Rodin carefully examined the runes that appeared to be part of the magic circle on the wall, skipping over the ones he didn’t understand and roughly deducing the circle’s purpose.

He could vaguely guess what the magic circle was meant to do.

“It’s a defensive magic. Both against external and internal forces.”

To inscribe such a large magic circle on the entire wall, an enormous amount of mana stones must have been consumed—perhaps tens of thousands of high-grade mana stones, or maybe even hundreds of stones of a higher grade.

“Strengthening the defense to this extent isn’t just about blocking enemies.”

This cave was clearly a place built to store something for a very long time. In other words, the overwhelming number of defensive spells inscribed on the walls weren’t just to fend off enemies but to withstand the passage of time.

“There’s probably some kind of preservation magic cast here as well.”

Rodin didn’t yet know which runes on the wall were related to the preservation magic, but it made sense that it would be there.

In a place abandoned for what seemed like thousands of years, books were piled up without much decay. Without preservation magic, they should have long since crumbled to dust.

“But why are the books piled up so haphazardly?”

Considering how much effort went into creating this space, the books were carelessly managed. Even with preservation magic, stacking them like this didn’t make sense.

“Hmm. Could it be…?”

Rodin moved closer to the books and closed his eyes. He sensed a number of magical forces hidden within the books. It seemed that at least several artifacts were buried under them.

“They piled books on top to hide the artifacts? That’s even stranger.”

He used Magic Hand to lift a bunch of books and move them aside. One hand was too slow, so he created four more magic hands and controlled them simultaneously.

After a while of shifting the piled-up books, the floor beneath them was finally revealed. Eight items, along with fragments of broken wood, lay on the ground.

“There’s magical energy coming from here.”

Among the items were two suits of armor, a sword, a shield, and a spear. These were clearly weapons and armor meant for Karis and Jenna.

“I’ll give them to you later.”

[It’s fine, Master.]

[We await your orders.]

Karis and Jenna weren’t particularly interested in the artifacts. Though they appeared human, they were in fact puppets, existing solely to obey their master’s commands.

In addition to the weapons and armor, there was a bracelet and a necklace.

“Are these the belongings of the previous master?”

The eight items were resting on what seemed like remnants of a wooden structure, perhaps a desk or stand, that had been broken for some reason.

“What could their origin be?”

Rodin first examined the largest item, the armor. Infusing it with mana, he was able to read a few of the enchantments immediately.

“Enhancement, summoning, refraction, weight reduction, and resizing. There are two other spells I can’t decipher.”

There were too many unfamiliar runes in the other two spells. Simply guessing their meaning from the surrounding context had its limits.

“These two suits of armor are of the same type.”

Both were leather armor, reinforced with iron plates to protect critical areas like the heart and stomach. This type of armor was sold for about half the price of full plate mail in the Richmond Marquisate.

Of course, Rodin had no intention of selling them at that price.

The armor was inscribed with a magic circle filled with runes Rodin couldn’t understand. Even just for research purposes, selling it was out of the question.

Besides, the functions he had already confirmed made the armor priceless.

If he could figure out the rest of its functions? It would be worth whatever price he named.

“There are unknown runes on the sword as well.”

The sword, shield, and spear were also inscribed with enhancement magic, mana absorption spells, resizing magic, and a few other unknown spells.

“I’ll study them later. Now, let’s check the bracelet and the necklace.”

Rodin examined the bracelet first. Surprisingly, the magic circle engraved inside wasn’t particularly complex.

“Space, summoning, storage, and coordinate calculation? No way. This is subspace magic!”

It was a form of magic he had never seen before. Though he could discern its function from the runes, the level of the magic was far beyond his current ability to replicate, even if he had the materials.

“It’s broken. So that’s why the books were left like this.”

Originally, the vast collection of books had been stored in a subspace, a space where time didn’t pass, so there was no worry about the books decaying or being damaged.

But for some reason, the bracelet had malfunctioned. The magic circle had been physically damaged, causing all the books that were stored within to spill out.

“That doesn’t mean the subspace has disappeared entirely.”

Rodin carefully examined the bracelet again, injecting his mana into it. For hours, he scrutinized it repeatedly.

“Found it.”

After a long time, he finally discovered the source of the problem. A small foreign substance was lodged in the runes forming the magic circle, causing the spell to malfunction.

“Should I fix this on my own?”

Rodin hesitated for a moment, but he already knew the answer.

There was no one he could ask to repair the bracelet, and even if there were, they likely wouldn’t be capable of doing it.

More importantly, he needed the subspace to carry the enormous number of books out of here. Without it, it would take years to move the books out by hand.

“Karis, is it okay if I fix this bracelet myself?”

[As you wish, Master.]

“Jenna, what do you think?”

[If there’s a chance, it’s worth attempting.]

Unlike the stoic Karis, Jenna’s response was more like that of a real person. It was hard to remember that she wasn’t human.

“You’re right, Jenna. I have to try. It’s just one stroke. If I can’t manage even this, I should give up magic altogether.”

Rodin infused mana into the bracelet and examined the foreign substance closely.

It wasn’t part of the magic circle but something that had gotten mixed in during the process of crafting the bracelet.

A minuscule speck of that substance, but it had landed precisely on the tip of one of the runes.

This wasn’t a common occurrence. Even if it did happen, it would normally be detected and corrected during the artifact inspection process.

“I can’t remove it, so the best I can do is cover it.”

Though this would compromise the artifact’s longevity, it was the best he could do for now. He would have to find the right materials to repair it properly later.

Rodin melted a small, non-enchanted part of the bracelet’s body, just enough to draw the foreign substance away and cover it.

Humming softly, the bracelet vibrated for a moment before settling. The subspace magic engraved in the bracelet had been restored.

“Phew.”

Rodin immediately put the bracelet on his right wrist. As he injected a small amount of mana and imagined the subspace, a dark void appeared before his eyes—visible only to him.

“It’s working.”

Now, all that remained was the necklace. He held it in his left hand and carefully channeled mana into it. The magic circle within the necklace became visible.

“Hm, this must be another storage space.”

Like the bracelet, the necklace contained a space-related magic circle. However, this one was different from the subspace.

Subspace was a space where time did not flow, making it useful only for storing items. But the space inside the necklace was a place where time passed just like in the real world.

Additionally, there was a magic circle that connected the wearer’s senses to those inside the space, allowing whatever stored inside to see and hear whatever the wearer did.

Hyung_Otaku2

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