With These Hands

He was slowly getting used to not living alone anymore. Artemis had basically moved in at this point and he couldn't complain about it. After all the series of craziness that he had gone through since his arrival in Gotham, things were finally going alright. 

Knowing the city, that only meant that something else was coming but he'd hold off until then. 

He had successfully registered for the exam and it was due to happen in a week. Normal people would take longer to prepare but with the knowledge of a second year med student, brain boosting drugs and some hard work, he could pull it off in under a week. 

At the moment, he was doing something other than studying. 

An idea struck him, a stupid yet interesting idea. That was why he found himself at the docks at night. This was scarecrow's territory but the man hadn't been seen in a while. It probably meant he was cooking up something bad but today, it was free. 

The place was devoid of people and that was fine. 

He recalled that people who got reincarnated, transmigrated or filled some superpower wishlist sometimes got a storage area to store their loot, a kind of dimensional warehouse. 

Liam had his inventory but the thought of the warehouse got him curious, wondering if he could achieve such a thing through the system's functions. 

As such, here he was, at the docks looking for industrial shipping crates that were usually kept stacked. Nobody was using them at the moment so he didn't feel bad about using them. 

Climbing the stack was barely a challenge for him and once at the top, he pulled out an item from his inventory. 

+++++

-[Skeleton Key]

-[A mystic key that fits into and opens any mundane locks.]

+++++

It was a very short yet useful description. He'd gotten it by merging a lot of different keys together. He could have kept going and probably gotten something more power but this was enough for now. He placed it back in his inventory. 

Now standing at the top of the stacked industrial crates, he put his hands on the two crates that stood side by side, triggering a merge. 

+++++

-[Spacious Crate]

-[An industrial sized crate that appears normal from the outside but has twice the normal inside of it.]

+++++

Pulling it open, he looked inside and was not disappointed. It was truly twice the combined spaces of the two crates. 

Looking at the remaining crates, he couldn't help a smile as he got to work. 

Xx-Xx-Xx

He wasn't counting how much time passed but by the time he was done, there were a lot less crates in the docks. 

Looking at the crate that was the culmination of all the merges so far, he appraised it once more. 

+++++

-[Magically Extended Crate]

-[An industrial sized crate that appears normal from the outside but contains an incredibly large area of 10,000 square feet as its interior.]

+++++

Pulling out the Skeleton Key from his inventory, he placed his hand on the crate, triggering the final merge. 

+++++

-[Dimensional Key]

-[A mystic key that fits into and opens any mundane locks. Optionally, when used to open a door, it opens to a pocket dimension with a measured area of 10,000 square feet.]

+++++

He almost jumped with joy upon laying his eyes on the wonderous item. He had no idea what he was going to put inside it but the fact was that he had it and that he made it because he wanted to make it. 

It didn't say anything about freezing time inside so he'd have to be careful about that if he ended up using it. Still, it was a work of wonder. 

Xx-Xx-Xx

Sitting on the floor in the apartment, he was at work on his latest project. The high from his success with the dimensional key hadn't worn off yet so he'd thrown himself into another idea. 

It was less complicated but that was fine. 

He'd spent the last twenty minutes folding, cutting up and gluing large sheets of paper together in the shape of a hand held shield. 

The paper shield was as big as half his body and quite thick but that was the intention. He'd used a lot of paper and cardboard.

That was the base he would use. By the side laid a spoon, a steel spoon. Merging the spoon into the paper shield, the paper shield was transformed into a steel shield but he wasn't done. 

Not bothering to appraise it, he used the steel shield as a base, he merged it with an earring made from titanium. He had to get it from one of the high end jewelry shops but money was barely an issue. 

The light quickly died down to reveal a pentagonal shaped shield. The body of the shield looked metal but the sheen was slightly off, giving away its abnormal nature. 

+++++

-[Protective Shield]

-[A hand crafted shield made of an unknown high strength metal. This lightweight shield has immense durability, able to withstand great physical damage without yielding. It is highly resistant to corrosion.]

+++++

'Wonderful.' He thought but he also took note of something else to explore later; the fact that he could make new metals and elements. 

Pulling out the final ingredient for the merge, it was an emerald ring. This time, he used the ring as the base, merging the shield into it. 

A few seconds later, he was left holding a diamond ring in his palm. 

+++++

-[Ring of Shielding]

-[An emerald ring which encases the wearer in an invisible, highly durable shield at all times.]

+++++

Before he could revel in his creation, the door opened and Artemis walked in, pausing as she saw him sitting on the floor with pieces of cardboard and paper scattered around him.

"What did I walk into?"

-[Docks]-

Ethan was a very unenthusiastic worker. He worked for a shipping company that was slightly prospering but it gave him enough cash to put a roof over his head. 

He didn't exactly like the job, that was why he lazed around instead of going to the docks to organize a shipment that was due a week ago. 

His supervisor rarely came to check on him so he could slack off as much as he wanted. What he didn't expect was to come face to face with the man as he arrived at the docks. 

"Hey boss. I didn't know you were coming around today." He greeted in an attempt to hide his nervousness. 

The other man glared at him. If looks could kill, he'd be dead already. "Would you care to explain this to me?" The man said, gesturing to the stack of crates. 

Looking at them, he couldn't see anything wrong. "I-I don't get what you mean." Ethan stuttered out. 

"So over ten of our crates are missing and you don't even know?!" The man screamed. 

Looking at the stacks, Ethan admitted that it looked scantier than he remembered. Before he could make any defense, the man screamed in his face. 

"You're fired!"