Upon hearing the voice Mazell was immediately startled. He took out his tranquilizer pistols from his storage ring and became vigilant: "Who's there!... Show yourself!"
Female Voice: "Hee hee... Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Media an A.A.I. that has now become a part of your mind. My main duty is to assist you with any and all that you may need. Lord 16th Gun Mage."
If Mazell was still the old him he would be shocked beyond belief right now. But after experiencing the prime amethyst having a female voice become a part of his brain wasn't so shocking at all.
Mazell put his pistols back into his storage ring then asked: "So you're basically now a part of my brain and are here to assist me?... But what exactly is an A.A.I. in the first place? And also where exactly did you come from?"
Media: "An A.A.I. stands for Artificial Arcane Intelligence. To simplify it I'm an Artificial Intelligence made from magic and science. As for where I came from.... You should remember what happened last night right master?"
Mazell thought and tried to recall what had happened last night: "Hmm.... I remember I was looking through what was inside my storage ring when I found an altar with seven crystals. After that one of the crystals turned red and shattered in front of me. Then I felt unbearable pain from my head.... Could it be that you?!"
Media: "Yes! After the red crystal shattered my essence was fused into your brain."
Mazell: "So you were inside the red crystal?"
Media: "To be more precise it was my essence that was inside the crystal. As for the reason I fused with your mind, it's because I was created for the purpose of assisting the current generation Gun Mage. And I thought I would be most useful to you like this."
Mazell sighed: "Haaaah!.... Just when I thought I was free from all of that magic stuff!"
Media: "Don't worry my puny and perverted master I am here to assist you with anything you may need not just regarding magic."
Mazell: "First and foremost stop calling me 'Puny and Perverted Master' Second how exactly are you going to help me with anything when your pretty much stuck in my brain?"
Media: "Actually the reason why I call Master 'Puny and Perverted' is because I have peeked into Master's memories and.... Hee hee. Anyway Master even though I am fused with your mind I have several functions that can be used. By borrowing a small amount of master's mana I can...."
Mazell immediately interrupted: "Stop!.... You just said 'by borrowing some of my mana' That means these functions of yours are basically magic right? If so then I don't wanna hear it. I want to have as less involvement with magic as possible."
Media: "...As you wish Master."
After talking to Media, Mazell had silently sworn that he would never let his consciousness get near that altar inside his ring ever again!
After getting out of bed and taking a bath Mazell went to the kitchen and started preparing the ingredients he will be cooking for the day.
Mazell: "Finally I'm back to running the restaurant after thirty years. I just hope my cooking skills haven't gotten rusty after all this time."
Media: "You know Master you can increase the quality and freshness of these ingredients by using your water elemental mana on them."
Mazell: "I already said I don't wanna have too much involvement with.... Really?!"
Media: "Yes Master! If you inject water elemental mana into the ingredients they would slowly be purified and the impurities within them would be removed."
Mazell: "Hmm.... Alright let's try it!"
Mazell first took a piece of beef then he drew water elemental mana from his water elemental mana sphere and injected it into the beef. The piece of beef then started shining with sky blue colored light. A few seconds later small black liquids started leaking from the piece of beef. Seeing the black liquid Mazell couldn't help but inquire.
Mazell: "Are these the impurities you were talking about?"
Media: "Yes Master! These are the impurities within the meat."
Mazell: "So I just have to wait for the black liquid to stop leaking right?"
Media: "Yes Master! Once the meat has released all of its impurities it will be purified and its freshness as an ingredient would increase."
One minute later the black liquid had stopped leaking. And after examining the piece of beef for awhile Mazell had determined that the piece of meat had indeed become fresher.
Mazell smiled: "Heh.... So mana can actually be used for something like this huh."
Media: "Master if you use your inherent spell [Water Flow] you'll be able to multitask and purify dozens of ingredients simultaneously."
Mazell: "Hmm....Is that so?"
Mazell looked at the ingredients, waved his hand then slowly muttered: "[Water Flow - Level 1]"
A sky blue light shined then all of the ingredients were suddenly encased in water orbs while hovering above the kitchen counter.
Mazell was slightly amazed by the sight. Must know this was the first time he had ever used magic. What's more he could clearly feel that he could very easily control the orbs of water. It was as if they were part of him or to be more precise part of his soul.
Mazell: "So.... This is magic huh."
And just like the piece of beef before, after a minute's time the ingredients were all purified and became fresher. Seeing this Mazell had a thought.
Mazell chuckled: "Doesn't this mean that if I buy cheap ingredients and purify them with water magic their quality would increase?! Hehe I'll be able to save some money with this method."
Media(cold sweat): "Master.... You realize you have trillions of diamond coins inside your storage ring right?"
Mazell then remembered: "Ah! That's right I forgot I'm rich!!!"
At the thought of money Mazell started laughing disgustingly with drool by the side of his mouth.
Seeing this Media silently thought: "Was it really correct to choose this person as the current era's Gun Mage?"
Later that afternoon....
Customer 1: "My God!..... How come little Mazell's cooking improved so much from yesterday's?!"
Customer 2: "Yeah I agree. Bernard must've thought him something new."
Customer 3: "Such delicious beef! I can't believe a thirteen year old boy made this!"
Mazell was looking at the satisfied customers and couldn't help but wonder: "Was it really that much better compared to how it used to be?"
Media: "Master if you wish to further improve the quality of the ingredients then you must improve your control over your mana."
Mazell thought about it for awhile then decided to ask: "Ok so how do I do that?"
Media: "Easy Master.... You must constantly use and train your spells."
Mazell simply nodded. He had decided to train his water magic to further improve the quality of his dishes. This was the moment Mazell truly started to become interested in magic.
Later that night....
Mazell sneaked out of the house and silently made his way into the nearby woods close to the village.
Mazell: "Ok so what now?"
Media: "First master must train the [Water Flow] spell. I suggest starting with creating multiple puddles of water."
Mazell nodded then raised both of his hands: "[Water Flow - Level 1]"
With a flash of sky blue light over a dozen water puddles suddenly appeared around Mazell.
Media: "Ok now master please divide each puddle into ten smaller puddles."
Mazell: "Ok then here I g...."
Awoooo!.....
Before Mazell could even finish what he was saying a wolf howl suddenly sounded from behind him.
When Mazell turned around he saw more than thirty feral wolves rushing towards the direction of the village.
Seeing this Mazell's expression immediately changed: "Not good!"
Mazell immediately jumped atop the nearest tree and observed the rushing wolves.
Media: "It looks as if they're running away from something."
Mazell's face turned serious: "No matter what it is I have to stop them from getting near the village."
Mazell thought that even though the village guards could probably slaughter them all, there were still sure to be casualties amongst the villagers with these many wolves.
Media: "Based on their speed I estimate that they'd arrive at Wand Stone Village within the next 17 minutes."
Mazell's eyes turned sharp: "Then we'll stop them within the next five!"
Mazell then swiftly jumped from tree to tree in order to overtake the stampeding pack of wolves. As he was doing so he was shooting his tranquilizer darts at them in order to knockout as many wolves as he could.
Media: "Master I'd advise you to use the [Thunder Spark] spell."
Mazell: "I can't focus on casting spells while moving like this."
About two minutes later Mazell had successfully overtaken them and was standing in front of the wolf stampede.
Mazell(cold sweat): "Ok so um what do I do now?"
Mazell truly didn't know what to do next. He could stop the wolves one by one but that would take too long and there's a chance that some of the wolves might escape. He had to get rid of all of them now so that the village won't have to worry about this group of wolves ever again. As for using spells he still wasn't familiar with using them while constantly moving. So he wasn't sure how to use them here. The only offensive spell he could use right now was a lightning spell that would allow him to shoot one thunderbolt at a time. The problem with this is that he'll only be able to kill one wolf each time he casts it.
Media: "Master I have a way! Please follow my instructions."
Mazell: "Alright! I'm putting my trust in you Media."
Media: "Understood Master!"
As the wolf stampede came towards him Mazell's eyes turned sharp. He knelt down on one knee and put his right hand on the ground: "[Water Flow - Level 1]"
With a flash of sky blue light a very large puddle of water appeared in front of Mazell. The moment the wolves paws came into contact with the puddle: "Now Master!"
With Media's signal Mazell immediately put his other hand on the ground: "[Thunder Spark - Level 1]"
Bzzzzt A flash of blue lightning emerged from his left hand. The lightning traveled from his hand and slowly merged with the large puddle.
Bzzzzt Bzzzzt Bzzzzt
Awoooo! Awoooo! Awoooo!
Each wolf that made contact with the puddle was immediately electrocuted and turned to ash. The wolves never had a chance. They were nothing more but ordinary wild wolves. While as Mazell's magic had an extremely high purity level. Which made his spells 3x stronger than the mages that were the same level as him. It would be surprising if the wolves actually survived. After about thirty seconds all of the wolves had completely turned to ash.
Seeing that there were no longer any wolves, Mazell had breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank god! So their all finally dead. Great idea merging my lightning spell with the water puddle Media."
Media: "It is my duty to serve Master."
AWOOOO!!!
Hearing the ear piercing howl Mazell's expression immediately turned pale.
Mazell: "It's.... Not over?!"
Media: "That's...."
Suddenly from behind the trees a large black wolf with shining silver eyes the size of a truck emerged.
Seeing the size of the wolf Mazell couldn't help but say: "You gotta be kidding!"
Media: "It's a.... Feral Wolf King! Master I'd advise you to use 'them' against such a foe."
Mazell: "Them?"
Media: "Your Magic Guns Master!"