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Chapter 107

One was the unfinished blueprint of a device left by Lea’s father, Dane Claudel, and the other was the blueprint of the new enchantment Lea had created. If the two could be perfectly merged together, the item Lea intended to submit for the student scholarship competition would be complete.

It’s too dangerous...

In the past, the Heroes Association publicly declared a subjugation mission for the Puppeteer in response to the damage caused by the Puppeteer increasing day by day. They destroyed numerous hideouts and puppets, and then, when they finally located her main body, the Heroes Association mobilized all of their forces and formed a small strike team.

The strike team was comprised of eight S-rank heroes and twenty-one A-rank heroes, all of them acknowledged as nearly S-rank.

There wasn’t a single Perfect One that participated because the association president at the time deemed their help unnecessary. Indeed, such a force should have been overwhelming against even the Ten Evils, but the result was far from domination.

It ended with two S-ranks killed in action, two S-ranks retiring, nine nearly S-ranks killed in action, and eight nearly S-ranks retiring....

Effectively, four S-ranks and seventeen nearly S-rank heroes were left incapacitated—a dismal outcome.

After the matter, Kwang-Soo, who had been one of the few to return intact, attributed the failure to three reasons.

The first was the president’s misjudgment in not seeking help from any of the Perfect Ones.

The second was an inaccurate judgment of the Puppeeteer’s numbers. They had destroyed so many of the Puppeteer’s hideouts and puppets, but five Single Number automatons—each with strength comparable to that of an S-rank hero—still remained.

Finally, the third was the device the Puppeteer used at the end—the result of combining the two blueprints in front of him.

The first and second were the President’s mistakes, but... the third was what truly put the final nail in the coffin.

From the precedent of the danger this device could potentially bring, it would be for the best if he stayed away from bringing it to life, but... that also wasn’t a decision he could easily make.

Simply saying no might lead to disagreements with Lea, or worst case, her expulsion... but it’s not like I can reveal that I’m a regressor to persuade her.

Plus, disposing of such a powerful device without trying it out once didn’t suit his temperament at all.

So now it’s a question of how to control it...

However, no matter how hard he thought, he struggled to come up with an idea, so he examined the blueprints again.

The user has to handle everything from enchantment specifications to resonance phenomena, and then they have to mediate the effect on top of that.

Merely using the device was a daunting challenge, let alone calculating the variables that could occur with the targets.

Unlike us, the Puppeteer can simply pass off all of the calculations to her puppets, so in a way, this is a perfect device for her.

It truly seemed like the device had been designed specifically for the Puppeteer.

For a while, Se-Hoon repeatedly modified and redrew the blueprints in his mind, but eventually, he boldly scrapped everything.

Let’s think about this later.

Even before he regressed, he had only heard stories about this device through stories, and since the blueprints he now had were also incomplete, it was quite a struggle to come up with even a single suitable solution.

Thus, he set aside the blueprints, deciding to deal with other matters first, and took out the materials needed to create Luize’s new equipment, his competition submission.

[Divine Tree Petal]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Average]

[A lotus petal that once enveloped the core of the Divine Tree.

It protects the core and promotes its evolution, fusing the characteristics of the infused types of mana.

*Fuses the properties of the infused mana]

Being quite different from other byproducts of the Divine Tree he used previously, its structure gave it a unique effect since it essentially assisted the evolution of the core of the Divine Tree. With that purpose, the lotus petal necessarily had the effect of merging various types of infused mana into one.

That’s why this is good to use with tricky materials.

Thud-

The second material he took out was a dull, lusterless ore that was distorting its surroundings like a mirage, the Hero-tier material, Inkstone Ore. He still had a bit left over from when he forged the Inkstone Bracelet.

Then, he took out some Projection Alloy, which had been used for Luize’s previous piece of equipment, before closing his eyes to retrieve the final material.

Calculative with gains and losses, a cunning nature that seeks to uncover others’ secrets while hiding his own, and a ruthless temperament that does not hesitate even when murdering his own kin....

He had only met Inoue Ren, Erika’s brother, that one time at the Noblesse, but that one time had been enough for him to glimpse enough of Ren’s past to understand what kind of person he was.

And as if to prove that he did have a deep understanding, something sticky flowed from Se-Hoon’s heart to his right hand, soon forming a stone the size of a finger.

With its pitch-black color and neatly rectangular shape, its appearance, free from any irregularities that came from processing, sucked Se-Hoon into examining the information message.

[Fatestone - Graphite Stone]

[Tier: Advanced] [Quality: Below Average]

[An untaintable ore that doesn’t blend well with other ores, but can be used as a channel for mana.

*Can be used as a mana conduit if its properties are preserved]

This is excellent.

The Fatestone had turned out just as he had expected it would, perhaps even better in some respects.

Now that he had checked over all of the materials he had taken out, he began forging Luize’s equipment.

First, the Inkstone Ore.

In the past, he would have put the Inkstone Ore in a furnace and gradually heated it while hammering with a chisel, but now that he had his Forgefire Hammer, which was wrapped in flames, there was no need for such effort.

Thump- Thump-

Normally, no change would occur if the ore was just hammered without any preheating, but with the Forgefire Hammer, each touch made the Inkstone Ore start to flatten and spread out.

Indeed, a master blacksmith also needs the appropriate tools.

The flames that were enveloping the Forgefire Hammer were the Blazing Flames of Eun-Ha’s Soul Furnace, which was specialized for melting ores. Thanks to the equipment skill Forgeflare reproducing her fierce flames, the time needed to forge the Inkstone Ore was dramatically reduced.

A single mistake now will mean losing the material completely though.

Even a slight bit of extra contact with the flames could cause the properties of the Inkstone Ore to be burned away entirely. Thus, Se-Hoon carefully hammered the ore into thin plates.

“Hmm, the shape should be good enough for now....”

Going over the blueprint in his mind again, he started hammering again, starting from the outer edges this time.

Thump-

“Shape Memory.”

Thump-

“Formula Projection.”

Each hammer strike allowed the Incantation Inscriptions to permeate inward, and soon, changes began to appear in the Inkstone Ore.

Sssss-

Characters began dancing on the surface of the Inkstone Ore, their appearance indicating that the inscription spells had not been properly absorbed into the ore.

Seeing that, Se-Hoon immediately infused the Inkstone Ore with his mana, reactivating the Incantation Inscriptions and sinking their effects into the ore again.

Perfect, he thought with a smile.

What then followed was a sequence of simple tasks.

He hammered the ore with the Forgefire Hammer and engraved it using Incantation Inscriptions. Then, after inspecting the mana circuit-like engravings on the surface, he cut a thin wire-like strand off the Graphite Stone, Ren’s Fatestone, with the White Light Dagger.

Taking the cut strand, he placed it within various engraved spots on the Inkstone Ore before tapping it lightly with the Forgefire Hammer.

Fizz-

Melting slightly, the strand of the Graphite Stone adhered cleanly to the surface of the Inkstone Ore, as if he was soldering.

Like that, he repeated the process, struggling with setting everything up.

Two hours later, when he finally finished, he covered the Inkstone Ore with Divine Tree Petals and refined his synesthetic mindscape and mana for the final touches.

“Property Combination.”

The last spell with Incantation Inscription permeated through the petals, causing them to glow faintly as they wrapped around the Inkstone Ore.

Not letting the effects of the inscriptions end, he continued to infuse mana, watching the petals gradually shrink.

Crack-

Soon, the petals crumbled like a broken egg and revealed the completed equipment.

[Equipment ‘Hati’ has been completed!

An artistic piece of equipment forged by a dauntless blacksmith for his cherished one! Its delicate structure, refined to the limits by leveraging the full capabilities of the materials, will make everyone shiver with awe.

The tier evaluation for ‘Hati’ is ‘Hero’.]

Cherished one, my ass... he thought, clicking his tongue at the content of the achievement message.

Like Vargr, Hati also had the form of a choker, but with an intricately marked X instead of a silver buckle. It looked quite a bit cleaner.

“There should be no issue covering her scars... I should probably check its functionality,” he mumbled, opening up the information message.

[Hati]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Above Average]

[Special equipment made specifically for the subject ‘Luize Valente’.

It can store spells inside and absorb any wasted mana which can then be used to recast spells or be returned to the user.

*Assists in activating stored spells

*Absorbs and stores wasted mana

*Stored mana can be used for the spellcasting processes or returned to the user’s body

*Enables the use of the skill ‘Memorize’]

It turned out just as I thought.

If the user failed to stabilize the spell and their mana became erratic and ran amok, Hati would absorb excess mana and forcibly stabilize it. It was designed to serve as a safety device and a way for the user to refine their spells by continuously resupplying them with mana, allowing them to cast spells over and over.

Not only does it forcibly stabilize mana until the spell is correctly cast, but it also returns the excess mana to the user.

It was the perfect safety device for those who were always on edge when controlling their magic.

Satisfied that Hati had turned out as he intended, he put it down.

Next up is its hidden feature.

Looking down at Hati, he infused mana into his thumb and middle finger, putting them together.

Snap!

A wave of mana pulsed from his fingertips, and soon, patterns emerged all over Hati.

Swish!

The previously compressed armor plates unfolded, transforming Hati into some sort of mask. Upon seeing the large X marked on it, he snapped his fingers again.

Snap!

And Hati quickly reverted to the form of a choker.

Smiling in contentment, he thought, The hidden feature works well too.

With this feature, external intervention in emergencies was possible. He could intervene and stop Luize from inadvertently casting incantation spells whenever she faced some kind of problem.

And I can even shut her up whenever she’s yapping too much.

Reveling in the well-applied feature, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

Since this is equipment that the Puppeteer would covet... does it double as a trap that’s bound to be sprung at least once?

A trap not visible even in the information message, known only to the creator.

Pondering the possibilities, the corners of his mouth twisted naturally into a smirk.

This is... pretty nice.

***

“That will be all for today’s class. Thank you all for your hard work late into the night.”

Concluding the lesson, the elderly professor slowly walked out of the classroom and down the hallway.

“Ah, take care, professor!”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

The professor was greeted by every student who passed with polite bows. The atmosphere was more voluntary than coercive, indicating that the professor was a well-regarded professor who had significant influence within the building.

“Even the freshmen are already being polite to you... it’s pretty impressive that you pull it off every year.”

“Right? Isn’t it tiring to receive greetings from every student you meet?”

Hearing his colleagues’ comments as they walked together, the elderly professor, Charles Reynolds, smiled gently.

“What’s tiring about it? I’m just grateful that they even recognize me.”

“You saying that is quite impressive itself. To me, the students—especially the foolish ones—really irritate me...”

“That’s exactly what I mean. To think even Babel has been declining in quality these days...”

While his fellow professors chatted idly, Charles just listened with a smile.

But then, he suddenly stopped walking.

“Ah. I need to run back to my office for a moment.”

“Did you forget something?”

“I left some documents I need to take home. I’ll drop by the office briefly, so you two can start dinner without me first.”

“Ah, alright.”

“We’ll wait for you there, so take your time.”

Seeing off his fellow professors who headed to the reserved restaurant first, Charles turned around to head back to his office in the largest lab of the Department of Elements.

Walking over to his desk, Charles picked up some documents and naturally infused them with his mana.

Sssss-

As the blue mana flowed over the surface of the paper, its contents were altered line by line, revealing secretly taken photos of the students around Babel with records of their daily routines and brief reports next to them.

The usage frequency of the mana purification device by the subject has increased after showing its effect on the improvement of grades due to its amplification function. Consideration for recruitment.

The subject had failed twice in their course because of the mana disability resulting from the offset function of the mana purification device. Inquiring in the black market.

The hospitalization of the subject has been extended due to the offset function of the mana purification device. Depression and self-harm behaviors observed.

.

.

.

Every report was about the effects that the mana purification device—which Se-Hoon had called the mana corrosion device—brought about. Flipping through through the documents, Charles’s hand abruptly stopped upon seeing one of the photos.

“...”

It was a photo of Se-Hoon carrying a plastic bag of food, with Luize and Lea following reluctantly behind him.

A moment later, his gaze moved to the few lines next to the photo.

The assimilation function of the mana purification device has completely vanished. Babel had raised its alert level, making it difficult to approach the subject rashly.

The subject is showing increasing levels of activity, suggesting that they have recovered from their slump. Full halt to the mana purification device distribution plan.

The subject has vast potential but is receiving too much external interest. Do not approach rashly.

“Tsk...”

Upon reading the contents of the document, Charles inadvertently clicked his tongue.

To think such talented individuals were right before his eyes yet he had to just stand by and watch them. He desperately wanted to kidnap all three of them, especially Luize Valente, but he calmed his mind.

I need to keep my head cool...

He knew that if he rashly tried anything now, he would lose the opportunity forever, but if he waited patiently, the perfect chance might come someday. As if it were a mantra, he kept muttering the same thought as he read the last line of the report.

Confirmed participation of all three in the Ivory Tower’s student scholarship selection competition. Act accordingly depending on the situation.

I thought she had no interest in it... but it seems like that wasn’t the case.

Luize, who had been promised the student scholarship of the Ivory Tower upon her return to the Department of Elements, stubbornly refused and went to the Department of Martial Magic instead. The fact that such a talent had been snatched away by those who knew not a speck about magic filled Charles with bitter resentment to the brim.

Since those two will also be participating in the competition... then it might be alright if I stir up a little trouble.

Scheming a new plan in his head, Charles read through the rest of the documents, retrieving the mana he had infused into them once he was done.

Swoosh-

Blue powder scattered into the air.

Double-checking that the documents had returned to their ordinary state, Charles packed them in his bag and stepped out of the lab.

“Ah. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you as well.”

Exchanging a greeting with a teaching assistant—who was none the wiser—with a gentle smile, he headed to a restaurant where his fellow professors were waiting.