Reborn as the Arcane Engineer

 "A spark without storage is just a light show. I build batteries."

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Kai limped back into East Hollow around dusk, snow clinging to his boots and soot streaked across his face like war paint.

A few villagers gave him wide eyes and wider distance. Brayden watched him from across the square, but didn't speak. Smart.

Kai ducked into the shed and closed the door behind him, exhaling hard.

Inside, it was quiet. His heat coil hummed softly, casting a red glow over metal scraps and his workbench. Familiar. Warm.

And—miraculously—nothing tried to phase through the wall and murder him.

Progress.

He collapsed onto his stool, pulled off his gloves, and opened the system.

[System Boot Complete]

System Level: 5

Crafting XP: 80 / 100

Tier II Unlock Available at Next Level]

[You survived exposure to a spectral mana construct, outran a cave-in, and nearly crushed your only good leg. Would you like to reflect on your life choices or begin crafting?]

Kai smirked. "You sound a lot more talkative lately."

[Upgraded personality matrix enabled. You're welcome.]

"Of course."

He opened the blueprint menu and scrolled past weapons.

He'd been chasing danger non-stop since he arrived.

Time to build smart, not loud.

[Mana Battery v0.1] – Tier I Support Construct

Purpose: Stores ambient or direct mana and provides recharge to compatible constructs

Capacity: 3 Units

Discharge Rate: Slow (Trickle flow)

Required Materials:

Copper Coil (x2)Ceramic Container (x1)Tin Contacts (x2)Mana Residue (x1)

Rune Required: [Sigil of Containment] – Accuracy: 90%+

Notes: Overload risk if improperly insulated.

He set to work immediately.

Step one: find a container. He rummaged through Madra's old supply crate and found a chipped tea storage container with thick, glazed sides.

"Ceramic. Fancy. Don't tell the villagers I'm upcycling their heirlooms."

Next: copper coils. He unraveled two lengths of copper wiring from a broken lantern base, carefully straightening and looping them into tight spirals.

Tin contacts came from flattened spoon handles, ground down into thin tabs.

He laid everything out on a cloth, cracked his knuckles, and began assembling.

First, he embedded the tin contacts into the base of the container using melted resin. Then he nestled the copper coils along the inner walls in a spiral and lashed them in place with leather strips.

The tricky part?

The rune engraving.

He opened the Sigil of Containment: a tightly coiled spiral around a binding loop, meant to seal mana without compressing it too hard.

He steadied his hand, chisel at the ready.

"System, pulse me if I start drifting alignment."

[Pulse tracking initiated. Also, don't mess it up.]

Kai grinned and began.

Stroke. Anchor. Spiral inward. Tight loop. Fork. Cross-stitch overlay...

The rune pulsed softly as he finished the last curve.

[Rune Accuracy: 91.2%]

[Construct Stability: High]

[Charge State: Empty]

He inserted the mana residue vial into the coil chamber and felt a subtle pull—like static clinging to his skin.

The battery pulsed softly with blue light.

[Construct Complete: Mana Battery v0.1]

XP Gained: +10

System XP: 90 / 100

System Level: 5

[System Comment: You didn't electrocute yourself. That's worth a small round of applause.]

Kai sat back, admiring the little glowing container like a proud father.

Next up: connectivity.

He opened a new blueprint—a support structure meant to sync with the scanner.

[Signal Beacon v0.1] – Tier I Utility Construct

Purpose: Marks locations and transmits mana-scanned data within local field

Transmission Radius: 50 meters

Required Materials:

Conductive Rod (x1)Copper Wire (x2)Wood Base (x1)Mana Battery (1 – Compatible)

Rune Required: [Sigil of Broadcast] – 90%+

**Signal Sync Available: Scanner v0.1, Mapping Grid (Locked)]

Note: Consumes mana per ping. Do not leave on unattended.

Kai grabbed an old broom handle and sawed it cleanly into a meter-long staff. For the rod, he took the sharpened spike from his broken heat coil build and re-ground it into a tapered conductor.

Wood base? Easy. He carved a square platform from scrap lumber and drilled a mount slot.

The tricky bit?

Mounting the battery without frying the circuits.

He nestled the container battery into the base with the leads coiled to the rod.

Then came the rune—[Sigil of Broadcast]. Two interlinked circles with antenna-like arcs, it had to be etched along the rod itself. The whole channel needed to resonate vertically or the signal would short-circuit.

"Long vertical rune on a round surface. This'll be fun."

[Advice: Start from the bottom and rotate the rod slowly. Try not to sneeze.]

He started the etching with charcoal guidelines, then followed with the chisel.

Every inch was a delicate curve.

Halfway through, he nicked a line and had to buff it out and start again.

"System, pulse check."

[Trajectory aligned. Pressure inconsistent. Don't wobble like last time.]

"Thanks, Mom."

Thirty minutes later, he completed the final arc and burned the lines in with a heated wire for permanence.

[Rune Accuracy: 92.4%]

[Beacon Stability: Moderate-High]

[Signal Test: Passed – Transmitting Ping]

A faint ping echoed in the room.

The scanner pulsed in response.

Kai grinned.

"It works."

[Construct Complete: Signal Beacon v0.1]

XP Gained: +10

System XP: 100 / 100]

System Level Up: 5 → 6

[LEVEL UP COMPLETE]

[Tier II Constructs Unlocked]

[Mapping Grid Overlay Unlocked]

[New Feature: Modular Constructs – Build multi-component devices]

[System Personality Expansion Pack: Now 11% more smug.]

Kai laughed and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the cracked wooden ceiling.

Signal.

Power.

Vision.

His little workshop was becoming a lab.

Outside, snow began to fall again.

Inside, he opened the next blueprint menu with eyes gleaming.

Time to build bigger.