Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Magic Materials

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Author’s Note: The story will continue with their preparations a little bit more.

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Okay, it’s night time!

Perhaps in response to the scolding he received from miss Bella, Haster is behaving himself tonight.

Let’s take this opportunity to make Yig’s equipment!

First is the leather collar, but since it had a jade ornament on it, I can go ahead and [Enchant] that gem.

Jade has four enchant slots.

In those I’ll put [Signal], which continuously gives off a weak bit of magic power, and [Toughness] to keep it from breaking.

Furthermore, I’ll add [Maintained] to extend the transmission time, and then put [Strength] in there as the incomplete part.

“But this is really small… It’s kinda tough… with my abilities—yeowch?!”

Carving in the magic circle is difficult because of how tiny the attached jewel is. I ended up cutting my finger.

If it was just a little bigger, then I could [Burn] it in like usual…

“Yuuri, did you hurt yourself?”

“Yeah, a bit. But it will heal soon.”

“Telling me to leave it alone because “Golden Ratio” will heal it is a little worrying to me as a man though.”

Saying that, he took my injured finger and clamped down on it with his mouth.

Awawawa, my finger, in his mouth! It’s getting all tangled up with his tongue, and feels a little g… Makes me feel strange… Ha?!

“I-it’s fine now, so I’ll get back to work!”

It feels surprisingly good to have my finger licked. I’ll try it too next time.

Anyway, there’s work to do. Focus.

“You’re carving it onto here? What are you planning to carve?”

“[Signal], [Toughness], [Maintained], and an incomplete [Strength].”

Since I’m trying to carve four combined magic circles into a small Jade surface that’s not even one centimeter, of course it would be tough.

Especially for me, since I’m clumsy.

“Those are all spell patterns that I know, so I’ll handle it. You can go take care of some other work while I’m at it.”

“Just what I would expect of my master. You’re so reliable ‘when you’re being serious’.”

“That last part was unnecessary.”

He’s more than dexterous enough to handle something this size.

I can take care of adding the magic power to it later. I’ll start on creating a different item.

“Right, maybe I should carve something into this earring too. What do you think, Yig?”

“Ugyu?”

“… Hurry and get bigger so you can let me ride you, okay?”

Not knowing about magic spells, he tilts his head while I hug him and consider the contents of the [Enchantment].

Since the pink shell earring is extremely fragile, it’s not exactly suited to be a magic tool.

Maybe if I wrap a belt around his horn, and then decorate it as a necklace… But then there’s no real point in enchanting the earring, is there?

“Hmmm…”

I guess turning it into a magic tool would be impossible. Which means I could find some other way to use it, but…

Shell… Calcium carbonate… Was it hydrochloric acid that reacted with it?

“… Yep, that’s a no go. I don’t have much of a background in science; I can’t think of any effective way to use it. Save me, MacGyver!”

“Who?”

“It’s the name of a Hero from back when I was a child. He’s an amazing person who could get into anywhere with a single knife, and do what he needed to do there using only what was at the scene.”

“That’s amazing. I’d like to meet him sometime.”

“That’s absolutely impossible.”

“Why…?”

Because the person is an American.

Now, more importantly, about the next product… I may have an idea.

“Yig, can you mold magic power?”

“Uyu?”

“Like… Go hnnnn, and then work it around like whooom, and then release it like Myomyooon.”

“… Even I didn’t understand that.”

It’s hard to explain because it’s more of a feeling thing.

But, hmmm… I thought about it looking at mister Oreas’ dragon claw staff, but…

“We have live materials here, so would “turning claws into magic tools” be impossible as they are?”

“Turning claws into magic tools as they are?”

“Yeah, claws don’t have nerves running through them, and they’re excellent magic materials, so I was wondering if I could use them as is.”

“I’ve… Never thought of that. Except claws grow, so wouldn’t it be difficult to turn them into any lasting magic tool?”

“It’s fine as long as it lasts for a week.”

“I suppose so.”

Let’s see… First I’ll test it on my own nails.

I’ve learned from that time with Haster. I won’t repeat the same mistake again.

“Burn the [Light Orb] formula shallowly into my nail, and… Ah, it healed already?!”

“Golden Ratio” started healing as soon as the burn went on.

It won’t even bother with scratches, but it fixes the shape of my nails in an instant… Is it placing different importance depending on the part?

“Let’s try it on my nail. Yuuri, put the formula on for me.”

“Okay. Then we’ll go with [Light Orb], since it won’t make a mess of the room.”

“Sounds good.”

I create the shape of the magic circle with a weak flame, and carve the formula into his nail.

Normally I would add magic power to it afterward, but I’m carving it into his body, which already has magic power. There’s probably no real need to add any to it.

“All done. The command words are “O light”.”

“Got it. Then here goes…”

“Oh, I wonder if it’ll explode?”

“Hey, now you say that?!”

“I’m joking. Besides, even if it did explode, it would just be the tip of your finger. It would heal right up for you.”

“Are you serious…?”

After sending me a doubtful look, he stretched his finger straight forward and chanted the command words.

“O light”

The magic circle immediately deployed in response to the command word, and a [Light Orb] was released directly in front of him.

… In other words, directly in from of my eyes.

“NUWAAAH! My eyes! MY EEEEYES!”

The deployed [Light Orb] released at his maximum magic power, and my eyes were burned like a certain colonel’s.

My sight was dyed pure white, I fell out of my chair and rolled on the floor while suppressing my agony.

“Oh, whoops.”

“Whoops doesn’t really cover it! I thought I was gonna go blind!”

Rising from the floor, I point directly at him and reveal my anger.

“Ugyu?”

“Yuuri, that’s Yig.”

“Ooh, sorry Yig. I can’t see yet.”

After a short while my sight finally returned, and I looked to verify the results.

“Haster, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Nope. Actually you’re the one who took the brunt of it.”

“How is your magic power consumption?”

“It looks like it used all of it in one [Light Ball] use. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to do any fine adjustments like this.”

This is… Actually kind of amazing, isn’t it?

Because all that needs done is to mold magic power and activate it with the command word, and whatever spell is etched into the body will activate on its own.

Even though the power output can’t be adjusted, it’s perfectly fine for emergency use.

“Hrm…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just… A long time ago there were certainly people who had magic circles tattooed into their skin, but…”

“So it really is an idea that anyone would think of.”

“They couldn’t send out this much power with it though, you know?”

“Yeah?”

Could it be a difference in the ability of the user? Or maybe a difference in the part used as a catalyst?

I confirmed that nails and claws are suited towards magic catalysts when I made mister Oreas’ staff.

Perhaps skin has low value as a catalyst or something?

“I guess we should test this on mister Oreas’ nail…?”

The results of calling him over and experimenting revealed that he didn’t have as much power output as Haster.

This pointed towards the difference in the ability of the user theory.

“But still, carving a spell into your nail…? I had no idea that could be done.”

“That’s just how Yuuri thinks. Since she doesn’t have common sense like our unwise selves, she shows sudden rhythms of progress to us.”

“My power output was apparently weak, but there are still ways to use this.”

Mister Oreas remained in the room and began discussing the effective use of this with Haster. Get the hell out of here already.

“If my power output was at your level, then it would be plenty powerful for a fight.”

“You could use it to blind opponents.”

“Mine can’t take it that far though… If it’s a magic spell that deals in mass quantities, it may be effective.”

“Like [Water Bolt] or [Fireball]? Those certainly may be optimal for blinding foes.”

“And with there being ten nails to use on our hands, it could be interesting to put different spells on each of them.”

“Hm, since my magic power increased… If I take that into account, I may be able to fire in rapid succession, though the power could drop.”

“… Oh.”

“Oh?”

I reached a possible conclusion.

On that subject, he’s immortal. His nails are probably equal to a dragon’s claws as magic material.

“Haster, could you clip your nail for me?”

“My nail?”

“It’s possible that your nail… It could be a high class magic tool material, you know?”

“Why… Oh!”

It seems he realized too.

That since becoming “Immortal” changes a person’s very nature, it probably turned into a vessel equal to a dragon’s claw.

His nails are always well kept, so he couldn’t clip a very big piece off, but we somehow managed to etch a magic spell into the clipped nail.

I chanted the command word to activated the etched [Light Ball].

A light strong enough that I felt like a heard a big VWOOM lit the area, and then disappeared.

“Like I thought…”

“So it seems. I’ll have to be careful when clipping my nails from now on.”

“Who would have thought you yourself would become material.”

“But now our verification is finished. It should be possible to use Yig’s claws in the same way.”

“But Yig won’t be able to speak a command word, right?”

“As long as he imagines it and makes a specified sound, it should work fine.”

I etch a single magic circle into Yig’s claw.

I’ve never kept his claws clipped but, just like people, there didn’t appear to be nerves running through them, which was a relief.

But still, this is just what I’d expect of Fafnir’s young.

The heat I used to burn the nail was far stronger than Haster’s… Actually, I put in enough magic power to burn iron, and somehow managed to etch it in successfully.

“Yig, I’ve put [Light Ball] into this nail so you can blind people. The command word is ‘Agya’.”

“That’s a terrible command word.”

“An’ that’s—just fine. Please give it a try, Yig.”

“Agya!”

~*~

When I woke up, it was the next morning.

What the heck was that, a stun grenade?

Leave it to a dragon to have such ridiculous magic power. I was knocked out in an instant, and when I opened my eyes the sun was rising.

In any case, that’s one countermeasure complete. If I just continue preparing countermeasures little by little like this, we should be able to manage one way or another in a week.

“M-morning. I never thought I would be able to welcome such a healthy morning.”

“Good morning, Haster. I don’t feel like I’ve slept a wink you know?”

“Ugh… kgh…”

Haster aside, I never thought I would greet the morning together with mister Oreas.

Well then, I need to think of the next one!