Chapter 61
Chapter 61
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Distortion Wheel Complete
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* * *
That day onward.
Jeon's routine became heading to the magic tower in the morning, stopping by the dispatch team, then going straight to Ralph's lab.
And a month had passed since they started working together like that.
In that time, Jeon had seen, learned, and felt so much.
One of those things was that Ralph was an incredible genius.
Even though Ralph had unilaterally decided Jeon was a true genius after he used the storage rune to deploy the distortion field, treating him like a mentor, in Jeon's eyes, the real genius was Ralph.
'I thought geniuses were just the top students from school.'
In truth, Jeon had no memory of ever meeting someone truly worthy of the label "genius" even in his previous life.
Sure, there were good students around him, but they were just good at studying—calling them geniuses felt like a stretch.
But Ralph was the closest thing to the vague image of a genius Jeon had in mind.
'From constructing magic formulas, to calculations, understanding of magic language, and magic itself.'
It was the same with the distortion field generator artifact they were developing now.
While others scribbled calculations by hand, grunting with effort, Ralph would quietly sort it all out in his head and spit out the results. And it was Ralph who had stabilized the magic formula Jeon proposed with the storage rune, integrating it into a single cohesive spell.
'But even Ralph couldn't understand rune characters.'
He'd made up an excuse about it being secret magic to incorporate the storage rune into the artifact.
Jeon had been curious if someone of Ralph's caliber could grasp rune magic, so he'd casually asked if he could understand his "secret magic"—that is, runes.
"No, I don't get it at all."
"Then how did you perfectly integrate my secret magic with the existing formula?"
"I just based it on the characteristics you told me, tested a few cases one by one. I'm trying to understand it, but I can't even grasp how it operates."
Honestly, just incorporating it based on the described traits into the artifact's formula was insane talent.
But it was clear even a genius like Ralph couldn't comprehend the principles of runes.
'What the hell are runes, anyway?'
At this point, Jeon was seriously curious about the true nature of rune magic.
It was the same in the ancient kingdom's great mage ruins and the Silvermont ruins.
Back in the old days, rune magic didn't seem that rare, but apparently it wasn't something anyone could use.
'Or maybe the runes I have are exceptionally difficult?'
It hit him anew that despite acquiring quite a few runes, his knowledge of rune magic was still lacking.
Regardless of those reflections.
Thanks to Jeon, Ralph's lab had been buzzing with energy over the past month.
The balance issue with the distortion field had been resolved, and the path to completion was in sight, so Ralph and the researchers were all fired up, throwing themselves into artifact production.
And that energy finally bore real fruit.
"It's finally complete!"
"Ahh, finally, finally!"
The artifact that could deploy a perfected distortion field based on the storage rune was finished.
"Ralph, what will you name the artifact?"
"Right! Now that it's done, let's name it!"
"Hmm..."
The artifact's form wasn't much different.
It consisted of two bracelet-like forms.
Ralph pondered the completed artifact, his gaze briefly flicking to Jeon, but Jeon just shrugged indifferently.
"The name... will be Wheel of Distortion."
"Great! Wheel of Distortion!"
"It'll undoubtedly be the magic tower's greatest achievement this year!"
The researchers cheered at the sight of the completed artifact, Wheel of Distortion.
But amid the cheers, Ralph's gaze reached Jeon with an apologetic expression.
'Jeez, it's fine.'
It was because Jeon had refused the promise of the first completed artifact.
Ralph had offered it multiple times, but Jeon stubbornly declined, leaving Ralph unable to gift the prototype to him.
Of course, Jeon hadn't refused without reason.
'I'll make my own artifact separately.'
After finishing Wheel of Distortion, Ralph had agreed to help craft Jeon's personal artifact.
The Wheel of Distortion was incredibly valuable, sure.
But on its own, it wasn't all that appealing to Jeon.
'I've got Silver.'
So Jeon planned to create an artifact that leveraged the distortion field in a way that better suited him.
"Everyone, you've all worked hard. Take the next week off—go on vacation and rest easy."
"R-Really?"
"Of course."
"B-But we still have reports to write..."
"You can do those after. Don't worry—just rest up."
Jeon, being on dispatch, had relative freedom in his schedule.
But the official researchers in Ralph's lab, including Ralph himself, had pulled all-nighters for a month straight on the artifact.
Most hadn't been home in 1-2 weeks, so Ralph's offer of vacation was like rain in a drought to them.
'Though this guy wouldn't rest even if told to.'
Jeon knew Ralph wouldn't take a break regardless.
Researching magic was his rest, after all.
"Wooow! Jeon! We're finally on vacation! Vacation!"
Matthew came dashing over to Jeon, who was watching the cheering researchers from a step back, grabbed his hand, and started dancing around.
"Haha, congrats."
"Huh? You're not taking time off, Jeon?"
"Well... I'm on dispatch, so if there's no work here, I head back to the team."
"Eek!? No way! You've worked so hard too!"
"Nah, compared to you and the others, it was nothing."
"Even so..."
Matthew deflated like he'd been denied vacation himself at Jeon's words.
"It's fine. Even at the dispatch team, there won't be much to do."
"Hope so."
That was what he said.
But Jeon had a set schedule.
'One reason for giving everyone vacation is exactly for that.'
In fact, Jeon was the one who'd suggested generous vacation time for the hardworking researchers.
"How about we call it quits for today too?"
"Huh? Really?"
"Just tidy up minimally and head out early."
And early dismissal to boot.
The researchers, exhausted as they were, moved with lightning speed fueled by the narcotic bliss of a week-long break and early exit, finishing up and leaving.
'Classic office workers.'
Some things were the same in his past life or here.
And so, only Jeon and Ralph remained in the now-empty lab.
"But really, Knect approved you staying here a full week?"
"As long as no emergencies, yes."
"Hmm, Knect must recognize your talent and value too."
"...He just granted a request. A request."
When others were around, it was milder.
But alone, Ralph habitually overhyped Jeon's talent.
Though sincere from his perspective, Jeon—who saw Ralph as the true genius—always shook his head at it.
"Did you bring all the materials you mentioned?"
"Of course. You prepared too, right Ralph?"
"Don't worry. I've got more than enough."
Anyway.
Now, in the empty lab with everyone on vacation, the week to craft Jeon's artifact began.
* * *
The biggest trait Jeon noticed about the distortion field while working on Wheel of Distortion was that it created a forced flow of mana.
Imbuing that mana flow with the concept of space turned it into a distortion field that warped everything approaching that space.
'What if I applied that flow elsewhere?'
Even a basic flame spell would double in power with a fierce flow, and its applications would expand dramatically.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
Even if you could impose a forced mana flow, applying it to an artifact fixed its form.
'That's why Ralph incorporated the space concept.'
What if instead of fixing the distortion flow in an artifact, you handled it as a spell?
Unfortunately, that wasn't easy either.
Just imposing a mana flow required a highly complex formula, so using it as a spell would still be intricate.
Activating and moving the flow alone demanded enough magic language and shapes for 4th circle.
Adding space or other elements pushed it to 5th circle mage territory.
And the complex structure meant endless casting time.
In other words, even the distortion field from Wheel of Distortion was equivalent to a spell a 5th circle mage could produce with heavy calculations.
No wonder the researchers called it the tower's top achievement of the year.
'But there's always a way.'
That was only for typical mages using standard formulas.
"If anything seems off or dangerous, stop immediately."
"Yes."
In the lab within Ralph's research room, Jeon placed a massive silver ore chunk on the table and looked down at it.
It was the silver ore fused with the magic stone from Alexar Silvermont.
Unlike before, it bore a highly complex formula alongside the storage rune.
'Removed the space concept from the distortion field, added flow-related formulas.'
Without the space concept, no one knew what flow would generate when mana was infused.
In the worst case, infusing mana could tear Jeon's body apart with the resulting flow.
Plus, for the "synthesis" he planned, it included formulas for transforming the ore's shape and the synthesis itself.
'Couldn't even attempt this without Ralph.'
Ralph's role was crucial in constructing all those formulas.
But producing the result with them was entirely on Jeon.
'Hoo.'
Jeon exhaled deeply, facing the ore.
A bit tense, but not scared.
They'd prepared countermeasures.
"Commencing test."
"Please do."
Whiiiing.
At Ralph's words from the control room outside, the lab interior was enclosed by a mana barrier.
A system for dangerous experiments—it would contain any mana flow rampaging outward.
"Here goes."
Jeon infused mana directly into the ore on the table.
Not just any mana, though.
'Strengthen goblin magic with the rune of will.'
As per Zarka’s grimoire, he clumped mana and imbued it with the rune of will, flowing it into the ore.
Flash!
Instead of the fierce vibration needed for mana flow, the ore scattered bright light.
Whoooosh—!
No vibration, but the irregular mana flow it created couldn't be fully controlled.
Irregular flows swirled chaotically around the lab.
The ore slowly lifted upward.
The swirling mana flows intensified.
From a field breeze to typhoon force.
'I control the ore, not the mana flow.'
Amid the chaos, Jeon focused on the ore, not the flows.
Mana infused with goblin shape-shifting magic and rune of will gathered in the ore, glowing denser.
As the light intensified, the ore's form slowly changed.
The solid ore melted like liquid, surface crumbling.
'Now's the key part.'
A single strand extended from the changing ore like thread from a spool.
Following the shape-change formula, Jeon unraveled the collapsing ore into thread form with mana.
'Don't touch the formulas.'
Even as he transformed it to thread, Jeon carefully preserved the engraved formulas.
The unraveled threads retained the intact formulas.
"Elderlake."
When enough silver thread was unraveled.
Jeon infused mana into Elderlake on his wrist, activating it.
Not into staff form, though.
Like tree roots, Elderlake extended, tangling with the silver thread.
Crack! Cruuunch!
Struggling against the threads, Elderlake groaned.
Despite the synthesis formula, Elderlake was a fully realized artifact-staff.
Fusing two such items with mere formulas was near-impossible.
'First, weave them together completely.'
Jeon focused on intertwining them fully.
Destructive mana flows battered him, but he gritted through.
Silver blocked lethal ones.
Flash! Cruuunch!
Finally intertwined, Elderlake and silver ore spewed harsh light and noise.
Jeon activated rune magic again.
'Fix this form with will and storage—make them one!'
He imbued mana with unified will into the distorted forms.
Here, the ore's synthesis formula synergized with Jeon's will and storage rune.
The resistance gradually faded.
Was it thanks to that?
Vmmm!
The two objects ceased resisting, emitting soft vibrations and calm light as one.
The raging mana flows quieted.
When they fully stilled.
A wooden bracelet with silver branches interwoven adorned Jeon's wrist.
"...Phew, somehow it worked."
The silver ore with mana flow formula and Elderlake had fused.
Half-complete individually, the formulas and rune magic now formed a perfect whole.
"Let's see."
Jeon infused mana into the finished bracelet.
As usual, Elderlake shifted to staff form in his hand.
But at the tip was a silver sphere unlike before.