My body headed straight for the library in the Inventor's Building. I walked over and grabbed dozens of books I needed before sitting down to read, all under the watchful eyes of the inventor students who saw a magic major like me enter their domain.
But at that moment, I wasn't interested in anything else. I quickly opened the first book and began to analyze it thoroughly to confirm what I already knew from the game.
I spent several hours on the first book. What I learned was that while much of the information was the same as what I knew, it was far more in-depth. This helped me understand certain principles, and I began to form a picture in my head.
Then I picked up the second book, which contained information on magic seals. After reading it for just 30 minutes, I closed it immediately, having already found the information I was interested in.
I continued to read several more books on the table. Before I knew it, I felt a poke from my side. When I turned to look, I saw a young woman with thick glasses standing there. When she saw me looking at her, she flinched in fear.
"What is it..." I tried to ask in the most polite voice possible, but it seemed the voice that came out sounded a bit annoyed.
"Th-the library... is about to c-close..."
Hearing her words, I flinched slightly and turned to look at the sky outside. I saw that it was already turning orange. Did I really get so absorbed in reading that the sun had set?! Seriously?
I looked at the remaining pile of books and saw there were about four more I needed to read. I looked at the girl with glasses and asked.
"Can I borrow these books?"
"Y-yes, you can. B-but I need to check your... st-student... ID." Her voice was very hesitant. It seemed the infamous reputation of Alan had reached the Inventor's Building.
"Understood..." I nodded in understanding before grabbing my student ID and handing it to her.
"These four... not the rest." After I finished speaking, I handed her the four books and then went to return the ten books I had already read to their original places, much to the surprise of the girl with the glasses.
......................
I carried the bag of borrowed books and walked to another library at the school, the one in my own academic building. There, I borrowed some basic magic textbooks, much to the surprise of the librarians.
After I was done, I headed back to my mansion. On the way, I also stopped to buy some things from a roadside shop.
The things I bought were as follows:
Basic Magic Crystals: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind x 10 eachMalleable Iron Rods x 20Magic Circuit Wiring, 1 kilogramMagic Power Reserve Units x 10Power Processing Crystal x 1
My funds were more than halved from buying all this, but I considered it a worthwhile investment. I then walked back to the mansion as quickly as I could.
When I arrived at the mansion, the first thing I saw was Irene cooking in the kitchen.
"You're back late... I was wondering if—" "Later!! I have business to attend to right now!!"
I spoke and headed straight for my room. Irene, seeing this, watched with a puzzled expression as the young man's back disappeared up the stairs.
Slam!!
After entering my room, I quickly placed the things I bought onto the bed. I then dragged a wooden table from the far end of the room next to the bed and laid out everything I had purchased.
I stared at all the items one more time before nodding slightly. This should work.
Without delay, I picked up three of the iron rods I had bought and compressed my magic power into them. Soon, the three rods began to change. They started to meld together before transforming into a hand-sized square sheet. Without hesitation, I bent the metal into a U-shape.
Once I had the U-shape, I picked up another iron rod, infused it with magic power, and the rod in my hand transformed into a small pair of tongs.
I pulled some of the thin wire from the bag I bought. It was the magic circuit wiring. As much as I didn't want the headache of dealing with this, it was the most crucial part of creating that thing.
I let out a weary sigh before pulling out the inner strands of the wire. Alright… let's begin.
Several hours passed.
Clink.
I placed something on the table. My face now showed a hint of exhaustion, but looking at what I had created made that fatigue lessen considerably.
I picked up the object. It had the shape of an iron gauntlet made from malleable iron, which meant its durability was lower than regular iron, but that was a secondary concern. For me, what came next was the real test.
The thing I created was a normal-looking iron gauntlet, completely encased in metal. However, in the center of the palm, there was a slot for something. That something was called a Magic Power Reserve Unit, meant to hold the magic crystal I wanted to insert.
And that was the next step.
I took a small red magic crystal from the bag I bought and shoved it into the core of the gauntlet.
I raised my hand slightly and turned to face forward. The way to use this gauntlet was to channel magic power into it to activate the internal magic circuit I had painstakingly created. Since Alan's body was proficient in wind magic, controlling the magic circuit was easier than with other elements. This was because the wind element exists all around our bodies, making it easy to stimulate. That's why the wind element has an advantage over others.
When I sent my magic power into the gauntlet, the iron-colored hand immediately turned red. At that moment, I felt something warm flowing from my hand, and just then...
FWOOSH!!!!
A flame over a meter high shot out. I grinned widely, as if seeing the exact image I wanted. But after only three seconds, the flame died down, and the gauntlet returned to its original iron color.
....
It-it's already used up?!! In the game, it lasted for five seconds, dammit!!
I stared at my hand and saw that the magic crystal in the center had now turned white from its once deep red color, indicating that its magic power was depleted.
I scratched my head in frustration. It was probably because the magic crystal was still small, so it couldn't be used for long. Plus, I didn't have enough money to buy a medium-sized crystal, as they were a hundred times more expensive than the small ones. My budget wasn't nearly that big. For now, let's just consider this a test run.
I tried using other elemental magic crystals and found that they all worked normally, which was a bit of a relief.
But after trying them all, a question popped into my head... if I tried putting two magic crystals inside, would it last longer?
....With that thought, I decided to try it immediately. The element I chose to test was water, because if something went wrong, it probably wouldn't be as bad as the other three elements.
I inserted two crystals into the gauntlet and held my hand out in front of me. Alright…
I stimulated the magic power in my hand. At that moment, the iron arm turned blue as usual, but what was strange was that the gauntlet in my hand began to vibrate violently.
Hey… what the hell?
I was shocked and tried to stop my arm, but just then...
BOOM!!!!
Water magic shot out from the iron palm with extreme force, blasting a gaping hole in the wall I was facing. It was so powerful that my body couldn't control it, and I was sent flying back into the wall behind me with great force.
Click.
The door opened, and Irene walked in. The sight she saw upon entering was a hole blown through the wall by something. When she turned to look at her Young Master, she found him sitting against the wall, completely drenched in water.
"I told you... to knock," in my mind, I wanted to ask if she was okay, but it seemed the words just came out like this.
Irene, hearing my sentence, looked around the room. "I heard a strange noise, so I came to check... Are you redecorating?"
"Quiet... get out now," I said in frustration, shooing Irene away.
"Yes... Please call if you need anything," the young woman nodded upon hearing that. But before she left, she gave a small wave of her hand. At that moment, the hole in the wall was repaired in an instant.
"You'll catch a cold if you sleep like that. It would be better to change your clothes before bed," Irene said to him with a flat expression, before walking out of the room.
After Irene left, I let out a weary sigh and stared at my iron gauntlet, which was now bent out of shape from the force of the magic just now.
It seems the power was too strong… Looks like I've got a lot of repairs to do.
Sigh…
After that, I took a shower and changed my clothes. I then turned to fix the gauntlet, only to find that the Power Processing Crystal had broken due to being overloaded with too much magic power. So that was the cause... It looks like I'll have to go buy a new one.
Ah, but a Power Processing Crystal is insanely expensive. If this keeps up, I'll go broke before my life ends.
....It seems I'll have to find a way to earn more money.
And the best place to earn money is... the Adventurer's Guild.
But... that will have to wait for tomorrow. For now, I need to find a solution to what's currently pending.
With that though