A Returner's Magic Should Be Special

Chapter 115. Season in Snow (2)

After catching up on the material in front of himself, Desir let out a sigh of relief as he finished up his planning for the day. He had done enough pre-work to keep abreast of the large changes that could affect his plans.

There was another problem that required his undivided attention next though: the development of his own power. Pure politicking could only get one so far, at the end of the day, one needed enough strength to defend oneself; let alone enact change on the scale of countries.

‘I’m not strong enough.’

This was Desir’s self-evaluation.

Desir had just formed a Third-Circle spell with the power of a Fifth-Circle wizard, but the amount of power he could use was still not enough. The problem with his new system of magic had also now become apparent.

‘If I consume all of my mana firing off a single spell, I can’t do anything else in a fight without a colleague to continue the fight for me if I fail to finish the job in a single strike.’ The method of combining and unleashing several spells consumed far too much mana. But because of this unique property, the amount of force Desir could fire was much stronger than firing off multiple spells with the same amount of mana. However, the power might as well be useless with how inefficient it was in terms of mana.

Desir remembered his goal and could feel that this half-assed approach would not be enough. For this reason, Desir spent the next two months struggling desperately to improve the effectiveness of this new magic system. He frantically eked out what little extra time he could find in his schedule while also reducing the time spent on eating and sleeping.

His messy room reflected just how desperate he was.

Desir’s desk was littered with paper and empty cups of coffee.

The floor was no different. Books lay strewn all around his studying area. [The Weaknesses of Magic Arrangement Systems]

[What is the Most Useful Magic System?]

[Insights on Shadow Worlds Vol. 3: Types of Magical Worlds and their Significance]

…

He used the names of his party members to borrow as many books as he could from the library, but even this amount was insufficient for his needs.

He put his all into this endeavour but had nothing to show for it. It could be considered a complete failure.

He had researched many related topics and used all of the material he could get his hands on, but there was no way to perfect this magic system any further.

‘I can’t do this on my own.’

When all hope seemed lost, Desir desperately felt the need to consult with somebody. Fortunately, Desir had an advisor more reliable than anyone else.

Zod Exarion.

The only Seventh-Circle wizard and the chairman of the esteemed Magic Tower, the leading magical company in both magical research and production of magical equipment.

Desir regularly liaised with Zod as a technical advisor to the Magic Tower. Essentially, Desir would describe his ideas and theories, and Zod used these to formulate groundbreaking theories or design earth-shaking equipment.

It was in this way that the Magic Tower had developed technology at a far faster pace than in Desir’s previous timeline.

Desir hastily cleared his desk before placing the communication pad on it and starting the call.

-Good, I managed to catch you; I wanted to share the results of the Aurora System test. “I called you today to request advice on a topic that has been troubling me.”

-That’s interesting. You have never come to me for advice before. I’ll help you as much as I am able to.

Zod seemed quite surprised at this development. It was the first time Desir had sought advice on something. Zod could not help feeling intrigued, as this topic must be truly puzzling to stump Desir.

“I’ve been researching a magic system recently, but it was hard to improve further.” -A magic system? Go ahead.

Zod, slightly leaking his disappointment, didn’t expect much from Desir’s question as the modern magic arrangement system was a complete system that could no longer be improved. “Let me explain where I am at first… ”

Desir began to explain to Zod the principles of his magical system.

Initially, Zod was amazed little by little, but as Desir continued, he became very silent. The silence stretched to an awkward length after Desir finished explaining.

-Amazing. I knew you were great, but I didn’t think you were capable of something like this. After breaking the silence, Zod expressed his admiration of Desir.

“There are still too many things I need to do to improve it.”

-No, it’s great. Although it consumes a lot of magical power, it can be said to have risen beyond the power that can theoretically be expressed in our modern magical system…

Since it was impossible to explain the draconic magic system, Desir only explained the way he arranged the structure by borrowing the structure of a tesseract.

But Zod caught on immediately.

-This… It’s the magic system you used in Prillecha. Am I right? “… … Yes.”

Zod couldn’t help but sigh. A genius was a genius, after all.

-I’m sorry, but I can’t think of any method to improve it right now. To be honest, I could barely understand a small portion of the magic that I saw back then.

“Is that so?”

-Unfortunately, I wouldn’t even know where to get started.

For the great sage, Zod Exarion, the concept of draconic magic was a realm entirely outside of his cognition.

Desir was forced to give up with a sigh. There was no way to continue if even Zod couldn’t help.

Though some regret remained, he decided that there was no choice but to admit defeat for the time being and refocus his efforts otherwise.

With his focus no longer dedicated to the new magic system, he could now devote his time to the next high priority.

The Aurora System.

The ultimate shield created by humanity, implemented and used near the end of the Shadow Labyrinth in his past timeline. It was the technology that Desir and Zod were trying to implement with the greatest of care. This was due to the fact that they talked about this topic first.

-We were able to successfully implement the system such that it’s capable of defending against Sixth-Circle magic. If we could solve the outrageous amount of magic stones it consumes, there’s no reason it couldn’t remain active permanently…

“You’ve already managed to construct it?!”

-Yes. I’ve filled in some of the parts you’ve advised us on.

It had taken much longer to complete the Aurora System in his previous life. Because of the Shadow Labyrinth, many talented people had lost their lives and it was not as easy to invest the required money and time under such circumstances.

But now, people had been able to devote themselves purely to the development of this technology, and money was not an issue either. Thanks to this, the rate at which new technology could be researched was exponentially higher than it had been in Desir’s past life. At this rate they would be able to quickly catch up to the technology level that was prevalent near the end of his previous life.

-We were able to design a portable version as well. It’s single use though, as a trade-off, and the functionality of it is slightly lower than the stationary version. It can barely hold up against a single Sixth-Circle spell.

In other words, an item that can be used once before getting discarded. Considering the material and production cost, this was definitely something too costly to be treated as a disposable item.

But Desir felt that this was good enough. Being able to defend against a Sixth-Circle spell without draining the user’s mana was an extraordinary feat, capable of changing the tides in a desperate battle.

“This is good enough. Thank you very much.”

-Honestly, Desir, I haven’t gotten this excited in years! Thanks to you, the Magic Tower has made significant technological advancement. Now let’s talk about the next project…

Desir cut off Zod as he attempted to switch topics.

“The Aurora System is far from completed. It’s only barely enough for practical use as it is.” -Barely? Did you just say ‘barely’? Did you not just say that this was good enough?

Zod’s tone increased by several octaves. He was upset at Desir telling him that the technology that he had poured his heart and soul into, was only barely usable. He had just completed it after a great deal of trial and error over a long period of time.

The Aurora System was one of the key technologies for clearing the Shadow Labyrinth.

If the development of it wasn’t stopped here, it could relatively easily be improved to match the level of development completed in his previous life, but it would not easily be improved beyond that.

However, Desir couldn’t be satisfied with just that.

He shouldn’t be satisfied with just this.

This time, it had to be developed further.

“The goal is to make something strong enough to stop the magic I used in Prillecha.”

Zod laughed at this notion. After all, he had witnessed Desir’s draconic magic with his own eyes.

-Do you think that will be possible?

“If you think it is impossible, we should stop here for now and move on to the next project. Actually, the purpose of this project was to make something easy to commercialize, so it doesn't matter if you move on to the next topic. It could be more advanced, but what can I do if you, the only wizard on the continent who can develop this Aurora System, says no? ”

-You drive me crazy.

Zod laughed. He had a pleasant smile on his face.

-You know me too well. My pride would be wounded if I failed to exceed your expectations after hearing such a bold claim! “Then please do so.”

With Zod’s enthusiasm reinvigorated, discussion of the Aurora System came to a close. It was now time to wrap up any remaining loose ends and end the call.

-Oh, Desir. It should have arrived by now. “What do you mean?”

-My New Year’s gift to you all. I hope the students like it.

“Thank you for taking care of us. There’s no one in this world who wouldn’t like something that the Lord of the Magic Tower personally sent them.”

-Thank you for saying that. Then I will get in touch with you again soon. *Blip*

When Desir ended the communication, he noticed that there were dozens of messages in his inbox. When he checked the sender, most of them were from Romantica. Dozens of messages, but the contents of them all were the same.

-When the hell are you coming?

Desir easily guessed the reason behind Romanica’s frantic urging and just smiled bitterly.