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Chapter 63

And right now, in front of Lea, was the giant White Phoenix Fire egg which possessed both fluidity and volatility.

“...”

Inspecting the White Phoenix Fire egg that was offered to her, she carefully picked up her brush and began to inscribe the formula she had prepared.

Scribble-

She began with inscribing the Spatial Separation enchantment which isolated and tied down the material to a different space. It was a required enchantment for the Southern Flame Feather, which tended to burn itself up if left unattended due to its strong expending properties.

However, before she could even finish inscribing the framework, the flame of the Southern Flame Feather surged from inside White Phoenix Fire, burning away the painstakingly inscribed pattern.

Aghast at how her work had literally gone up in smoke, she covered her eyes with her palms and muttered, “I’m screwed...”

Given the notoriously bad reputation of fire-attributed materials among enchanters, she had somewhat prepared herself. However, upon facing the situation that was far beyond her expectations, she felt the immediate urge to flee, her resolve this morning now seeming laughably inadequate.

How am I supposed to enchant something that resets the inscribed enchantment pattern every five seconds?

What made it worse was that the enchantments requested by Se-Hoon, the Spatial Separation and Designated Inscription enchantments, were among the most voluminous enchantments she knew. Even normally, it would take hours to inscribe, and yet she was supposed to succeed under the condition that her work would be reset every five seconds? It seemed physically impossible.

How does this even make sense? No matter how I think about it, it’s impossible. So why is he saying that it’s doable? I shouldn’t have fallen for his sweet talk. What will I do about the Ivory Tower preliminaries? Grandma seems angry, too. Should I start by just dropping out of school?

Overwhelmed by the problem at hand, all sorts of irrelevant thoughts began filling her mind. She did this every time; whenever there was an immediate challenge before her, she habitually avoided it by filling her mind with useless thoughts. And a year ago, when that incident occurred, it had pushed her over the edge, causing her current slump.

“...Ha.”

Rebecca immediately became disappointed upon noticing Lea’s condition. Part of her had hoped that Lea had actually overcome her slump, but unfortunately, it seemed Lea had merely forgotten their promise and gone astray.

Was it too much for her after all?

Her encounter with Se-Hoon seemed to have sparked something within her, but ultimately, it seemed like it wasn’t enough for her to completely shake off the slump.

Recalling the vivacious image of her granddaughter, the once first-year honor student of Borsippa, she made a bitter face before her gaze inadvertently fell on the White Phoenix Fire.

Well, he’s also being too ambitious. Although lacking knowledge about enchantments is a problem, what he’s trying to do is so absurd...

However, despite her thoughts, she remained quiet. She was here as a supervisor right now, but had it been during a lesson, she would have scolded them severely.

For him to ask for an enchantment that would seemed impossible to anyone was nothing short of harassment.

I should properly teach him about what enchantments are in the next lesson.

Currently, both granddaughter and grandmother were looking at the White Phoenix Fire with the same thought in mind—it was impossible to enchant it. However, despite their thoughts, Se-Hoon looked at Lea with a baffled expression.

“What are you doing? Why are you zoning out when I told you to enchant? My arms are going to fall off at this rate.”

Seeing him trying to urge her by beckoning with his hands, which were still holding the White Phoenix Fire, Lea’s eyebrows shot up and she glared at him sharply.

“Didn’t you just see the enchantment pattern go up in smoke after only a few seconds? How can you still say that? How am I supposed to inscribe the Spatial Separation and Designated Inscription enchantments under such a condition?!”

Although she didn’t mind that he had expectations of her, there had to be a limit to it.

She was about to continue protesting, however, Se-Hoon spoke up, a nonchalant look on his face, before she could.

“Just inscribe the enchantment within five seconds. Is that difficult?”

“Of course it is, you maniac!”

“Hmm. Really?”

Genuinely puzzled by why she was screaming, Se-Hoon continued muttering, “I don’t understand why you’re saying that despite already knowing how.”

“...What?”

Lea was originally going to retort with, “What nonsense is that?” but she held back upon suddenly remembering something.

Se-Hoon’s indifferent remark had triggered the remembrance of the structure of the White Light enchantment that she had been brainstorming for a month.

Using layers to finish the enchantment instead...

Just as dozens of layers formed a picture that looked like a single image, the White Light enchantment had been designed to be separate yet interlocking.

With that structure still in mind, she swiftly moved her brush.

Scribble-

Instead of contemplating the framework of the Spatial Separation in one go, she separated it into components that could be later connected into one enchantment.

Using this method, the entire framework was able to be completed in one breath, and mana was allowed to begin circulating. Then five seconds later, the flame of the Southern Feather once again surged from within and touched the enchantment.

However, instead of burning the enchantment pattern away, it gradually tinted the enchantment red.

Fwoosh!

Amidst the red flame, the inscriptions of the red-tinted enchantments stood out clearly on the White Phoenix Fire, like red letters on a white canvas.

“YES!!”

Seeing her enchantment successfully stay anchored on the surface of the White Phoenix Fire, her eyes widened and she turned to Se-Hoon, seeking confirmation of whether it was acceptable or not.

In response, Se-Hoon smiled and extended the White Phoenix Fire closer to her.

“Hurry up. My arm’s falling off.”

“...Okay.”

While she still didn’t know anything about the impossible, what she did know, was that the task before her was very much possible.

Finally able to put aside the myriad of distracting thoughts, she neatly dissected the patterns for Spatial Separation and Designated Inscription in her head.

Cut out the unnecessary parts of the patterns... compress only the basic frameworks...

To liken it to something, she was basically trying to assemble a robot as she pleased, focusing on each part separately and then combining the limbs last, instead of methodically building it from the bottom up.

Without hesitation, she took her brush and began densely inscribing a pattern with every touch. She cut, attached, overlayed, and then finally combined the different parts of the enchantment patterns on the White Phoenix Fire.

Meanwhile, the flame of the Southern Flame Feather continued to surge, bathing each pattern in flames and spreading cracks throughout the White Phoenix Fire egg.

Crack!

Like a real egg about to hatch, the White Phoenix Fire shook violently.

Upon the unusual sight, In-Cheol and Rebecca immediately stood up from their seats to get a better view. In contrast, the two people with the best view—from directly in front—didn’t even blink an eye.

“Just a little... a little more...!”

Although Lea had finished inscribing all of the enchantment patterns Se-Hoon had asked for, the power of the Southern Flame Feather still remained uncontrolled. And if it was left that way, the patterns she had painstakingly inscribed would disperse in vain. Thus, she didn’t let her brush stop moving and continued to add parts of enchantment patterns that came to her mind.

Shape Fixation, Consciousness Projection, Psychic Synchronization...

Each additional part intertwined with the already existing enchantments, adding new functions that amplified one another.

A moment later, barely making it in time, Lea finally managed to fill up the White Phoenix Fire with inscribed enchantments.

Crack-

Seconds later, the Southern Flame Feather broke the shell, unleashing its full potential.

Now fully unleashed, its own flames, as well as the flames of the White Pheonix Fire, collapsed inward as if being sucked into the core, compressing.

The Southern Flame Feather’s true potential, which would have originally just burned away, had started its attempt to be reborn, using the inscribed enchantments as its base.

This would be fairly usable as is, but...

This time, the Southern Flame Feather was merely playing second fiddle to the main material for the equipment being forged.

Wrapping the Scarlet Flame Wheel around his hands, Se-Hoon immediately covered the compressing flames.

Fwoosh!

Although some flames managed to seep through the gaps between his fingers, he was slowly able to gain control over the raging wild flames by using the flow of the Scarlet Flame Wheel.

Directing the Southern Flame Feather flames to follow the flow he created, they gradually intertwined and knotted with each other, calming down with each knot.

Soon after, the leaking flames and the vibrations against his palms stopped and a soft light began flowing out from between his fingers.

Seeing this, he carefully spread his hands out and saw the red letters embroidered in the air.

The flame’s formulas, connected as one and endlessly circulating, had taken shape.

Are those... what I inscribed? Lea thought, blankly looking at the elegant and magnificent shapes.

She had inscribed the enchantments at the moment they came to her without any verification at all. Despite that, however, the chaotic enchantment patterns perfectly meshed with the Southern Flame Feather, vividly bringing it to life.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this sort of feeling.

For the first time in a long while, the sight of her work reminded her of the times before she fell into a slump, back when she had been a confident enchanter.

Many emotions surged within her, a sense of regret among them.

I could have done better.

Would such a moment come again? Just as suddenly as it had come, the sensation had already begun to fade, leaving her with a bittersweet expression.

“You did well.”

Seeing the Southern Flame Feather, Se-Hoon smiled.

“With this, we can start right away.”

“...?”

Wonder what he meant by start, Lea wore a puzzled expression. However, instead of explaining, Se-Hoon just turned his gaze toward the workbench.

There, a piece of white ivory, inscribed with a geomantic pattern, was hovering in the air. Finding the target he was looking for—the Dream Ivory which was capable of traversing the boundary between reality and dreams—Se-Hoon immediately reached out with his left hand.

Flying toward the Dream Ivory, the precise red enchantments began wrapping around it, slowly lifting it even higher into the air. Everyone watched Se-Hoon control the flames of the Southern Flame Feather like a part of his body with pure amazement.

Moments later, purple mana began to flow out of the Dream Ivory, and its edges started to blur.

Noticing the weight of the flames becoming lighter, he heightened his senses even more.

This is just the beginning.

The basic characteristic of dream mana was Dream Substitution. This ability, which could push objects into the boundaries of dreams, made processing Dream Ivory a difficult task. And the reason for that was simple.

Once activated, whether one was trying to heat it with fire or trying to carve it with a knife, they would fail, since all stimuli would pass through Dream Ivory like a mirage.

And while they keep trying, the dream mana within is gradually depleted, turning into ordinary ivory before they even know it.

Dream Ivory was a treacherous material that could easily vanish into thin air, potentially wasting millions if mishandled. As such, few dared to process and use Dream Ivory.

But that’s only when it’s used as is.

He began to heat the Dream Ivory without hesitation.

Fwoosh-

In an instant, the purple mana was engulfed by the flames, causing them to burn more fiercely. Normally, dream mana would have been evaporated entirely, but there was a different reaction when using Southern Flame Feather flames.

Rather than evaporating, the dream mana that flowed out of the Dream Ivory was completely absorbed by the flames, gradually turning the flames hazy.

“What is... this...?”

Was this really a method of handling dream mana? Wondering if she was the only one unaware of such a method, Lea turned her head slightly to look at the professors behind her.

“...”

“...”

There, In-Cheol and Rebecca were fully standing up, their stares completely blank.

Fully understanding from their expressions alone, she chuckled and turned back to look at the monstrous underclassman in front of her.

“How did you do that?”

“You know how the flames of the Phoenix are famous for burning even the human spirit? This is what I thought of when I heard that.”

Staring at the dissipating purple flames in his hands, Se-Hoon continued to calmly explain.

“I guessed that these flames could also adhere to the dreams managed by dream mana, considering how dreams are also a part of the psyche.”

“...”

“Of course, the dreams managed by dream mana are probably a bit different, so it wouldn’t work just like that. That’s why I made it easier for the flames to adhere to the dream mana by using the Designated Inscription enchantment. The coat of the Spatial Separation enchantment was to prevent the mana from burning up.”

Still staring at the purple flames, which had now completely absorbed the dream mana, he smiled contentedly.

“And it seems to have worked out just as intended.”

Upon hearing about how he had so casually come up with such an astonishing method and then even succeeded with it, Lea was taken aback.

Then, before she could stop herself, she asked him, “Aren’t you scared?”

“Of what?”

“That the idea you’re so confident in might be wrong,” she barely managed to murmur, unable to comprehend his thoughts.

She looked at the flames in front of her.

“I mean, everything will be gone if it fails, right?”

Her eyes were on the flames, but her gaze seemed to be looking somewhere else. Upon seeing that expression of hers for the first time, he faintly grasped the cause of her slump.

She must have gone through something terrible.

Challenges are accompanied by the risk of failure, and failures come at a price. While it was a simple truth, its weight varied from person to person. And when that price was something precious, failure would never be taken lightly again.

So it\'s the fear of failure that stops her... not the doubt of her talent.

Having seen it in others, and even experiencing it himself, Se-Hoon knew full well of the depths of despair it could leave.

So, in this situation where his words could potentially alter the future of someone who was once called the Maestro, he chose his words carefully before responding.

“Then don’t do it.”

“...What?”

“You heard me. If you’re that scared, then just don’t do it.”

Pausing, he looked at the purple flames rising above his hands.

“There’s no guarantee that the dangerous path is better, so why choose it if it’s not your thing? Unless you’re a masochist.”

“But you...”

“I’m doing this because I have no other path.”

Then his voice dropped to a whisper, low yet clear, audible only to Lea standing beside him, “I don’t have the time to choose only the safe paths.”

With every action he took, even the ones right now, the future was constantly changing because of him. And to respond to those countless variables, he had to prepare by creating at least a minimal margin of room to maneuver.

“You...”

She looked at him with a complex expression.

Despite the growth rate that was incomparable to that of his peers, he was still saying that there wasn’t enough time. What was at the end of his path for him to say such a thing?

With an inkling that he was being chased by something, Lea was about to carefully ask for more details, however, Se-Hoon spoke up before she could.

“So, what are you going to do?” Se-Hoon asked, lifting his head to look at her.

“There’s no need to force yourself to do it if you don’t want to. It’s up to you to choose your own path.”

“...”

“But, if I’m allowed to speak from personal experience, then whether the path is safe or dangerous doesn’t matter. There’s only one thing that does matter.”

Though he hadn’t lived a life so great that he was able to offer life advice to others, there was one thing he had become painfully familiar with.

Thinking that this one piece of advice could, perhaps, convey his true feelings and thoughts, he opened his mouth.

“Choose the path that leaves no regrets. That’s all that truly matters.”

“...”

Out of all of the advice she had ever heard, this was the simplest yet heaviest. She looked at the purple flames in front of her.

The mystical purple flames were blurring like a mirage. Just moments earlier, there had been no space left to enchant the Southern Flame Feather any further, but the situation changed when the dream mana shifted, activating Dream Substitution.

The previous enchantment patterns have crossed the boundary of dreams, freeing up space.

It was akin to revealing the blank side of a double-sided page when the filled-out side was flipped. However, while the newly created possibility of adding more enchantments was welcome, it was not without its difficulties.

Just as the picture on the opposite side of a thin page showed through, the previously inscribed enchantment patterns remained faintly visible.

Adding Corrosion Enhancement and Mana Amplification enchantments on top so that the previously inscribed enchantments aren’t affected... this is madness.

The difficulty was as great, if not greater than inscribing the previous enchantment on the Southern Flame Feather.

Regrets, huh?

She had thought that regrets only came from failures, from not seeing a return on what was paid.

But wouldn’t she regret ignoring the task before her and denying the brilliant inspiration that had come to mind? Facing down the challenge before her, she recalled how she was first drawn to enchanting.

Hold it more loosely.

She thought of the white hand that had cautiously handed her a brush when she had dirtied the house with magic stone powder as a child.

I always fell short...

And of the woman that had brushed past her, covered in her father’s blood, leaving the house for good.

“...Right.”

Lea gripped the brush tightly, thinking of her mother, whom Lea had to find despite no longer being able to remember her face.

“Now’s not the time to weigh things out!!”

With a sweep of her brush, a thick line crossed through the flames.

Then, ignoring the faintly visible enchantment patterns, her brush began to inscribe new enchantments around that line.

The first to be inscribed was Corrosion Enhancement. The mystical flames, faintly overlaying reality, blurred further into the dream.

Meanwhile, despite the risk of losing two Hero materials, Se-Hoon just calmly observed the situation.

I shouldn’t break the atmosphere.

His newly acquired darkness mana, Moon Shadow, darted into the flames like a shadow underneath the moonlight, thin and fine.

Moon Shadow Black Weaver

With a sizzle, the black silk barrier threads enhanced by Moon Shadow clung to and constricted the flames, aiding Lea, who immediately revised the structure of the enchantment before continuing to inscribe the enchantments.

A few errors don’t matter.

Just like how Se-Hoon trusted her skills, she trusted his. Her brushstrokes hesitated no more once she decided to leave the aftermath to him.

Like a concerto, Se-Hoon suppressed the rampaging flames while Lea inscribed enchantments without restraint. Completely in harmony, like they had been working together for a long time, their efforts meshed together. Soon, the purple flames were densely filled with enchantment patterns.

Moments later, Lea finally put on the finishing touches with her brush and let out a shout.

“Done!!!”

At her shout, Se-Hoon’s palms came together crisply, and the Dream Ivory and mystical flames that softly illuminated the workshop vanished without a trace.

Lea immediately turned to look at him, a tense expression on her face. She didn’t know what to expect.

“Good job.”

With a breath of relief, when his palms opened, a completed dagger was revealed.

[Weapon ‘Phantasmal Spyblade’ has been completed!

An artistic dagger crafted through the cooperation of an outstanding blacksmith and an enchanter seeking new paths! The skill of both individuals, perfectly drawing out the potential of two difficult materials, is worthy of applause.

The tier evaluation for ‘Phantasmal Spyblade’ is ‘Hero’.]