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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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Exactly three weeks remained until the Ironhammer Exhibition in the Dwarven Allied Kingdom. Time was tight.
I needed to complete my entry, “Returned Honor,” before the departure date, but I was facing a problem.
I still hadn’t figured out how Black Obsidian generated dark mana.
“Hmm… I’ve managed to combine mana with positive emotions, but…”
It wasn’t that I hadn’t made any progress.
After spending the entire past weekend engrossed in research with Fix, aside from four hours of sleep, I had successfully combined mana with courage and valor, instead of rage and hatred.
I had fulfilled the first condition for restoring it to a holy sword.
The problem was that Black Obsidian’s core mana stone only accepted the “red haze.”
It didn’t even recognize the “golden haze” produced from courage and sacrifice.
‘And I still need to deal with the dark magic power.’
Black Obsidian still primarily used dark magic power. It was a far cry from the dwarven artifact that once radiated holy energy.
The dwarves wouldn’t be impressed with this half-baked restoration.
“Haa… What’s the problem? I’ve tried almost every hypothesis.”
I was growing anxious.
The deadline was approaching, but the sword modification and research were at a standstill. What was I missing?
“You look troubled.”
A voice suddenly broke through my thoughts.
It was Elena.
“…Master.”
“What’s wrong? If it’s spell-related, I can help.”
Elena came closer.
I explained the problem.
“Hmm… In that case, we need to examine the core mana stone.”
Elena activated her Azure Eyes, her eyes were glowing with a blue light.
After examining the spells inscribed on the core mana stone, she said with a smile,
“Ed, this is different from what you described.”
Different from what I described?
That couldn’t be.
I had clearly shown Elena the symbols of the spell and asked her about it.
She had said it was an emotion-related spell.
How could it be a different spell now?
“Fufu. You look confused. That’s understandable. You can’t see the ‘overlapping’ spells without activating Azure Eyes.”
Ah.
So, that was it.
There was a difference between seeing with Azure Eyes and seeing normally.
“Then, what is the overlapping spell?”
“It seems to be a memory-related spell. A powerful thought is embedded within it. It’s so strong that it could be considered the main spell. It’s controlling the emotion spell.”
A memory spell controlling the emotion spell.
A lightbulb went off in my head.
I thought I knew what memory was embedded in the demonic sword.
‘It’s rejecting other emotions because of the memory. A painful memory.’
Memory and emotion were closely intertwined.
Recalling a memory always evoked corresponding emotions.
For example, when remembering a kiss with your ideal partner, you indirectly experience the sensation and the resulting stimulation.
This indirect experience triggers hormone release and evokes emotions.
Just recalling a memory can evoke feelings.
‘The thought embedded in this sword only accepts rage and hatred. So…’
A memory that evoked rage and hatred.
That memory, imprinted as a thought, was controlling the sword.
This meant that if I removed the thought, I could restore the demonic sword to its original state.
“Master.”
“Yes?”
But I wasn’t just going to remove the thought.
I knew everything about this demonic sword.
I intended to extract and preserve the thought.
It would be useful for the Ironhammer Exhibition.
“Can you separate the memory spell and the emotion spell?”
“Hmm…”
Elena paused to consider, then nodded.
“Yes, it’s possible. But there will be strong resistance.”
“Resistance?”
“Yes. This thought itself is the will of the sword. The dark magic power will try to kill me.”
“…Will you be alright?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am? I can just overpower it.”
Elena looked confident.
Despite her occasional clumsiness, she was still an Archmage.
However, my next request would be a challenging mission, even for her.
“Then, can you extract the thought without damaging it and convert the memory into a visual recording?”
“……”
Elena frowned.
Then, she scratched her head and replied,
“Uh… it’s possible, but it will take some time. It’s a very delicate process. It’s like… trying to count grains of rice in a paper bag, one by one, with chopsticks. And there’s a strong wind blowing, so you have to shield the rice while counting. It’s a very stressful task.”
In other words, she could do it, but she didn’t want to.
Her face practically screamed, “I don’t want to do that.”
But I needed her to do it.
“Master! I implore you!”
I grabbed her hands with both of mine.
Her shoulders twitched, and her cheeks flushed red.
“W-What are you doing?! I-I have… c-classes…”
“Cancel them.”
“What?”
“This is a serious matter. If you succeed, we can immediately resolve the diplomatic issue with the dwarves.”
“……”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. You can make up for the missed classes with supplementary lessons or assignments. Please focus on this for now.”
I didn’t attend Elena’s classes anyway, so replacing them with assignments wouldn’t affect me at all.
Elena considered for a moment and replied,
“Alright. I suppose I have no choice.”
She sighed and agreed to my request.
As I released her hands, she coughed and glanced at me, her cheeks were still flushed.
“Ahem. Then…”
But her embarrassment was short-lived.
She quickly focused on Black Obsidian’s core mana stone, which began to float in the air.
Keeping her gaze fixed on the stone, she said,
“Ed, I’ll be separating the thought. Please inform my teaching assistant. Tell him to cancel today’s class, distribute the class materials, and assign homework.”
So, the class ended up with a homework assignment.
I nodded and left the lab.
I felt sorry for the students who suddenly received a homework assignment, but what could I do?
As long as it wasn’t me, it was fine.
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When I returned to the lab after delivering the bomb to Elena’s teaching assistant, it was in chaos.
Dark magic power was raging and lashing out in every direction.
“Oh, you’re back.”
But Elena looked calm.
She was suppressing the dark magic power with her own mana, like a mother soothing a child, while working on separating the spells.
Only an Archmage with her monstrous mana capacity could employ such a brute-force method.
“How long will it take?”
“Hmm… About nine hours?”
…Nine hours of this tedious work.
Only Elena, with her unique mana receptors, could sustain such mana consumption for so long.
“Thank you for your hard work. You’re the only one I can rely on, Master.”
I thanked her and sat down.
I had other research to do.
After some time, while I was studying computer sorting algorithms, Elena spoke.
“Phew! I’m done.”
Wiping the sweat from her brow, she placed the core mana stone, which had been floating in the air, back on the table.
As she said, the two spells were now separated.
The memory spell containing the thought had been transferred to another mana stone I had provided.
“Thank you for your hard work, Master. You’ve done so much.”
I said that and offered her a cold drink from the refrigerator.
Elena drank it in one gulp and placed the empty glass on the table with a refreshed expression.
She glanced at the clock and said,
“Well, it didn’t take nine hours after all. I finished in four.”
“That’s because you’re my master.”
“Fufu. Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Elena smiled, pleased with my compliment.
Now that we had successfully separated the memory spell, it was time to test whether Black Obsidian could accept other emotions.
I drank a self-made “Potion of Courage” and generated a golden haze.
I then placed my hand on Black Obsidian’s core mana stone.
-Woooong…
It worked.
It was absorbing the golden haze.
It was functioning as the holy sword it once was.
Elena smiled brightly.
“Congratulations. You did it.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Master.”
We celebrated our success with laughter.
We had solved a problem that had seemed insurmountable just a day ago, and there were still three weeks left.
The synergy between experts from different fields was truly remarkable.
“Now, shall we see what memory is contained in the extracted thought?”
But we weren’t going to rest just because we finished early.
If the memory in the thought magic was what I suspected it was, then I needed to set the stage for an effective presentation.
“Yes. I’m also curious about what memory turned this holy sword into a demonic sword. Let’s play it back.”
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Yep pretty much everyone’s mindset nowadays lol. As long as it wasn’t me who was troubled, it was fine either way.