"Huh, a level up. Nice." Jack hummed as he noticed a notification, a smile creeping up on his face. The kids were working hard, using his weapons to end the lives of numerous monsters all day long, not only strengthening themselves in the process but also earning Jack plenty of experience as well. Though he was much more pleased about the other number in his status screens growing. Yep, it was the amount of matter he had in his Matter storage. How could he not be happy. The kids were adventuring and growing stronger, his farmer squad was hard at work in developing 'matter farms' as well as small personal food production gardens, and doc was making strides in the PTSD girls recovery. He had seen one of them peaking at him from behind a corner and just barely waving at him, a greeting of sorts he assumed, only to disappear behind same corner a second afterwards and dashing away, no doubt to inform Carla of her success, no matter how small. Baby steps. Baby steps until they were all good and ready to reintegrate into society, though Jack had a growing suspicion the two girls were here to stay, for he did not believe they would ever leave the group that not only saved and avenged them, but also spent a lot of time in helping them bounce back and find footing in this new and unfamiliar world. Not that he wanted them out at this point in time, truth be told. They had done nothing, slight inconveniences aside, to earn his enmity after all.

  With his matter storage filling up in real time, Jack himself had no reasons to keep on slacking off, thus he too got off his back and got to work, checking on the 'to do' list and the items his hard working adventuring squad wanted to be made sooner than the rest. Once he had a general understanding what to make, he tapped into his creation aspects skills, envisioning the first item on the list, thinking of the attributes that were to be imbued in it. Once he had both parts more or less figured out, the magic did it's own thing, warping the reality to Jack's whims, extracting appropriate cost in regards to matter and spiritual energy from Jack himself, though the latter was far too insignificant for him to notice, his divine tier soul too strong to be affected by the creation of mere mortal tier items and artifacts, for eventually, everything he would create would be nothing below truly legendary artifact grade. Still, one step at a time had to be taken, thus for the time being his party would have to be content with epic grade gear. Not that any of them would complain- the items were far too good either way, especially so when one knew just how cheap a price they had to fork out for them.

  Some thirty minutes later, a new piece of body armour slowly assembled right before Jack. It's simple gray plate armour design would make one assume it to be some plain and barely acceptable item, likely half a failure of some fledgeling smith who wanted to recoup at least something for the materials spent, finding just as desperate an adventurer who could afford nothing better, barely scraping by to pay the pittance said smith would have asked. In reality though, and for those with high enough in the level of appraisal, the story would be entirely different, doubly so for those that might have the rights to view said item in it's true amd full glory.

  Plate mail of aspiring defender(epic)- Plate body armour made by a superior crafter, providing the item with exceptional hardness while barely impeding ones movement. Min level requirement- lvl 10. Vitality +4 Strength +2, slight damage taken reduction, Aura of menace.

  Hidden(EX)- Increased experience gained:+ 5%.

  Aura of menace- increased enemy aggro towards the wielder.

  One would wonder, how does things like increased aggro work, what with the fact that the world was no game or anything. The explanation was quite simple- the person holding items, or skills in some cases, with increased aggro, would give off the feeling of constant danger towards their opposition, making them subconsciously feel that said wielder was too dangerous to leave alive, or turn one's back towards, thus resulting in said wielder to be targeted firsthand, lest some undesired accidents happen. Of course, level and power difference can and does negate such abilities, making much higher leveled enemies immune to such effects.

  Jack inspected the item and a pleased smile crept on his face. He was pleased with the result, as well as the relatively low amount of matter he had spent on it's creation. Since the day was nowhere near the end and his storage was still well filled, he proceeded to check his list once again, moving on to the next armour piece on the list. The party had done their due diligence, requesting protective gear for their front liners first, what with them being in harm's way the most, often times outright throwing themselves at the incoming enemy to ensure their backline could continue on with their tasks as they have, dishing out damage and supporting the frontlines.

  Next came yoroi, a samurai armour for Izumi, focusing on agility and power, allowing her to dance around her enemies and devastate them with even more deadly slicing attacks. Unlike Kenji's plate armour, Izumi's yoroi was red tinted, though once again the item seemed lacking. Either the shade of the colouring or the neatness of the scales that made up the armour, it all once again pointed towards a fledgeling smith.

  Samurai apprentice armour(epic)- scale armour made of precisely and accurately set scale pieces, allowing agile movement and still providing copious amounts of protection against incoming attacks. Minimum level requirement- lvl 10. Dexterity +4, Vitality +2, slight increase in attack power, lesser Aura of menace.

  Hidden(EX)- Increased experience gained:+ 5%.

  Much like with Kenji's piece, it provided ample protection, though obviously in not as much as the plate armor. Regardless, it could take quite a bit of punishment before a need for a proper maintenance arises. The increase in dexterity would allow Izumi to dart around her opponents and get out of most incoming attacks, assuming no great level gap existed in favour of her adversaries. The aura of menace was also there to assist with her role as front liner, though since she was not the main tanker, Jack imbued a lesser version of it.

  That left him with Fumiko and her body armor. After a quick check on his matter storage and a read through the few comments on his list, Jack took a deep breath and got to his last task for the day, once again tapping in his imagination, slowly grinning to life yet another, quite impressive piece of gear. The end result was a sort of a chainmail shirt with small, scale like patches in the most important body parts, providing additional protection there, ensuring that no lucky arrow or particularly sharp edge find it's way through chainmail's weave.

  Duelits chainmail(Epic)- well made chain shirt with scale patches that provide ample protection and allow for a wide range of movement still. Minimum level requirement- lvl 10. Dexterity +3, Vitality +3, slight increase in parry proficiency, lesser Aura of menace.

  Hidden(EX)- Increased experience gained:+ 5%.

  Jack hummed in approval once again, quite happy with the result. As with the previous two creations, this one too looked a bit cheap, a consistency he wanted to maintain to ensure as few curious eyes as possible would be inclined to even try and look, only to learn that the group sported quite impressive gear. To lower the chances of if happening even further still, he messed around a bit more disguising their proper descriptions further still. In the end for most who appraised them they would look like mere uncommon items- not worth even bothering to try and steal. And with his daily task taken care of, he got up from his sitting position, stretched his arms wide and yawned, then rubbed his neck lazily as he considered what he should do in the remaining few hours the kids would spend outside. As short as it might have seemed to him, Jack was well aware he had spent more than a few hours on the task, bringing the day well past noon. Just to make sure, he moved over to the nearest window and looked outside, only to confirm his previous assumption.

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

  "Might as well check on the farmers." Jack hummed to himself as he stretched once more, moving slowly towards the door, on his way to check how the production arm of his guild to be was doing. Thanks to his surveillance array, it took him no time at all to find the farmers and his resident half dryad within the garden, as they were quite busy with leveling up. As Jack himself was in no hurry whatsoever at the moment, he decided to sit down nearby and wait for them to finish since they were too focused on their current task and failed to notice Jack's arrival.

  Finding a somewhat acceptable spot in shade that was still close enough, Jack got himself comfortable and waited, observing his farmers as they worked quite hard to make the place a paradise for Viki, or any other dryad for that matter. The five middle aged guys were seated as well, similarly as to how Jack had sat down, though their right hand was extended before them and slight murmuring could be heard as it left their lips.

  A light, brownish sheen covered their hands and what could only be described as mana water droplets fell from those outstretched hands every now and then, landing with a quiet, but still very crisp sound and disappearing in the ground like they were never there to begin with. Only thanks to Jack's sharp eyes and mana senses could he detect them forming and falling, for most would only see the older men sitting with their arms stretched, as if awaiting for something magical to happen any time now.

  Another hour or so later, the brown sheen on the farmers hands dissipated and they let their arms slik back in their laps, followed by a unison sigh of exhaustion, though Jack could hear content and happiness in said sighs. The five were more than happy to work hard here, behind the city walls, not the least bit interested in glory of adventuring or blood rousing battles. Jack could not fault them for that though, for there were as many different people as there were stars, or worse still, after all- no two humans were the same.

  A few more minutes later, the five men, and the dryad amongst them, slowly rose to their feet, happily talking among themselves about their progress and the excitement they all shared about the plants that would no doubt sprout during the night, absorbing all their hard work and rewarding them appropriately for it. Only once they turned to return to the mansion, already planning on what to cook for supper, did they noticed Jack calmly sitting there, waving at them once he had their attention.

  "Boss, you should have just called out to us. There was no need for you to waste time here waiting on us!" Alonso spoke, only to receive a slight smile and a shake of his head from Jack.

  "That would not do. You were hard at work, not only progressing with your classes, something that will benefit me more than most, but also working on the garden, once again something that would benefit me and the kids immeasurably. That and I had already finished my priority tasks for the day, so an hour or so spent leisurely resting in the garden was entirely permissible." Jack replied, still as relaxed as he always seemed, adding right after wards "So? How's it going?"

  "The crystal karias will need a few weeks at the very least to provide the first results." Viki spoke, being the most knowledgeable about that particular plant "Nothing much we can do about it though, what with the weather and conditions of this place. Sorry about that."

  "Don't feel guilty. There is no reason to." Jack interrupted her, noticing that she seemed particularly depressed about the fact, explaining "A few weeks is already far faster than I would have anticipated. What's important is that neither of you push yourselves to the breaking point to achieve early success. I am going to depend on your hard work for years to come, hopefully, so I need you all to look after yourselves first and foremost. So, on that point, I have yet to hear anything about what you might need made, and while I will be doing my damndest to kit out kids first and foremost, I need to know if there is anything that would help you do your tasks with much greater ease, and don't you dare say there is nothing, for I know it cannot be true."

  "We give up." sighed Alonso as he shared a few looks with the rest of his squad "We will make a priority list for you." he added, understanding Jack could be quite a nuisance if he wanted things done according to his plans. It was better to go along, even more so since such action would only help them out as well.

  "That's the answer I was waiting for. So, what did you have in mind for supper?" Jack smiled as he replied "Might as well help you out since I have the time."

  "What, really?" Viki rushed over to him, eyes beaming with excitement and joy.

  "What kind of tales did they tell you?" Jack asked as he rubbed the young girls head "Don't believe everything people say. It is often times embellished to make it sound more impressive, in either direction, whether it be positive or negative. Though I suppose this time I should try my best to live up to the stories, shouldn't I?"

  The group then turned and walked towards the main mansion as Alonso and his guys shared ideas about their supper to be, dropping some additional info about their progress on their side project's progress as well. Much to Jack's expectation, the vegetable garden was coming along with more noticeable progress than karias. Not that he would found it bad, on the contrary- he was pleased they could soon have plenty of all manner of veggies to use for their meals.

  The group managed to finish their task just before kids returned. Pleased, yet clearly exhausted they were all as one. Noticing the pleasant smell of the supper, they all quickly dragged each other towards the baths, all as one in great need of it. Kaede, as one of the slightly less physically tired ones, dragged Jack along with them. The reason became apparent soon enough, as once inside one of the bathrooms, for a short time to be shared by not only the girls but also Jack and Kenji, with flair and showmanship Kaede pulled out a severed goblin champion's head from her spatial ring.

  "Ta- da!" She exclaimed with triumphant voice as he presented the trophy.

  "A goblin champion. Impressive. What level was it?" Jack nodded in approval, before asking, his gaze becoming extremely sharp.

  "Level eighteen." Fumiko quickly spoke, adding "We made sure to check before engaging. No level twenties to be approached before we have better gear. We remember well your instructions."

  "Good." Jack's sharp expression immediately disappeared, replaced with a content smile and approving nods. "Good job kids. Both on taking the champion down and keeping yourselves safe. Now go and wash up and then join us for supper. I have a few things ready to be handed out after that." he added, leaving the room alongside Kenji, as Kaede was grabbed by the rest of the girls and pulled alongside deeper in.

  "They still haven't cracked her?" Jack smirked as he and Kenji walked back, the younger boy stopping next to another bathroom.

  "Not yet. Not for the lack of trying though. They can be ruthless when they want to." Kenji shuddered, remembering the endless questions he was barraged with.

  "Ha, ha ha ha." Jack laughed, patting Kenji's shoulder after making sure his hand would not be smeared in monster blood. "Keep it up." he added as he gave him a thumbs up with his free hand, leaving the kid to his own task, returning to dining room where the rest of the team was setting up their meal. His task had been to oversee the cooking which he had done- the rest was up to others.

  The rest of the evening went as most usually goes. The whole group, sans the doc and the two PTSD girls since they were still in their early recovery phase, sat together and ate their meal, sharing their progress and whatnot about the day. They enjoyed the rather large group gatherings and the easygoing attitude that was shared as they ate and joked and perhaps even planned their next day as they did. A small reprieve from the chaos and danger of the outside world, shared with people who could be trusted and relied upon.

  With their meal time over, Jack called over the kids and handed over their new gear, giving them the chance to check it out in its full glory. There was no question in kids minds that Jack was indeed a beast of a crafter, doubly so after they had learned how impossibly rare gear with increased experience gain was. And yet, here they were, receiving gear that had precisely that incredibly rare attribute. Greater still- every item Jack had made so far, accessories not included, had it, promising much greater growth speed and a chance to secure their own destiny in this new world- and that, they could never truly repay.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 16

  Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)

  Stats unassigned: +11

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- 25 (20+5)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage, vit +1.