Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 162 (Part 2)

A day later, the underwear, shoes, and gloves tailored to Karis and Jena’s bodies were delivered to the annex. It arrived a day earlier than originally scheduled.

“That’s odd.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Jena, you know there’s a difference between magic that uses magical power and magic that uses mana, right?”

“Yes. I’ve heard it from the previous Master, and from you as well, Young master.”

Karis and Jena were not mages. Naturally, they had never formally studied magic.

However, they had spent decades with Princess Elranerien, a 9th Circle mage. And after spending several years alongside Rodin, they had come to learn quite a bit about magic.

“I thought magic could be implemented using either one, but apparently not. This one can’t be realized with mana.”

“What kind of magic are you referring to?”

“Magic that conforms to the body.”

In the past, Rodin had created bracelets of a generous size and configured magic circles so that they would shrink to fit the wearer. At the time, he couldn’t afford to hire a professional artisan, so he had no choice but to rely on magic.

When he tried to recreate that magic using mana, no matter what he did, it wouldn’t activate. On a whim, he tried using magical power instead—and it worked perfectly.

“Ah! You mean the one where the size adjusts automatically?”

“Yeah. Can’t replicate that with mana, oddly enough.”

“I know. I recall the previous Master saying the same thing. That’s why the clothes Karis and I are wearing were made by a professional craftsman, and the previous Master only engraved the magic afterward.”

Rodin was in the same situation.

He had once tried making clothes for Karis by himself, but gave up when the size wouldn’t adjust. He had changed the runes multiple times, attempting it again and again, but the function simply wouldn’t activate.

In the end, he had no choice but to go to a tailor directly and commission custom-made outfits for Karis and Jena.

“I see. I can’t figure out why. Maybe something about resizing magic just isn’t compatible with mana?”

“I don’t know the theory behind magic.”

“I know. I wasn’t really expecting an answer.”

He gave up on the thought for now and turned his attention to the underwear first.

He didn’t engrave any other magic into the underwear—just two spells. One for Restoration, and one for Cleanliness.

The Cleanliness spell was to keep the underwear clean at all times, even without washing. It was a carefully crafted spell meant to eliminate the hassle of laundry.

The Restoration spell would return the item to its original condition if any part was damaged. Karis and Jena’s armor also had the Restoration spell engraved.

However, the spell on the armor did not restore their bodies—only the armor itself when damaged.

In contrast, the Restoration spell Rodin engraved onto their underwear was adjusted to restore both the clothing and the wearer together.

It was a spell designed to minimize the time needed to retreat to the storage space in their necklaces after battle.

“That’s it for the underwear.”

Next was the shoes. He added the Cleanliness spell here as well, and also a Reinforcement spell to protect their feet.

Cleanliness would now be a standard feature for all wearable artifacts going forward. Whether armor or underwear, it was an incredibly useful magic that reduced tedious processes.

“Now only the gloves are left.”

For the gloves, he engraved Cleanliness and Invisibility.

Originally, he had planned to inscribe Cleanliness and a Reinforcement-type spell. Gloves also served to protect the hands, so Reinforcement seemed like a logical choice.

But after watching Larry’s hunt, he changed his mind. He thought Invisibility might be more useful in various situations than Reinforcement.

“It’s finished, but…”

Rodin laid out the underwear, shoes, and gloves in a row and rechecked the magic circles.

These were artifacts that operated on mana, not magical power. Since he was less accustomed to magic circles that used mana instead of magical power, he had to check them more carefully.

“Alright. Activation.”

After confirming the magic circles, he activated them. As artifacts powered by mana, just activating the magic circles consumed four high-grade Mana Stones.

“Try them on. Ah, Jena, Karis, change somewhere I’m not around.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Thank you, Young Master.”

After sending off Karis and Jena, Rodin reflected on the magic circles he had engraved today. The results had turned out better than expected.

“Sustained magic seems better suited for mana.”

The downside of magic using mana was its weaker destructive power and the long casting time. In urgent combat, such magic wasn’t suitable.

However, for sustained magic like Invisibility, overwhelming power wasn’t necessary, and instant activation wasn’t required either.

Even though it took a while to cast, it wasn’t hours—only a few minutes. That could be compensated for by casting in advance.

More importantly, the magic didn’t rely on magical power, so the emitted aura was minimized. Even mages would be unable to detect the invisibility unless they were extremely close.

“I’ll need to think more about this.”

Fortunately, all the magic engraved into Karis and Jena’s equipment worked properly. Cleanliness and Restoration—both were satisfying.

As expected, the Invisibility magic emitted almost no aura once activated.

It took about three minutes to trigger, but as long as it was used in advance, there was no problem.

*

Three days before the territorial war between the Marquessates of Richmond and Rotten, a guest arrived. It was Tamia, the Tower Master of the Chronoa Magic Tower, accompanied by a large wagon.

“You came in person?”

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

Tower Master Tamia still had her gentle tone. Her expression, too, was warm—like she was watching over a grandchild.

“Yes, thanks to your concern. That wagon, is it the compensation for the giant wyvern?”

“It is. Go ahead and confirm it.”

“I trust you’ve prepared it properly.”

Rodin had Karis bring the wagon inside. With this, all business related to the giant wyvern was concluded.

“Oh?”

“What is it?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“Are you trying to chase me off already?”

Even though her business was finished, Tower Master Tamia didn’t leave. She sat down on a bench in the garden, leisurely enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun.

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

“There’s a territorial war happening nearby soon. I’m thinking of watching it.”

“You mean the one between the Marquessates of Richmond and Rotten.”

Rodin was also planning to observe the territorial war. If the Marquess of Richmond ended up at a disadvantage, he intended to step in and help.

“Yes. Something like the Ancient Soul shouldn’t be taken lightly, right?”

“Mm. That’s true.”

“What has passed should remain in the past. It must not carry over into the present.”

“I feel the same.”

Rodin wasn’t particularly fond of killing. If there was a way to resolve things without bloodshed, he preferred that.

But the Ancient Soul was a different matter. He had long since decided that it must be destroyed.

Just as Tower Master Tamia had said, the mere existence of something like the Ancient Soul in this era was distasteful.

More than anything, what made it worse was the deeds it had committed. Killing, stealing—without a shred of guilt.

“I plan to stay here until then. You’re not going to kick me out, are you?”

“Kick you out? Think of this as your own home and make yourself comfortable.”

“Hohoho, thank you.”

Hyung_Otaku2

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