The Legendary Junkmaster

The trip back to Highrise was uneventful for Jason and Syssie. They did not have the time to explore anything else, so they moved as fast as possible to return to the city. They barely made it in time for the gates to be closed, which made them feel relieved. Jason did not relish the idea of finding somewhere for them to hunker down for the night, especially since most beasts in the area were nocturnal in nature.

Jason only had to put up with a routine check by the administration staff upon his return. They noted that all he had returned with was some junk, which nobody knew what it could be used for. Since they were not restricted items, and he was on a supposed requested expedition, the staff allowed him to go on his way without incident.

Jason sighed with relief after throwing himself onto his bed. Their expedition had been successful, and nobody knew what he was up to. 'Let's just hope at least one of these can be used.' He thought while watching the dark of night creeping across the sky outside his window. 'It's too late to make a start on it now. I'll wait until morning.'

With Jason having made up his mind, it did not take long for him to drift off into a restless sleep. That night he was plagued with nightmares that brought the different forms of the things he was worried about. Whether it was being enslaved to exploit his ability or failing to upgrade Syssie in time to save their lives. It was needless to say that when he woke up in the morning, he felt like shit.

"You look like you had a rough night," Syssie stated, having just come back online coinciding with Jason's own awakening.

"Yeah, let's not talk about it, though. I'd rather just get on with upgrading the Primal." Jason replied with a curt yet exhausted tone.

Syssie merely nodded to show her understanding before hovering around the old desk. Jason had not bothered to remove his clothes before falling asleep last night, so he was already ready to get started. Jason slid off of his bed and dragged his feet over to the sole chair in the room. There was a heavy thud as he dropped his ass onto it and stared at the components on the desk with a blank look upon his face.

"Oh, right. The fucking batteries!" Jason groaned as he realised that he had left them in his pockets and pouches before he had fallen asleep. By now, they were scattered all over his bed and the floor from all of his tossing and turning during the night.

It took him a few minutes to gather them and place them alongside the other components for the upgrade he planned to perform. As soon as everything was laid out, Jason's initial sleepiness vanished from his mind. 'Ok, let's get this show started.' Jason immediately activated his Melee Schematic skill and hoped for the best.

It did not take long for it to produce a working schematic with the items he had on hand, making Jason feel elated. In the end, the design would use three of the larger and thicker batteries from among the crowd. Unfortunately, only two of these batteries still had a charge in them, which meant that Jason had to resort to creating the hand crank recharger that he had previously thought of.

Luckily enough, he already had everything he needed to create the small mechanical contraption. After an hour of fiddling around, a small box with two wires connected to a fitting that could hold the battery of his choice sat upon the battered desk. While he was smiling at this minor achievement, Syssie decided to chime in with an evaluation!

"Evaluation… F Rank utility item suitable for Novices that uses mechanical components to convert kinetic energy into usable electrical energy in small amounts. A highly inefficient design, but it's a start. Value estimated at six copper credits. What will you name this one?" Syssie suddenly said with a severe critique.

"Hand Crank Recharger." Jason nodded while being fully aware of how lame his naming sense was. He had already suspected that he would get an evaluation for any item that he made. After all, his power encompassed many different fields.

"Hmm, schematic has been saved and designated as HCR: 001 in the Utility folder. Let's hope you can be more creative with the name for your Primal upgrade." Syssie lightly chuckled as she flopped down on his bed and watched him get to work with charging the third battery.

Barely ten minutes had passed before Jason was sweating and complaining from the muscle aches in his arms. 'God damn it! One of the first things I need to do is unlock the knowledge to make something to do this for me!' The constant repetition of turning the crank was grating on his nerves and stamina.

'Damn! I didn't even think of a way to tell when the charging is done! How long am I meant to do this for? Ten minutes? Half an hour?' Such an oversight made Jason feel frustrated. Still, it was his first time creating something like this. 'You can only learn from your mistakes! I'll see what I can find for its upgrade when the time comes.'

Jason decided to stop after half an hour and deemed that it would be enough to at least test his new weapon once he assembled it. He removed the battery from the charger and stared at the small cylinder in wonder.' To think that this holds such a marvel. Tch, the old humans, were quite remarkable.'

It made him wonder about all of the all other junk just laying around in the world. What marvels were they originally part of? How were they made? What drove humanity to discover these things? Jason suddenly felt something calling out to him in his soul. It was a sudden need to explore the darkest corners of the world and uncover all of the age long-buried secrets!

An intensity gripped his mind like nothing he had ever felt before. It was like his entire being had awakened to what he had always been meant to do. Jason felt a smirk cross his face at the sudden sensation. 'It's a shame that I'll have to wait a while before I can properly pursue this.' Jason was nowhere near as ready as he would have to be to freely explore the world.

His mind turned to the parts on his desk as a sense of clarity overtook his thought process. Jason appeared as if he was in some kind of trance as his hands worked quickly to assemble the more vital metals into the base of his upgraded weapon. It took the same shape, and the device he made to hold the batteries and transfer an electrical current throughout the weapon fitted nicely into the hollow area of the pipe that made up the weapon's grip.

Jason's eyes shone as he held the completed weapon in his hand. With cautious movements, he tested the original functions of the new primal. He found that there were no issues with its ability to change into its three various forms. On top of that, its more durable materials made it sturdier, so its telescopic function was less likely to malfunction during combat.

With an ecstatic expression over his design's initial success, his eyes went to the switch that had been integrated into the handle to control the electrical current. Jason took a deep breath and held it before moving his thumb over it and turning it on. The new Primal in its baton form began to hum as the electricity was released. A few sparks were created here and there, which gave away the secret behind the weapon.

Just as he was about to celebrate, his hand suddenly went numb as an electric shock on the level of being able to stun an opponent ran through his body! Jason collapsed to the floor as he dropped the weapon and felt his body spasm as his jaw went slack. His eyes rolled into his head for a few moments as he forced to endure the result of his test.

Luckily, the level of the shock was not enough to do any lasting damage. As Jason's mind cleared and regained his faculties, he stared at the weapon in disbelief. He had never imagined that being electrocuted would feel like that! It gave him a deeper appreciation for how dangerous even the most simple bit of knowledge from the old world could be.

Syssie was laughing her head off on top of the bed with tears streaming down her face. She had found the whole thing to be hilarious. Jason grumbled as he got to his feet, having left the weapon turned on for several minutes, had utterly drained the charge of the batteries. 'Great, now I have three of the fucking things to charge up.' His arms already began to ache at the thought of turning the crank on the recharger for so long.

"Should I give it an evaluation now?" Syssie lightly chuckled with a red face.

"No, not yet. I need to fix something first before it's complete." Jason replied with a serious expression plastered on his face.