Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Birth of Lunareake
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"I never thought... this would actually be possible."
Ralph, who had entered the lab at some point, stared in astonishment at the staff in Jeon's hand.
"It's thanks to you, Sir Ralph. I never could have made it alone."
"Not at all. No one but you could have done it, Jeon."
Just as they said to each other.
If even one of them had been missing, fusing the Elderake with the silver ore into one would have been impossible.
"Shall we... test it once?"
Ralph, who had been blankly staring at the staff containing their achievement, cautiously suggested to Jeon.
"Ah, sure, why not?"
It was complete, but they could only guess at its performance so far. They wouldn't know its exact capabilities until they tested it.
Their intentions aligned perfectly, so the two moved apart in the lab, facing each other.
"Then, here I go."
Whoooosh-!
With those words, a 3rd Circle spell unfurled instantly from Ralph's hand.
'He mainly uses wind-element magic.'
Recalling the bit of information he'd heard about Ralph, a blade made of wind had already formed in Ralph's hand.
And the moment it took shape, the blade shot straight toward Jeon.
'Fast. And precise.'
Even for a 3rd Circle spell, the casting speed was remarkably quick, and its form was highly refined.
The reason Ralph was called a genius wasn't just his research achievements or knowledge of magic—it included his prowess in actual combat as well.
After a brief moment of admiration for Ralph's skill, Jeon channeled mana into the newly made staff.
With previous Elderakes, channeling mana would simply trigger the stored spell.
Vmmm!
But now, the silver ore at the staff's tip—no, the gem now polished to perfection—emitted a soft glow and generated a fierce flow of mana.
A flow of mana centered on the gem at the staff's tip.
'Let's see.'
Jeon swung the staff without any further action.
And the instant the wind blade met the staff's tip...
Fwoosh!
The wind blade, unable to withstand the fierce mana flow, scattered harmlessly into nothing.
But up to this point, there was nothing to say it surpassed the Wheel of Distortion.
"Now it's my turn."
Maintaining the flow at the staff's tip, Jeon poured more mana into it.
Silver flames then erupted from the staff's end.
'Silver Flame Tail.'
The spell originally stored in the Elderake activated from the tip.
The manifested spell immediately merged with the mana flow.
Roooar!
Yet despite being swept into the fierce flow, the spell didn't weaken—instead, it grew even more powerful.
The mana flow, previously a one-way torrent, adjusted itself to match the spell.
What should have spread like three tails now extended like three massive claws.
'...This is way more impressive than I expected.'
It had taken the form of massive claws.
But even while maintaining that shape, a fierce flow raged inside.
In other words, it looked powerful on the outside, but harbored far greater power within.
"Is this... going to be okay?"
"Haha, I'm prepared, so don't worry!"
Jeon asked Ralph cautiously, wondering if it might be too much.
But Ralph's response came with an excited expression and tone, as if he could hardly wait.
"...Got it. Here goes!"
With no more worries, Jeon swung the staff.
The three silver claws shot fiercely toward Ralph.
"Impressive!"
Ralph deployed his prepared spell as the claws rushed at him.
Four geometric shapes aligned in sequence within a circle of magical power.
Wind infused with mana rapidly gathered at its center.
Whoooosh-! The highly compressed wind took on a spherical form before exploding forward at Ralph's command.
Kabooom!
The silver flame claws entangled with the mana-charged wind gale.
Normally, a mere 3rd Circle Silver Flame Tail clashing with a 4th Circle wind spell would be torn apart immediately.
"Ngh! Not easy!"
But the flames and wind battled fiercely for a while before finally mutually annihilating each other.
The 3rd Circle spell, amplified by the mana flow, had matched a higher-level spell evenly.
"...You've created something truly remarkable."
"I... was surprised too. It's far better than I anticipated."
Moreover, even though it rivaled 4th Circle magic, using it was effortless.
Just like with the old Elderake spells—pour in mana, and it handled the flow and activation automatically.
'And it even adjusts the flow to fit the spell.'
The original Elderake connected to the user, interpreting intent to output the desired spell when mana was supplied.
Now, that function extended to the mana flow, morphing its direction and shape to suit the spell.
'If I wanted, I could probably manifest it as a distortion field too.'
It was beyond an upgrade of the Wheel of Distortion—an overwhelming artifact with offensive power to boot.
'The Wheel of Distortion alone was the tower's greatest achievement this year...'
So what kind of evaluation would this receive?
"My career as a mage isn't long, but I can confidently say I've never seen a superior artifact."
As if reading Jeon's curiosity, Ralph gave a brief assessment of the new artifact.
Ralph was a 5th Circle mage and an executive in the White Tower.
He might not have a long life, but he'd seen dozens, if not hundreds, of artifacts.
And he could unhesitatingly call this the greatest among them.
That was the newly born Elderake.
"That said... shouldn't we give it a new name at this point?"
"Eh... a name? I was just going to keep calling it Elderake..."
Jeon scratched his cheek at Ralph's sudden suggestion, as if it hadn't crossed his mind.
"We can't do that. Having been reborn in such an outstanding form, it deserves a fitting name. Let me see..."
Ralph began naming it unprompted.
Jeon didn't mind sticking with the old name, but since it had been reborn, a good new one wouldn't hurt.
"It was originally called Elderake, and the silver gem at the tip shines softly like the moon... How about Lunareake?"
"Mm, yeah. Sounds good."
Jeon nodded at Ralph's naming.
'Lunareake. It'll be incredibly useful from now on.'
He liked both the meaning and the ring of it.
If he had to evaluate life in the White Tower since joining...
'I've gained a lot, learned a lot. Very satisfying.'
At first, he'd worried it might feel like his past life's soul-crushing commute and office drudgery.
'Totally different.'
The commuting was the same, but no one in the tower hounded or pressured him. In the lab, everyone respected him as a dispatched worker without disdain.
And collaborating on research let him fill in his knowledge gaps.
But setting aside daily life, if asked if he was satisfied with the reason he'd joined the tower...
'No.'
He had to rate it harshly.
"Ah, you're here. Did you finish that new artifact you mentioned last time?"
Over the past week, while other researchers were on vacation, Jeon and Ralph had made the Lunareake and spent time testing it.
Today, Jeon stopped by the dispatch team on his way in and met Knekt after a while.
"Yes, it turned out much better than expected."
When Knekt asked about the artifact's completion, Jeon casually showed the Lunareake on his wrist.
Its woven wooden form remained, but the silver-tinged stems were clearly visible to Knekt.
"Wow, congratulations."
"Thank you."
After a brief exchange of greetings.
Jeon sat across from Knekt with a serious expression.
"Any new information in the past week?"
"Hm..."
Knekt let out a groan at Jeon's question.
"Do you remember when we first met at dinner, I mentioned some possible hypotheses?"
"Yes, I remember."
"But every one we've investigated has turned out impossible. There's only one left now... and even that might not pan out."
Knekt trailed off, lowering his head.
"Sounds bleak."
"...Yes. It's draining, and this has been going on for more than a month or two..."
Jeon had only waited a month or so.
But for Knekt and the White Tower's Whites, it had been over half a year of clinging to finding the cause of the Silvermont mages' disappearance.
The more they dug, the fewer possibilities remained, leaving them with indescribable frustration and helplessness.
"Sorry. You joined as a dispatched worker waiting for our investigation to conclude, and all I have are bad updates."
"No. I know everyone's doing their best."
As Jeon said, the dispatch team worked day and night to uncover why the Silvermont mages vanished.
So he had no intention of blaming them for not finding it yet.
"You mentioned one last hypothesis remains?"
"...Yes. But it's the least likely, so I'm afraid this one will flop too."
"Can I know what it is?"
"Hm... When the Silvermont mages first requested our support, they said an informant had located a Ruin Church branch cell and asked for backup."
The Ruin Church's branch cell.
Though detached from the church's core, they were good sources for uncovering the church's schemes.
They might even capture low-level contacts if needed.
"We successfully dismantled the branch cell itself. But contact was lost afterward."
If they'd failed to destroy it, that would be one thing.
They succeeded, and the dispatched mages even sent word they'd wrap up and return soon.
"So we formed hypotheses and investigated. But none explained why all the mages vanished besides those who went to the branch."
The Silvermont mages wouldn't all mobilize to smash one branch cell.
In fact, only about eight, including tower dispatches, went.
"At first, we thought the Ruin Church made a big move. Using the branch as bait to lure out the Silvermont mages."
It was plausible—the most likely-sounding one.
"But suppressing the Silvermont mages would require significant church manpower. Yet there's no sign of large-scale movement anywhere."
"What about one or two absolute powerhouses?"
"We considered that. But there's no trace of combat at their residence."
Even if a powerhouse struck covertly.
The Silvermont mages were all mages, so battle was inevitable.
No traces made that unlikely.
"Mass mental magic...?"
"Two of the Silvermont mages are 7th Circle archmages. They'd resist amateur mental spells, and resistance would leave traces."
Two archmages.
Their hidden strength was impressive, making their collective disappearance all the more absurd.
"We even met the informant who tipped off the branch and investigated their background thoroughly... nothing."
They'd exhausted every hypothesis.
With all failing, Jeon grew curious about Knekt's final one.
"So, what's the last remaining hypothesis?"
"Ha... well..."
Knekt hesitated, as if hard to say.
But he soon steeled himself and spoke slowly.
"A traitor... inside the Silvermont mages."
"A traitor?"
"Yes. Not just one member, but one or more key leaders betraying them could make everyone vanish like smoke."
"That..."
The Silvermont mages were bound by blood and a lifetime opposing the Ruin Church to expose them.
A key figure betraying from within was the hardest to imagine in such a trust-based group—yet the most devastating if true.
"It's my hypothesis, but I think it's nonsense. It shouldn't be possible... but it's all that's left."
"Any suspects?"
"Probably... to vanish them without external traces, one of the two archmages I mentioned likely betrayed them."
The core leaders and bulk of power were those two archmages.
One betraying could catch everyone off-guard.
The question was why they'd betray their own.
It was akin to a leader abandoning their faction—impossible and unthinkable, as Knekt said.
"How's the investigation proceeding?"
"We're backtracking from their last contacts and gathering info from places they frequented, checking for contacts or sightings."
"Any leads?"
"We just got word one has a villa they visited occasionally. We've sent two to investigate."
At least progress wasn't zero.
After hearing that, Jeon nodded with a resolute expression.
"Then I'll join that investigation."