A few minutes later, he had bathed and returned to the living room with clean clothes. There Amelia and Ranna were working on the Arachne Eyes.

"Thanks for helping with the clothes," he said to Ranna.

"No problem."

She had a skill for cleaning clothes quickly. Along with her skill for strengthening materials, which she used on the construct, she was quite helpful.

Faust took apart his golems so Amelia could use her Material Recomposition skill to combine the black stone with some of the Bronze ingots he got from the jackals.

Amelia clapped. "Okay! Now put it together and let’s get this bitch moving."

"Language," Faust muttered absentmindedly. He reconstructed the golem in seconds this time. After taking it apart and putting it back together almost five times for the perfectionist Amelia to rework, he was used to it.

The Golem had undergone many changes.

Now, It was a four legged constructed with special moulded foot pieces for traversing rough terrain and it’s eye was mounted on a needle that allowed for 360 vision. Amelia recomposed near-bulletproof glass from sand to protect the eye, then Ranna strengthened it further.

They were both rather cooperative once they got used to Faust. Decently nice people too.

The eye was the last bit to complete now.

"Okay my skill says i have to touch your eyeball to bind it to the Arachne eye," Amelia said uncertainly in her voice. "That won’t be easy. Eyes close on reflex."

"I can control it," Faust assured.

After a few more reassurances, she placed her right hand near his eye with the other hand holding the Arachne eye. With a grimace, she pushed a finger in his eye, ignoring the slick feeling, and activated her Rune Binding skill.

A rune glowed within the Arachne Eye and her finger turned bright red and warm. She hissed and tried to move, but Faust’s hand snapped up and held her in place. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"My hand feels hot! Is it hurting you?!" Amelia cried.

"Nope. My Constitution is pretty high. What about you?"

"I’m... good. Holy shit, you guys are unreal. The eye is the most sensitive part of the body."

Faust chuckled. "You would be unreal too if you helped during even one raid."

"Yeah.... I’m not built for that," Amelia shrugged. "I was only talking big to those guys back in the alley. The Wall method is better for a coward like me."

"What’s this Wall thing anyway?"

Ranna scratched the back of her head, face flushing in embarrassment. "Someone found out that if you stand on the walls during a wave and like... pretend to stand guard. Or just say you are. The system will count that as participation."

So the coward’s way? It is smart though. If I was injured or unable to fight I would do that.

"Smart," he said simply.

"You can say what you really think about us," Amelia said with a self-deprecating smile. "We’re scum, pussies, dead weight, leeches, and all that. We don’t mind."

Faust held onto that for a moment staying silent. The steaming sound of the binding process accompanied his silence. There was a way to take advantage of their shame and weakness to get them to easily do what he wants.

"If you were going to die from cancer would you want the people you love to see you before you die?"

Amelia shuddered, stuttering her words. "O-f course! Holy shit that got dark quick?"

"I’m just saying that you wouldn’t be wrong for not letting them see you. You might hate how the sickness has eaten away at you, or not want your family to see you die. You might think that’s better. My point is that facing a fight head on isn’t the answer to all problems."

Faust chuckled. "But with your Schema you can help people. If the system counts guarding the walls as participation, then why not count improving the fighters weapons. Hell, you might get a good reward for helping me scout the gate. And that reward would—"

"It would help me contribute more," Amelia facepalmed. "I’m such a fucking idiot."

"Eh, it’s not too late. The next wave is going to be far worse. We need all the help we can get. How many hours of break did we get anyway?"

"Five hours," Ranna answered. "There was a bit of an uproar. Everyone was confused. The reward is coming in like an hour. The system said two hours after the wave after."

"You didn’t hear?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I left the battle early to get some sleep," Faust shrugged.

Amelia’s eyebrow twitched. "Here I was thinking, you were like one of the best..."

"I am. I’m Rank one right now. The only level 5— if Gamebreaker and Golden Dream haven’t levelled up yet. Now that I think about it I haven’t met them...."

Ranna and Amelia were too stunned to speak. They just glanced at each and mouthed something silently.

"How did you level up so quickly?" Amelia said. "If you don’t mind me asking. It can’t just be killing monsters right?"

Faust frowned. "Sorry if you expected some cheat method, but my Schema and System, just make it faster. Everyone in this top ten has a system or knows someone that does."

"So the answer is being born better," Ranna muttered. "I always knew nepotism was the natural way of the world!"

Amelia was more forward thinking than her. "Can your system help us?"

"Not until the end probably," Faust admitted. "If you rank in the top 1000 and get a treasure chest I can help. Maybe. I haven’t tried it with other people yet."

"Top 1000," Amelia muttered.

"It’s not as far as you think, especially since you provide a unique function unlike the other almost seven thousand people fighting. If you work hard the system might recognise you."

That was a lie. Okay maybe not a lie, just a bold assumption.

But Amelia’s eyes hardened and she nodded. The Binding process didn’t last much longer as the glow of Amelia’s hand faded finally and the run within Arachne’s eyes passed.

"Hahh. DONE," Amelia sighed.

"Actually..." Faust said turning to the two other Arachne eyes he wanted bound.