Chapter 28: Repairing a Magic Tool
Unedited*
Although Lucius wanted to search for mana marks on his own—trying to diversify his marks because he realized the danger of powerful spells like Meteor Strike on his current body—he found nothing even after a full day of searching.
He couldn’t find the ones he wanted, so he gave up and returned to the academy. He would search more calmly another day.
Back at the Academy, in the Tool Creation Department.
The professor and the students were waiting patiently for his return, so when they saw them arrive, they stood up immediately.
The professor frowned as he looked at the mana mark they were holding.
"You really succeeded in such a short time," said the professor.
Lucius smiled slightly, though he said nothing. Because of fear, most people don’t usually use "trickery" to catch their prey, unless you’re stronger than they are.
They usually get straight to the point and wouldn’t detour to catch a Hairless Rabbit first, in this case, because it could be very dangerous. After all, jaguars aren’t the only predators of Hairless Rabbits. But that’s still very risky if you aren’t strong enough.
Instead, he used tactics because he knows each of that rabbit’s predators very well and knows how to avoid their hiding places or territories. That’s why it’s easier for him to hunt beasts, thanks to his years of experience.
"I think we can start at any moment. Would you like to do it today?" Lucius asked the professor.
The professor grabbed his chair and proceeded to sit down near where all the magical tools were. "Go ahead. I want to see with my own eyes if it’s true that you can repair these magical tools."
Lucius nodded and looked at Clara, who was standing nervously beside him. "Let’s do this. Just follow my lead," he whispered to her.
She swallowed slightly but nodded.
Over the past few hours, Lucius had taught her how to repair certain types of tools in a simple way. Although she hadn’t managed to learn much because it had been such a short time, she had managed to grasp a few things. As long as she followed what Lucius did, she believed she could fix the tool she was assigned.
Lucius proceeded to sit down at a workbench previously set up by the students, where the tool he had to restore was located.
In front of him was Clara’s workbench, far enough away that Lucius couldn’t speak to her without the others hearing, but close enough that she could watch him.
The professor had thought through every possible scenario and didn’t want to be outsmarted, so he did it that way. He made it harder for them.
"Although it’s relatively easy." Lucius looked at the tool in front of him.
He examined the pieces of the tool carefully and got to work right away.
He grabbed some simple items: nails and basic tools for removing rust. He took advantage of the fact that the teacher had given him some useful liquids to make the job easier and faster, and put them to use.
With simple materials, he began cleaning off the rust and discarding some parts that were unnecessary or simply needed to be rebuilt from scratch.
As he worked, the rest of the students watched intently.
"Do you think he’ll be able to fix it?" One of the students sitting in the group asked another.
The other didn’t know what to say, but still shook his head.
"I don’t think so. I’ve never heard that Lucius Asturias was any good at it. Although I did hear that about that girl once."
"So she’s the one most likely to pass the test?"
"Technically, yes."
Just then, they heard a voice coming from behind them. "You won’t be able to repair them. Those tools are too damaged for anyone to bring them back to life."
The students turned around. "Professor..."
The professor smiled. "However, you’re skilled enough to bring back such a complicated Beast Mark... I must commend you." He had recognized them as two capable individuals.
"I think you will be able to fix it," said one of the quietest and most reserved students in the room suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at him, making him feel uncomfortable.
And since no one said anything—they were trying to process his "stupidity"—he swallowed hard and spoke again.
"I mean... I don’t know much; I’ve just read a lot of books. But according to the theory I read in those books, the way you repair tools reminds me of what’s described in very ancient texts. The way you move your hands... the simple method you used to remove all the rust and break through several mana channels... I don’t know much, but if you keep this up, maybe you could..." He lowered his head at the end, realizing it was just a maybe.
The teacher mocked him at that moment. "The problem lies in your own words. It’s only a matter of whether he can keep this up. But you’re barely at the easiest part. He won’t be able to perform the same way when he has to reconnect mana channels. He made the mistake of removing several sections of the channels because they were too rusty; what he should have done was leave them there and try to use them, since those channels require unique constructions that only large factories or some great toolmaker can make."
"..." The student fell silent.
Some mocked him, which made him clench his fists. But he still believed that Lucius could repair it, and he didn’t know why. Perhaps it was just a foolish dream of witnessing the birth of a legend, under the mocking gaze of those who despised him.
And so, they continued on.
The minutes ticked by, and Lucius went about everything patiently. Meanwhile, Clara tried to hide her nervousness by moving more slowly than Lucius.
She memorized each of Lucius’s movements and tried to copy them. She also tried to apply her own knowledge, though that proved more difficult.
At some point, Lucius stood up.
The teacher stared at him and was about to mock him for giving up, but Lucius ignored him and walked over to the pile of old tools lying there.
He searched through them carefully and pulled out a few tools in poor condition.
Then he returned to his seat.
Some were shocked by what he did, but suddenly their eyes widened.
He was using materials and parts from the other tools to replace the parts on the main one. And he did so with impressive mastery and spectacular skill.
He took the mana channels, cleaned them, and removed them from their original locations, then connected them to the channels he had taken from the main tool.
In some places, he didn’t connect them; he simply compacted the entire tool. This was something the professor didn’t look kindly upon.
However, he didn’t criticize him either.
Even he wasn’t sure if that would work. Nevertheless, over time, he had learned to keep quiet.
He didn’t say another word about any of it, because the entire process Lucius had followed was too precise. Even he wasn’t aware of many of the things Lucius had done.
And so, an hour passed.
During that entire hour, the previously broken magic tool had been reformed into the magic tool it once was.
At least the structure was the same.
It was a battle-type tool, similar to the ones Lucius had repaired before, but this one wasn’t holographic—it was a physical object. All of its parts were very well defined.
To complete it, he had to implant the three mana marks and connect them to the rest of the structure. Lucius didn’t do this one at a time, as all toolmakers do to avoid making mistakes. He did all three at the same time.
He no longer had anything to show Clara, since she had already followed his lead in everything she needed to fix her tool, so he could take the liberty of finishing faster.
He grabbed each of the mana marks and began "embedding" them using mana into the three cores inside the tool.
It was a long process, since everything had to be perfectly positioned so that none of the marks interfered with the others.
Since it was a learning-type magic tool with three different markings, it had three different combat modes. If one interfered with the other, all its programming would short-circuit and it simply wouldn’t work.
That’s why he had to be careful while doing it.
However, it didn’t take him very long. It took far less time than anyone might have expected.
When he finished, he stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked closely at the refurbished magic tool.
Without thinking too much about it, he pressed the button to activate it...
It shook briefly for a few seconds before standing up. It didn’t stumble at all.
It took a few steps forward and opened its eyes... they were yellow eyes, like those of a jaguar.
Lucius nodded when he saw that it had entered the correct state. He circled around it to check its posture and had it perform a few movements before deactivating that button and activating another.
The magical tool deactivated for a moment and then reactivated.
This time its eyes were red and resembled those of a snake.
Once again, Lucius deactivated it after checking a few things and activated the other button, the last one.
Finally, the eyes returned to a yellow hue, but with different patterns than the first ones.
’The mana flow is correct.’ Lucius nodded.
He was done.
