The Mage Tower Management Game, Subtitle: The Mage of Fusion (2)
Vilheim Magic Tower in the Kassim Empire.
It was called the heart of the empire, and at the same time one of the five great magic towers that stood among the finest on the entire continent.
The tower itself rose more than 300 meters into the sky.
Its spire could be seen from anywhere in the empire, and at night the blue magic circle wrapped around it illuminated the entire city.
The continent’s greatest mages had gathered there.
Fourth Circle, Fifth Circle—it was all basic fare. There were even several Sixth Circle grand mages.
They were geniuses who had devoted their entire lives to the study of magic, the pride of the empire and the wealth of the continent.
And at the center of it all stood Chief Mage Roimdel’s laboratory in Vilheim Magic Tower.
“Chief Roimdel. I heard you were fusing a second-circle spell from two systems.”
The old mage with the white beard asked Roimdel cautiously.
“Indeed.”
Roimdel answered curtly as he checked the laboratory.
A Sixth Circle grand mage, he was the chief mage of Vilheim Magic Tower, and the empire recognized him as the foremost authority in magic fusion.
“A two-system fusion of fire and wind. The very foundation of the foundation.”
A young mage sneered as he spoke.
He was a Third Circle mage, a rising talent who had recently joined Vilheim.
“The foundation?”
Roimdel shot him a cold look.
“How many two-system fusions have you successfully performed?”
“Th-that’s……”
The young mage flinched and fell silent.
“I’ve studied magic for fifty years. For twenty of those, I devoted myself solely to magic fusion.”
Roimdel continued as he arranged the materials on the worktable.
“I’ve succeeded at two-system fusion 147 times. Failed twice that many.”
“Th-there’s no way……”
“To achieve what you call the ‘foundation of the foundation,’ I made 441 attempts, and failed 294 of them.”
There was weight in Roimdel’s voice.
“There is no such thing as a foundation in magic fusion. Every fusion is a challenge you wager your life on.”
The laboratory fell silent.
“Activate the auxiliary magic circle.”
At Roimdel’s command, the three high-ranking mages moved to their positions.
The complex magic circle carved into the laboratory floor began to glow blue.
It was a circle designed to suppress magical runaway and minimize damage in the event of failure.
“Check the materials.”
“Three high-grade fire stones, five feathers from wind spirits, seven types of stabilizing catalysts—everything is ready.”
The assistant mage reported in a tense voice.
They were premium-grade materials worth dozens of gold coins.
“I’ll begin.”
Roimdel drew in a breath.
A Sixth Circle grand mage, a veteran with fifty years of experience.
Even he could not hide his tension before magic fusion.
He reached out and drew up his mana, and the air in the laboratory began to tremble.
Fire mana gathered in his right hand, wind mana in his left.
“Step one, synchronize mana flow.”
Sweat beaded on Roimdel’s forehead.
He had to align the vibration frequency of the two kinds of mana exactly. If it slipped by even 0.1 percent, the fusion would fail.
“Step two, set the fusion point.”
He was so focused he could barely breathe.
He had to calculate the point where the mana would meet, down to the molecular level, and set it precisely.
“Step three……”
Crack—!
Then the mana shuddered faintly.
“Stabilize it!”
As the support mages hurriedly poured in more mana, the protective circle flared even brighter.
Roimdel gritted his teeth and forced the mana under control.
Fifty years of experience.
A Sixth Circle grand mage.
The finest experimental environment on the continent.
Hundreds of gold coins’ worth of high-grade materials.
Three high-ranking mage assistants.
With all of that, Roimdel still gave it everything he had just to create a single two-system fusion spell.
Whoosh——
Only after ten full minutes did the two mana streams finally begin to merge.
“Success……!”
The assistant mage let out a breath of relief.
BOOM——!
Fusion spell <Explosive Flame Vortex> creation complete
With a thunderous roar, a vortex of explosive flame took shape in his hand.
“Huu……”
Roimdel let out a deep breath.
His back was drenched with sweat.
“Congratulations, Chief!”
“As expected of you, Chief!”
The mages broke into applause.
But Roimdel’s expression did not brighten.
“That makes 148 successes.”
He murmured as he lifted the finished magic bead.
“And yet it’s still not perfect. The power came out five percent lower than expected.”
<Explosive Flame Vortex>
Rank: 2
Power: 23
Mana Cost: 15
Roimdel looked at the completed fusion spell’s power and gave a bitter smile.
But the other mages felt differently.
“Chief… its power is 23. If the power of <Explosive Flame Vortex> is this high, then it must rank among the very best on the continent.”
The assistant mage said this in awe.
“The usual limit for an <Explosive Flame Vortex> made through two-system fusion is power 18 to 22. Twenty-three? This is……”
“That’s why I’m saying it’s still lacking by five percent.”
Roimdel cut him off coldly.
“By my calculations, it should have come out at 24. That means there was mana loss somewhere.”
“B-but even so……”
“If you’re satisfied with ‘even so,’ you’ll never improve.”
Roimdel set the bead down on the desk and sighed.
“And this is all for a two-system, second-circle fusion spell. As for three systems……”
His voice trailed off as he looked out the window.
“Even after dedicating my life to it, my success rate with three-system fusion barely climbed above thirty percent. And the power is all over the place.”
He shook his head.
“Four systems? I’ve only succeeded twice. And both times the power was pathetic. Five systems or more……”
Roimdel let out a dry laugh.
“I’m afraid even to try. You all heard the news last year, didn’t you? The imperial Seventh Circle grand mage attempted a five-system fusion and died from mana runaway.”
A heavy silence settled over the laboratory.
“He was…… one of the continent’s three greatest mages……”
The old mage with the white beard said, his voice trembling.
“Exactly. A Seventh Circle grand mage with seventy years of experience. Even someone like that lost his life before five-system fusion.”
Roimdel looked down at his own hands.
“That’s what magic fusion is. Talent, skill, and perfect preparation are all necessary. But that still isn’t enough. Luck has to be on your side, too.”
***
Fusion Mage
Staring at the message that appeared in the blue window, I went blank for a moment.
A special perk? What is this……?
It was a system I had never seen while playing the game.
No, to be precise, I didn’t remember it. I’d been possessed before I could even properly start the game.
But I didn’t have the luxury of thinking about that now.
The fire and wind mana fusing in my hands had begun to surge more and more violently.
Crackle——!
“Ghk……!”
The flow of mana was starting to slip beyond my control.
As the fusion point grew unstable, the two currents of mana tried to repel each other.
No, if I lose it here……!
The instant it fails, the mana will run wild.
And this old tower won’t be able to withstand the shock.
That was when it happened.
Fusion success rate +30%
Fusion spell power +30%
Mana stabilization during fusion
At the same time as the message in the blue window appeared, the mana in my hands suddenly grew quiet.
No, not quiet exactly—it was more like it began to balance itself out on its own.
The fire and wind mana that had been violently repelling each other began to blend naturally, as if they had always been one.
This is……
It was amazing.
Even without my forcing control, the mana was finding the optimal fusion point by itself.
Whoosh——
Red fire and blue wind swirled in my hands and merged into one.
And what was completed was—
BOOM——!
A small Explosive Flame Vortex.
A crimson whirlpool the size of my palm floated in the air, spinning round and round.
Heat radiated outward in every direction.
“It…… worked?”
I couldn’t believe it.
Me, a third-rate mage with shaky mana control, had succeeded at magic fusion.
<Explosive Flame Vortex>
Rank: 2
Power: 30
Mana Cost: 15
In my hand was a small red bead containing <Explosive Flame Vortex>.
Fusion spells could be stored as mana crystals, or “magic beads.”
In the game, they had been automatically saved to the inventory. In reality, it seemed they were implemented like this.
One of the game’s unique management systems for the magic tower.
I supposed it was a bit like memorizing magic from fantasy novels.
Storing a spell in advance.
But this wasn’t something that vanished after use; it could be reused non-dependently.
Tap—.
Then I heard the basement door open.
“Tower Lord!”
It was Lia.
Lia ran down the stairs and stopped in front of me. She looked around with a pale face, then her expression changed to shock.
“I heard an explosion, and I thought the tower was collapsing. But you’re all right?”
“Hardly all right.”
I gave a weak laugh and tried to stand, but my legs gave out and I swayed.
Lia hurried to support me.
“You used too much mana! A third-rate mage like you trying to fuse a spell……”
“I succeeded.”
“…… Pardon?”
Lia stared at me, dumbfounded.
“The magic fusion. I succeeded.”
“H-how……?”
Lia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Of course they did. It made no sense that a third-rate mage, with no proper preparation, in an old magic circle, using bargain-bin materials, had succeeded at a fusion spell.
“I guess I got lucky.”
I showed her the bead containing the completed fusion spell, <Explosive Flame Vortex>.
Lia carefully examined the bead.
“It really is…… a fusion spell. Even if it’s low-grade, it’s definitely the product of two-system fusion.”
Lia’s voice was full of astonishment.
“Huh? But something’s strange. Clearly…… its power?”
Lia tilted her head as she inspected the bead more closely.
“Normally, a two-system fusion spell has a power of around 20, but this one is 30. And it was made with the lowest-grade materials……”
“Is that strange?”
“It’s more than strange!”
Lia cried out, eyes wide.
“Even with the same materials and the same fusion formula, the power can vary depending on the caster’s skill, but that’s only by about plus or minus five. But thirty…… I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
“Really?”
I answered casually, but inwardly it made sense.
Fusion Mage special perk. Fusion spell power +30%……
If the base power was 20 and 30 percent was added, did it become 26? Rounded up to 30?
No, I didn’t know the exact calculation, but one thing was certain: it was thanks to that perk.
“Tower Lord, could it be……”
Lia spoke carefully.
“Could it be that you were hiding your true ability? That you’re not really a third-rate mage……”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I really am a third-rate mage. No, maybe I’m worse than that.”
It was the honest truth.
The original owner of this body had truly been third-rate, and I, after possessing it, had no magical experience whatsoever.
“Then how on earth……”
Lia looked utterly confused, but there was no way to explain it.
There was no chance she’d understand if I tried to explain the “Fusion Mage special perk” as a system.
Besides, I didn’t even know exactly what it was myself.
“Just…… let’s say I got lucky.”
I brushed it off and took the bead back.
“The important thing is that it succeeded.”
“…… That’s true, but.”
Lia still looked unconvinced, though she didn’t press further.
<Explosive Flame Vortex> with a power of 30.
What could I do with this?
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