NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40 - First Assignment (4)
One thing became certain from this series of events.
Magical tools that emit waves of magical power on the outside tend to be more imperfect than expected. It wasn’t that there was a problem with the internal formulas or combinations, but simply that the capability of the magician making the magical tool was the cause.
No matter how great the formula used to make a magical tool, if the manufacturing process wasn’t perfect, it was natural for there to be defects.
Of course, to ordinary people, there might not seem to be any particular problem, but for those like Asel who are extremely sensitive to magical power, it’s true that they are reluctant to use such magical tools.
Especially now that he realized it was possible to overload magical tools with external interference.
There was no need to spend expensive money to buy magical tools in a precarious state.
So Asel didn’t take much interest in the magical tools even as he walked around the store.
He had been quite interested because they were magic tower-made magical tools, but his interest cooled just as quickly.
Well, not all magicians belonging to magic towers can make excellent magical tools.
They too need to go through trial and error and experience to make proper items, so perhaps it’s natural that the results of trial and error are here in a place like this.
From a general perspective, even these by-products formed in the process of making flawless magical tools were amazing items. It wasn’t for nothing that they were sold for expensive prices.
Still, there were a few items that occasionally caught the eye. The item Asel was examining right now was one of them.
A magical tool in the form of a small pocket watch. But it had a unique appearance with only 8 times the hand could point to, and no minute or second hands at all.
Since there was no residual magical power, it couldn’t be seen operating, but Asel could detect the sleeping formula just by concentrating on and staring at the magical tool.
‘High-level elemental magic. Different high-level formulas are engraved for each time, and it’s a type of magical tool where the magic activated differs depending on how much magical power is put in.’
It was a form of magical tool that could never be made without a high understanding of elemental magic. Asel slightly raised his gaze to check where the magical tool originated from.
[Made by Luendel Magic Tower]
[Harmony of Elements]
Luendel Magic Tower, huh. Asel recalled information about them and let out a small sigh.
Luendel Magic Tower is quite a unique case among magic towers. While they deal with elemental magic, instead of dividing them, they recognize them as one magic and have gathered all sorts of elemental magicians, becoming a tower of diversity.
As a result, magicians belonging to Luendel Magic Tower, such as flame magicians or water flow magicians, tend to live harmoniously without separating from each other despite handling various elements.
This magical tool must also be one of the products created through the cooperation of such magicians.
‘Different elements are not invading each other’s domains. It seems the magicians who assembled the formula have gentle dispositions.’
Naturally, Asel didn’t think this magical tool was all made by one person. This is because the nature of the magical power contained in each formula is different.
For one person to make this, they would need to suffer from multiple personality disorder at minimum, and all those personalities would need to be magicians capable of using high-level magic.
Is that even possible?
Asel chuckled and straightened his bent back to stand up.
Various elemental formulas swirled in his hand and then dispersed. He didn’t just stop at observing an interesting magical tool, but decomposed and acquired the formulas contained within.
With this, he could now use high-level formulas for elemental magic that had been relatively weak in power except for flame magic. Since it was possible to handle their power without purchasing the magical tools, this place was no different from a warehouse of knowledge for Asel.
He turned his head to look at Saya, who was carefully observing a magical tool. As he approached her, Saya opened her mouth without even looking at Asel.
“It’s a magical tool with tracking magic in it.”
“……”
“Hmm.”
Asel briefly checked the price of the magical tool at Saya’s words.
A compass smaller than a palm. Its price was 15 gold coins. The absolute amount was quite expensive, but as she said, it was relatively cheap for a magical tool. Asel put aside thoughts about the price for now and closely observed the compass.
Then he blurted out what his intuition had grasped.
“Although it’s tracking magic, if you think about it, it’s a kind of blood magic. However, since using blood magic alone reduces effectiveness, it’s closer to a tool that added other pure type magic. It’s quite a complex combination formula? The creator seems to be a fairly high-level magician.”
“…You can tell that just by looking at it?”
Saya asked, blinking her eyes.
People who first experienced Asel’s talent always showed such an incredulous reaction. Since it was familiar, Asel pointed at the compass without any particular emotion and asked:
“While it’s an item that helps with hunting magical beasts, it’s not cost-effective. You’re not thinking of spending that much money just for the assignment, are you?”
“I am thinking of it, though?”
Saya answered with a grin. Asel was at a loss for words. Regardless, she called an employee to express her intention to purchase the compass and continued speaking.
“As you said, it’s a waste to use gold coins just for achieving the assignment. But if you think of it as an investment, it’s not that regrettable.”
“……”
“One cup of doppelganger blood sells for 10 gold coins. It’s possible because demand is high but supply is low. But when you catch one doppelganger, you get enough blood for dozens of cups. It might be difficult to collect it all due to its unique toxicity, but we should be able to gather more than half. That’s as much as 50 gold coins.”
“It’s an investment for that?”
“That’s right. It’s an item that helps with the assignment and will be useful later too. There’s no big loss in buying it here.”
She seemed to sincerely think so. Asel didn’t particularly object to her words either. There was no point in making a fuss about it when she was going to purchase it with her own money.
‘As long as it helps with the assignment, anything is fine.’
He thought this and turned his thoughts elsewhere.
The first assignment starting tomorrow. Asel planned to finish gemstone crafting before then. He also needed to carefully examine the elemental formulas he obtained from the magical tool shop, and wrap up other tasks as well.
As always, time flows without a moment of boredom since becoming an official magician. But he didn’t entirely dislike it.
Asel smiled faintly and followed Saya as she left the store. Afterwards, the two of them went around various stores to purchase necessary items, had dinner, and then returned to their respective dormitories.
As soon as Asel entered his room, he immediately went into the research lab and took out the gemstone he had thrown on the desk.
Time was tight if he wanted to finish crafting before leaving at dawn to solve the request.
He started the crafting work without looking back, drawing out magical power like a thread.
“Phew……”
Asel exhaled deeply and wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead. Looking at the clock placed on the desk, the hour hand had long passed midnight.
The crafting work ended much later than expected. It was inevitable since he was trying to do something for the first time perfectly without anyone’s help.
Fortunately, the result turned out well. Asel rolled the round-cut gemstone between his fingers with a satisfied smile.
With this, he had finished everything he needed to do before the first assignment. The rest could be continued after finishing the doppelganger hunt. There was no point in rushing, so it seemed good to take a little leisure here.
Thinking this, Asel carefully wrapped the crafted gemstone in cloth and stored it in a drawer. He could just leave it there and pick it up right before departing.
Coming out to the living room, he immediately touched the messenger bird. He put magical power into the metal body and placed one of Ena’s hairs containing her magical power in the bird’s mouth. Then the eyes of the messenger bird, which had been lying like a corpse, lit up and it raised its body, flapping its wings.
[Croak]
“I’m counting on you.”
Asel put the folded letter into the opened body of the rattling messenger bird and stroked its cold metal head.
Flap flap!!
The messenger bird looked at him once and then flew out through the open window.
The messenger bird, moving with Asel’s magical power as its driving force, felt its body was much lighter than usual and burst into laughter while drawing spirals in the air.
[Croak croak croak!!]
Only when the crying sound could no longer be heard did Asel close the window and stretch out fully.
Knock knock.
At the same time, someone knocked on Asel’s door. Asel’s face tilted slightly to the side. He instinctively manifested a detection spell to check who was knocking.
“Grace?”
A unique aura that was both sticky and sharp. As soon as Asel confirmed it was her, he approached the dormitory door.
He couldn’t know the reason for her visit, but judging by the time, it probably wasn’t a simple matter.
He had been thinking he should have a sincere conversation with Grace anyway. Although they hadn’t known each other for long, the length of a relationship doesn’t greatly affect sincere conversations. Rather, there might be things they could speak openly about because they don’t know each other well.
However, he wondered about this time being the crack of dawn. Still, it meant the other person was that urgent, so he could overlook it.
Thinking this, Asel flung the door open. Then he put on the most benevolent expression he could manage.
“What’s the matter, Grace? Do you have something to say?”
The answer didn’t come immediately.
Asel didn’t continue speaking either. He frowned as he stared at Grace, who was looking up at him with blank eyes.
A strong smell of alcohol wafting over. Her disheveled bangs were going into her lips, and her cheeks and face were flushed red. Undisguisable intoxication dripped from her exhaled breath.
Anyone could see she was drunk. She was so intoxicated that if thrown onto the street, she might not notice if someone carried her away. She was far from being in her right mind to have come for a sincere conversation.
But Asel wasn’t disappointed.
A swordswoman of Grace’s level should be able to evaporate intoxication at will. If such a swordswoman deliberately left the intoxication…
‘Either it’s something she can only say with the courage from alcohol, or it means she’s mentally driven to a corner.’
Neither was a good sign. Asel approached her and asked in a worried voice.
“Grace, are you okay?”
“Glen.”
“…What?”
“Call me Glen. Like before.”
“…I’ve never done that.”
Asel frowned as if to say what nonsense is this. But Grace was adamant.
She pushed her body into Asel’s wide open arms. A faint smell of alcohol, strong perfume, and body odor filled Asel’s nostrils. His body stiffened momentarily because of it.
While Asel was flustered, Grace lightly kissed his nape.
Smooch.
Sticky saliva connected from Asel’s skin to Grace’s lips.
“Phew, hah……”
It happened in an instant. Grace exhaled with excitement. Asel, who suppressed his rising desire with extreme patience, frowned deeply and spat out:
“You crazy bitch.”
He couldn’t hold back.