God Of Crafting

Chapter 92: A fitting quote for such a historical moment

'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds...' I thought back to the words Oppenheimer spoke after realizing the weight behind the project he heralded.

Profound words that struck true at the devastating nature of his creation.

But now that I slowly turned the knob to first close the circuit and then gradually decrease its resistance to allow more of the current to flow...

I found myself with my head empty, devoid of any profound quote I could utter at this moment.

'For now, I have become a transformer, a mutator of energy,' I thought, internally cringing at my poor attempts at coming up with words fitting the situation.

Words that fit the deep meaning behind what was happening, because if someone were to look at me and Claire right now, we would look like a couple of geeks trying to see whether a simple circuit they hobbystically created would actually work.

For an imaginary onlooker, this moment would look like anything but a moment of possibly greatest upset to the current balance of the world. And yet...

I slowly turned the knob further and further, allowing more and more of the electric energy to flow through it. And roughly as I reached the middle of the potentiometer's range...

"I can tell," Claire announced in a low, silent voice as she raised her eyes and looked at my face. "It's working."

I gritted my teeth, but I continued to turn the knob.

Just a single degree. Then another. Then five, ten, fifteen, fifty degrees more, all the way to the point where this potentiometer turned into the part of the circuit of the least resistance, lesser than the resistivity of the cable that provided the current or even the paths on the circuit.

In other words, the moment the knob would turn no more, I've unleashed the full potential of the phone's USB charger onto my now-remodeled Qi condensing device.

And while its effects didn't match the ability of the finished product that I dared not to touch or cannibalize... The results weren't all that far off.

"The Spricur stones..." I muttered as I took a closer look at the far end of the circuit, where the Spricur stones continued to turn the electric charge into spiritual energy that they then released directly into the air.

Yet, no matter how closely I looked... I couldn't see a single sign of them deteriorating, reaching their limit, or anything of the like.

"They are holding strong," Claire muttered, as interested in the results of this small experiment as was I.

Yet, rather than seeing joy or satisfaction on her face, all I could see was growing anxiety and a lack of confidence.

"Do you dislike the idea of calling your father all that much?" I asked, only now realizing that I never really bothered to study Chihiro's and Claire's relationship before, leaving me clueless about the reasons behind Claire's anxiety.

"That's not it," Claire shook her head before biting down on her bottom lip. "I'm just..."

The young woman took in a deep breath, only to hold it in her lungs for a while before taking her time sighing it all out. As she did so, her shoulders fell down... No, they collapsed down, making it clear she was crumbling on herself rather than relaxing.

"It's your choice," she spoke softly, her face clear of any hesitation, doubt, or uncertainty.

'It is my choice, huh?'

I closed my eyes and reached deep into my own soul, deep into my own mind, fishing for what it actually was that I wanted.

Was it money?

I already had more of it than I could spend in my lifetime.

Was it women?

With Claire at my side, I would have to be a horny teenager or an outright pervert to wish for more.

Maybe it was the influence, fame, and control, for my records to be written down in the books of history?

Yet, none of those things struck me as something that I actively cared about. They were nice to have, sure, but...

Was the potential cost of achieving them acceptable?

At the end of the line, however, there was only one thing that truly lit the embers of my heart. The one thing that brought an end to my five years' worth of failures.

It was crafting. By definition, wasn't crafting a desire to make things easier; more convenient?

"Call him," I said as I opened up my eyes and looked up to Claire's face. "And after we are done talking with your dad, I think it's high time for me to call my uncle and arrange a private meeting between the four of us."

"What?" Clarie's face twisted in shock, now that I brought up something we just so recently decided to be acceptable only in an absolute emergency. Something that could be done only if unthinkable were to happen, leaving us with no other choice.

And now, I was suggesting to do so?

"Not even your father can shoulder the responsibility and weight of this discovery," I stated while reaching out and pressing the call button on Claire's phone myself. "And unless you want this discovery to truly bring an end to the world as we know it, we need the scientific side of it to be prepared for the change this thing will bring out to the world."

Just as I said it, Chihiro's voice announced that the call had now connected.

"Hello? What's up, sweetie? Is everything alright?"

And as Claire's dad's voice reached my ears, a single line appeared in my mind.

'In my hands lies the spark, and with it, the power to either ignite a future or burn it all to ashes.'

**End of Volume 1**