Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Eco-Friendly Scroll
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The day after returning from the black market.
No one had said it out loud, but they were all thinking the same thing.
‘Current scrolls aren’t enough.’
Spell crafters didn’t fight with mana quantities or spell levels.
For them, weapons were scrolls, and scrolls were their only means of growing stronger.
Scritch scritch—
Bauman and the other academy members dove straight into scroll research using the materials procured from the black market.
The hides and other materials went into crafting the scrolls themselves.
The auxiliary ingredients they’d bought separately served as additives for engraving the incantations.
‘…….’
Meanwhile, Regin silently wrestled with his scroll for a long while.
In DAT, a single click completed the incantation.
Another click linked the incantations together.
This was different. He had to do every step by hand.
‘……But.’
That made it all the clearer.
Exactly which parts needed precise inscription for the scroll to function properly.
How to modulate the mana to engrave those parts.
‘……I can understand it more deeply. Which means I can make it more profoundly.’
Without even the leisure to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead, Regin focused intently on the table.
His eyes took in the materials bought from the black market.
Plus the ones he’d farmed from the Tower.
‘I need to finish this first.’
Not a one-time use, but a scroll that regenerated multiple times.
He had to create that scroll—the one that had formed the foundation for him clearing DAT.
* * *
“Heading home?”
“Yes. I’ll wrap up here for today and continue tomorrow.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
Late in the evening.
Regin stood from his seat and began organizing the materials.
He hadn’t finished the regeneration scroll yet, but he already knew it would take considerable time.
‘Even in the game, crafting a new scroll took a week.’
Once started, a ‘Scroll Crafting In Progress’ window would pop up, restricting other activities somewhat.
It had felt frustrating back when he was playing—something he thought needed skipping.
But now that he was inside, it seemed like a perfectly natural system.
……How could anyone whip this up in a single day?
“Heh heh. I can tell from your face. Not as easy as you thought, huh? Making a new kind of scroll.”
“Yes. I think I’ll need a bit more time.”
“Especially in your case, trying to create an entirely new type…… it’s bound to take even longer.”
Bauman stretched as he replied.
He looked just as exhausted, yet showed no signs of heading home.
“By the way, aren’t you going home, Bauman?”
“I’ll research a little longer before I go…… Besides, going home now would just mean listening to my wife nag.”
“Your wife?”
“She keeps telling me to come home earlier. But it’s already late, isn’t it? Better to stay out properly than slink in halfway and start a fight.”
Regin burst out laughing.
It reminded him of the section chiefs back in Korea.
Married men were much the same here or there.
“Oh, since you’re heading out, could I ask a favor?”
“A favor?”
Bauman handed Regin a glass vial filled with red powder.
“It’s ground leaves from blood herb. I borrowed some this morning and used up what I needed. Clina’s working on research too, so she probably still has some left. Could you pass it along?”
“Got it.”
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Bauman hesitated a moment before tossing it out casually.
“If Clina’s still researching, could you take a look for me? She’s got more experience than you and is diligent.”
“Yes.”
“But she’s a bit too honest sometimes. That could help you out.”
“Ah. Yes.”
“Conversely, your sharp wit might help her too.”
* * *
Entering the first-floor communal lab, he spotted Clina.
She was deep in her research.
Unaware of Regin approaching, Clina continued crafting her scroll.
Poof—
“Ah……!”
With a short sigh, the scroll she was working on exploded.
Of course, compared to Regin’s bomb scrolls, it was a tiny blast.
If anything, it was like a corn kernel popping in a frying pan.
Only then did Clina notice Regin and turn her head.
“When did you get here?”
“Just now. Bauman asked me to give you this.”
“Oh, thanks. But…… did you see my screw-up just now? Kinda embarrassing…… ahem.”
“I did.”
Regin eyed the scroll, where smoke was gently rising.
“This seems like a milder explosion than I’d expect. It could’ve been much bigger without issue.”
“Ah, I’ve been really careful to avoid overloads. Guess that paid off.”
Regin nodded, a bit surprised.
The formulas had clashed, causing the issue, but her experience had kept it from becoming a major accident.
Her scroll was in view—every formula meticulously placed, clear and neat.
‘……So that’s why Bauman said she could help me.’
In the game, scroll crafting required little attention.
It was just a game, after all—no matter how well made.
No need or reason to study the details.
‘That’s why my inscriptions and mana infusions always ended up sloppy.’
Boland’s advice had been similar.
It was the kind of solution anyone here would think of.
Adjusting formula details to boost explosion power. Basic stuff for anyone competent.
‘To Bauman and Boland, my scrolls must look like they lack fundamentals.’
Even if problems arose, she minimized them.
To maximize effects on success, it took her seasoned craftsmanship.
“Clina.”
“Yes?”
“Could you explain why you write the formulas this way, and how you control the mana at that point?”
Regin had two tasks ahead.
First, create a new type: the regeneration scroll.
Then, engrave spells onto it to make a scroll imbued with specific magic.
Only after both steps would he have a practical weapon.
‘Once the regeneration scroll is done, I’ll need to inscribe magic formulas like she’s doing.’
He still couldn’t inscribe formulas as skillfully as Clina.
Boland said he had plenty of talent at this level…… but mere talent wouldn’t satisfy him.
‘No time to slack.’
DAT was that kind of game.
Hesitate even a little, and fate would catch up.
Speed and efficiency in growth were key.
Now inside that game, Regin had no intention of half-assing his progress.
‘I need to…… no, two steps ahead, raising my level.’
Learning everything he could from Bauman, Boland, Paphoni, and Clina.
That’s how he’d advance, Regin resolved.
“Hmm. Struggling with inscribing formulas?”
“Yes. I’m developing a new scroll type first, but I’ll need to engrave formulas right after.”
“I’m not perfect either…… but have a seat? I’ll explain whatever you’re curious about.”
Creak—
Pulling up a chair, Regin sat and listened to Clina’s explanations.
It was similar to before his first expedition, when she’d taught him.
But there was a clear difference now.
‘……So that’s why she said keeping mana flow steady is key.’
Unlike back then, when he’d just entered the game and skimmed scroll crafting.
Now, Clina’s explanations systematically clicked into place in Regin’s mind.
His combat experience helped too.
From goblins to raiders, even lycanthropes—he’d faced them all.
Through life-or-death battles, he’d awakened and gained control over the unfamiliar sensation of mana.
Instinctively, to survive.
“So even with the same magic formula…… unify the mana amounts like this, and standardize the shapes to avoid errors.”
“……Exactly!”
Regin and Clina sat together for a long while, discussing scrolls.
More focused and deeply than even over drinks before.
* * *
“You haven’t gone home yet.”
In the hidden lab used by Nemed Academy members.
Boland entered and looked at Bauman.
Bauman was smoking a cigar made from toxic herbs processed with mana.
“Ah, if I’d known you were coming, I would’ve stepped out to smoke. Thought everyone had gone home.”
“Go ahead.”
“Nah. Not when I know your body’s sensitive to mana…….”
Sizzle—
Bauman extinguished the cigar’s lit end and continued.
“Smoking toxic herbs in front of you would be inconsiderate.”
“With how little mana it takes to process them, what’s the harm? It doesn’t affect me much.”
“Heh heh. It’s basic courtesy.”
Boland watched Bauman a moment, then asked bluntly.
“Bauman.”
“Yeah?”
“What’s got you so worried?”
“I know your muscles are sensitive to mana…….”
“Not me. Your expression’s been sour all day…… Is it yesterday’s incident? Or the scrolls?”
Spell crafters were a rare breed even among mages.
The Nemed Academy was a gathering of just a few like-minded ones.
In this elite group, Boland had known Bauman for years.
He could guess his thoughts from his face alone.
“So it is about meeting that old man yesterday?”
“……Heh heh. Yeah. I knew he’d managed the black market for ages, but it’d been a while since I’d seen him up close. The gap…… it hasn’t narrowed at all.”
“Our fields are different. He’s closer to an elemental mage—his combat power isn’t comparable to ours.”
Bauman chuckled wryly and nodded.
True enough. The black market’s manager he’d briefly encountered yesterday.
A high-level mage, naturally leagues above Bauman in battle.
“Even so…… knowing you two were at the center of that commotion, yet being unable to act properly…… it didn’t sit well.”
“If you’d used your scrolls right, you wouldn’t lose to that old man.”
“Ha! Maybe. But…… just not losing? Is that enough to protect our academy members?”
Bauman’s gaze drifted to the extinguished cigar. He regretted putting it out for courtesy’s sake.
The urge to take a proper drag hit immediately.
“Carlos, your master and my senior…… when he left the academy to me, he hoped I’d protect everyone. Not just barely holding—solidly.”
An image surfaced of the man who’d left for the Tower long ago.
The longtime leader of Nemed Academy, Bauman’s direct senior.
“You’re the same, aren’t you?”
Bauman thought of him, then looked at Boland.
“Still seeking answers to the questions Carlos left. I am too. Trying to better safeguard the academy he entrusted me.”
“…….”
“Seeing that old man reaffirmed it for me.”
Boland pondered briefly, then spoke.
“I think I’ve nearly found the answer.”
“……Really?”
“It’ll take time, but I’ve got the direction…… Bauman.”
“Yeah.”
With his usual steady gaze, Boland continued.
“Soon as this scroll’s done, I’m going to find him. Master Carlos.”
“……How do you find someone missing for four years?”
“Climb the Tower. You know it too, Bauman.”
The man seen as the foundation of the current Nemed Academy, near the pinnacle of spell crafting.
“If Master Carlos is alive…… the Tower’s the only place he’d be.”
* * *
“…….”
The next day.
Regin arrived at the lab, steadied his mind, and got straight to work.
Oddly, no one else was in the academy lab, letting him focus alone.
‘I finally get why my scrolls so far…… haven’t worked right like in the game.’
Recalling his late-night talk with Clina and all he’d grasped, Regin concentrated for hours.
“……Done.”
He wiped his sweat and smiled.
“Been a while. Regeneration scroll.”
Before him was the core of his Regin-style build.
‘Let’s see if it’s proper.’
Rip—!!
Even torn, it returned to pristine condition—a reusable regeneration scroll.
Without hesitation, Regin tore it again.