Roland first went to the Blacksmith shop to ask Hawk for half a day off, then hurried toward the secluded little cabin.
The cabin door was ajar. He called out once before pushing it open, and the sight before him made his heart tighten.
Bronson was leaning weakly against the wooden bed. His already thin figure now looked even more frail.
His hair was disheveled, his beard unkempt, and several soot-like black smudges stained his cheeks.
The robe he usually wore was now tattered and covered in fine scratches, with several small holes scattered across it that looked as though they had been burned by sparks.
What relieved Roland, however, was that Bronson had no bloodstains or obvious wounds.
Although his face looked haggard, a trace of fervor had appeared in the scholar's eyes.
He was staring intently at the dagger Roland had forged himself, muttering under his breath.
"Mister Bronson?"
"Roland?"
Only after hearing the call did Bronson move his gaze away from the dagger.
When he saw Roland's handsome face clearly, he sprang up from the wooden bed in excitement.
"Roland! Our earlier deduction was indeed correct. Magic—"
"Shh!"
Roland quickly raised a finger to his lips, stopping Bronson before he could finish.
Then he nimbly slipped to the door and warily scanned the surroundings. Only after confirming that no one was eavesdropping did he slowly close the door and return to Bronson.
"Mister Bronson."
Looking at the overly excited scholar before him, Roland lowered his voice helplessly.
"If you don't want to be treated as a madman, lose Baron's funding, and be driven out of the estate, you'd better speak more quietly when discussing magic."
"Ah! Right, right!"
Those words seemed to remind Bronson of something. His expression froze briefly, but he immediately nodded, hunched his back, and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"But Roland, the Magical Essence on the continent really is slowly recovering! Look at this."
Though he deliberately kept his voice low, the uncontrollable excitement still showed clearly in his trembling tone.
As if displaying a precious treasure, he held the strange-looking dagger out before Roland.
The instant the dagger drew close, that familiar, strange sensation surged into Roland's mind again, as though he could sense the fluctuations of the flames' emotions.
Roland narrowed his eyes and examined it carefully.
Compared with when he had handed it to Bronson, the dagger as a whole had not changed much.
Only the cylindrical section in the middle was now covered in fine, spiderweb-like cracks, while the complicated patterns glowed with an eerie blood-red light.
"I successfully collected Fire Element!"
"Collected... Fire Element?"
Roland frowned slightly.
Because he lacked the relevant knowledge, he could not fully understand how difficult this process was.
However, judging from the fervent light flashing in Bronson's eyes, this was clearly no simple matter.
"That's right! Watch closely!"
Bronson eagerly began his demonstration.
He carefully touched the tip of the dagger against the smooth tabletop.
The instant the blade touched the wood, the solid tabletop slowly sank as if it were butter beneath a hot knife.
Wisps of smoke rose into the air, ultimately leaving behind a thumb-sized, charred hole in the tabletop, its edges glowing with dark-red embers.
At the same time, the red light on the dagger's complex patterns dimmed somewhat.
While Roland was secretly startled by the strange phenomenon, Bronson had already begun speaking excitedly and at length.
"Do you know, Roland? Even before the End Era, wizards had to use a special method to draw elements from the air. They cast spells by activating the runes engraved in the Deep Sea of Consciousness, but regardless of the element, not the slightest trace would remain in the body after casting."
"And I!"
Bronson raised the dagger high. His voice rose unconsciously, and an almost fanatical light flashed in his eyes.
"I created Magic Runes capable of storing Magical Essence! This is absolutely an epoch-making breakthrough!"
"Mister Bronson."
Although Roland did not want to dampen his enthusiasm, he felt it necessary to calm the fervent scholar.
"According to the casting principles you described, even if these runes can store Magical Essence, wouldn't it still dissipate after a spell was cast? Besides..."
He took the red crystal he had kept close to himself from his robes.
"Doesn't this crystal, formed from solidified Magical Essence, also count as a storage method?"
"Completely different!"
Unexpectedly, this question only made Bronson even more excited.
"According to ancient records, crystals formed from solidified Magical Essence only exist inside monsters. They cannot be artificially produced at all!"
"When wizards cast spells, they must expend a great deal of Spirit Power to remove the unwanted, mixed elements from the air."
"But my Magic Runes remove the unwanted Magical Essence during the process of drawing in the elements. Therefore, no Spirit Power is needed, and the Magical Essence within can be used directly."
By this point, Roland understood.
The Magic Runes Bronson had researched were equivalent to a portable charger with a filtering function.
They could purify the various mixed elements in the air into a single attribute and store it.
When casting a spell, one could directly extract the pure Magical Essence from them, completely eliminating the need to expend Spirit Power.
If that was how it worked, it really did seem to be a great piece of research.
While Roland was deep in thought, Bronson's excited voice rang beside his ear.
"Watch closely, Roland."
As the scholar gradually descended into madness, he gripped the dagger tightly with the four fingers of his right hand, held his arm level, and extended his index finger forward.
The next moment, a fist-sized ball of fire suddenly appeared from thin air and slowly condensed at his fingertip.
"Whoosh!"
Accompanied by a sharp sound tearing through the air, the fireball shot out like an arrow.
"Bang!"
After a muffled boom, a charred depression appeared on the thick wooden wall.
At the sight, Roland was slightly stunned and was just about to say something when a crisp cracking sound suddenly reached his ears.
He turned his head and saw the dagger in Bronson's hand shatter inch by inch, its metal fragments clinking as they scattered across the floor.
The room instantly fell into an eerie silence.
"Mister Bronson."
Roland was the first to break the silence.
"That just now... was it magic?"
It was not that he was blind. Rather, the fireball's power was worlds apart from that of the Blood Goblin's spell.
"Er, strictly speaking..."
Bronson coughed lightly. The fervor from moments ago had vanished completely, and he returned to his usual reserved manner.
"That was merely a cantrip. The ancient texts call it Flame Arrow."
"A cantrip?"
"Yes. According to the ancient texts, magic is divided into cantrips and spells, while spells are further divided into nine arcane tiers."
Roland thoughtfully recalled the memories of his previous life.
"So a cantrip is merely the most basic application of magic?"
"That interpretation... is fairly accurate."
"How long did it take you to collect that Magical Essence?"
"About... ten days?"
"So that was your first time using these Magic Runes to cast a cantrip?"
"No. It was the second time."
Bronson's voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.
"Ten days of charging, and it became useless after two cantrips? That doesn't even include the time I spent forging the dagger."
The enthusiasm that had just ignited within Roland instantly cooled.
But after thinking it over, he felt that Bronson's design for the Magic Runes actually had considerable potential.
After all, this was only the result of preliminary research.
If Bronson could continue studying it, shorten the charging time, and reduce the damage the Magic Runes inflicted on the equipment, allowing it to cast spells multiple times...
Even the most basic cantrip could provide a considerable boost to combat ability.
After all, judging from Bronson's demonstration, casting a cantrip through the Magic Runes seemed to consume almost no Spirit Power.
After pondering for a moment, Roland asked, "Mister Bronson, can I learn that cantrip?"
"Of course."
Bronson nodded lightly.
"The knowledge related to cantrips is not covered by the restrictions the tower placed on me."
"Then I think..."
Roland paused before offering encouragement.
"Mister Bronson, although your research results are... still incomplete, they have tremendous room for development."
"You're right!"
Bronson's spirits lifted at once, and fighting spirit reignited in his eyes.
"As long as I continue studying, sooner or later..."
At that point, Bronson's expression froze.
"Er, but I seem to be running out of research funds."
"Recently, because of the war in the Black Fir Forest, Baron Foslin has rejected my applications for research funds several times. And when I came back just now, I demonstrated it for Baron Foslin, but he..."
Bronson scratched his head and said awkwardly, "He said my performance was merely a circus trick. He even flew into a rage and further cut my research funds."
"A circus trick?"
That reminded Roland of how, before the Heavenly Father's celebration, traveling performers in the village where he lived had indeed demonstrated similar techniques.
But he was certain.
Roland looked at the black hole in the wooden wall, still trailing a little smoke.
The other performer's technique definitely could not have produced this effect.
However, he also understood Baron Foslin's thinking.
After all, magic had disappeared for hundreds of years. The people of the world had long since lost all understanding of this mysterious art.
Not to mention that the cantrip Bronson had cast looked somewhat similar to a circus trick.
With that thought, Roland considered for a moment before slowly asking, "If you continue improving these Magic Runes, how many coins will you need each month?"
"Not much, not much!"
Hearing the implication in Roland's words, Bronson rubbed his palms together and slowly held up three fingers.
"Three silver coins will be enough!"
"Because the Magical Essence is gradually recovering, I've discovered that the Magic Runes can still produce an effect without relying on a solid tool. The effect is greatly reduced, of course, but it won't have much impact on the research."
"Three silver coins?"
That was something he could barely afford.
Roland calculated silently.
He was currently working as a Blacksmith Apprentice and earned nearly one silver coin a month. Together with the five silver coins remaining in his pocket, that would be enough to fund Bronson's research for two months.
As for after two months...
He was planning to go to the Adventurer's Guild to accept a bounty for killing monsters. By then, he could see how much he could earn.
With that thought, Roland cleared his throat.
"Mister Bronson, I can fund your continued research, but..."
"But what?"
Bronson immediately leaned forward and gazed at him eagerly.
His slightly wrinkled face was filled with anticipation, making him look both comical and somewhat pitiful.
"I need you to share your research results with me without reservation. And whenever I need it, you must assist me with any research."
"No problem! But..."
Bronson tugged awkwardly at the corner of his mouth.
"Does your previous promise to become my assistant still stand? I'm not trying to slack off."
As if afraid Roland would misunderstand, he quickly explained, "It's just that with your help, my research will progress much faster. That would be beneficial to both of us, wouldn't it?"
"No problem. I happen to be staying at the estate for the next few days."
As he spoke, Roland reached into his robes, took out his money pouch, felt around inside, and handed three silver coins to Bronson.
As for whether Bronson would deceive him, Roland had his own calculations.
If Bronson deceived him, he would lose only a few coins. With his various skills and abilities constantly improving, earning money would only become easier and easier.
But if Bronson truly took the research seriously and successfully improved these Magic Runes—or even researched other types of Magic Runes—then for Roland, whose offensive methods were currently scarce, it would be an enormous boost to his strength.
Moreover, Bronson still had many treasures worth excavating.
For example, those texts written in unfamiliar characters.
Although Roland had no time to study them for now, he would certainly ask Bronson about them in the future.
Establishing a long-term partnership with this strange scholar was clearly a profitable deal no matter how he looked at it.
Thinking this far, Roland suddenly thought of a question.
"By the way, Mister Bronson, I remember that when you asked me to make that dagger, it seemed to be before the revival of Magical Essence, right?"
"Uh, about that..."
Hearing the question, Mister Bronson deftly slipped the coins into his clothes and said somewhat awkwardly,
"You might not know this, Roland, but anyone capable of entering the tower for further study possesses a natural affinity for a certain element."
"So at first, I actually wanted to use my own blood for the experiment."
"Elemental Affinity."
Hearing this familiar term, Roland couldn't help recalling the properties of [Heart of the Furnace].
"Doesn't that mean that, as someone with an affinity for Fire Element, I also have the potential to become a wizard?"
After temporarily suppressing this somewhat unrealistic thought, Roland continued discussing the research direction of Magic Runes with Mister Bronson.
It wasn't until noon, when the lunch bell rang, that the two of them gradually ended their conversation.
After swallowing some saliva to moisten his somewhat dry throat, Mister Bronson finally came to his senses.
"By the way, Roland, a servant named Matthew said earlier that you were looking for me. Is something the matter?"
Upon hearing the question, Roland couldn't help recalling the scene he had witnessed in the jungle that day.
A warrior of the Blazing Sun Church.
A Blood Goblin capable of using magic.
And the remains of a gigantic creature, which both sides had fought over.
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