Published at 26th of June 2021 2:00 pm

Chapter 121: Rebuilding and Strengthening the City (1)

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

“Here. Take this.”

There was not one, but two masterpieces that Shiram had left behind. The first one was a staff, so it didn’t seem to be something one could simply put on, like a robe or pair of earrings. It looked similar to the object Shiram had used to examine the dragon’s heart.

“Is that what you were using before…?”

“Oh. This is different. The first one had a ray of penetrating light that help see through.” Shiram said. He then took out the cylinder he had used before, activating the mouthpiece of the cylinder shaped object and the light directly shone on Ian’s body. They could see clearly through his flesh to his bones and intestines. It was literally a ‘penetrating’, see through light, just as he said.

“Of course, you could use this too.” Shiram said, gesturing to Ian.

For Ian, it wasn’t a tool or skill he needed. First of all, the see through abilities were common, and mages had their own see through abilities.

“Instead, this might be more interesting.”

A stream of blue light shot out from the cylinder straight at Ian again. Another strange view occurred, and even Ian seemed stunned.

“This is called the dwarf light.”

The name was quite fitting, as Ian shrank in size. Not just halfway, but Ian’s height now reached a grown man’s ankle, and he was the size of a fist.

“What the…”

As for Ian, it seemed as if the whole world had turned bigger. Of course, he soon realized what was going on. It was he himself who had become smaller.

“If you shine the white light with the crystal ball on the other end…”

Even with magic, there was no such thing as a shrinking spell. Of course, it wouldn’t be impossible for Ian to come up with a spell. It would just take a lot of his time and energy.

“…he grows back to normal.” The crystal ball on the other side shone on Ian, and he grew back to normal size, no less and no more than before. He was perfectly ‘back to normal’.

“It really is an interesting object like you said.” Ian murmured, and nodded before adding, “Although I have no idea where I would use it.”

“That depends on your imagination. As for myself, I was able to work on details in my projects. You wouldn’t need this for such reasons but I want you to consider. I can guarantee you there are no side effects to using this.”

It depended on one’s imagination. Ian fell deeply in thought. Then, he thought of an idea.

‘Hold on.’

He had to clarify something.

“So… here’s the next object…” Shiram was saying.

“Can I try using it now?” Ian asked.

“Huh?” Shiram answered, then nodded.

“I’m talking about the dwarf light.”

Shiram then nodded at Ian’s request.

‘Do I simply need to inject mana in?”

“It can be used like that, yes.”

It was a cylinder with two crystal balls on each end. Ian took the object in his hands. He looked at the artisans.

“Will you help me?”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I need to experiment with something.”

What was he trying to experiment? The artisans were hesitant. Just then, Cleven stepped up, excited.

“I’ll help you!” he exclaimed.

“What would you like me to do?” Cleven asked.

“Simple. First of all…”

Ian activated the Dwarf Light, aiming it at Cleven, whose memories were not perfectly intact. His body, which was already small in size, shrank to the size of a small mouse. His naïve, young looks added on to his small size, making him look quite cute. The new look was natural on him as well.

“Would you mind stepping in here for a moment?” Ian asked, motioning towards the mouth part of his pouch. Ian was asking him to get inside the pouch.

“No, not at all! I will!”

Cleven approached the pouch without the slightest bit of suspicion. In exact words, he was carried over on Ian’s hand.

“Whoa…!” Cleven exclaimed, peering inside the pouch. A spectacular sight awaited him, different from the world they were in now, and he saw a night sky full of stars. It was a view that couldn’t be described with words.

“Here I go!”

Cleven jumped off Ian’s hand, and his small body was sucked into Ian’s four-dimensional pouch. Ian then tied his pouch and tied it to his side before moving in different directions. He moved short distances using teleportation and the Blink Spell, as well as flying up and landing back on the ground.

“This should be enough…”

Some time had passed, and Ian took out his pouch again. He opened up his pouch and reached inside, as if he was taking something out.

“Sir Cleven, please climb on my hand if you can.” He murmured quietly into the pouch. He didn’t have to reach around in search of Cleven.

“I will get you out of there now.” Ian said, feeling something climb up on his hand. He pulled his hand out of the pouch and there was Cleven.

“How was it?”

“It was amazing!” Cleven responded excitedly. It seemed he had quite an interesting experience.

“Well, first of all,” he continued, “I was floating around, and there were other things in there too. They were too far away for me to see though. I could breathe in there just fine, too. Oh, and I could hear you just fine, Master Ian. I could see your hand, too.” Cleven testified, nonstop. It seemed the rules of physics worked differently inside Ian’s pouch. Ian had his guesses, but now, he was certain.

‘I can put anything in here now.’ Ian thought.

There was one problem, though. It was the width of the pouch. The size of the objects didn’t matter as long as he was able to put them in his bag. The problem was putting them in his bag. The mouth of the pouch was only the size of four fists.

‘So far, it was impossible for me to save objects if they were wider than the pouch itself.’

He had had no problem storing objects such as his cane, which was not wide, or his cloak, which he could fold into a smaller size, into his pouch. The problem was the objects that were bigger than the mouth of the pouch no matter how he stored it.

‘The dragon’s heart, for example.’ Ian thought.

It was impossible to store the large black sphere of the dragon’s heart. Or rather, it was impossible until a few minutes ago. Not anymore.

‘One can even breathe in this pouch. And it won’t even touch other objects.’

The pouch was the best way to teleport a large number of people quickly and easily.

‘And it will be easy for me to protect.’

The wand seemed to be much more useful than he realized, and he knew it could be used in so many other ways.

“Thank you for this.” Ian said thankfully.

“No problem.” Shiram answered.

Ian turned Cleven back to normal.

“I want to hear about your second work you have to give me.”

“Oh, now this, is a true masterpiece of mine.” Ian noticed Shiram’s voice was full of confidence.

“It’s called a boom stick.” Shiram said.

“A boom stick? What’s that?”

The ‘boom stick’ was in the form of a dented boomerang. It had a pipe stuck on front with a metal handgrip on the back.

“I named it that way.”

It didn’t have a crystal ball on the ends like the Dwarf Light. In fact, it wasn’t big enough to have crystal balls stuck on either end. After all, it was only as thick as the size of two fingers.

“First, stick this marble in…” A dark blue marble was handed over with the boom stick.

“Ah, not a marble,” Shiram said, correcting himself. “It’s a storage. A mana storage.”

“Is there such thing as a mana storage that is as small as this?”

“I haven’t released it out into the world yet. It may seem worthless, but its storage amount is at the third-class. It’s a storage that would be worth releasing ten years from now. It’s too early if I release it now.”

Ian couldn’t help feeling surprised. He remembered the enormous fourth-class storage of mana he had broke when he became an official mage. There was no way this small marble could store third-class mana.

‘Amazing.’

This mage technology was so superior than that of the present. It was the perfect example of ‘black technology’.

“Keep watching. Stick the marble in here, and aim at your target with the end of the cylinder. And if you pull on this ring here, which is the trigger…”

Shiram gripped the ‘boom stick’, this piece of metal in shape of a boomerang, and positioned his finger over the trigger. He then aimed into midair where there was no one standing.

PSSSHHH

As soon as Shiram pulled the trigger, a spell was cast with a loud bang. Everyone wondered what spell it could be, before it became obvious that it was ‘magic missile’, which was a Class 1 spell, that had just been shot.

“I can shoot multiple bullets as well.” Shiram said proudly, and pulled the trigger several times, and the number of magic missiles shot out as many times as he had pulled the trigger. It was much stronger than any normal magic missile.

“What do you think?”

“If this is something that is activated by stored mana, can it be used by people who cannot summon mana?” Ian asked. “Like… ordinary humans.”

“Of course.” Shiram answered, handing the boom stick over to Ian.

It was an amazing masterpiece, but…

‘I wouldn’t need it that much.’ Ian thought.

Ian was an 8th class mage. He had an infinity amount of mana in store. He had no need for a magic missile shooting object. Of course, things would be different if this went to another owner.

“Is it possible for you to make a mass production of these?”

“A mass production?” Shiram asked, as if he hadn’t expected this question at all. Then, he understood.

“It’s possible,” he replied, “but I have no intention of doing so.”

“I understand.”

“You catch on very quickly.”

Ian hadn’t asked the reason this couldn’t be mass produced. He had understood immediately.

‘It’s too early for such a product like this.’

The weapon exceeded the mage technology of the present, and the boom stick was at its highest level. Such products were too early for their own good.

Ian was about to give up when Shiram started, “However- I am not sure whether there will be such skilled artisans of this generation other than myself and the ones here on this island. If you find an engineer of this generation, someone who is not gifted as we are, and they are able to figure out the physics of this object and make a copy… I will then permit a mass production through that person. That applies to the functions and strength of the weapon.”

This was unexpected. It was a permission that had many meanings.

“I understand,” Ian said, and nodded, although he was not sure whether it would be possible.

‘There’s bound to be a genius somewhere.’

The mage Ian. Oliver, the master of martial arts. Douglas the alchemist. They were all of this generation. There was no reason for a genius master of mage engineering to not exist.

“You have fulfilled all of the requirements, so I give you all rights to the dragon’s heart.” Ian said, and Shiram looked at the heart. The more one looked at it, the more they saw it was such a magnificent and amazing object.

“I shall make an object fitting for you, Young Master, just as I have for my other friends. I cannot make any promises. However…” Shiram trailed off.

“I will make the same promise I made to Sir Fran. I will make something interesting for you. Something that will be of help to you.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Ian replied.

* * *

The scars that had been left in the city by the dragon soldiers were healed more quickly than anyone expected. It was all thanks to Ian Page, and the ‘magic’ and value of names.

“In comparison to the damage this has caused on the entire city, there has been minimal harm on the lives of the people. It’s quite a relief. This is because the king His Majesty has personally…”

Just like the report was being stated to the king and crown prince, few lives were lost - a lot less than expected. Ian’s magic had played a big role in this. After all, had he not the power to destroy thousands of dragon soldiers all at once, and cast the Barrier Spell on every citizen?

“I wouldn’t call that a relief.”

“I… I… My apologies, sir!” the servant begged.

Ian’s name alone was also quite influential. The capital is the heart of a nation. The walls protecting the heart of the land was demolished. Yet, there was no movement so far, either from the enemies or the rebels from within the kingdom.

“My lord, we just received a report that the delegation from the dukedom has just crossed the borders.”

“Already?” the king replied. “We received a letter from them only a few days ago.”

Rather than the tension of war, there had only been helping hands from other nations. There were not only workers, but resources being sent to rebuild the city. The reason was simple. Rather than the city itself, it was the name of Ian the mage who had solved the city’s problems immediately. No nation had the intention of starting a war with Ian Page around. This was their way of surviving.

“Hayden, would you like to greet the delegation?”

“My lord, please send the other princes. I would like to remain here in the city.”

“Do you have a specific reason?”

“I would like to help with Haileyy and Mrs. Page with their work.”

Princess Haileyy and Vanessa Page, who had been named as the “Page Foundation” were also playing a big role in restoring the city by having personal belongings returned. They were playing a big role in directly solving the people’s immediate problems. The crown prince also preferred to take matters into his own hands.

“Please send the other princes, Father.”

“You should take the roles of diplomacy seriously as well, my son.”

“I have decided… not to greed over too many things, Father.” The crown prince replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I am going to take things slowly.”

This was the policy of the crown prince, a policy he had made for himself.

“I am not as talented, yet. I have decided to admit that. It is right that I should become professional in every aspect as you, Father, but as of now, I would like to do my best in what I can, while I leave other jobs to those who can handle it well.”

The king’s eyes shone at his words. Was this really the crown prince? The crown prince, the first son, had always been the cause of worry. Hayden Greenriver, the crown prince?

‘Amazing.’ The king thought.

The crown prince admitted to his weaknesses. He wanted to leave roles to professionals. It wasn’t a bad policy at all. The king nodded, as long as he chose the right men for the roles… He smiled gracefully.

“If that is the case, go on. This right now, would be the best experience for you to take care of your people, as a true king should.”

“I will be off then, Father.”

Prince Hayden slipped out of the office. Oliver, who had been waiting on him outside the room, immediately followed, then kept a steady pace.

“Whoo!” the crown prince breathed out a sigh. He then murmured to Oliver.

“Leader! You should have seen him - you should have seen how my father looked at me with those eyes! I have never seen him looking at me in such a content way!”

“Congratulations, young prince.”

“Well… I have matured recently, haven’t I?”

“Well… that, my lord - ”

“Hm? What’s that?”

“…Nothing, my lord.” Oliver replied and smiled slightly. It was enough proof that Hayden hadn’t matured enough to say that he had. But what did it matter? The important thing was that his master, the crown prince, was finally walking the path of a true king.

‘May you never lose that, young prince.’ Oliver thought, hoping with all his mind as he followed the prince.

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