Chapter 90: Negotiations (2)

Louis rubbed his chin.

Where have I heard this before…?

One of the Tower Masters couldn’t contain himself and blurted out a question despite it not being the designated Q&A session yet. “By auxiliary control incantation arrays, do you mean those used for mana sticks?”

Ron smiled pleasantly at the interruption. “Yes, that’s correct.”

His answer prompted Louis to smack his hand against his forehead with realization. The auxiliary control incantation arrays had been around for ages, so much so that no one knew exactly when they’d first appeared. They were indispensable tools for mages.

Mages accumulated high-density Attribute Power around their hearts and channeled it through blood vessels to their hands. They then emitted this power to cast spells, but controlling it was no easy task. Hence, mana sticks made of metal with high conductivity were popularized due to the auxiliary control incantation arrays inscribed on them.

“And you’ve created a new version?”

“Well, rather than creating something entirely new, I tweaked the existing one slightly.”

“…Is that even possible?”

“I suppose anything is possible if you put your mind to it. As mentioned earlier, since it’s not completely new, I’m calling it a secondary auxiliary control incantation array.”

“Oh…” Murmurs of astonishment rippled throughout the room.

Their astonishment was understandable. Over countless years, numerous scholars had researched auxiliary control incantation arrays. However, their conclusion remained consistent: Auxiliary control incantation arrays were already perfect and could not be improved further. This belief was widely accepted within the field of holy magic until today, when it was shattered.

Meanwhile, Louis was equally stunned for his own reasons.

‘Oh my God! The creator of the secondary auxiliary control incantation is that tinnitus-ridden old man?!’

It suddenly dawned on him why the groundbreaking research on Spiritual Transformation Material had been overshadowed.

‘So that’s why! In the same era, even in the same year as the introduction of the secondary auxiliary control incantation… it makes sense that it would get buried.’

The secondary control incantation array performed three times faster than existing formulas. Despite some issues, its overwhelming performance naturally thrilled mages, and for over 250 years, it dominated the world. This was explicitly mentioned in the original novel.

While Louis pondered these thoughts, Ron picked up a long metallic rod he had propped nearby.

“This is a mana stick utilizing the secondary control incantation array. Who would like to give it a try?”

Although this mana stick was stripped down to its basic form without any additional conveniences or flashy features, many attendees eagerly wanted to test it out. Ron handed the mana stick to the Tower Master who raised their hand first.

The first to receive the mana stick was an impressive woman with striking white hair and blue eyes. As the Tower Master of the Icebreaker Tower, she immediately activated her Attribute Power using the mana stick, causing ice crystals to form out of thin air at an astonishing speed. She exclaimed in amazement:

“I-it’s truly incredible!”

Having reached Tier 2, she had used countless holy spells over time, so she knew firsthand that the speed at which her spell manifested now far surpassed what she could achieve without the mana stick.

Her reaction fired up the other Tower Masters, who rushed onto the stage, forgetting about their dignity, forming a queue. Each one eagerly took turns testing the mana stick, and their reactions were unanimous:

“It’s real!”

“My control speed has significantly increased!”

The Tower Masters were ecstatic over this breakthrough, as slow casting times had long plagued mages. They believed Ron’s secondary assistance incantation array would finally solve their longstanding issue.

After the commotion settled and everyone took their seats again, Ron continued his presentation. “Since you’ve all experienced it firsthand, I won’t take any questions now. Please feel free to contact the Tower of Luminosity if you have further inquiries.”

No one dared contradict Ron’s confident statement. The Tower Masters’ minds were solely focused on how to secure rights to use the secondary assistance incantation array.

Everyone present at the Academic Festival, including the Tower Masters, could confidently predict that from this moment forward, mages would be divided into two categories: those with access to the secondary assistance incantation array and those without.

Mages would now be divided into those who possessed the secondary control incantation array and those who did not.

However, one person had another thought on his mind.

Heh-heh.

Louis smiled faintly to himself.

Naturally, that will change once the tertiary version comes out.

His gaze was fixed on Ron’s mana stick as he exited the stage.

If I play my cards right…

A glint appeared in Louis’s eyes.

While Louis plotted, the announcement hall erupted over the news of the secondary control incantation array.

“A-a big scoop!”

“Wow… It seems like Ron Gremillion will take all the honors at this year’s Academic Festival.”

“The Tower might surpass even the brightest Fragment of Luminosity.”

Although the Academic Festival wasn’t over yet, many attendees rushed out to spread this sensational news.

“P-Please calm down everyone!”

“The festival isn’t finished yet!”

The event organizers scrambled to restore order, but they were powerless against the excited crowd. As chaos erupted, Louis decided there was nothing more for him here and rose from his seat. He sent Ron a message just as he was about to exit the hall:

“Have you resolved the overheating issue?”

It was a brief question, but it stopped Ron dead in his tracks. The startled mage quickly turned around, his face filled with alarm, scanning the area to identify who had messaged him.

With a subtle smirk, Louis hesitated no further and left the presentation room without looking back.

The members of the Wish Tower gathered inside their tent away from the chaos outside. Dexter approached Louis with a huge grin on his face.

“Well done, well done! That was immensely satisfying!” His expression made it clear he genuinely felt relieved. This might have been the most cathartic moment of his life. When Louis warned the Tower Master not to underestimate the trascendence, Dexter barely managed to suppress his laughter.

However, Louis wasn’t paying attention to Dexter’s excited chatter. He urgently asked him, “Grandpa, do you have any mana sticks?”

”…Mana sticks?” Dexter raised an eyebrow at this unexpected question. “Why do you suddenly need those?”

“I want to experiment with them!”

Initially suspecting Louis was up to no good again, Dexter recalled Ron’s presentation moments earlier and grinned knowingly.

“Is it because of that secondary control incantation array?”

“Yes!”

“Haha, you…” Dexter looked pleased.

Indeed…it was groundbreaking research.

While the Transcender had aimed to astonish the world, Ron’s innovation proved even more impactful. Even Dexter recognized the immense value of the secondary control incantation array.

I see; he must have been inspired by what he witnessed.

Dexter chuckled, assuming Louis’s newfound interest in auxiliary control incantations was spurred by Ron’s research.

“I don’t have any mana sticks.”

“Oh, but as Tower Master—…”

“But you know about auxiliary control incantation arrays, right?”

”…Of course, I expected nothing less from you!”

Louis’s swift change of tone made Dexter burst out laughing. As he did so, he started rummaging through his pockets and eventually produced a small spatial sphere similar to the one containing the Dragon-Slaying Sword. Upon closer inspection, it revealed a large metal plate inside.

Louis stared at Dexter’s pocket curiously. “What else do you have in there? It seems full of fascinating items.”

“Inseok, don’t even think about it. These treasures represent my youth and hard work.”

“But I’m the Tower Master now, right? Shouldn’t they be passed on to me?”

“You collect your own treasures!”

“Hmph!” Louis clicked his tongue while eyeing Dexter’s pocket covetously before turning back to the spatial sphere. “By the way, how did you acquire this?”

“As the Tower of Research, we naturally had one lying around. It’s a widely used magic formula, so it wasn’t as difficult to obtain as expected.”

“Oh, I see.”

“It’s a reward for doing well today.”

“Thank you.” With a quick bow, Louis rushed out excitedly.

Taken aback, Dexter shouted after him, “Hey, where are you going?!”

“To our quarters! There’s something I need to check.”

“The Transcender—!”

“Leave it behind! We can pick it up later; who would steal that?! I’m heading out first!” Louis sprinted off without waiting for a reply, with one of the twins nervously chasing after him despite being clueless about what was happening.

The Wish Tower’s crew and Pablo were swiftly abandoned, staring blankly at their retreating figures. After a moment, Douglas cautiously spoke up.

“Former Tower Master—”

“…‘Former’ seems to come naturally to you now.”

“Well, isn’t it true?”

“…And your point is?”

As Douglas, Erica, Floria, Victor, and Pablo all turned their attention toward Dexter, he sighed lightly.

“…Let’s go.”

“What about the Transcender?”

“Didn’t Louis say he’d take care of it later?”

“But if someone steals it…”

“This thing?” Dexter looked back and forth between Douglas and the Transcender as if they were being ridiculous. With its weight measured in tons, who would bother stealing such a massive object?

“Forget it; let’s go already. I’m starving. We should grab seats before the place gets too crowded. Pablo, you’re coming with us.”

“Yes, sir!”

“And a beer…”

“Sounds good! Today is on me—let’s drink until we can barely see straight!”

“Oh yeah! Hail to our Tower Master!”

The Wish Tower crew left the pavilion cheerfully, leaving behind only the silver Transcender filling their empty space.

Meanwhile, back at their lodgings, Louis retreated to his room and placed an auxiliary control incantation plate in its center.

“Louis, what’s this?”

“A drawing! It’s a drawing!”

The twins squabbled out of curiosity, but Louis was too engrossed with his task to pay them any attention.

Ron’s secondary auxiliary control incantation had one significant flaw, which would eventually be rectified by someone else.

It’ll be him, Elvis Esteban.

In the distant future, the sage known as Elvis Esteban improved upon Ron’s design, marking the end of the era for Ron’s original secondary auxiliary control incantation arrays. The third-generation version boasted performance four times better than the second generation.

Louis had this information stored in his mind—more precisely, from what he remembered of the original novel.

‘The author’s penchant for detailed explanations and world-building is proving quite helpful.’

The writer often went overboard with descriptions, even including illustrations at times. The tertiary auxiliary control incantation array was one such example.

‘When I think about it… This particular incantation array played a significant role in the story.’

Perhaps that’s why the author put so much effort into explaining it? Although Louis couldn’t be certain if the depicted incantation array would actually work as described…

“I know the principle behind Elvis’s third auxiliary control incantation array.”

Louis’s lips curved slightly as he gazed at the iron plate on the floor, his eyes filled with delight.

‘After all, whether it’s second or third tier, these auxiliary control incantations form the foundation.’

With the original design and understanding of its principles, creating improvements seemed feasible, including bypassing the second-tier to develop the third-tier auxiliary control incantation array directly.

‘Shall we begin…?’

Before the big fish could be lured by the scent of bait, Louis needed to prepare his fishing gear meticulously. His violet eyes sparkled as he started dissecting the auxiliary control incantation arrays piece by piece.