Chapter 313

[You have entered a state of 'Deep Immersion'.] 

[Your focus has temporarily peaked. Crafting speed and precision are greatly increased.]

Viper didn't even read the prompt. His mind was entirely locked on the fabrics. He cut, stitched, measured, and layered.

He crushed the raw cotton into tight layers and bound it with silk to create padded bracers that deflected glancing blows without restricting wrist movement. He wove the linen and wool together for a heavy cloak that offered both wind resistance and camouflage in dusty environments. He used the leftover trimmings from the wool to line the inside of silk gloves, completely negating the cold penalty for gripping metal weapons.

System prompts began to cascade rapidly across his vision as his hands moved with terrifying, mechanical efficiency.

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Reinforced Cotton Bracers'!] 

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Dust-Weave Linen Cloak'!] 

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Insulated Silk Gloves'!] 

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Heavy Woolen Trousers'!] 

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Breathable Linen Tunic'!] 

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Layered Silk Sash'!]

[A rare-rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +2 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +30.]

[A rare-rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +2 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +30.]

….

[A rare-rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +2 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +30.]

He didn't waste a single scrap. For his final piece, he tied the blue mana-thread through a pure cotton belt, turning a simple piece of clothing into an accessory that passively boosted stamina recovery.

[You have successfully created the rare-rated item 'Mana-Conductive Cotton Belt'!] 

[Item Effect: Stamina recovery rate is increased by 10%.]

[A rare-rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +2 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +30.]

He set the fifteenth item down on the table.

Fifteen distinct items sat in a neat row.

[You have exited the state of 'Deep Immersion'.] 

[Through extreme concentration, Dexterity has increased by +10.] 

[Persistence has increased by +10.]

Viper let out a long breath. The edges of the room suddenly snapped back into focus. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a strange, lingering calm as the high of the intense focus faded. He realized this must be exactly what Ash felt. The young magic swordsman had mentioned slipping into deep combat trances during long fights, where the rest of the world simply vanished. Viper finally understood the feeling.

His dexterity was climbing to a ridiculous level. He felt like he could thread a needle in the dark from across the room.

Ding.

[You have successfully completed Trial 3.] 

[You have produced 15 distinct Rare-rated items using the provided materials.] 

[Reward granted: 'Tailor's Insight'.] 

[Dexterity has permanently increased by +100.]

[Tailor's Insight (Lv. 1)] 

[Active] 

[The eyes of a craftsman who can understand the material he works with.

- Reveals a material's hidden properties.

- Reveals a material's compatibility with another material. 

- Resource Consumed: 100 Mana. 

- Skill Cooldown: 60 Minutes.]

The Phantom floated down, hovering directly in front of his face.

"You understand volume, and you understand constraint," the Phantom said, its voice dropping into a quieter, more serious tone. "But a true creator must also know how to fix what is broken. Even the greatest designs can be lost to time."

The fifteen items vanished.

A single, jagged piece of yellowed parchment fell onto the wooden table. Next to it appeared a bundle of high-tier Griffon hide and a spool of enchanted white thread.

"Trial four," the Phantom said. "You are provided with a damaged blueprint. A central section of the original design is missing. Create the item."

[The Quest [Tailor's Trials] has been updated!] 

[Trial 4] 

[A damaged blueprint has been provided. A central section of the original design is missing.]

[Objective: Create the item mentioned in the blueprint by fixing the blueprint.]

[Reward: [Kruger's Invisibility Cloak], Dexterity + 100]

Viper picked up the parchment. It was a schematic for a long, flowing coat. The edges of the design were clearly marked, detailing the collar, the hem, and the shoulder clasps. But the entire middle section of the diagram had been torn away. There were no instructions on how to weave the back panel or how to connect the hide to the inner lining.

If he tried to guess the weave pattern and got it wrong, the materials would fail.

"Tailor's Insight," Viper said.

[The skill 'Tailor's Insight' has been activated.] 

[100 Mana has been consumed.] 

[Revealing the hidden properties of the target materials.]

The world shifted. A faint, glowing blue grid overlaid the Griffon hide on the table.

Viper looked at the torn blueprint. The skill didn't magically fill in the missing drawing. It didn't tell him where to put the needle or what angles to connect the threads. Instead, it fed him the exact data of the Griffon hide: its maximum tensile strength, its stretching capacity, and the specific direction of its natural grain. It also showed him that the enchanted white thread would snap if pulled too tightly against the stiffest part of the hide. 

He had to figure out the lines himself.

Viper closed his eyes for a brief second,quietly noting down all the details in his mind. Using the material properties his skill had just revealed, he calculated how the hide would bend and where the stress points would gather

He picked up the needle.

Viper started from the collar, working his way down. When he reached the missing middle section, he didn't guess. He followed the natural flow of the hide's grain, weaving a complex, interlocking pattern that properly supported the heavy weight of the Griffon leather without putting too much tension on the delicate thread. 

He tied the final knot at the hem of the coat.

Flash.

The moment the thread pulled tight, the Griffon hide coat flashed with a blinding silver light.

[You have successfully created the epic-rated item 'Kruger’s Coat'!] 

[An epic-rated item was produced, so all stats have permanently risen by +4 and reputation throughout the continent has risen by +80.]

SWOOSH!

The heavy coat he had just sewn vanished into thin air.