Chapter 57
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57
Whoosh—
As I drew upon my mana, the Mana Heart in my chest began to throb, pulsing with power. The energy flowed through my hand and into the magic orb containing Bell's flame.
As I watched the orb absorb every drop of the mana I released, I sank into thought.
‘Once I ingest this flame orb, it will remain in my body and constantly neutralize the yin energy that’s been blocking my mana flow.’
In a way, it was like an artificial organ. However, an artificial organ with magical properties completely different from my own could trigger a rejection response. To prevent this, I was pre-emptively feeding it my mana, aligning the orb's magical composition with my own as closely as possible.
‘It’s a delicate process: modifying the orb to resemble my own mana while preserving the yang properties of Bell's Extreme Flame.’
Even with the system's help, this wasn't a task I could finish in a day or two. I would have to keep infusing the orb with my mana every day as it recovered—a process that would take a significant amount of time.
‘It's a bit tedious, but…’
This process was an incredible workaround, one that would completely transform Roen, a character who was originally unable to use magic. If I could just use magic properly, this much effort was nothing. It was like a blind swordsman regaining his sight—how could I possibly complain about the work required?
Once this was done, I would no longer have to rely on a crutch of items and potions to brute-force my way through close-quarters combat.
Chrrr—
“…”
I continued the infusion, watching my mana gradually decrease on the status window floating beside me.
A moment later.
Ting—
[Mana Infusion Complete.]
The infusion finally ended just as my head started to spin from the excessive mana drain. Even with Millia's Magic Gauntlet reducing the mana consumption, it had been a close call.
“Huu… huu…”
I pulled my trembling hand away from the magic orb and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. Bell's magic orb glowed with a brilliant light. The energy swirling quietly inside felt more refined and calm, no longer the ferocious, untamed extreme flame it once was.
‘That's enough for today.’
I'd have to repeat this process several more times before I could finally ingest it. And after ingestion, the work of stabilizing it and neutralizing the yin energy would be a whole other challenge.
I placed Bell's magic orb back in its case, took off the gauntlet, and set it on the alchemy workbench. Then, I replenished my depleted mana with a mana-restoring stone and immediately began the next task.
‘When you get a new item, the first thing you do is enhance it.’
With a sense of excitement, I took out the leather pouch I had brought. Since I was already in the lab, I planned to enhance Millia's Magic Gauntlet. Unlike the other artifacts I was currently wearing, the gauntlet I had just acquired was a brand-new, unenhanced piece of equipment.
Today, I would enhance its stats using [Amplification] and [Restriction] magic. To avoid breaking it like the magic crystal orb, I had even bought an Enhancement Stabilizer from the black market.
‘Enhancement gacha… here we go.’
Chwareuk—
I took out the alchemy stones, enhancement stones, and enhancement stabilizers from the leather pouch, arranging them in order on the cardinal points of the alchemy workbench.
‘…Alchemy is the truth, a path to attaining a higher-class soul, a path to God.’
This corresponded to the Tree of Sephiroth, the esoteric art of Kabbalah. I placed each ore on the ten Sephirot and infused mana into the twenty-two paths that connected them.
Whoosh—
As I infused mana into the alchemy table, the ten ores lit up brightly in sequence, connecting and then shooting their light toward Millia's Magic Gauntlet at the center. I watched the gauntlet bathe in the brilliant, multicolored light, lost in thought.
‘Millia's Magic Gauntlet is [Ancient] grade.’
Item rarity was divided into six tiers: Common, Rare, Ancient, Relic, Epic, and Legendary. Each tier could be enhanced up to three times. Therefore, this Ancient-grade item could be enhanced up to +9.
Restriction and Amplification magic could only be used on items enhanced to +5 or higher, so I'd start by getting it to +5.
[Enhance?]
‘Yes.’
Flash—
The moment I pressed the log window, a flash of light filled my vision. Random stats were added to Millia's Magic Gauntlet according to the enhancement level.
Ting—
“Hah…”
I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh at the results. It was always better for stats to be concentrated in one area rather than spread out evenly. Since this was an item for a magic user, Mana +5 or Intelligence +5 would have been the best outcome. But to get such a disastrous, balanced spread…
‘Still… let's think positively.’
For a hybrid character like Roen, having evenly distributed stats wasn't the worst thing in the world. I'd leave it for now.
Anyway, now that I'd reached +5—the minimum requirement for Amplification and Restriction—I first cast the alchemy magic [Restriction].
Chrrr—
As mana drained from my body, golden chains of magic poured out of thin air. The chains bound the brightly glowing gauntlet and began the enchantment.
[Applying a demerit to Millia's Magic Gauntlet and randomly enhancing one of its existing effects.]
Chrrr—
Various effects scrolled by on the status window like a roulette wheel. After spinning spectacularly for a while, the roulette stopped, and a log appeared.
Restriction: [Damage taken while equipped increases. 30% -> 40%]
Enhancement: [Maximum number of storable magic scrolls increases. 3 -> 5]
[Restriction enchantment complete.]
“Hoh.”
I stopped infusing mana and checked the results. Despite the poor stat rolls earlier, the Restriction effect was quite useful. Now I could store up to five spells at once, making it a complete upgrade from the magic crystal orb. I'd take more damage when hit, but that was a price I was willing to pay.
Srrr—
After the Restriction magic followed the enhancement, the various enhancement stones on the alchemy table crumbled, their power spent. I placed new enhancement stones on the table and decided to proceed with [Amplification] magic.
I was already in too deep to stop now. I'd gotten my bad luck out of the way with the stat enhancement, and the Restriction enchantment had turned out well, so it was worth pushing my luck.
Chrrr—
As I infused mana and cast [Amplification], silver chains shot out of the air this time, binding the gauntlet.
[Granting a random additional effect to Millia's Magic Gauntlet based on its existing effects.]
Once again, various additional effects scrolled by on the status window. Unlike Restriction, Amplification had no penalties, but the spectrum of possible effects was incredibly wide. That meant the probability of getting a useless effect was high—a true gacha.
After a moment of anxious waiting, a notification sound chimed.
Ting—
[Movement speed increases by 1%.]
“…”
What good was a 1% increase in movement speed?
“Again.”
I re-infused mana and used more enhancement stones to try Amplification again.
Ting—
[Damage taken decreases by 2%.]
“…”
Just wearing the gauntlet made me take 40% more damage; this was practically useless.
“Again.”
[Effect resistance increases by 1%.]
“…Again.”
[Freeze resistance increases by 2%.]
“…”
A continuous stream of garbage effects. With each retry, my enhancement materials dwindled. Watching my precious mana, enhancement stones, and alchemy stones drain away almost brought tears to my eyes, but I couldn't stop here.
I was doubling down.
Just as I was about to attempt Amplification again…
Ting!
Suddenly, a notification window popped up with a brilliant golden light.
“!”
[When the Mana Absorption effect is activated, inflict a Stun effect on the target for up to 3 seconds.]
‘This is…!’
My eyes widened as I read the golden notification window. A ray of light had been sent down to me amidst a sea of trash effects.
‘Inflicting a stun effect on a target I touch!’
Items with crowd control effects were extremely rare, even in the game. And it wasn't just a slow, bind, or silence, but a hard crowd control effect: a stun. For such an incredible effect to be added during the Amplification stage—and at the low-level alchemy stage, no less—the odds were truly astronomical.
‘…I'm lucky.’
I grinned widely at the notification window. Although it had been a massive expense, this Restriction and Amplification gacha was a resounding success.
Gacha was all about momentum. I may have exhausted all the materials and mana I brought, but my heart felt full.
‘I can always earn more money.’
An advanced effect like this couldn't be bought with gold. With a satisfied smile, I finished the alchemy enchantment and left the lab.
*
The next day.
After attending a few liberal arts lectures, I headed to the Ishtal Territory. Professor Verdandi was under probation, so the basic swordsmanship class had been temporarily suspended, but a new professor had been appointed to continue the curriculum.
When I took the tram and arrived at Ishtal's transit center, a familiar face was waiting for me.
“Hey, Sir Roen! It's been a while!”
A chubby male student was waving his arms enthusiastically at me from a distance. Garfield Morty.
I shrugged at him. “Has it?”
We had just seen each other a few days ago. I joined Garfield, and we walked slowly toward the lecture hall together.
“…”
Garfield chattered away nonstop beside me. While I let most of it go in one ear and out the other, I did catch one piece of information.
“Sir Roen, I heard Ishtal is hosting an athletic festival soon. Did you know?”
“Ah… now that you mention it.”
I stopped in my tracks and took in the surrounding scenery. The gray roadsides were lined with pots of colorful flowers, and the lampposts were decorated with various flags representing each academy, like an international fair. I'd wondered why downtown Ishtal was so lively; it seemed it was all in preparation for the festival.
I had discussed it with Chloe during our interview a while ago, but I'd forgotten.
‘An athletic festival…’
I stared blankly at the flags fluttering in the wind. The athletic festival was the first big event of the semester, held after March and before the midterm exams. Along with the competitive matches, it was an inter-academy event where students from each school gathered to compete.
The difference from the competitive matches was that the results didn't affect grades or personnel evaluations. It was a classic academy event meant to promote friendship and friendly competition.
Of course… it would be naive to think of it as just a typical sports day. In some ways, it was a competition where the pure honor and pride of each academy were on the line. Also, the prizes for the festival were nothing to scoff at, so everyone would be clenching their teeth to win.
As I was thinking, Garfield asked, “Sir Roen, you're the student council president, aren't you? Are you involved in the festival at all? Like hosting or supporting it?”
“Hmm. Maybe I'll just swoop in and take some of the credit.”
“What does that mean?”
“It's nothing.”
This athletic festival was hosted by Ishtal. It was the first big event since Freya became president, so she must have prepared diligently. Given the recent unpleasant incident with her sister, a successful festival could help divert some of that negative attention.
In that sense, I could intervene under the pretext of helping with the preparations and snatch some credit, but if I wasn't careful, I could end up ruining everything. My reputation had been improving lately, but the disapproval was still strong.
For now, I'd watch and see. If an opportunity to help arose, I'd take it.
Chatting with Garfield, we soon arrived at the training ground. We joined the murmuring ranks of students and waited for a moment before a new face greeted us.
Thump—
A middle-aged man with dark blond hair stepped onto the platform. He had a sturdy build and a long scar running down the middle of his face. He brought a camping chair from somewhere, sat down, crossed his legs, and introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you. I am Zimmer Demetri, and I'll be temporarily taking over this class in place of Professor Verdandi.”
He was the younger brother of Egil Demetri, the captain of the Royal Guard known as the Sword of the Knight Kingdom Gilbert. I knew him to be a swordsman of a similar caliber to Verdandi—someone on the verge of becoming a Master.
But he was a man more suited to the battlefield than the academy. He had quite a few disqualifying factors when it came to teaching students. In fact, he never took a teaching position in the game. It seemed the butterfly effect from Gillean's appearance had twisted causality.
Zimmer scanned the faces of the assembled students with a slightly annoyed expression, his gaze pausing for a moment on Freya and me.
“I consider it an honor to be able to teach a Hero candidate and a scoundrel infamous across the continent at the same time.”
“…”
Flip—
Zimmer glanced over the papers he'd brought and then nodded toward the training ground.
“For now, I suppose I should respect the curriculum of my predecessor, Professor Verdandi. Everyone, get started.”