I was bored.
I had already memorized everything from today's lesson.
"Phantom, got any interesting news for me?" I asked, speaking to Phantom, who had been hiding during class.
"There's been talk about fake magic talismans spreading around."
"Talismans? How are those different from magic tools?" I asked.
"Talismans are disposable, basically a cheaper version of magic tools."
"So, that's why you don't see them often. But these fakes must be selling well if they're causing a stir. How do they even manage that if they're low-quality?"
"They claim to be relics from the Ancient Magic Kingdom. Big promises about their effects."
"Ah, that explains the hype."
Class eventually ended, and I made my way to Samantha's workshop. It was in its usual state of controlled chaos—books scattered everywhere, tools and mysterious apparatuses cluttering her workbench.
"Ah, Ride, what brings you here today?" she asked, looking up from her project.
"Did you manage to make that tool capable of casting every spell?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid."
"That's fine. I don't really need it, but please make sure you finish it someday."
"Oh, I will. It's a fascinating challenge. I just need to craft a device that changes the wavelength of mana. It'll take time, but it's doable."
"I'm not in a rush. I'm here to learn the basics of talismans and magic tools today."
"That I can teach. Both talismans and magic tools rely on the same foundation—you draw circuits with magical ink."
"Sounds easy enough."
"Well, there's a catch. Even if you use different types of magical ink, they all look the same—same color."
Ah, so it's like trying to build something using identical parts, but only the person who designed it knows how it works.
"They do that on purpose to prevent their techniques from being stolen," Samantha explained.
"I see. Makes sense. So all the advanced circuits are kept secret."
That meant some of the ancient magic techniques were probably lost to time. No wonder talismans from the Ancient Magic Kingdom were so coveted.
Samantha taught me the basics of circuit-drawing. The designs were more colorful on the blueprint than the actual inks, but I had a good memory. It wasn't too difficult to replicate, even with the uniform ink colors.
I crafted two items as part of my *Death* series—a flash talisman, which was a simple blinding spell, and a magic tool that emitted a constant beam of light, like a flashlight.
Satisfied with the results, I stared at the incomplete magic tool. As I studied the flow of mana within it, I realized something important: I could actually *feel* the flow of mana in these circuits.
I could easily decipher hidden techniques.
Though, I had no desire to become a magic tool artisan. Still, it was a neat skill to have.
I wanted to create a tool that made glowing fairies flutter around a jewelry box, but I couldn't find a circuit for it anywhere.
Off to the junk shop.
As usual, the shop had magic tools tossed haphazardly into a box.
"Got any magic tools that make fairy-shaped lights?" I asked the shopkeeper.
"You kiddin'? That's niche even for collectors," he grumbled.
"No luck, huh," I sighed.
"There's no tool that shapes magic like that. Maybe you'd find something from the Ancient Magic Kingdom, but good luck with that."
"Where can I find those?"
"Dungeons."
Of course. The drop rate was probably abysmally low. In my past life, these things always had miserable drop rates. I'd never had good luck, whether it was loot boxes or mahjong tiles.
But I could manipulate mana however I wanted. I could already recreate magic through mana manipulation. I just had to make fairy-shaped lights myself, then remember the mana flow. Once I had that, it would be a simple matter of reproducing the flow with magical ink.
Circuits are just another way of controlling mana flow, after all.
After some effort, I managed to create glowing fairies and embedded them into a jewelry box. It turned out beautifully.
I sent the box to Karina via Phantom. In return, she sent me a batch of homemade cookies.
They were delicious, though a bit misshapen. Still, their imperfections were charming, probably because they were made with love.
With this level of mastery, I could confidently say that any spell could be turned into a magic tool. To celebrate, I created a mana wavelength converter tool.
I knocked on Samantha's door, eager to show her.
"Come in!" she called.
"I've done it! The mana wavelength converter is complete!" I announced as I walked in.
Samantha blinked in surprise. "What? But I was going to publish the findings and take all the academic glory for myself!"
"You can publish it under your name if you'd like," I offered.
"I do have my pride, you know. Let's call it a joint research effort."
"Sure, that works for me. I just wanted to help people who are magic-impaired."
We publicly shared the mana-to-spell conversion technology. I didn't want it to become a lost technique.
Now that I thought about it, the magic tool Samantha had made for detecting mana wavelengths… It was impressive that she had managed to find the right circuits for it.
Wait, did she just combine existing circuits in a convenient way? There's a circuit that translates values into colors, so maybe that was it. After all, there's already a method for seeing mana in this world. But what about wavelength detection?
Ah, she must've used circuits for detecting sound frequencies. The circuits probably already existed, but were never applied to magic.
I had thought Samantha was a genius, but maybe she was just cobbling things together from what was available.
In any case, if there's a circuit for changing sound frequency, I could probably make a synthesizer.
I'd never seen an instrument like that in this world. Could the circuit for changing wavelengths have been lost?
Next time, I'd make Karina a synthesizer as a gift.