"It is way too early for this sh*t," Jim grumbled, walking through the cafeteria. Apparently inmates didn't get a very good sleep schedule, who would have thought?

"Well, bear with it until 'then'. You'll be fine for now, right?" Cobalt asked, sitting down next to Jim.

"Yeah yeah. Damn, what the hell is this mesh?" Jim asked, poking at the soup on his plate.

"Hey, we eat that mesh every day. Get used to it!" someone yelled from the line.

"So, how many people know bout 'it'?" Jim inquired.

"Everyone who needs to. You just have to be ready on your end," Cobalt replied. Jim quickly skimmed through his status screen and grumbled.

"Something wrong?" Oblek inquired.

"Not gonna lie, my stats are still pretty bad. This debuff thing is annoying as hell," Jim grumbled, scrolling through his status.

"Why not stop by Javier again and get money to buff your stats?" Cobalt suggested.

"Don't worry, I plan to," Jim replied, quickly finishing his food.

"Alright, let us know how it goes," he said as Jim left the room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Javier screamed, slamming his head into the table.

"Sorry man, but sadly it just had to be this way," Jim replied, patting the man on the back.

"But why did the author end it there?! At least give me an ending damn it!" Javier screamed, throwing a nearby book at the wall.

"Oh there are probably like 3 or so new chapters by now. Unless there was a hiatus. I just died and ended up here so I'll never know," Jim explained. Javier grabbed the collar of Jim's shirt and began to shake him back and forth.

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE SO EARLY?! JUST LIVE AN EXTRA COUPLE MONTHS!" Javier yelled, tears streaming down his face.

"I WANTED TO! I DIDN'T WANT TO GET HIT BY A TRUCK AND END UP IN PRISON!" Jim yelled back, shaking the guy as well.

"WHAT THE HELL IS EVEN A TRUCK?!"

"I CARRIAGE WITH AN ENGINE INSTEAD OF A SALAMANDER!" Jim explained.

"Huh? You mean like in Jarvestia?" Javier asked, his voice changing back to the calm cold tone.

"They got those in Jarvestia? I saw a few salamander variants though," Jim recalled.

"Well, there were prototypes made by past heroes. They called it a 'car' I think? However, the last hero never got them to be mass produced and her blueprints were locked away as no one was able to decipher them. Both due to the language barrier and incomprehensible handwriting," Javier explained. "So there are only a few and they are in the hands of nobles."

"Huh. Interesting," Jim mumbled. I wonder if there are any weapons they left behind too?

"Did past heroes leave anything else?" Jim inquired.

"Hm. I think a few artifacts, but most of them became family heirlooms for nobles, and those that were used in combat were destroyed over the last century. Oh, they also say that the last hero tried to make a weapon that the next generation could use in case the otherworlders attacked or a disaster struck. However, it was said that it would take too much energy to use and would take years to charge. They tried to find a better power source but they passed away before they could do so. But some people still believe that some blueprints were left behind," Javier lectured.

Alright, I'll note down 'possible op weapon I need to find' for later. Until then, task on hand.

"Well, that's everything from my end. I hope you aren't gonna cheat me out now that I have nothing left to give," Jim asked Javier with a laugh.

"Well, there is nothing I can do then if that's all that came out for the story. I just wonder if the time stopping girl managed to get her abilities back or not. And why did the imitators' powers remain half unlocked? Like if only he got the full relock there 1 time we could have spedran the whole thing. GOD DAMN IT, WHY COULDN'T IT BE SIMPLE?!" Javier complained, tossing Jim the money.

"Thank you. I'll see you around then," Jim replied, walking away. However, Javier stopped him.

"You're planning to break out soon, aren't you?" he mumbled quietly, just loud enough for Jim to hear. Jim shook his head but Javier just smiled.

"The warden of this place is an ass and he hates my guts, but a few of the people here don't actually care about the job. I'll pay off a few guards before the wave starts. Those that have s green bandana around their arms won't try to stop you. So don't rough my guys up too much," Javier said.

"But why?" Jim inquired. "Why bother helping me out like that?"

"Because you, my friend, owe me a satisfying finally. Whether you have to undie and return from your world again or make one up is up to you, but I better get one before the end of your time here, you hear me?" Javier explained. "Now go, use your money for whatever you need."

"Gotcha. Thanks man. May we meet again at the end of the apocalypse," Jim replied, walking out and closing the door behind him.

"May we meet indeed," Javier snickered to himself. He waited for a few minutes before gesturing one of the guards over and handing him a bag of money. "Take all of my guys and get them green bandanas. Put them on your arms and stay away from the crafter hero, for your own sakes. Understood?"

"Of course, sir," the guard replied and quickly walked off.

To think I would witness someone who is gonna try a prison break out of this hellhole. Good luck Crafter Hero, you crazy son of a b*tch.

"What are you smiling about?" Cobalt inquired as Jim walked into their cell.

"It's payday my guy, and that means sweet sweet stats!" Jim bragged, jumping on the bed and opening his status screen.

Alright, I maxed out what I can on this hammer. I could buff the crafting level, and it would help me out long term as it buffs my stats, meaning its the same as buffing every hammer at the same time, but right now that won't help me much. The better choice is this.

Quality Power - Lvl 3

Crafting Level - Lvl 3

Quality Up - Lvl 0

Weapon Synthesis - Lvl 0

Microtransaction Enchantment

Alright, not bad. These are some decent stats. And I'm broke again. Damn, this method eats through money. So glad that upgrading the method itself is a one and done deal and not something I have to do constantly.

"Alright lazy bums, get up. Everybody up. Time to put your worthless asses to use!" a guard yelled from the hallway. Cobalt groaned and flipped himself off of the bed.

"Alright kiddo, let's go," he grumbled, leading Jim through the hallway.

"Ah, is this the crafting time you told me about?" Jim inquired, and Cobalt nodded.

"Yep. Well, you're the crafter hero. So either you're gonna really hate it or really love it," Cobalt replied.

"Hate it definitely. This sounds just like Jarvestia. 'Stay in the castle and craft us some weapons' was basically my life there. The place here sounds like that except less luxury food and such," Jim grumbled.

"Damn. Sounds like you were set for life. I mean, stay inside and craft some shiz, don't fight AND you get food? Sounds like heaven. Boring, but safe," Covalt remarked.

"I can see why you'd like that. But I come from another world. Being reborn with an op weapon and going out to fight is the dream for weebs like me. 10/10 would pick fighting a random monster with hacks over an office job," Jim replied.

"Eh, to each their own I guess," Cobral mumbled, opening the door at the end of the hallway. Jim was instantly treated with loud clanging noises and a pile of rocks in the corner of the room.

"Wow… that's one big pile of sh*t," Jim mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing, random reference. Anyway, how doe-," Jim started to ask, but was interrupted when a guard walked into the room.

"Alright, new guys come over here, I'll give you the rundown. The rest of you know the drill. Oi! Get over here! I see you trying to hide there!" he said, walking behind one of the inmates and pulling out a guy.

Oh it's that guy who picked on Javier. Damn, he looks beat up.

"Hey, good luck mate. I'll meet you after the shift," Cobalt said, walking off.

"Thanks. Welp, time to get to work," Jim said, walking up to the guard.

"Ah, you're one of the new guys. Alright, let me tell ya how things work. Over there is a pile of rocks. You're going to take those rocks, bring them over to the station where there's a bunch of tools: a chisel, a hammer, or whatever, and you're going to make a ring. Rest of the instructions are on the poster. Any questions?"

Before Jim could open his mouth the guard turned to the side.

"Good. Since you're new you only have to make 5 rings. Any less and there will be consequences," he said, walking away. Jim glanced down at the workstation and saw a small stack of sandpaper and a manual drill press with two drill bits in the shape of circles, both different sizes. A small sink was attacked just above the table with a small thin hose on the end.

Wow… that's cheap as hell. Even the drill press my neighbor had was at least automatic, even if it did break down like 10 times within 30 minutes of usage and burned your hand. Welp, when in Rome…

Jim grabbed the drill press and gave it a spin, watching as the empty head began to spin. Jim loaded in the larger drill bit first and grabbed a nearby rock.

The picture shows a flat slate. What the hell do I do with this abomination?

Jim looked around and saw other prisoners breaking the rocks apart, getting a small enough piece, and then sanding them out into as flat of a shape as they could before drilling out a hole and then the ring itself. Jim sighed and grabbed the drill press, preparing to slam a rock on its hard metal surface. But before he could even do anything, a notification popped up in his status.

[Requirements for the Stone Cutting Drill Press have been met]

"Eh?" Jim exclaimed, looking at the new unlocked weapon form.

Stone Cutting Drill Press N

Abilities Unmastered: stoneworking skill 5, +10 dexterity

Special Effects: drilling (medium), consumption (medium)

[O]

I… uh… well, that makes my job so much easier.

Jim turned his hammer into the new weapon form and turned it around in his hands. Without a moment wasted, he unscrewed the drill press from the table and quickly attached his own in its place. He picked up his rock again and began to gently hit it against the top of the drill press, quickly chipping it down into a small piece, barely the size of his palm. Then he grabbed some sandpaper and quickly rubbed the rock onto its rough surface, flattening it in under a minute. He did the same to the other side and turned to his drill press.

Unlike the one he copied, the holy variant of the drill press did not have a drill bit, so Jim grabbed the smaller one off of the table and was about to attach it, when the option popped up in his status screen to attach a drill bit. He grabbed the second one and a second option appeared. With that in mind he selected the smaller one and went to grab the handle, only to realize this weapon form didn't have one.

Bru… is this a dud? Get my own drill bits and my own handle? Wait, is it telepathic or something?

Shrugging, Jim willed his drill press to start spinning, and to his surprise it quickly obeyed. His sp bar started to deplete, but it didn't seem like a very severe cost, as the sp began to recover once he willed the drill to stop. The problem was that his recovery and max sp were both cut in half.

Well, I don't think I need to spin it for very long, and it should recover by the time I make a new stone tile.

With that in mind, Jim turned the drill on again and lowered it onto the stone, holding it by the edge. In just a few seconds the drill quickly made it all the way through, spraying a bit of water from the sink to not get stone dust into his lungs and to cooldown the rock. He tossed the piece of round rock into his hammer and then swapped the drill bit to the larger one, repeating the process as carefully as he could. With just a minute passing by Jim now held a small rough ring made of stone. But he wasn't done yet.

Guess without the

Jim grabbed one of the pieces of sandpaper and began to rub it into the rough stony surface, quickly turning it from a jagged piece of rock into a somewhat smooth ring. Then he grabbed the less rough sandpaper and repeated the process, going down lower and lower gradient until the ring was shiny and a bit reflective. The ring began to glow just like his drill press and a message popped up in his status screen

[Stone Ring

Quality: Excellent]

It gave a small buff to defense, but Jim didn't bother looking at its stats and quickly went to the status messages.

[Crafting EXP +300]

YOOOO! 300?! That's so much! I mean, that means I got a good quality ring thanks to all the stoneworking skill bonuses before the quality raisers took effect! Wow, this is gonna be great! With this I can raise my stats even more before the wave! And my crafter hero went up from 27 to 28!

…

I am getting excited over working like a slave in a prison for a jackass who threw me here for no reason… what is my life… anyway, bonuses go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

With renewed motivation, and skill bonuses, Jim grabbed a couple more rocks and began to quickly turn them into rings.

"Wow, you look like you had practice with this sort of thing," Oblek mumbled, watching how fast Jim's hands moved.

"I used a drill stand a bunch back in my world. Mostly for a passion project," Jim said, tossing a fourth ring to the side.

"Just a passion project? I wouldn't say you were a master, but you are still pretty skilled. Way more than most people here," Oblek replied. Jim looked at him and saw that Oblek had only 1 ring and a large jagged piece of rock in his hand he was sanding away at. Come to think of it, almost everyone was on their first or second ring. The only exception was the beat up guy next to Jim who's arms and hands looked like they had been slammed by doors one too many times and had bruises all over. He was still drilling his first piece of rock with trembling hands.

Eh, screw it. We still got like 2 hours and I could use the extra exp. So far this seems like the most ideal place for craft exp grinding.

With that Jim tossed two rings to Oblek and the other two to the beat up guy.

"Huh? What about you? I mean, I need to make like 10 total," Oblek asked.

"Just take it. I'm gonna make a bunch more. Each one gives me a buff so I'll just stay here for a while and make a few dozen or something," Jim replied, picking up another rock and quickly breaking it down.

"Th-thank you," the guy beside Jim whispered. Jim turned to the man but he didn't respond and just continued to drill. Jim shrugged and began to carve out his next ring.

"26, 27, 28… 29!" Cobalt counted, moving Jim's rings from one pile to another. Just as he finished counting, Jim raised his last ring and tossed it into the pile. "30!"

"Let's go!" Jim exclaimed, as his crafting level raised to 47. His stats also shot up, even considering the debuff. Most of the people have already left, leaving just him, Oblek, Cobalt, and the injured guy. Unlike his first day here when he tried to start something with Javier, today the guy was in the corner, drilling away at his last ring.

"Well, good luck man, I'm off. The guard is gonna lock this place up soon so we don't want to be left alone here," Cobalt said, picking up his rings and walking towards the door where the guard stood. He stretched out his hand and Cobalt dropped his rings into it. Oblek quickly followed him and did the same thing, before he was allowed to leave the room. Jim shrugged and picked up five rings, pushing the rest towards the injured guy.

"Here, take as many as you need. Good luck… guy," Jim said awkwardly, walking towards the door.

"Teric," the man said, picking up a couple of Jim's rings. "My name is Teric."

"Gotcha. Well, catch you later Teric," Jim replied, handing the guard the rings. The guard looked at one of the stone rings and his eyes widened.

"Can I go now?" Jim inquired, gesturing to the hallway. The guard nodded and quickly pocketed the rings.

Alright, time to take inventory and see what I can do.

With that, Jim quickly made his way down the hallway.

"Earth Missile, Tornado Blast," the ring vassal exclaimed, sending two skills at William. The knight raised his large jar and blocked the hits, grunting as he ran towards the ring user. He pointed his weapon at the king.

"Wind Burst!" he exclaimed, blasting a glowing vortex at the man before him.

"Cosmic Barrier, not bad William!" he exclaimed, summoning two more rings and turning them into black and red rings. He felt his barrier weaken, but his attack rose greatly. He took down the barrier and jumped to the side, pointing his rings at William.

"Shrapnel shot!" he exclaimed, sending several blasts at the jar hero.

"Erst Contain, Second Co- AGH!" the man screamed, as the attacks blasted through his set up jars and slammed into him, sending him man flying back into the wall. He paused and waited for a few seconds before walking up to the knight and stretching out his hand.

"Not bad. Seems like you more or less got the hang of it. The stats can be raised later," the ring user said, pulling the man up from the ground.

"Ugh, looks like I'm still no match for you even with this… weapon," WIlliam groaned.

"You'll get there by the time the next set of waves come around. Maybe even surpass me, who knows," the king said, unsummoning his rings. "Well, the wave is going to start tomorrow, so get some rest today. I want you at 100% by tomorrow. Alright?"

"Of course, your majesty," William replied, walking out of the arena while muttering healing spells. The king was left alone. He looked at the sky and sighed.

Alright, I got this next wave in the bag. Two vassal heroes should be enough, right? If only I could just upgrade all the methods to level 10 instantly, but why is there a cooldown of 24 hours?! Well… beggars can't be choosers.

With that, he walked out of the arena, mentally preparing for the next wave.