Author's Note: Hey you guys! Get over here for another chapter!

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After the whole mess the previous night, Null decided that it would be best to play by their rules and get the annoying bullshit out the way so he could receive what he came here for and leave. He stayed in an inn for the night and left the following morning.

'Guess I'll go to the tinkerer's guild and look for that rambling crackpot.' Null decides.

He visits the Tinkerer's guild. The building's size is on the scale of Gnosia's library. Null constantly sees people traveling between the tinkerer's guild and the library. When he enters the tinkerer's guild, the tech he was expecting to see isn't there. The room he is currently in looks like a waiting room.

'Well, I guess it makes sense not to put things out up front.' Null reasons.

He waits in line until it is finally his turn.

“How can I help you?” The receptionist asks.

“I would like to enter this guild and take a look around.”

“I'm sorry, but tours are only scheduled on the first of every month. You will have to wait until then.”

“I can't enter now?”

“Not without a member of this guild to accompany you.”

“Well, can you get... Um...” Null had forgotten his name. He usually forgets everyone's name.

“Yes?” The receptionist is waiting patiently.

“The guy that rambles and doesn't know when to shut up.” Null says hoping the receptionist could figure it out.

“That only reduces the amount of people to 75%.” The receptionist says sarcastically.

“Has an unhealthy obsession with light bulbs?”

“Still not helping.”

“...Crackpot?”

“Oh! You mean Aldan Lockett?” The receptionist says snapping her fingers.

“Yes. That's the one.”

“Let me ring him up. What is your name?”

“Null.”

The receptionist calls Aldan and tells him that a Null is here to see him.

'Oh right. I just remembered that I had his card. Well, whatever.' Thinks Null unconcerned.

Null hears slight scampering sounds from far away that gradually get louder.

“What is that?” Someone in the reception room asks.

“The crackpot is nearing.” Someone else says ominously.

Aldan runs in having a cartoon like smoke cloud in his tracks.

He stops running in front of Null and starts panting from exhaustion.

“Null! I didn't think I would meet you again so soon!”

“Alright.” Null replies.

“Let's go into my laboratory.”

While they are headed to Aldan's laboratory, he shows Null the different types of machinery they pass by and explains what they do.

“Well. Here we are! Pretty neat don't you think?”

“Sure.” Null says not caring.

“This is what I am currently working on. I'm trying to fuse the two types of power generation! This is experiement #2512! Here. Wear these.”

Aldan hands Null some goggles.

“And here we go!”

He presses a button and the whole thing explodes.

“Was it supposed to do that?” Null can't help but ask.

“No. It was just a little kink. All I have to do is adjust it a little this way and...”

It explodes again. After several more explosions. The novelty of Aldan getting himself nearly killed multiple times starts to wear off.

“Aldan. I came here in order to meet with your guild leader. Do you think you can do that?”

“That jerk!?”

Aldan gets upset.

“He's the one who started the trend of people calling me a crackpot! Just because he's one of the most brilliant tinkerers this world has ever produced doesn't mean he's always right!”

“Do you think I can meet him?”

“Nope. Probably not. Not a chance.”

“Dammit crackpot!”

Both Null and Aldan hear this yell coming from outside the door. It then slams open.

“How many times have I told you to limit your explosions to 20 times a day!? You're disturbing other people who are actually doing useful things!”

It's a lady in the same lab coat as Aldan who seems to be in her 30s. She has a shrill voice, and seems like an unpleasant person.

“Oooo.” Aldan says under his breath. “I sincerely apologize Ms. Joyce.” Aldan says submissively.

“And who is this with you?” She says with a screeching voice. Her hands are on her waist.

“His name is Null. Null, this is Ms. Joyce. She is the number one protege of our guild leader, Mr. Winford Jansen. She's actually the same age as me. She's next in line for the guild master position.”

Null nods. He already knows that they are not going to get along.

“Why did you let a foreigner into this guild?”

“...There isn't a rule to forbid foreigners, so I thought-”

“That's the problem! You never think! I heard reports from people we sent outside in the world! These foreigners think of us as less than animals! They don't even see us as people!”

“Well... I've never seen a foreigner before so I don't know much-”

“You don't know much about anything do you?” The woman yells back.

Null seeing this thought, 'Cindy, Cecile, someone's gunning for your places as most annoying person I've ever met. Why is it that every other person I meet is annoying as hell? Well... At least her name doesn't start with a C.'

“But Claris, Null has shown me nothing but respect!” Aldan says.

“How many times have I told you to never call me by my first name!? I'm your superior!” Ms. Joyce says admonishing Aldan.

'I stand corrected.' Null thought deadpanned.

“Anyway, get this guy out of here!”

“No! Null doesn't laugh at me even though I showed him my inventions! He understands me and is also a fellow pursuer of knowledge! I won't let you!” Aldan says shaking from fear.

He can't believe he's actually standing up to her.

“Well look who finally decided to grow a backbone!” Ms. Joyce yells at Aldan.

Her yelling was starting to grate on Null's nerves.

“Listen lady. I came to this city because I unlocked the transmutation circle skills. I just want to get some transmutation circles and be on my way. The sooner I can get them, the sooner you won't have to see me anymore.” Null says this calmly, but one could hear the slight irritation if you listen closely.

“Wait. You unlocked the transmutation circle skills?”

A new voice comes in.

'God dammit! Not another person!' Thought Null irritated.

“Sir!” Both Aldan and Ms. Joyce show extreme respect when he came in. This person has a short beard and looks like he's somewhere in his 50's or 60's. He has a kindly aura surrounding him.

“I was wondering what all the commotion was all about, but it was just you Claris.” He says with a kind laugh.

“Yes. I unlocked the transmutation circle skills.” Null says not caring who he is.

“What is your class?” The person says stroking his beard.

“Librarian.”

“Hmm...Oh. Excuse my manners. My name is Winford Jansen. I am the head of the tinkerer guild and am responsible for improving and maintaining Gnosia's infrastructure.”

“That's not all!” Ms. Joyce says. “He's also one of the greatest tinkerer's this world has ever known! He is single handedly responsible for drastically improving our technology which had stagnated! He's second only to the librarian founder in how incredible he is!”

“Alright Claris. I'm sure he didn't come here to hear you brag about my achievements.” Winford says laughing.

“Nice to meet you.” Null says, obviously not caring about him at all.

“And what do you go by?”

“Oh this is Null, sir.” Aldan says to Winford.

“He obviously wasn't talking to you!” Ms. Joyce yells at Aldan in a shrill, annoying voice.

“Why are you always picking on me?” Aldan asks downtrodden.

“Because you never do right!” Ms. Joyce yells back.

“Claris please. Enough with the yelling. No man will ever love you if you keep acting like this.”

Ms. Joyce says, “Besides you and the librarian founder, the rest of the men are pigs.”

Winford ignores Claris and asks Null, “So did you come to Gnosia to learn about your transmutation circle skills?”

“Yes. Well, I originally came here to learn about the transmutation skills, but I think there might be a clue to the A-rank mission I received in this city.” Null says to Winford.

“And what is this A-rank mission if you do not mind me asking?” Winford asks.

“Finding the missing history and why the advanced tech disappeared. You do not have to show me your technology if you don't want to. I would be happy just to receive how to make transmutation circles.”

“I'm afraid it isn't that easy.” Winford says. “You have to prove yourself. The transmutation circle skills are a huge responsibility for someone to carry. In order for this city to help you with that, you have to prove yourself. Null, you aren't the first librarian to unlock the transmutation circle skills. Many who have unlocked those skills have come here and few have succeeded in receiving instruction. Even for those who succeeded, they failed to reach their ultimate goal.”

“We should kick Null out of the guild on account that he is a foreigner!” Ms. Joyce yells out pointing at Null.

“No! Null should stay in the tinkerer's guild! Null is my friend, respects me, and actually likes my inventions!”

Null thinks, 'Friends? Respect? I'm indifferent about his inventions. This crackpot is making a lot of assumptions.'

Winford make his decision. “Null, you can stay and learn about how our technology works. You probably would like to learn more about our mana technology, so lets start there.”

Ms. Joyce yells out, “But sir! He's a foreigner!”

“Enough Claris. My decision is final.”

Aldan sighs in relief.

“Null, you should learn about the technology from someone else other than Aldan.” Winford tells Null.

Aldan's face falls.

Winford says, “Aldan, you have the potential to be a great tinkerer. Why must you bother with these crackpot ideas? If Null stays here with you, I'm worried he will become corrupted with your lunatic theories. Null, come with me.”

“Null, you want to stick with me right? We became fast friends, right?” Aldan starts pleading with Null.

Null starts walking away with Winford not speaking another word to Aldan.

“Null? Null!? NULLLL!” Aldan yells out when his only friend who actually wasn't his friend abandoned him.

“I'll be watching you.” Says Ms. Joyce squinting at Null. She then walks away.

“Okay.” Null replies back indifferently.

Null enters a room. There are concealed transmutation circles everywhere. Winford introduces Null to another tinkerer who specializes in mana technology. The guy is quiet and polite. Null likes him already.

Null looks around at the different types of technology with sparkling eyes.

Winford asks, “Null, have you ever heard of a mana stone?”

“Yes. I recall seeing one before.”

“What if I told you that we can grow mana stones?” Winford tells Null expecting him to be excited.

“I guess that would be pretty neat, but since I don't know what a mana stone does, that doesn't do much for me.” Null says.

“Mana stones primarily raise your mana carrying capacity and can boost techniques that rely on mana up to 30% more powerful.”

“With transmutation circles, we can actually grow mana stones.” The quiet man says.

Null is actually impressed.

Winford says, “With all these transmutation circle arrays combined together, we can grow a single mana stone every 2 weeks.”

“How long a mana stone last?” Null asks.

The quiet man says, “It depends on what it's used for and which class uses it. Mana stones for warriors can last for years while for mages only last for a few months.”

Null asks, “What happens to the mana stones if they run out of mana?”

Winford says, “Those depleted mana stones are a nuisance. They are an environmental hazard. It's actually illegal throughout the world to not get rid of depleted mana stones safely, because it will cause environmental catastrophe if left unchecked. Those depleted mana stones are unstable and keep absorbing and releasing mana randomly at an astonishing rate. They have to be buried far beneath the earth in order to keep the damage to the environment to a minimum.”

'Seems that having a mana stone is more trouble than it's worth.' Thinks Null.

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Everyone there hears explosions and screams outside.

“It's starting again.” Winford sighs.

Null is looking at Winford to continue. He was wondering what made the battle scars he has seen through town. Null is sure its from something he has never seen.

“Null, would you like to see how Gnosia fights?”

“Yes.”

Some of the tinkerer's in the guild make their way outside. Civilians are doing their best to run away. The gunmen and warriors are running towards the chaos along with the tinkerers. Null is among them. When they make it there, Null's mouth opens the widest he can open it. What Null sees is a 3 meter tall robot. It has two glowing red eyes, left arm that looks like it can extend, and right arm decked out with long range weaponry. What surprises Null even more is how advanced it looks. The technology looks like it surpasses the technology in even the real world.

“Identify.”

Robot: Humanoid Model XR2796Information: A robot humanoid with mysterious origins. It's decked out with an extendable punch and weapons of many kinds. Who could have made such an awesome robot? Identify won't help you with that part. Sorry.Level331 Health ???Mana ??? Strength ??? Dexterity ??? Vitality???Charisma1Intelligence???Wisdom???Luck???Attack???Defense???

'This is it! This is the tech I was looking for!' Null thinks triumphantly. 'Where did this come from though? Ptah is being a douche again and won't help me.'

There is another two robots accompanying the humanoid robot. They look like giant mechanical spiders with sickles on the end of their legs. They have multiple red eyes and gun turrets on the top of them.

“Identify.”

Robot: Spider Model XF1428Information: A robot spider with mysterious origins. It's legs have sickles on the end that can cut through lots of things. On its back is a gun turret. Still not going to help you with who made it. Sorry.Level314 Health ???Mana ??? Strength ??? Dexterity ??? Vitality???Charisma1Intelligence???Wisdom???Luck???Attack???Defense???

'That's also pretty neat.' Thought Null.

The mages with their transmutation circles first engage with the humanoid robot. When the fire mages attack, the robots cover themselves in another layer of armor. The robots mostly block the fire and the fire mages' attacks hardly do any damage. The lightning attacks from the lightning mages look like they have no effect at all.

'This is odd. Truly odd.' Thinks Null. 'Robots typically have fragile electrical components that are vulnerable to electrical pulses. That they are not effective at all? How is that possible?'

The 3 meter tall robot starts walking towards them, then slowly speeds up into a fast run. The way the ground shook with every step it took made it look like an unstoppable juggernaut.

“Move! Move!” Someone yells out.

Everyone scampers out of the way. That robot punches the ground, making a shock wave and causing a huge crater to form in the ground. The windows close to the robot crack and shatter. The warriors move in to engage. They get in formation and take turns attacking the robot. They activate their transmutation circles, and various elements start flowing in their weapons and armor. They only manage to cause scratches and dents on the humanoid robot.

While the warriors are fighting the humanoid robot, the gunmen target the two spider robots on the sides. When the gunmen class use artillery weapons, they get a massive boost in firepower. Four men holding bazookas step to the front aiming at the robots.

“Fire!” The leader of the four yells out.

Four rockets fire at the spider robots. The robots move rapidly out of the way and dodge them. The gunmen with gun turrets start firing at the scampering robots. The gunmen with the bazookas fire again and once again miss. The robot is heading for the tinkerers. Null is currently among them. Some of the tinkerers fire nets to attempt to slow the spider robots down, but their sickle arms slice right through the nets, not slowing them down at all. Seeing as how they're ineffective, the tinkerer's move out the way.

“Damn! It's a new model! We have no data on this one! Retreat!” One tinkerer yells out.

All the tinkerer's choose to retreat. However Null stays put once again showing surprise on his face.

'When I did Essence of Mana to sense inside, I felt mana. It's just that the mana is in a different form!' Null thinks ready to fight.

“Null! Have you gone mad!?” Aldan yells out. “Get out of the way!”

Null gets in a fighting stance. He has his open palm technique ready. Mana starts moving in circles on his palm faster and faster. The robot attempts to bisect Null from straight down, raising its arm and swinging down.

Null manipulates his mana for dexterity and moves slightly to the side. The robot left itself open and put all its strength into that blow, leaving it temporarily unbalanced. Null strikes with his open palm technique. The mana from Null's blow travels inside the spider robot's body and out through the robot's back. The robots looks like it got damaged, but it is still going strong. Null did more damage to that robot with that technique than everyone else combined. Null quickly got out of the way from a flurry of slashes.

“Wait that's...” Someone says surprised.

“That was a monk technique, only I've never seen mana flow out of someone's back from a monk technique. How did he do that?” Someone else says.

“That robot is damaged! Attack it while we have the chance!” One of the gunmen leaders yells to his underlings.

The gunmen start firing at that damaged spider robot. The robot is then destroyed.

“Hey kid.” One of the powerful warriors goes to where Null is.

He throws Null a mana stone.

“This is...” Null says surprised.

“Keep it. Consider it thanks for helping destroy the robots in advance.”

“Thank you.”

The mana stone is attached to a necklace. When Null puts it on, his mana triples. Unlike with Cecile buffing him, his wisdom only increases slightly. The humanoid robot noticed that Null was the one that damaged the robot, so it starts heading towards Null. Two compartments on its left arm open up and rockets fire towards Null. Null jumps in the air while manipulating his mana and uses some tai chi to twist and divert the rockets to behind him. He couldn't possibly do this in real life, but due to his heightened stats in the game it is possible.

“This guy...” One person says.

“Is a damn badass!” A warrior says excitedly.

The robot saw that his rockets didn't work, so he went to fight Null in close combat. Null knows force most likely won't work on this robot, so he'll rely on Tai Chi infused with mana blows to fight it. The robot extends his arm to punch Null. Null uses his hand to try and push the arm to the side, but realizes that the punch is far too powerful when he makes contact. He tries creating a big enough shock wave to divert the blow, but it is taking far too long. The punch sends Null flying. Luckily, Null diverted enough of the blow that it didn't instantly kill him.

'This is very bad.' Thought Null. 'I was worried ever since I realized my stat manipulation started showing signs of slowing down.' He's panting from exhaustion. 'It appears my mana manipulation has hit a limit. To increase my stats to a point where I can hurt opponents higher leveled than me in a fight will take too long. I don't think my enemies will wait for me. Is there any point in me leveling up anymore?'

The humanoid robot starts charging towards Null again.

'Nothing I can do now but charge my attack ahead of time. Can't manipulate for strength and dexterity at the same time. Have to take his punch head on!'

Null times this. When the robot's punch gets ready to extend, he twists his body away at the last moment and runs forwards. He takes a huge risk. The other arm could attack at any time. The extended punch grazes Null's side. The robot then prepares to knee Null. Null uses his hand to prevent the knee from hurting him.

Using the momentum from the knee, he rises up and punches the robot in the head. This is the most powerful blow that Null has ever made. The robot's head barely has a dent on him, but the insides of its head are a jumbled up mess. The humanoid robot falls defeated. The last remaining robot falls far easier thanks to Null.

The people there rejoice defeating the new types of robots with no casualties. They all try to thank Null, but Null not liking the extra attention chooses to retreat back into the tinkerer's guild. He makes his way to the room he was in before the robot attacks. The quiet man and Winford arrive soon after.

Winford looks at Null astonished and says, “I had no idea you were so skilled! You may be the one to help us after all!”

Winford then sighs and tells Null, “Null there's a reason I wanted to show you this mana technology.”

“Yes?” Replies Null.

“Null, have you ever tried to learn a technique that relies on the elements?”

“Yes. A while back, I tried learning Essence of Wind, but I was unable to learn it.”

“There is a reason for this.” Null has always been curious why he couldn't learn elemental attacks.

“Classes like the librarian class are actually cursed by the gods.”

'I figured that was the case.' Null thinks.

“Because of the events that transpired in the past, everyone who is a decedent of the inhabitants of this city, and classes associated with them such as the librarian and tinkerer classes, have been cursed to never be blessed by the elemental gods. We still have other gods like the healing gods to help us. We have no choice but to rely on the transmutation circles. However, it isn't all bleak. Thanks to that, we can more easily bind with transmutation circles than everyone else. Have you noticed that our mages aren't as powerful as the mages you see in the outside world?”

Null nods. 'Not only a 99% reduction with handheld weapons, but I can't even learn elemental attacks. The librarian class is truly the worst class.'

Null says, “Thank you for your time.”

Null prepares to leave.

“Where are you going?” Winford asks.

“I'm just going to tour this city some more.”

“Come find me if you need anything.” Winford says in a friendly smile.

Null nods and leaves.

'Something rotten is going on in this city. I need to find out who is making the robots. Not only will it stop the attacks, but I can use the tech to improve myself. I will investigate.'

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

'*sigh* Right after I go to school.'

Null logs out.

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Author's Note: Frickken robots man.