with his arms crossed. There were no customers in sight.
“It’s about time you showed up,” he said, clearly irritated.
“I told you I had to work in the kitchen,” I replied.
“Did you bring lunch?” he asked, looking at me expectantly. “You promised lunch.”
Begrudgingly, I took out one of the sandwiches, careful to conceal the others. Mr. Yu tore off the wrapper and took a bite.
“Not bad,” he said with his mouth half full. “I suppose we should get started. Let’s start with this. I want you to make something. Anything at all.”
I looked down at the box he’d just set in front of me. It was filled with clutter that looked like it should go in the trash. Analyze agreed.
Info: A box of scraps.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, looking up at him. “Aren’t you supposed to teach me how to Tinker?”
He laughed. “The art of Tinkering is vastly different from other professions. We aren’t just making things. We make things better. Think of this as a test. I need to see that you can innovate.”
Finding myself on the spot, I sorted through the box of junk, looking for anything that looked familiar. There were several cables as well as enclosed tubes with connectors on the end. The most interesting thing in the box turned out to be the box. It was metallic with a hinged lid with a clasp.
Stolen novel; please report.
Dumping the contents on the floor, I set it on the table and began to plan my attack. If I could make a bag with infinitely more space, why not a box that could do the same? The problem was, all I’d been able to do so far was create my own bag with the help of Miss Spencer and a bunch of other stuff with the help of Arcane Circles. It was time to learn something real.
I separated the contents of the box into three categories: wires, devices, and unknown. Then I got to work identifying stuff.
Toaster
Grade: F
Condition: 57
Owner: Yu
I turned the toaster over in my hands. Why on Earth would he include that in the box?
Transistor Radio
Grade: F
Condition: 22
Owner: Yu
“What am I supposed to do with these?” I asked. “Fix them?”
Mr. Yu chuckled. “This is the drawback of a non-Tinkerer trying to be one. Someone with the Tinkerer class gets a skill called Innovate at level one. It lets us see hidden potential in everything. All of the items in this box can be tinkered with. I’m interested to see what your skill can do. Make even one of these items more useful and you’ll pass.”
As much as I wanted to work with the items, the box called to me.
Air-Tight Insulated Box
Grade: F
Condition: 41
Owner: Yu
I hefted the box, tipping it upside down and looking for more details about what it was made for.
Info: Can be converted into a refrigerator by adding mana-freeze or temporarily through the use of an Arcane Circle.
Info: Mana-freeze can be created from Yeti blood or by using an Arcane Circle.
“You don’t have any Yeti blood, do you?” I asked, looking up at Mr. Yu, who had just finished his sandwich.
“Yeti blood?” He asked. “Let me guess. You’re trying to transform the toaster into a flash freezer.”
“Can I do that?” I asked, picking up the toaster again with renewed interest.
Mr. Yu chuckled. “You can do anything. However, this test is about what’s in that box or anything you came prepared with. Come on, Oliver. Innovate.”
That was easy for him to say with his Innovate skill. I only had four skills, and none of them were useful in my current situation.
Oliver Evans
Class: Craftsman
Level: 5
Age: 13
Weight: 114 Lbs
Height 5’6
Hitpoints: 500
Mana: 500
Stamina: 500
Skills: Analyze, Research, Mana Link, Observe, Mimic
Traits: (Monster Vision - F), Apprentice Chef, Apprentice Tailor
I studied the information for a minute before realizing there was a new skill listed: Mimic. Analyze did its thing the moment I wondered what it did.
Mimic: Duplicates lesser items or techniques.
The question was how? Skills didn’t exactly come with instruction manuals. Also, the last thing I wanted to do was ask Mr. Yu about it. He would probably use that as grounds to fail me. I decided on the radio and placed it inside the Insulated Frame. I didn’t need to hide it, but I didn’t want Mr. Yu to see what I was doing. Once it was out of sight, I closed my eyes and focused on the word Mimic and on creating a clone of the radio. Two things happened almost instantaneously. First, I felt mana flow from my hand through the radio. Then something blocky appeared in my other hand. I took it out and held it up.
Duplicate Transistor Radio
Grade: F
Condition: 100
Owner: Evans
I showed it off with a grin. “Can I pass my test with this?”
“What did you do to it?” He asked, taking the radio from me and turning it over in his hand.
I took out the other one and held it up. “I copied it.”
He took the original and compared it against the clone. “Peculiar. Did you modify the box to make copies or is this some other magic?”
“I got a new skill,” I admitted, not wanting to lie. “I can make copies of things.”
“You’re making me wish I’d held onto that artifact,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I could have sold it twice.”
Getting a wave of inspiration, I took out the dragon relic. Mr. Yu’s eyes widened when he saw it. Once again, I focused on my new skill and felt mana leave my hand. Only this time, it was different. Nothing happened. My mana washed over the relic, and it came to life, clacking its wooden jaws a few times, but that was it. There was no copy or any other indication that my skill had worked.
Mr. Yu chuckled. “You know what this means, right? Your skill has limitations. It could be that it only works on items of a certain grade, or perhaps that object is too close to being sentient to be copyable. Either way, that was a useful experiment.”
“Did I pass your test?” I asked, hoping to get off the hook.
He frowned, setting both radios on the table. “Are you sure you didn’t come up with any other ideas?”
I shook my head.
He sighed again. “That’s a shame. It’s going to be much harder to teach you if you don’t have the eye. I had hoped that your custom skill came with enough utility to be a knockoff of Innovate.”
I tried Analyzing everything from the box again before shrugging. “Nothing is broken or in need of improvement. At least not that I can think of. It seems to be easier with food.”
“It’s fine,” he replied, piling everything back into the box. “It was just a test of your skills. Your copy skill might come in handy, so I’ll consider this a pass.”
I took another sandwich out of my bag, using the Mimic skill on it. A second sandwich appeared in my other hand.
“This skill is going to be very useful,” I replied with a grin.
He stared at the sandwich. “Well, you’ll probably never go hungry.”
Wondering if it worked on money, I took a copper out of my bag, and soon enough, a second coin appeared in my other hand.
Mr. Yu snatched it. “Don’t ever use that on money. It’s considered counterfeiting to create imperial coins outside of a mint.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied, taking the coin back and slipping it into my bag. I’d have to be careful not to spend that one.
“It is interesting that your skill worked on the coin,” he added. “The mint uses magic that should make counterfeiting impossible.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I replied. “That last thing I want to do is go to magic jail.”
He placated me by offering me a seat. “Now, I suppose it’s time we started your lesson.”
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