“Whoa there, Allen-boy. You’re drowned like a rat. What the hell did you do?”
After my emergency landing in the lake, I had headed straight for the Guild’s hot showers to warm my frozen bones, only to be intercepted by my master.
“Oh, you know. I messed up a bit and took a plunge. I figured I’d come by to use the showers.”
“Right, I see. Just watch yourself. It’s when kids like you get some experience and start feeling cocky that they’re most likely to kick the bucket. Don’t you dare go dying before your mother, you hear?”
“Understood.”
I gave him a quick nod, but before I could escape, Monica-san spotted me and immediately started laying into Master.
“Oh my! Allen-kun, you’re soaking wet! What happened? Wait—don’t tell me! Rudolf-san! I don’t care how intense your training is, you can’t just douse a fainted boy in water to wake him up! He’s still a child! You can’t do that!”
“Huh? Hey, hold on. The kid just came back like this on his own. I haven’t even started today’s lessons yet!”
Monica-san narrowed her eyes at Master, clearly unconvinced, before turning back to me with a beaming, honeyed smile.
“Well, whatever. Allen-kun, you’ll catch a cold staying in those wet clothes. Come on, big sister will give you a good scrubbing—”
“I-I can wash myself just fine, thanks!”
The atmosphere was getting weird, so I beat a hasty retreat.
“Aww, don’t be like that! I was only joking!”
I could still hear Monica-san’s voice trailing after me, but I honestly couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. Either way, whenever that busty receptionist turned up the pressure, I never knew quite how to handle her.
After paying 1,000 Cent for a hot shower to get my body temperature back to normal, I changed into a spare set of clothes I’d brought from home and returned to the Guild’s main counter.
“Master, I’d like to sell this.”
I presented the treasure I’d scouted back in Frissen Village.
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Name: Flame Knife Description: Grants a low probability of dealing additional fire-attribute damage when attacking. Grade: Rare Price: 450,000 Cent
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“Ho… your eye for quality is as sharp as ever, Allen-boy. What’s your asking price?”
“I’d be happy with 400,000 Cent.”
“Yeah, that’s fair. Fine, I’ll take it.”
My savings jumped by another 400,000 Cent. I was still nowhere near my ultimate target, of course, so I’d need to keep grinding.
But there was no need to panic just yet.
“Don’t overdo it, Allen-boy.”
“I won’t, Master.”
I planned to take it easy for a while. My next project was to begin construction on a VTOL—a vertical take-off and landing glider.
I spent the next month or so deep in research.
Through that process, I discovered two critical factors regarding manufacturing with the Alchemy skill.
The first was the importance of the blueprint. The accuracy of the finished product and the amount of mana required depended entirely on how precisely I could visualize the object.
In the game, Amy could produce high-performance carriages with nothing more than a vague, "fuzzy" mental image. However, she only achieved that toward the end of the story, after she had grown significantly as a protagonist and possessed an astronomical mana pool. For someone like me—the current me—imitating that feat was an utter impossibility.
Therefore, the key was to prepare blueprints that were as technically accurate as possible and to memorize every nut and bolt of the structure.
The second factor was the preparation of materials. I’d seen hints of this in the game’s descriptions, and my follow-up tests confirmed it: the presence or absence of physical materials changed the required mana cost by a staggering degree. It was the difference between night and day.
In particular, creating something out of thin air was almost entirely beyond my current capacity.
On the other hand, even if I lacked the exact materials, I could synthesize similar substitutes if I had something to work with. This was especially true for monster-derived materials.
The beauty of this was cost-cutting. I didn't need to build the entire craft out of expensive Wyvern membranes; I could mix in membranes from Giant Bats—a common, easily obtainable monster—to significantly lower the price point.
I also made several breakthroughs regarding the aircraft’s controls.
On the positive side, I finally settled on a material for mana transmission.
To operate the rudder and elevators, I used the Alchemy skill to deform the components in real-time with my left hand. I discovered that my own hair was the most effective conductor—acting like a literal wire—to transmit that signal.
It was a total accident, really. I had been experimenting with various monster parts when a stray hair fell onto my tools. I was so dazed from sleep deprivation that I used it by mistake, and to my surprise, it worked perfectly.
The negative discovery, however, was that I couldn't control multiple points simultaneously. This was a limitation of my own processing power; if I focused on controlling one part of the craft, I lost my grip on the others.
For example, if I was running the Wind Magic Engine, I couldn't operate the rudder or elevators.
This was a fatal flaw. Realizing vertical take-off and landing with a single engine was incredibly difficult. I wanted at least two—like the Osprey that was always in the news back in Japan—or better yet, four, like a drone.
Once I hit this wall, I decided to put my research on hold.
If I can't use multiple spells at once, I just have to find a way to learn how.
I had the meta-knowledge. I knew that on the top floor of the Sage’s Tower, there was an item called the Scroll of Multicasting.
Conquering that tower usually required immense magical power. Even if you managed to sneak in using Stealth, you wouldn't be able to make the climb.
However, I was certain that with my current toolkit, I could tackle it using a different strategy.
With a new goal in mind, I began drafting the tools and procuring the supplies necessary to conquer the Sage’s Tower.
On Alchemy, Magic, Incantations, and Magic Circles
Magic is activated by specifying a "result" (the finished state) and providing the "process" (the methodology) through the appropriate expenditure of mana.
Incantations are the verbalization of the process required to reach the imagined result. The spoken words and the mental image are linked by mana to trigger the spell.
Magic Circles are a physical recording of both the result and the process. By flowing mana into the circle, the magic is activated. It is easiest to think of a magic circle as a technical blueprint for a spell.
Transmutation: The act of creating physical objects through alchemy is a subset of magic. Because the results and processes of transmutation are incredibly complex, it is standard practice to use magic circles rather than incantations.