Chapter 46

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 46

Chapter Title: Golem Engravings and Upgrades

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Engraving a magic circle was much like crafting a clock. It required extremely complex and precise techniques.

It demanded handiwork fine enough for the most delicate tasks, along with equally precise mana control.

Drawing a massive magic circle without rest called for patience, and a deep understanding of magic and mana was essential too.

Mastering all those skills wasn't easy. Even in a world teeming with mages, only a tiny fraction could actually draw magic circles—and there was good reason for that.

Ian was one of that elite few, which was why he could engrave magic circles with ease, where others struggled.

The Shrink engraving was neatly complete.

Thanks to Engraving Enhancement, he could draw the magic circle even more precisely, which directly boosted the performance of the engraved magic.

For instance, if the old engraving had only achieved 60% of the magic's potential, this one was now pushing nearly 100%.

"Ddoli. Shrink down. Stage 1."

-Understood.

Ddol Ddoli shrank its body.

Down to about 150 centimeters.

"Nice. Perfect."

He'd set it this small with room for growth in mind.

The original two-meter shrunken Ddol Ddoli had grown to three meters, after all. This 150-centimeter version might expand too.

But looking at it now... kinda cute and compact, huh?

-Ddoli good! Same eye level as Master now!

The mini Ddol Ddoli hopped around, but there were no thuds.

Its weight had shrunk proportionally.

Of course, that meant its combat power had dropped too.

So he'd made an intermediate Stage 2 for efficient fighting.

Human size was convenient but weak in battle; the full size was powerful but useless in tight spaces.

Couldn't even fit inside buildings.

"Stage 2 this time."

-Understood. Transforming.

Stage 2 became possible thanks to Engraving Enhancement.

It allowed for finer magic engravings.

He'd set three stages total: Stage 1 at around 150 cm, the smallest; Stage 2 at the standard golem height of 3-4 meters; Stage 3 at the original 7 meters.

"Back to full size."

-Understood.

It returned to normal, and he finished up.

The Warp engraving was a success too.

But it needed tweaking.

'Even engraved, Ddol Ddoli can't use Warp magic. It's not exactly a prodigy at magic.'

Ddol Ddoli was great with raw power but hopeless at the intricate manipulation of mana.

What it needed was simple.

'Reverse Summon function.'

He reworked the Warp magic circle for reverse summoning only.

That would slash mana costs, simplify the mana array, and make it usable for Ddol Ddoli.

'When it activates the ability, auto-input the coordinates of its original spot. It'll work just like reverse summon.'

Ian dove right in. First time tweaking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Warp magic, so there were hiccups, but he'd refined countless spells before—this was done quick.

Ian wiped the sweat from his brow.

'Basics are done.'

But this was just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the start.

There was plenty more to do.

Back home, Ian summoned Ddol Ddoli right away.

Light swirled, and Ddol Ddoli appeared in the mansion.

The shrunken mini Ddol Ddoli gazed around curiously.

-Is this Master's house?

"Yeah. Oh, not the old one, though. We moved."

-Overwhelmed. Ddoli in Master's house!

Watching the thing gush like it'd won the lottery just from visiting made Ian swell with pride.

'Finally summoning it straight to the lab!'

He'd waited ages.

Hold tight—just a bit longer for the upgrades.

"Master. You're ba... Eek! W-what is that?!"

"Ah, let me introduce. This is Ddol Ddoli. Ddoli, this is Kes. My assistant."

"Ah, one of Master's other servants. Pleased to meet you. I'm Kes, your faithful servant. Keruk."

-Ddoli. Nice to meet you.

He had them shake ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hands.

Ddol Ddoli seemed to take a liking to Kes.

"You'll see each other a lot. Greet when you meet."

"Yes. Oh, Master. The homunculi should be done in a day or two."

"Oh, really?"

"Twenty of them, no less. I'll show you then. Look forward to it. Keruk!"

Expect? He would.

Wonder what kind he'd made.

"Ddoli. Come here?"

-Understood.

He led Ddol Ddoli to the lab.

The alchemy lab dwarfed the old 15-pyeong one—vastly bigger.

He laid mini Ddol Ddoli on the wide bed in the corner and pulled up the reinforcement list.

Lots of options, but Ian picked one that changed it from the ground up.

Base Mineral Structure Conversion.

Three-star difficulty, 14 hours—it was tough, but Ian planned something even harder.

He was going to edit this project.

Project modification feature.

He rarely used it, but perfect for times like this.

Hitting confirm made the system ripple and update.

"Whoa. Four stars?"

First time seeing that difficulty.

'Just adding Dragon Scale made it this hard?'

Fair enough.

The issue was that 62% success rate.

Not terrible, but not something to rush into.

Ian usually dove in regardless, but not this time.

Dragon Scale, after all.

Waste it? No way.

"M-Master. May this lowly one speak?"

Kes's voice from behind.

"If you're worried about success rate, why not add more World Tree Leaves? They boost synthesis success. Sure to help your research, Master. Keruk."

"Whoa! Great idea!"

He tried it immediately.

Each World Tree Leaf bumped success by 5%, right?

'Damn, total cheat item!'

He didn't have tons of World Tree Branches, but plenty of spare Leaves.

"Kes! How'd you know?"

"Keruk, this humble servant researched on my own while you were away. Don't worry—I didn't use any World Tree Leaves."

"Hah, smart as ever!"

"Ke-Keruk! Thank you! Praised by Master again today—this servant basks in boundless honor!"

The goblin shuddered in ecstasy, even tearing up.

Ian couldn't fathom it.

'Weird guy...'

Ian added seven more World Tree Leaves, hitting 97% success.

No further difficulty drop, sadly.

Now, dilemma.

'One more?'

Fill that last 3%?

Big decision.

What if it failed on 3% odds?

'Nah, 3% fail? Come on.'

He slammed confirm.

Lost track of time, fusing materials and absorbing them into Ddol Ddoli via material conversion.

Fifteen and a half hours later, fruition.

'Obviously a succ—'

"Huh?"

Ian rubbed his eyes.

'For real?'

Failed on the actual 3% chance?

"Shit."

Fucked. Totally fucked.

'Why am I so unlucky now?!'

Regrets flooded in.

Should've saved that one leaf. What glory was worth this?

'No, this makes no sense. Why fail this...'

Ian's thoughts froze.

Hallucinating?

'World Tree's Blessing? Why... Oh!'

He'd forgotten.

One last Luck proc from its three activations.

Ian stared blankly at Ddol Ddoli, speechless.

It heaved wildly.

Changes bigger than expected.

Lots of changes, but one leaped out.

'P-Primal Magic?'

What even was that?

First he'd seen it.

Did Ddol Ddoli just... learn magic?

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