The chaos in the office was escalating. The intern, whose name Elias vaguely recalled as Kevin, was now swinging his energy blade wildly, severing a potted ficus tree and narrowly missing a water cooler. The senior partner, Mr. Henderson, was using his smoky aura to intimidate a group of employees huddled near the emergency exit.
Elias ignored the pandemonium. His focus was entirely on the translucent blue screen of the [Architect System].
"Materials list," he repeated, his voice barely a whisper above the din.
The screen shimmered, and a new window popped up, displaying a sparse, almost insulting list.
[Available Materials (Local Area)]
• Reinforced Concrete (Grade 4): 500 units
• Structural Steel (I-Beam): 150 units
• Glass (Double-Pane): 80 units
• Office Furniture (Mixed): 120 units
• Water (Potable): 50 units
• System Energy (SE): 100/100
*System Energy.* That was the key. It was the fuel for the System, the mana of this new era. Elias knew he couldn't fight, but he could build. And the first thing he needed to build was a defense.
He looked around the 40th floor of the skyscraper. It was a glass and steel cage, easily breached by any of the monstrous entities he could see beginning to crawl up the sides of the adjacent buildings. He needed to secure a small, defensible space.
"Blueprint Generation," Elias commanded, tapping the core skill on the screen.
[Blueprint Generation (Lvl 1)]
Input Parameters:
1. Structure Type: (Select from: Wall, Door, Shelter, Simple Trap)
2. Size: (Input dimensions)
3. Material: (Select from Available Materials)
Elias quickly scanned the floor plan in his mind. The server room. It was small, centrally located, and already reinforced with a thick steel door and concrete walls to protect the company's data.
"Structure Type: Shelter. Size: Server Room Dimensions (4m x 6m). Material: Reinforced Concrete and Structural Steel."
The System processed the request instantly.
[Blueprint Generated: Server Room Fortification (Tier 1)]
Required Materials:
• Reinforced Concrete: 15 units
• Structural Steel: 5 units
• System Energy (SE): 10
Time to Construct: 10 minutes (Manual Application)
Note: Blueprint will automatically guide the user in applying materials to enhance existing structure.
Elias felt a surge of excitement. This wasn't useless at all. It was a tool of precision. He didn't need to be a warrior; he needed to be a master craftsman.
He sprinted towards the server room, ignoring the shouts of the others. He reached the steel door and placed his hand on the cold metal. The System screen overlaid a glowing blue outline onto the door and the surrounding walls, showing him exactly where to apply the "materials."
"System, use 15 units of Reinforced Concrete and 5 units of Structural Steel," he whispered.
The materials didn't physically appear. Instead, the System Energy flowed out of him, a warm, tingling sensation, and the blue outline on the door began to glow brighter. The concrete and steel units were instantly deducted from his inventory.
The steel door, already thick, visibly *shifted*. It didn't grow larger, but the metal seemed to condense, the molecular structure tightening. The faint blue glow faded, leaving behind a door that looked exactly the same, yet felt impossibly denser, heavier, and more solid.
[Server Room Fortification (Tier 1) Complete.]
Structural Integrity: +10%
Passive Skill [Structural Integrity (Lvl 1)] Applied: Total +11% Durability.
System Energy (SE): 90/100
A triumphant smile touched Elias's lips. The world was falling apart, but he had just built the first piece of his new kingdom. He had a safe-house. Now, he just needed to survive long enough to use it.
A loud *CRASH* from the far end of the office announced that the first monster had breached the building's exterior glass wall. It was a grotesque, multi-limbed creature that looked like a fusion of a spider and a gorilla.
Elias didn't hesitate. He yanked the server room door open, slipped inside, and slammed the newly reinforced door shut, the heavy *thud* echoing the finality of his decision. He was safe, for now. But safety was temporary. Building was eternal.