The Reincarnated Mage Is Obsessed with Modern Science!!
I was staring at the tantalizing Mana Stone candidate hanging from the ceiling when a thought occurred to me.
‘I’ve stockpiled quite a few Mana Stones over the years, haven’t I?’
Anyone else would probably curse at the idea, but I had more than enough.
In that case, maybe it was time to consider a different use for them?
Normally, to crystallize mana into a Mana Stone, you had to intentionally mix in impurities. Otherwise, it would just scatter into the air like ambient mana.
‘What’s gathered in front of me right now is pure mana before processing… Couldn’t I use it like an elixir?’
In my previous life, there had been a thesis about mages who tried tampering with Mana Stones to rapidly increase their mana, only to suffer while purifying the impurities that had invaded their bodies.
Back then, it was nearly impossible to find a place where pure mana gathered before it crystallized into stones. Any such location would belong to spirits or dragons, making it practically inaccessible to humans.
‘If I could absorb this pure Mana Stone, I might be able to raise my circles a little faster…’
So I decided to run an experiment.
If it failed, I’d have to rest for a while and purify my mana, but as a mage, not even trying felt far too disappointing.
«Sss—»
I closed my eyes and spread my mana around me.
I approached the Mana Stone carefully. Because it was such a large mass, the flow was quite rough and heavy.
«Srrrk— Srrrk—»
It was a bit underhanded, but I started tickling it from one corner.
No matter how big a dam is, it crumbles from a single small hole.
I released a single strand of mana and guided it toward me.
The destination was my fingertip, far from my heart. I wanted to check what kind of mana it was first—if it was turbid, I’d cut it off immediately.
I carefully savored the small amount of mana that entered my fingertip.
‘Just as I thought. It’s even purer than the mana floating in the air.’
Now that I’d confirmed it, it was only natural to boldly pull in the rest.
Since I’d already opened the floodgate, widening the flow was easy.
«Trickle trickle»
At first, the mana flowed gently like a stream.
«Kwaaaang—»
But before long, it transformed into a raging waterfall pouring in.
I was absorbing it with my entire body, not just my fingertips.
The mana surged violently, trying to burst out in every direction using my body as a passage.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
As I controlled the escaping mana, I once again realized just how genius this body’s mana control was.
In most cases, people would inevitably lose some, but I seemed capable of gathering every last drop without spilling any.
‘Huh? This is going to overflow.’
Since I’d already stored quite a lot before, my body filled up with mana in an instant.
There was only one thing left to do.
I compressed the mana to its limit and poured it into my heart to create a new circle.
Half went inside the heart, while the other half pushed from the outside.
Using the repulsion to compress it extremely within the heart, crystallizing it…
«Click—»
I felt two intertwined rings form right inside the outermost 1st Circle.
Was this what people called a fortuitous encounter?
To jump straight to 2nd Circle from what I’d thought was just a weird gate.
«Fwoooosh—»
I released the remaining mana into the surroundings without regret.
Greed never leads to anything good—that was a truth I’d learned over a lifetime.
Besides, once I’d processed it to create the repulsion, it became difficult for me to claim it again anyway.
Circle Advancement Complete
1st Circle → 2nd Circle
[Are you finished?]
The moment I opened my eyes, Dolmaeng-i asked, sounding worried.
“Yeah. It went perfectly!”
[That’s a relief. You were sitting still for four whole hours, then suddenly started glowing. I was quite concerned.]
“Wait, four hours?”
It took longer than I expected.
Well, I’d accomplished something that should have taken weeks in one go, so four hours wasn’t unreasonable.
[More importantly… how did you emit light? I’ve never seen any reports of humans possessing bioluminescent cells. Have you evolved into a non-human entity?]
“No? It’s just… um… yeah, like a level up, I guess?”
Could there be a clearer answer than that?
It was accurate, wasn’t it? My rank had gone from 1st Circle to 2nd Circle.
[Does that mean status windows actually exist? On the forums, some Awakened claim to shout ‘Status Window,’ but…]
“No? What exactly are you reading? That kind of thing can’t possibly be real.”
[I see. When we return, I must spread this knowledge to the humans.]
Dolmaeng-i… do you really do that?
A golem browsing forums… how surprising.
“They won’t believe you. You’ll just start a fight.”
[I have never lost once.]
Aigoo… what a boast.
Anyway, level up… for a human…
As circles increase, one does step outside the bounds of humanity…
But seeing as I still age and can have children, it doesn’t seem like a change at the genetic level.
So I suppose I’m still human?
“Hehehe. We should head back quickly.”
[Understood. Does this mean you can create the new equipment you mentioned before?]
“Yep. Something much better. The difference will be huge compared to what we used before.”
The jump from 1st Circle equipment to 2nd or 3rd Circle gear was truly massive.
From 4th Circle onward, you could stack keywords, but efficiency gradually dropped, so the felt improvement lessened.
«Vrrr— Vrrr—»
Suddenly Dalguji came over and started rubbing against my leg.
What’s with this guy? Is he acting cute?
“What’s wrong?”
[Please get on. We should return as quickly as possible.]
“Puhahaha! You want the new equipment that badly?”
[Better equipment is always better.]
Wow. A golem with equipment greed.
“You know, I’m pretty curious myself. Just how far can I go now?”
Each time a circle rises, mana capacity doubles.
In simple terms, the power of magic or items doubles.
Of course, that also means drawing magic circuits twice as many times, which is why high-circle golems inevitably get bigger.
In my previous life, we couldn’t achieve the microscopic precision of modern scientific technology.
‘But what if I integrate circuits like making semiconductors with a 3D printer? I might be able to create small but incredibly powerful ones. I just raised my circle, but I already want to raise it even more…’
“Well, there’s nothing else to do. Shall we head back?”
[Yes! Please get on!]
How impatient is this guy?
He’s already climbed into the cargo bed before me.
«Vroooom—»
The moment I got on, they took off without a word.
Both of them had tunnel vision, huh?
But to make equipment for the kids, materials are important too. I should make something that can earn money.
I really didn’t like how the scammers at the Association threw away trash equipment for cash. What should I try making…?
We passed through the passage, past the goblin corpses…
“Oh! Stop for a second! Pull out the Mana Stone from that hobgoblin corpse over there.”
[Could you tell me its approximate location? Searching blindly would be inefficient given the wide area.]
“It’s roughly near the heart. I’ll leave it to you.”
[Understood. Please wait a moment.]
«Thud— Thud—»
Whoa, how brutal.
Mana Stone harvesting is this cruel and merciless.
It’s easy for me since I can detect it with mana, but that means other people basically have to smash everything apart to find one, right?
How can they do that with a clear mind…
Alright… For now, I should focus on two tools: one for measuring gate ranks and another for locating Mana Stones.
After neatly collecting the Mana Stones, we finally exited the cave.
“Mmm~ This should be fresh air~ but what the heck is this?”
The moment we stepped out of the cave, the surrounding atmosphere felt chaotic.
[The mood is unfavorable. Please stay alert.]
Far in the distance, black smoke was rising as if a fire had broken out. It felt like… a battlefield?
Maybe Dolmaeng-i’s words had jinxed us, because right then, explosions rang out.
«Boom— Bang— Kaboom—»
“What the?! Something exploded!”
[We will head to the exit first. Safety is our top priority.]
“Go right now!”
[Hold on tight!]
The surrounding atmosphere was eerily quiet and extremely ominous.
Dalguji began running at full speed.
My gut feeling was really bad.
«Thump— Thump— Bump—»
“Ughhh…”
Even though Dalguji’s suspension was pretty good, the impacts were rattling my head.
«Vroooom—»
Dalguji kept charging forward.
«Clang— Bang— Crash—»
The rough terrain made it bounce as if it might fall apart.
“I hope it’s nothing serious.”
People might ask why I was riding a children’s toy truck so seriously, but the closer we got to the base, the louder the explosions became.
This was definitely not normal!
[Multiple heat sources detected ahead. A mix of large and small entities. They do not appear to be human.]
“What? Why?!”
I was shocked by Dolmaeng-i’s report.
That meant the base was surrounded by monsters.
Right in front of the entrance, where there should be tons of hunters—how could they be surrounded?
[Contact imminent!]
It happened the moment we left the forest and entered the plain where the base was built.
“Holy crap… what the hell is all that?”
There were goblins, of course, but also monsters I’d never seen on Earth before.
Long tusks protruding like elephant ivory.
Ornaments made of bone or crude metal.
Height slightly taller than humans, with muscular builds.
And dark green skin.
They were famous in Earth games and novels, but I’d seen plenty of them in my previous life.
They were orcs.
Goblins used tools, but orcs could actually craft proper equipment.
Many of them wore crude armor made of iron and leather, wielding axes and hammers.
They were desperately trying to breach the fortress.
“Grrraaawr!”
“Kwak! Kwak!”
“They’ve spotted us! What do we do?!”
[We must get inside somehow. I’ll circle around and look for an opening.]
Knowing the situation, going back into the forest was out of the question.
We hadn’t brought extra food, and more monsters might be gathering.
Thankfully, the plain created by clearing trees for Earth’s construction was wide enough.
Some monsters were chasing us, but since we were circling the wide plain, they couldn’t catch up.
“Dolmaeng-i, keep firing Magic Missiles!”
«Thump—»
Dolmaeng-i aimed the orb in its hand and launched a Magic Missile.
A white sphere shot forward, pushing through the air.
«Thud— Crash—»
It struck the frontmost monster, causing it to tumble. The monsters behind it tripped over one another in a chain reaction.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Kerrrk!”
Did they not like our gift? The monsters grew even angrier and sped up.
Still, since Dalguji wasn’t slow, the distance didn’t close easily.
«Thump—»
The Magic Missile, now recharged, sliced through the air again.
More tumbling and injuries followed.
“Hey! Stop following us! What did we even do to you?!”
Somehow, we’d unintentionally drawn way too much monster aggro.
«Thump— Thump—»
Dolmaeng-i fired another Magic Missile the instant the orb recharged.
“Wait! What the— Dolmaeng-i! It looks like all the monsters are chasing us now?!”
Please tell me I’m seeing things!
When I looked back, everything was green!
[My apologies. My aim was slightly off and hit other targets. That seems to be why.]
Mom… what do I do?
We’re screwed.
I usually wasn’t scared of anything, but this time I was a little scared…
I just reached 2nd Circle today! Once I get home I can finally make real weapons!
“Uwaaaah! Kids, hang in there! You two are the only ones I can trust! What the hell are those humans in the fortress doing?!”
Shouldn’t they be launching fireballs or using telekinesis or something? Some kind of long-range attack?
Are they just watching?
Of course I’d get mad. They’re not even opening the gate—they’re just spectating?
As my anger rose and I reached a do-or-die state, something interesting caught my eye.
“Oh! That! Dalguji! Go there!”
[Ian-nim. I understand what you’re thinking, but the success probability is around 0.1%.]
What is he saying?
His calculations are way off.
“What if we overload it and go full power?”
[If we add acceleration via overload, the probability rises to 53%. However, the risk of injury is severe. Please find another method.]
Right now I can’t see anything else.
“I don’t care! Dalguji! Booster on! Let’s gooooo!!!”