Chen Li's plan was perfect—spend two hours at school causing a bit of trouble, return home before noon to begin the Knight's Trial, and forge a Curio in the afternoon.
But plans rarely keep up with reality.
For instance, Chen Li had almost forgotten that since his personal panel and the Miracle System had completely merged, his talents had been unsealed and upgraded. Now, within a certain range around him, all abilities related to time, space, and fate would be temporarily nullified.
Previously, as long as Chen Li didn't personally use these types of items, there wouldn't be a problem. But that was no longer the case.
Chen Li's school was filled with all sorts of time-based training rooms, spatial corridors, and the like. The chaos he would cause if he actually went to school was easy to imagine.
He only realized this when, not long after leaving his house, he saw someone's spatial satchel suddenly explode.
"..."
"..."
Chen Li and the owner of the spatial satchel locked eyes.
After the satchel exploded, the ground was instantly littered with countless blood-stained weapons and various bizarre-looking instruments of torture. Chen Li instinctively took a step back.
Excellent. Today's dose of trouble had indeed been refreshed right on schedule!
"Gyehehehe... I don't know why I was exposed, but you're my next target! Die, little brat! You'll be the 108th soul to die by my hand!" The young man, wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled low, let out a monstrous laugh and charged at Chen Li.
"Kill him. This person is likely a serial killer."
A Star Stone was tossed behind him by Chen Li. Amidst the flash of light, Kikyo's figure gradually materialized.
After saying his piece, Chen Li took another step back, positioning Kikyo in front of him as a shield.
Upon hearing Chen Li's words, Kikyo raised the Longbow of Peace, which had begun to tremble with excitement the moment it laid eyes on the serial killer.
"Ah!" The serial killer's scream lasted only for a split second before he fell silent forever.
"I've never resolved trouble so smoothly before. Still, I need to put some limits on both my 'Destiny Vortex' and 'Transmigration' passives." Musing on this, Chen Li gave Kikyo a nod of thanks and then started dialing the police.
Although it was likely the middle of the night in Kikyo's world, summoning an ally for combat didn't require their explicit consent, only that they didn't refuse. However, an accepted summon was a true "Friend Summon," while a non-refused one would result in a much more rigid, automaton-like projection.
It was the difference between manually controlling a character in a turn-based game versus setting them on auto-battle.
At the very least, the latter option ensured that the summoned ally wouldn't be caught off guard and killed because their summoner hadn't woken them up properly.
This suspected serial killer died a swift death before the Longbow of Peace. But death was only the beginning.
---o---
Now back in his forge, Chen Li silently tossed a three-leaf clover onto the forging platform.
He was once again forging a Curio, this time specifically to address his current problem.
He figured that since controlling his passive abilities was troublesome, he might as well entrust the task to a Curio and, while he was at it, strengthen them a bit.
He had gotten this clover from Tonghua after calling her back over.
[Lucky Four-Leaf Clover]: Allows events to develop in a random but favorable direction for the user.
A great item, wasn't it?
The only problem was, it only had three leaves left.
When it was a four-leaf clover, it would bend fate in a favorable direction. But after being used four times, it was now a three-leaf clover, and its effect had reversed.
The condition for use remained the same—sacrificing double one's subsequent luck to trigger the effect—but now it only caused events to develop in a random, unfavorable direction.
Tonghua hadn't felt the slightest bit of regret giving it to him.
She had absolutely no use for it.
Because of this, Chen Li had even issued a commission to Tonghua—try to acquire Relics that had powerful side effects but were otherwise useless.
In the hands of a Curio Forger, even the worst Entry had its purpose.
Sometimes, the Entries generated by a Relic's side effects could be even better than its primary ones.
As time passed, countless Entries appeared before Chen Li: [Imprisonment], [Misfortune], [Luck], [Random], [Favorable], [Reversal], [Burst], [Curse]...
The first Entry came from a crystal containing the [Imprisonment] Entry that Chen Li had tossed in at the same time.
Crystals used to seal Entries could also serve as fuel for the Miracle Fire, ensuring nothing was wasted.
With a clear idea already in mind, Chen Li began to forge.
---o---
[Schrödinger's Restraint Bracelet]: A bracelet that can be used to restrain one's own abilities. When you objectively need it to function, it will. When you don't need it to function, it won't. Its sole purpose is to guide your abilities toward a favorable outcome! Furthermore, the longer an ability is restrained, the stronger its next use will be.
PS: Restraint is for the sake of greater growth.
(Miracle: I am currently refining the forging commission function to display the approximate Star Stone reward upon completion. By the way... Master, are you really not interested in a little fun?)
This bracelet could not only restrain his chaotic passive but also his "Destiny Vortex" and "Transmigration" passives simultaneously.
Moreover, by fixing the "favorable" condition, the next time he found himself in a losing fight, this bracelet might just trigger his "Transmigration" passive and get him out of there.
Chen Li himself was surprised by how effective the bracelet was.
Although it required the user to "voluntarily" restrain their abilities, that was more than enough.
At the same time, this Curio showed Chen Li another possibility—if he could forge a Curio that could restrain the enhanced "Transmigrator" talents he gained from merging with the Miracle System, then one day, he might be able to forge a Curio that surpassed the Miracle System itself.
Understand the Miracle! Surpass the Miracle! Su...
Chen Li slipped the bracelet, which had cost him 15 Crystals to create, onto his wrist.
The Miracle Fire had only used 4 Crystals to extract the Entries, once again proving the superiority of Relics as forging materials.
Increasing the Entry slots cost 10 Crystals, and the final Crystal was used to preserve the [Reversal] Entry.
Profession EXP +14
Curio Forger: Lv1 (87/100)
"I really need to collect more Relics in the future. For now, let's test out the effects of the Knight's Trial," Chen Li said, taking out a card imprinted with a full-body portrait of Argenti.
Now that he could restrain his abilities, there was no point in going to school to stir up trouble.
He might as well just take a leave of absence until the college entrance exams. In a couple of days, he could go back to the Flame-Chasers and learn archery combat from Elysia.
"The local 'factions' are too ill-mannered; it's easier to get by with the ones from out of town. First, the Knight's Trial, and tonight I'll research the [Merit]." Having decided on his schedule, Chen Li used the card.
The reason he crafted the restraint bracelet before using the trial card was to prevent his own chaotic talent from interfering with the card's effect.