Chapter 5: Assembling (2)
It felt like my heart stopped.
He was terrifying. Way more terrifying than in his trailer or in game. In this moment, I'd argue that he's even more terrifying than Fiddlesticks, but I'd probably regret that if I met Fiddle later on.
My body instinctively knew what to do. Give up.
There's no way I can escape him.
'Is this how my new life ends?'
I slowly turned around, feeling warm spit dripping onto my face from Warwick's maw.
I gulped, and my knees started shaking along with the rest of my body.
Warwick growled, the sound sending chilling sensations throughout my body.
He lunged at me.
Or more precisely, behind me.
I felt a rush of wind and closed my eyes, but when I opened them again, I was fine.
Fine until I heard a scream from behind me.
"AHHHHHHHHHH"
I turned around in an instant, something that I regretted.
After all, seeing Mr. I-Don't-Know-Your-Name getting devoured wasn't a pleasing sight.
I took this opportunity to reaffirm my grip onto the hextech crystal, and slowly backed out of his den.
Warwick turned around, his red eyes looking straight at me, but he did nothing.
He just let me go like that.
I wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the eyes, so I bolted as fast as I could out of Zaun.
Piltover is my safe haven.
I ran through the streets, not seeing many people because after all, it was night.
I didn't bother stopping for anything, and I crossed the boundary as fast as possible.
When I got back home, I realized that strangely, I wasn't tired at all.
In fact, it was quite the opposite.
The thrill of danger excited me. I liked that feeling where I did something near impossible.
A smile slowly crept on my face, but I wiped it off immediately.
I don't want to be a protagonist who's always in danger. But, I can't fault them. The thrill is so exciting.
I loved the feeling of it.
I took a deep breath and pulled out the hextech core, looking as it as I walked to my parents' laboratory.
When I opened the door, the lamp was on the table along with the hex crystal.
That was dumb of me. I shouldn't have left the crystal in the open like that.
I chided myself for doing that, but soon, my attention returned to the lamp.
I was nervous.
I approached the lamp, and opened it to place the core inside.
I placed the core in the designated area, then I took a deep breath before activating it.
The lamp shone so brightly in the laboratory, and I had a feeling that if I activated this outside, it would've functioned as a second sun.
With the activation of the lamp, a translucent panel popped up before my eyes.
[Name: Shaun Ignier]
[Designated Blueprint: Lamp [COMPLETED]]
[Mastery: 0/100]
Still don't know what the mastery panel is for.
As I pondered on the [Mastery] section, another screen appeared.
[NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED]
[Blueprint Selection]
Wow. I get to choose my next blueprint. Did my protagonist powers come into play again?
I mentally opened the [Blueprint Selection] menu, and my eyes went through puberty again.
[Weapons]
[Armors]
[Transportation]
[Information Gathering]
[Decoration/Security]
I think I'm gonna have an orgasm.
Like any other sane protagonists, the [Weapons] section was the most attractive to me, followed by [Decoration/Security].
I selected the [Weapons] section, and boy did I nut.
There were so many things.
[True Gamer's Chair]
[Sword of Ethkar]
[True Sight Bow]
[Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon]
There were too many to list, but those were the ones that I found first.
Just when I wondered if there was a way to organize the weapons into categories, I found the filter panel.
[Sword], [Gun], [Bow], [Polearm], [Axe]... but the most important thing to me was; [Affinity]
Even if I get the strongest weapon, I might not be able to use it well if my affinity for it wasn't good.
I took a deep breath and filtered weapons by affinity.
First thing that showed up was... a sword.
More specifically, Ekko's sword.
Well, Ekko's sword ain't really a sword. It's more like a bat.
But this one... it was undoubtedly a sword.
With the energy projecting from the hilt just like a lightsaber, the blade undoubted had a sharp edge to it.
The hilt was customizable too. It doesn't have to look like a sword hilt.
Let's check the components.
[###########]
(0/100 Hex metal)
(0/2 Hex crystal)
(0/1 Stabilizer)
...Are you serious?
I risked my life just to get 1 hex crystal, and stole from my parents just to get a small amount of hex metal, probably 3-7 hex metal, and you want me to get 2 hex crystals, and 100 hex metal?
Well... it should be worth it shouldn't it? After all, the affinity with the weapon was...
[Affinity - 1000/100]
I'll have my pocket watch soon. I'll be able to steal more hex crystals from the owner of the previous lab, and hex metal? Not a problem. I'll just have to snatch some while at the Piltover academy.
I gave a mental command; 'Select [###########] as my next blueprint.'
[Blueprint Selected]
Anyways, speaking of pocket watch, it should've been 1 or 2 days since it was commissioned.
Hopefully he finishes soon.
...
(2 days later)
I headed to the Royal Piltover smithy and checked on the smith's progress.
It seemed like he expected me to be here early as he presented himself carrying a box.
He kneeled down on 1 knee and opened the box, presenting me with the finished product.
The pocket watch was engraved with golden wings, silver blades, and in the middle was an indent.
One that perfectly fitted my hex crystal.
Protagonist power, thank you. I won't have to mess up the beautiful stop watch to engrave the crystal now.
I grabbed the pocket watch with my hands, and left the Royal Piltover smithy, but not before the smith could say something to me.
"My lord, my name is Kein Lisktr, and I would be honored if you returned with more commissions."
Of course I will return. I'll need someone to craft the hilt of my weapon after all.
I did not reply to him and left the shop, probably because my mind was racing with fantasies about controlling time.
I got home as quickly as possible and entered the laboratory, and headed to the hex crystal and its fragments.
I placed them in the indent of the pocket watch one by one, and as if attracted to each other, they all perfectly fitted inside without a problem.
Now... I just need to activate it.
What do I do to activate it? A mental command?
I held it in my hand and said, "Rewind."
For a moment, the world was devoid of color and sound.
Then, everything broke down.
I panicked as I turned around and watch the world break down before my eyes, thinking that I'd fall into the empty space beneath the feet.
I didn't. I stood on it as if it was ground.
As I was pondering over this, the world rebuilt itself and I was forced to go along with it. I had no control of my body.
I rewinded exactly to 4 minutes ago, when I just entered my home.
Then, I passed out.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone