Chapter 144: Chapter 143: Multiple Fusion, Low-Grade Materials Replacing High-Grade!
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"It isn’t just the backgrounds and designs. The materials for crafting Kisara and the evolution cards are short by a fair margin, and the materials for the shipgirl cards haven’t even gotten off the ground. So let me start by taking a look at what this Multiple Fusion hidden Authority can actually do." With a rough sense of direction for his key upcoming goals now settled in his mind, Luke summoned two grey-grade materials into his hands.
Mana, for her part, had grown thoroughly excited over acquiring her new Equipment Card, and had dragged Blanc off to the side to whisper. The behavior was rather like that of a collector who’d just gotten their hands on an authentic Bandai figure.
The Authority activated. A flicker of understanding crossed Luke’s mind, and as his mana surged, he brought his two hands together. The two materials melded without the slightest resistance into a single new material, its quality raised to the white grade.
"If anyone else saw this, their jaw would probably hit the floor." Even Luke, the perpetrator himself, marveled at the sight, which meant everyone else’s reaction would be no better.
"The mana cost is roughly one-tenth higher than rewriting a same-grade material. Is the cost increased by one-tenth at every grade, or does synthesizing higher-quality material demand even more mana?"
Holding that question, Luke summoned another grey-grade material to test with. He’d had the Second Authority’s hidden effect unlocked for a while now, but he’d been busy with other matters that whole time, which was why he was only getting around to testing it now. The results seemed acceptable enough, but obtaining more precise information would require continued trials.
Off to the side, Mana, who’d been excited about the strength boost from the Swords of Revealing Light, and Blanc, whom she’d dragged along to whisper with, both noticed the anomaly with Luke. The two cuties exchanged a glance, then drifted over to his side, where they watched him bring his hands together, as if performing a magic trick, and synthesize two white-grade materials into a higher green-grade one.
"Wah." Whether Mana or Blanc, both were seeing such a marvelous display for the first time, and couldn’t suppress a soft cry of astonishment. An instant later, though, both of them clapped their little hands over their own mouths, evidently anxious that their exclamations might disturb Luke. It was unbearably endearing.
"Still only a one-tenth increase in cost?" Without having noticed that Mana and Blanc had quietly slipped over to his side, Luke picked up the newly obtained green-grade material and examined it carefully.
「 Mecha Spindle, Modified 」 Description: A specialized spindle constructed from precision instruments, frequently used in crafting mechanical-type or modification-type cards. It appears to have been processed in some special manner. Compared to a standard Mecha Spindle, the Mecha Spindle, Modified can, to a certain degree, substitute for certain mechanical-type and modification-type blue-grade materials.
"Mecha Spindle, Modified? And that last line of the description!" Luke gave an involuntary start.
A material’s quality exerted a degree of influence over the finished card, which was why Card Masters maintained strict classifications of grade and type for the materials fed into the Card Editor. A difference in a single material’s grade or type alone could potentially affect the final success rate, as well as the strength of the resulting card spirit.
But the Mecha Spindle, Modified that Luke had synthesized through Multiple Fusion could, to a certain degree, substitute for certain materials, which meant that materials synthesized through Multiple Fusion possessed far broader applicability.
More important still was the fact that the synthesized Mecha Spindle, Modified was only a green-grade material, and yet it could now stand in for certain mechanical-type or modification-type blue-grade materials. Even if it could only replace a limited handful of materials, this broke through the original boundaries entirely.
"As expected, the hidden Authority has enormous room to be mined. If the materials I synthesize down the line can all, to some degree, substitute for higher-grade materials, then when I craft top-tier cards in the future, I’ll hold a far greater advantage than anyone else!" Grasping the implication, Luke couldn’t help growing excited.
To put it in concrete terms, take crafting a Seven-Star card. An ordinary Card Master would need blue-grade materials as the basis, whereas Luke would need only the green-grade material synthesized through Multiple Fusion to achieve the same effect.
And by employing synthesized materials of the same grade, Luke could craft a card one full tier higher more easily than an ordinary Card Master could. The effect produced by that one addition and one subtraction together could only be called terrifying.
This was all the more true when it came to crafting the Ten-Star-and-above cards that lay beyond the high-tier brackets later on. Materials at that level commanded prices far beyond imagination, to the point of being priced yet unobtainable, often requiring a Card Master to venture deep into dangerous territories to acquire them.
"Crafting Kisara might require purple-grade materials, and crafting the X-Antibody evolution cards might even demand orange-grade. But now, with the materials Multiple Fusion produces, there’s a strong chance I’ll only need blue-grade and purple-grade materials to craft both of those cards."
"The workload of fusing all those materials might be considerable, but paired with Simulated Construction, that’s merely a matter of time." Mid-thought, another green-grade material surfaced in Luke’s hand. For now, all of this was only conjecture; verifying it would require further testing.
Multiple Fusion activated once more, mana welling up inside him. This time, however, the two green-grade materials did not synthesize into a higher blue-grade material under Luke’s blending.
But he quickly understood the reason. Under Mana and Blanc’s watchful gaze, Luke drew out two more green-grade materials and activated Multiple Fusion yet again.
This time, four green-grade materials fused together without the slightest resistance into a single new blue-grade material.
"Just as I thought. The blue-grade material obtained through synthesis can likewise substitute, to a degree, for purple-grade material." Gazing at the newly obtained blue-grade material in his hand, Luke turned the matter over. "Synthesizing green-grade and white-grade materials only requires two low-grade materials each. But at the blue grade, the energy required for synthesis climbs considerably, which doubles the quantity of materials needed."
After his first attempt had failed earlier, it was precisely because he’d noticed this that he’d drawn out two more green-grade materials and re-activated the Authority. And the result had been exactly as he’d surmised.
"What about synthesizing a purple-grade material, then?" No sooner thought than done, Luke continued putting the Multiple Fusion Authority through its paces.
The successive rounds of Multiple Fusion cost him a fair amount of mana, but with several mana crystals inside him, he had more than enough to sustain continued testing.
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