After having a hearty meal with both Lillie and Lizbeth, Victor didn’t rest. Instead, he headed straight to meet Eleanor. As he stepped into the Artificer’s Hall, he could smell the familiar scent of metal and oil mixing with the ever-present heat of active forges. The clatter of tools, the rhythmic pounding of hammers, and the occasional bursts of steam filled the air.

  What surprised him was the increasing number of players taking up blacksmithing — or in this case, becoming Artificers. Sure, Artificers were highly sought after by Magi, but the path was far from easy. Yet, more and more players were diving headfirst into the craft. Perhaps some of them had similar professions on Earth or just picked it up as a hobby. Either way, he wasn’t curious enough to dig for the real answer.

  Victor soon spotted Eleanor at the back of the hall, hunched over a workbench, her goggles perched on her forehead as she meticulously instructed a group of players. Each one was listening intently, putting on a serious expression, fearful of missing even the smallest detail.

  Without announcing himself, Victor walked up behind Eleanor, waiting patiently until the players dispersed before finally speaking.

  “I see you’re putting a lot of effort into teaching these pla— acolytes.”

  Eleanor didn’t even flinch at his sudden appearance, despite him having just dispelled his concealment spell. Instead, she turned around dramatically with a smirk playing on her lips. “You’re finally here, Patron? You’ve been missing for two weeks; I thought you had died.” She crossed her arms. “Had me worried for a moment… that I wouldn’t get paid.”

  Victor frowned inwardly. Again, why does everyone assume I’m dead whenever I’m gone? And why is she more concerned about not getting paid than anything else? And wasn’t I paying her more than enough?

  Deciding to ignore the unimportant matter, he cleared his throat. “Don’t worry about that. Actually, I’ve brought something for you this time.” With a flick of his wrist, three voidstones materialized from his interspatial ring, landing softly onto the workbench.

  Eleanor’s eyes instantly widened. “No way — these are real voidstones?” She grabbed one immediately, turning it over in her hands. “I thought you said these were nearly impossible to find?”

  Victor shrugged. “Let’s just say I found a workaround.”

  Eleanor gave him a suspicious glance but didn’t pry. On the contrary, she placed the voidstone under a magnifying lens, examining its structure and properties. “Hah… With these, we can finally get to the fun part.”

  She gestured toward a large metallic stone structure in the center of the hall — a prototype frame for the Teleportation Waypoint. Though unfinished, the circular platform was engraved with complex rune formations with mana-conducting plates extending from its base. Once activated, the detached part of the structure would float, just as Victor had envisioned.

  Victor nodded in approval. “Looks good. How far along are we?”

  Eleanor tossed a wrench aside. “Everything else is ready. The only thing left was these damn voidstones to anchor the spatial formations, and, of course, you to inscribe them.” She cracked her knuckles. “And now that we have you and the materials, it’s time to finish this beast.”

  “Then let’s begin.”

  Victor walked closer to the structure, placing a hand on the Teleportation Waypoint. The structure was made of solid stone, with its surface reinforced with a metallic coating. The design bore a striking resemblance to those seen in fantasy games, likely attributed to the players’ ideas.

  “We’ll start by embedding the voidstones into their designated slots,” Victor said, scanning the structure. “Once they’re in place, I’ll engrave the spatial formations.”

  Eleanor gave him a thumbs-up. “Gotcha. Oi, you lot!” She barked at the nearby players-turned-Artificers. “Drop what you’re doing and help me mount these stones properly!”

  Several players turned around, momentarily startled as they spotted Victor. They had been too focused on their tasks to realize that the headmaster himself was present.

  One of them straightened up hurriedly. “Greetings, esteemed Headmaster!”

  “We’re at your service, Sir Astralium!” another chimed in eagerly.

  Victor gave a slight nod. “Mhm.”

  They immediately moved to lift the three detachable structures, positioning them so the voidstones could be slotted into the recesses built into the Teleportation Waypoint’s frame. As soon as the third stone clicked into place, faint mana circuits flickered to life, forming intricate patterns across the metallic surface. The activation signaled the stabilization of the spatial anchors — a crucial step toward making the Waypoint functional.

  Victor observed the process and realized that it was a lot like building a nexus gate, even though he had never built one himself.

  He then rolled his shoulders, preparing for the next step. “Now for the tricky part.”

  Raising his right hand, he began inscribing the spatial magic formations. Glowing runes etched themselves into the structure, weaving together as they gathered Cosmo energy with each precise stroke. The very fabric of space warped, bending reality to accommodate the Waypoint’s function.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Eleanor watched closely. “If this works, we’ll be revolutionizing travel around the world and set up permanent teleportation routes between locations.”

  Revolutionizing travel?

  Victor nearly scoffed at the idea. It wasn’t like teleportation devices were foreign to Seraphia. The big Magus forces already had similar infrastructures, though they were exclusive and heavily regulated. Furthermore, using them for individual travel wasn’t exactly efficient or cost-effective.

  On the other hand, these three Teleportation Waypoints were aimed at easing individual travel between different locations. Although it was limited to close range, it would be a game changer. Players would especially welcome this feature of instantaneous travel.

  The players watched all this with excitement, fully aware that they were witnessing history in the making. Some were already posting updates on the official website forum, while others were spamming announcements to their friend groups. Victor, however, paid no attention to this as he would be formally introducing the Teleportation Waypoints in the next update. In most games, a certain amount of leaks could actually be beneficial, acting as a form of drip marketing to generate hype.

  As the magic formations were finished, Victor was filled with pride. He had poured all his knowledge of Cosmo magic into this design, carefully cross-referencing the research notes available in the citadel. There was no way this wouldn’t work.

  “Now, the only thing lacking is…” Victor’s gaze turned toward the Shadowlink Marks on the players’ wrists.

  He had thought ahead about this. The last thing he wanted was for the Teleportation Waypoints to be misused by unauthorized individuals — or worse, enemies. And the solution he came up with was embedding a hidden magic formation into the Waypoints, so only those bearing the Shadowlink Marks (mostly players) would be able to activate them.

  Victor had also considered implementing remote teleportation, but that was a plan for the future. Implementing it would be more difficult as it would require upgrading the Shadowlink Marks themselves, which was beyond his current capabilities.

  One feature at a time — that was the way to do this.

  In any case, it was time to test the device. After placing two Teleportation Waypoints about ten meters apart, Victor turned toward the players and asked, “Who wants to be the first to test the teleportation device?”

  Immediately, hands shot up in the air.

  “Me, me! Please pick me, Sir Astralium!” The first player raised his hand high, nearly bouncing in place with enthusiasm.

  “No! It should be me! I love teleportation more than anyone!” exclaimed the second player, practically shoving the first aside.

  And then there was the third player.

  “I love being treated as a guinea pig! I am also a pig! Oink, oink!”

  Why do I feel like the last one just wanted an excuse to say that rather than actually volunteering? Victor thought with a frown.

  Ignoring the strange one, Victor chose a random player and gave him a mission to be the volunteer through the Shadowlink Mark and a reward of one hundred merit points upon completion.

  “Alright, you, step onto the Waypoint on the left and put your hand on the runes,” Victor instructed.

  The player, whose username was PrimoDos, walked toward the teleportation device. Victor felt like he had heard his name before, and if he wasn’t wrong, he was one of the players responsible for building SPARK, the pilotable suicide mechanical golem. Given his track record, it was clear that this guy had no fear of hazardous devices.

  Without hesitation, PrimoDos strode up to the left Teleportation Waypoint, placing his hand on the activation runes. But instead of being teleported, he turned around in confusion.

  “Umm, Headmaster, how am I supposed to activate this again?” he asked.

  Victor rolled his eyes. “Just activate your Shadowlink Mark and then channel your infused mana into the Waypoint.”

  “Oh! Got it.”

  PrimoDos did as instructed. Then the runes on the floating stone lit up, and at the same time, the Shadowlink Mark on his wrist began to shine. In less than three seconds, his entire body shimmered, turning into a spark of light before vanishing — only to reappear instantly beside the right Teleportation Waypoint.

  “Did… did I just teleport?” PrimoDos stood there in disbelief.

  “So, it’s a success?” Victor mused, watching him closely.

  “Haha! None of my inventions are ever a failure!” Eleanor declared proudly, puffing out her chest.

  “Blergh!” PrimoDos suddenly vomited onto the floor, holding his stomach. “Fuck! The intense nausea just hit me all at once… Urp…”

  “Eww. Don’t vomit on the floor, please.”

  The other players, especially female players, that were watching were grossed out by the vomit.

  Victor snorted. “It’s half a success, then. Is this what you call a success?”

  “Oh, you. It’s not finished yet.” Eleanor crossed her arms, unfazed.

  PrimoDos staggered, still holding his stomach as he fell on his knees. The other players watched with a mix of amusement and mild concern, and some stifled laughter while others took photos and recordings.

  “So, how does it feel to teleport?” someone asked.

  “Urgh… feels like my insides got scrambled,” PrimoDos groaned, wiping his mouth. “Headmaster, is this normal?”

  Even though this was a game for the players, if every teleportation made people throw up, no one was going to use it.

  Victor shook his head. “No. Short-range teleportation shouldn’t have caused such an effect. Even entering a pocket dimension isn’t this nauseating. Clearly, this is an issue.”

  Eleanor waved a hand dismissively. “Bah, it’s just a little side effect. Your body needs time to adjust to the sudden spatial displacement. The problem’s probably the stabilization of the transfer speed. Right now, the transition is too rough.”

  Oh? She can discern that much even without a Cosmo elemental affinity? As expected of a Faulkner. Victor raised an eyebrow.

  What she said made a lot of sense. The Teleportation Waypoints weren’t just transporting someone across space — they were deconstructing their physical form, moving them through a controlled spatial tunnel, and then reconstructing them at the destination. If that process wasn’t smooth, the body would feel the strain. It was a miracle that PrimoDos didn’t turn into a lump of flesh.

  Fortunately, this wasn’t a difficult problem to fix. With fine adjustments, the side effects could be fully mitigated. Once the feature was fully implemented, Victor planned to charge players merit points to use these things, adding yet another function to the fabricated currency that had been exploiting them since the game’s inception. On paper, it was a genius move if he could resolve the root of the problem.

  “Correct. Right now, it’s like getting launched from a catapult instead of gliding through a proper spatial corridor.” Victor nodded, then glanced at PrimoDos, who was still looking queasy. “You up for another test? Or another acolyte want to take your place?”

  PrimoDos grimaced but gave a shaky thumbs-up. “If I get another hundred merit points, sure.”

  “Fine. Let’s make the adjustments first.”

  Eleanor flashed a toothy grin at the player’s eagerness. “Alright! Let’s tweak this thing and make it the smoothest teleportation device in existence.”

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