Protection Target

'By the looks of it, my talent in artifact crafting is really not that high.'

'Studying by myself... It will take forever.'

'If I want to build high-level equipment, if I want access to higher-level guild perks, if I want information about the philosopher's stone, I will need to level up my artisan skills through the system.'

'Though...' Jake took in a deep breath. 'The cost won't be small.'

Thinking through his plan, making sure that he fully understood the situation, left no information out, Jake sighed. 'Very well.'

'It's worth it.' Jake nodded at himself, accepting the situation.

Making this final decision, Jake relaxed a little.

Combining the branch master's information with Jake's reaction, the crowd saw Jake's relaxed behaviour as giving up.

Nathaniel's smile widened. Sure, Jake became a certified artisan. But by the looks of it, Jake wasn't capable of creating the cleanse talisman.

Badger won't be saved. Nick Rogers has failed. It's still his win in the end.

"Master Collins, if there is nothing else." The branch master was ready to leave.

"Give me an hour to study this." Jake gave the branch master an apologetic nod.

"No problem." The branch master weakly chuckled back. "Take your time."

Jake looked at the housekeeper.

"This way please." Nathaniel gestured towards Jake's previous bedroom.

"Please take your time. We understand the difficulty." Nathaniel looked confident with the situation.

Jake carelessly nodded in response.

Entering the private crafting room, Jake was by himself again.

Laying out the blueprints onto the crafting station, Jake closed his eyes.

'If I can get three yellow-tier cores from the Iron Sparrow Guild, I can get more from these guys.'

'If I can successfully save Badger, with my certified artisan identity, with my advanced talisman crafting capability, I can easily make lucrative business deals.'

'Also tell them to give me a honest list. Not forgetting the 50 items.'

'Today, I'll invest all of my Click Points into crafting skills.'

'But in weeks, by selling advanced talismans for yellow-tier cores, I can make this money back.'

'In the end, I'll end up with more click points and leveled up crafting skills.'

'Can't be helped then.'

Jake called open his system interface.

Without hesitation, Jake clicked the [+] button after crafting skills.

43.1% mastery! 53.1% mastery! 63.1% mastery!

Jake blankly stared at the white wall in front of him for a moment.

Blinking a few times, Jake's wondering mind returned with a load of information.

At 33.1%, Jake was a fresh college graduate. At 63.1%, Jake just got his PhD degree.

Looking at his interface, there was only 6 Click Points left. Can't level anything up now.

Closing the interface, looking at the advanced talisman blueprints, Jake sighed.

'How magical...'

'Looking back, how the heck would I have figured this out? Are the connections and relationships between characters that obvious?'

Everything made sense now. In fact, making advanced talismans didn't seem that hard at all. Even a little easy.

Even as a laid back person, Jake still couldn't help but sigh.

Every level up experience felt like a hit to the confidence.

'Am I really that stupid?' Jake shook his head.

Jake felt a little down.

0.05 seconds later...

'Very well. I'll take it. Moving on now.' Nodding at himself, Jake accepted the situation.

Taking out his artisan pen, Jake began practicing. Just to make sure that he's not delusional of course.

Following the blueprint, Jake tried to write out the runic characters.

Having a clear understanding, the runic character self-folded into various shapes with no problem.

If a detector was here, that detector would be able to see glowing blocks of mana surrounding Jake.

Emitting various colors. Various shapes would even bump each other from time to time. Being left out untouched, these mana blocks would gradually dim, eventually fading away.

Jake waved around. The mana blocks quickly dissipated.

'I can create the fundamental blocks. Check.'

'Now. Connect the blocks...' Jake took out a talisman necklace emitting a dark blue glow.

Putting it on, Jake felt that his mana regeneration had quickened.

Some practice. Some rest.

An hour quickly passed.

Jake returned to the hall. It's time for round two. Time for the main course.

For some reason, the crowd still had not left.

Some were rather relaxed. Enjoying a cup of coffee. Chatting while holding a cup of wine. Playing billiard. Playing Ping Pong.

Others looked rather anxious and hopeful. All waiting some distance away from Jake's door.

"Ah. Master Collins, how is your progress?"

"We have the materials ready. Do you think you can give it a try today?"

"If you are too tired, we could wait."

"Would you like a mana regeneration talisman?"

The waiting group quickly swarmed over. They were rather enthusiastic.

"I'll give it try." Being surrounded by this group, Jake returned to the crafting station.

By the entrance of this hall, the housekeeper had brought over someone new.

It's a short girl wearing pink pajamas. Shoulder length hair flowing down her shoulders. With the appearance of a 16 or 17 years old. Emitting a playful and lively aura. She looked like an impatient high school kid.

"Well Emily." The housekeeper said with a stern expression. "Master Collins is out now."

Turning to the short girl beside him, the housekeeper continued. "This is your protection target."

The short girl puffed up her cheeks. Standing on her toes, she tried to take a look at her protection target.

However, Jake was surrounded by people. And she was not that tall. Nevertheless, Emily could already picture a haughty mid-aged dude in her mind.

"I refuse." Emily turned her head away from the housekeeper. Slightly lifting her chin, she looked like a naughty princess refusing demands from her parents.

"Emily." The housekeeper's expression fell serious. "This is serious."

"Master Collins has just became a certified artisan. Someone great like this can singlehandedly save the Rogers family."

"Even if our guildmaster sees misfortune..."

The short girl shot a gaze of disdain at the housekeeper. Crossing her arms, she looked away. Her attitude was clear. No meant no.

Seeing this result, the housekeeper powerlessly sighed.