Three days had passed from my first experience as a military enchanter.

I had also been attending the magic lessons, but what I needed there was simply more practice. Until I defeated my apathy I could only do the minimal effort. For Alchemy, I went straight at trying to brew the 【Night Sight Potion】, but I was having some trouble with the measurements. Apparently, this potion required perfect dosages.

I grimaced thinking about that time I thought I had gone blind as everything had become blindingly bright. It took half an hour for it to wear off. After that, I only took small sips to test the effects.

I really didn’t want to go and buy Merriam’s overpriced Night Sight certified metered flasks. The whole set cost twelve fucking gold.

A fucking set of flasks.

EAT SHIT AND DIE, MERRIAM.

I grimaced remembering that my savings were down to 7 gold coins. Wizardry is so damn expensive.

I was going to miss Vargas, my merchant friend. Although, I won’t miss his incessant talks about food. But... My discounts… Gone.

「Allen: This sucks.」

I said absentmindedly.

「Klenn: Oh, so protecting our homeland is beneath you?」

Klenn didn't lose the chance to scowl at me. I gritted my teeth.

I should MURD– explain him why it's a bad idea to aggravate a battle rager while he's suffering pain.

He was always ready to catch me off guard and aggravate me.

If only he wasn’t the GODDAMN specialist in attack spells I would’ve told him to back the fuck off. But he was, and I was going to need his help.

What was even the topic? I wasn’t listening. I tried to muster my senses and recall the current conversation.

I drew a blank.

Fuck it, I’ll just complain about something. Complaints are good conversation starters.

「Allen: Always leaving me out. I have ideas.」

I said.

「Klenn: You hear him, Bart? He has ideas!」

He said, mocking surprise. Bart replied with a shrug.

「Klenn: Fine, let’s hear it. How would you fit all the spells inside this wand, without losing in power?」

He asked waving the wand in his hand.

「Allen: Easy. Smaller constructs.」

I said naturally.

The two men and the dwarf looked at each other and then at me.

「Bart: Uh, but if you make them smaller then they won’t be able to handle all the spells correctly.」

Klenn scoffed, shaking his STUPID head trying to sound superior.

「Klenn: See, he’s doesn’t even know how to do his job.」

I narrowed my eyes. I stood up, took a deep breath to calm myself, and walked toward the crates against the wall bending down to pick up an item. The magic staff I saw them use on the first day.

The one that was meant to both cast explosive fireballs and shield the user.

「Klenn: Hey, what are you doing with that?」

Klenn said behind me with a preoccupied tone. I ignored him.

I knew what was wrong with it. It simply lacked a reliable way to sync the spellcasting while balancing the right amount of energy between the spells.

「Klenn: You’re not going to use that inside here, are you? Vez tell me he’s not going to do it.」

Vez grunted.

Tempting, but no.

I sat at the table, put the metallic staff before me, and quested the spellwork inside through my right hand.

「Bart: There isn’t much leeway for that tool. The metallic staff is meant for storing up mana while the crystal contains the actual spells…」

Bart explained.

「Klenn: A construct would take away too much of the stored magic. If it can’t cast the spells at least three times on its own, it’s just not worth it… So put that away, okay?」

I opened my eyes to shot a narrowed gaze to the prick enchanter.

「Allen: Can make it work.」

I said confidently.

「Bart: Let’s make him try. What do we have to lose?」

Klenn slapped a fist on the table.

「Klenn: Our lives, for a starter.」

I ignored his brimming optimism and closed my eyes, fully focusing on the crystal’s spellwork.

The spells had components I hadn’t yet encountered, but that was not my current concern. I scrubbed the previous signatureless mana links and proceeded to devise my own solution.

This wasn’t an overly complex task so I didn’t need to craft a full processor. A simpler circuit with a construct acting as a clock to coordinate the mana flow between the offensive and defensive spells would do.

It took me only ten minutes. I tested the mana circuit and finished the adjustments before linking my little system with the other parts. I didn’t really know what the ratio of attack to defense was meant to be, so I exceeded on the latter. I also made sure the shielding spell would last long enough to protect the caster.

Done.

「Allen: Done. Test.」

I said, opening my eyes and pushing the staff toward Bart.

「Bart: Hmm, I see you added a mix of small constructs and spell triggers in an interesting pattern. I can’t really say what it does by just looking at it, though.」

He said while prodding my spells for a while before opening his eyes again.

「Bart: How does it work?」

「Allen: Too long to explain.」

I said curtly. I didn’t feel like moving my lips that much these days.

「Klenn: Show me.」

Klenn impatiently stole the staff from Bart’s hands and examined the work.

「Klenn: You’re telling me this puny little spellwork is meant to make it work properly?」

I nodded.

「Bart: Klenn, I doubt he’d be here if he hadn’t anything to offer.」

「Klenn: Bullshit! Try it outside, show us this is not a death trap.」

He said, tossing the staff back at me.

I grunted in reply and picked it up, then we all walked outside before the freshly replaced dummy. It was snowing.

「Bart: Looks like winter has finally come.」

He said, taking a good look at the sky. Vezlaz shrugged, not impressed.

I positioned myself at a safe distance in front of the dummy.

「Allen: Ready.」

「Bart: Give me one Breath… okay, done. Go on.」

I glanced back, the three guys behind me were enclosed in a protective bubble. I focused my attention back to the dummy.

DIE YOU PIECE OF STRAW!

I activated the staff.

* BOOOOM *

My ears were ringing slightly but the magic shield had done its job. The dummy had been slain.

「Klenn: … It’s just a fluk–」

GET FUCKED KLENN!

* BOOOOM *

DIE!

* BOOOOM *

I took a deep breath, takin in the smell of destruction and admiring the burnt remains of the training dummy. The snow was melting before touching the smoldering remains. I used cold magic to kill the embers.

「Allen: Works.」

I said, turning around. My ears were ringing.

There were improvements to be made, like triggering the shield at the actual explosion, checking if it was in range, but it was all stuff that could be done later.

This is a beta product. It just needs to look like it works.

At least, that’s what Eric always told me.

Klenn remained silent, staring ahead with an unreadable expression on his face.

「Bart: Burn me, a magic construct working exactly the same way three times in a row… That’s a first.」

Bart said, giving a slight nudge at Klenn with his elbow.

As it was known, the more complex the construct was, the more unpredictable it would behave. Producing smaller and deterministic magical circuits was my strength.

Yes! Praise me more!

「Allen: This is why I was hired.」

I stated with a hint of smugness.

This is where mere mortals should prostrate themselves before me.

「Klenn: I say it’s just a fluke… or a trick. Let me try…」

Klenn ripped the staff from my hands…

「Allen: Hey!」

… And recharged it with his mana, preparing to shoot.

Not wanting to be caught in the blast, I hurried to the other two guys under the protection of Bart’s defensive bubble. I covered my ears.

* BOOOOM *

Another explosion.

「Klenn: Impossible…」

Klenn stomped hard on the ground.

* BOOOOM *

Klenn stared at the nonexistent remains of the training dummy.

「Klenn: It works?」

He muttered staring and the burning charcoals littering the ground.

A voice shouted from behind us.

「I think that training dummy is dead enough! It's not like we needed it.」

I turned back to see other enchanters streaming out from the entrance. They didn’t look pleased.

「Are you skraggin done with all the ruckus?!」

「We are trying to work!」

「I knew it was Klenn… It’s always him.」

Klenn, being the one holding the magic tool, became the target of the verbal abuse. His face turned an angry crimson with a deep scowl carved on it, but he remained silent.

Whoops.

Finally, after venting out all their anger, the other enchanters returned to their work leaving us alone.

Klenn violently tossed the staff back at me and stomped back inside without saying a word.

「Allen: Ow.」

I said flatly, failing to pretend getting hurt since the pain ring was overriding my senses with greater pain.

「Bart: Well, looks like it works.」

Bart said, scratching his stubbly chin, a hint of amusement spreading on his lips.

『Vezlaz: This changes things…』

The bald dwarf said telepathically while stroking his intricate braided beard.

Klenn was stubbornly sitting the opposite way, staring at the wall and ignoring us while he seethed in his corner.

「Bart: Come on, Klenn. We should discuss this together.」

Bart tried to rein him in.

「Klenn: Hmpf.」

To no avail.

「Bart: Fine…」

Bart said, shrugging before staring at me.

「Bart: So, you’re telling me you can consistently make smaller magic constructs that behave always the same way?」

「Allen: Yep.」

I nodded.

『Vezlaz: That would save time.』

「Bart: I agree. Making sure they work is a huge waste of time. We always have to test them all separately.」

Bart crossed his arms lost in thought. The dwarf grunted and stared at the emptiness, imagining the possibilities. Klenn remained still, being useless.

Silence.

「Allen: … What now?」

I asked.

「Bart: We can reconsider all the ideas we scrapped because they required too much magic potential.」

「Allen: Like?」

「Bart: Well, there were many interesting options that required working together with other teams…」

He stole a glance at Klenn.

『Vezlaz: … but somebody managed to piss off all of them, some way or the other.』

「Klenn: Hrmpf.」

Klenn grumbled, still staring at the wall. He had heard the telepathic jab.

Looks like Klenn was one of those difficult to work with people. I thought he only hated me, in virtue of being an exclusive 【Proxy Magic】 user.

「Bart: And that’s how we ended up saddled with crafting the menial magic tools. Isn’t that right Vez?」

The dwarf grunted, nodding in agreement.

「Klenn: …」

Klenn seemed about to say something but remained silent.

Despite everything, they didn't seem actually angry at him for making their job worse.

Bart looked around to check if there was anyone around besides us, then he bent forward and spoke in a lower voice.

「Bart: Listen, I have a plan.」

He glanced at me to which I blinked silently. He continued.

「Bart: First, we’ll show off what we can do with Allen’s miniaturized magic constructs…」

He said, tapping his index finger to the table.

「Bart: Then, it will be just a matter of time before they beg us to help them with the big projects. Everyone needs smaller magic constructs.」

He smiled at Vezlaz who returned the smile.

『Vezlaz: I like it… Working on complex crafts makes AnDareth proud.』

The dwarf stroked his beard eagerly.

「Bart: Where should we begin?」

I thought about that for a second. I wasn’t feeling like doing complex stuff yet. So, something simple and useful, like…

「Allen: Start simple. Flashbangs.」

Bart frowned, not understanding the foreign word.

「Bart: What’s that?」

「Allen: Very bright light. Very loud sound. Delayed activation. Stuns people.」

『Vezlaz: Hmmm, it’s not exactly groundbreaking but if it’s small and can do both things at once then…』

「Bart: … It could come handy both in the battlefield and in other situations.」

Bart agreed.

But there was one thing I was still missing, in order to make one.

「Allen: Problem. I can’t make sound loud enough.」

I said, pressing my lips in a thin line.

「Bart: Hmmm.」

The best I could do through illusory sounds was akin to talking through a megaphone. Not enough. The bang was supposed to cause loss of balance, not just wake people from the torpor of their numbing existence.

Klenn, who was still giving us his back, tilted his head a little and spoke.

「Klenn: … Make Bart do a sound-cutting spherical shield, project the sound inside multiple times and then release the shield.」

Hmmm, I hadn’t learned about sound-cutting shields yet. I had to admit, trapping the sound inside a shield was indeed a clever idea.

Bart clapped his hands.

「Bart: Yes. That should work! Thanks, Klenn.」

「Klenn: Hmpf.」

「Bart: We know you’re the greatest mind inside this building.」

Klenn emboldened by the praise puffed up his chest and lifted his chin, visibly regaining his confidence.

「Klenn: Of course. I was a prodigy at the Academy after all.」

I saw Bart mouth curling up just before he opened his mouth again.

「Bart: If only you could al–」

「Klenn: SHUT UP!」

Klenn yelled, turning around sharply.

「Klenn: Stop chattering and start enchanting! Let me do the blasted illusory light. I’ll melt your insufferable eyeballs!」

If only he could what? I hated missing inside jokes and contexts.

I looked at Vezlaz for clues, but he only grinned knowingly as he stood up to fetch a box filled with metallic balls.

「Bart: Very well, let’s get to it.」

Bart said, looking like he was having fun.

Quest completed (Military enchanter: Become part of the team) +5 EXP Quest added (Military enchanter: Unlock advanced magic tools development)

I felt like I was making progress.