Chapter 183: The Workshop

If anyone could tell him what had changed about Judgement.

It would be her.

Ivy carefully took Judgement from Adam’s hand.

The moment her fingers wrapped around the scythe, her pink eyes lit up with pure fascination.

Years of experience as an artisan kicked in instantly.

She turned the weapon slightly.

Then again.

Examining every angle and the more she looked, the more stunned she became.

“This…”

Her voice trailed off.

In all her years working with conduits, Ivy had never seen craftsmanship like this.

It wasn’t just the exterior design.

Though that alone was impressive.

What truly shocked her was the internal structure.

The essence channels running through the weapon were incredibly precise, perfectly aligned and almost impossibly clean.

And deeper inside, she could feel the life generator, the core mechanism required for adaptive conduits.

Top-tier craftsmanship.

No.

Beyond that.

It was something even master artisans would struggle to replicate.

Ivy’s expression slowly shifted.

From fascination…

To jealousy.

She glanced sideways at Adam.

How did he make this?

Her mind ran through possibilities.

Then one explanation surfaced.

It must be his Special Talent.

Now her curiosity shifted in a completely different direction.

What kind of talent could produce something like this…?

Adam noticed the strange look she was giving him.

“Well?”

“Did you find anything?”

Ivy shook her head slightly.

“I won’t learn much just by looking at it.”

Adam frowned.

“Can’t your Simulation Talent help with that?”

Ivy stared at him.

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Oh.”

Adam scratched his head slightly, soliciting a sigh from Ivy.

“If we want to learn anything meaningful, we need proper equipment.”

“My workshop.”

Adam nodded.

“That’s fine.”

He extended his hand.

Ivy stared at it for a moment.

Then sighed again before placing Judgement back into his grasp.

Without another word, she turned and walked out of the room.

Adam followed behind her.

The two headed straight for Ivy’s workshop.

****

Adam followed Ivy down into the manor’s lower levels.

Her workshop was located underground.

The moment the door opened, Adam understood why.

The place was enormous.

It looked less like a workshop and more like a military bunker that had been converted into a laboratory.

Thick reinforced walls.

Heavy industrial lighting.

Rows of complex machinery.

Adam guessed the place had originally been built as a bunker before Ivy turned it into her personal domain.

And judging from the equipment scattered everywhere, she had gone all in.

Massive fabrication rigs.

Essence furnaces.

Channel alignment arrays.

Half-assembled conduits rested on several tables.

Crates filled with rare materials were stacked along one wall.

The entire place had a chaotic energy to it.

Like a genius had taken over a warehouse and never bothered organizing anything.

Ivy walked straight toward a large machine in the center of the room.

Without looking back she said,

“I’ll need the conduit.”

Adam handed over Judgement.

Ivy secured the scythe between two heavy clamps mounted on a reinforced platform.

Once it was locked in place, she pulled two mechanical arms toward it.

At the ends of the arms were cylindrical devices that looked suspiciously like energy emitters.

Adam watched carefully.

“What are you about to do?”

Ivy didn’t look away from her work.

“We’re going to supercharge it.”

She adjusted a dial.

“Only then will the detectors be able to analyze the internal structure.”

Adam nodded.

That made sense.

A conduit’s internal systems were dormant unless stimulated with essence.

Ivy stepped away from the machine.

Adam noticed and followed her automatically.

The two of them moved behind a thick protective barricade several meters away.

Ivy grabbed a pair of goggles from the wall.

She put one on.

Then tossed the other pair to Adam.

“Wear them.”

Adam caught them and slipped them on.

Even through the goggles, he could see the scythe glowing faintly in the clamps.

He glanced at Ivy.

“Are you sure this is safe?”

Ivy looked back at him through her lenses.

Adam’s reflection stared back at him in the glass.

She smiled.

“Sure.”

Before Adam could question that answer, she hit the activation switch.

****

The vessel glided across the private lake behind Eden Manor.

Moments later, it docked quietly at the shore.

Remedy and Felecia stepped off.

Their trip to Hol Bear Woods had ended smoothly.

The two walked toward the manor.

As they entered, they spotted Scott near the kitchen area.

He was completely soaked in sweat.

His shirt clung to his body, and his breathing was still slightly heavy.

Clearly he had just finished another intense training session.

Scott grabbed a bottle of water and drank half of it in one go.

At this point, he seemed like the only one on the team who took training this seriously.

Then again…

It could also mean he simply had the most free time.

Remedy walked over to him.

“How was training?”

Scott blinked.

For a moment, he looked confused.

Then he focused and noticed who had spoken.

“Oh—Boss. You’re back.”

Remedy studied his face.

Something was off.

His expression looked… strange.

“What’s wrong?”

Scott scratched the back of his head.

“It’s just…”

“I saw something weird.”

Nearby, Felecia had already started transferring the Golden Bear Rum into multiple glass bottles using a small funnel.

But the moment Scott spoke, she immediately started listening.

Remedy folded her arms.

“What did you see?”

Scott hesitated for a moment.

Then said,

“I think I saw Ivy taking Adam to her workshop.”

Felecia froze.

The funnel nearly slipped from her hand.

Her eyes widened dramatically.

“…What?”

Felecia’s reaction was completely justified.

And Remedy understood why immediately.

Felecia finished pouring the last of the Golden Bear Rum into a bottle before setting the funnel aside.

Then she turned slowly toward Scott.

“…That nerd actually took someone into her den?”

Her eyes widened further.

“She nearly blew my head off just for getting close to the door once.”

Scott winced.

He could absolutely confirm that.

Back when he had first joined the team, he had accidentally wandered too close to Ivy’s workshop.

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