In a corner of the factory, the Violets set up a small workshop. Since the site we chose as our base was originally a factory, it wasn’t difficult to find a spot.
The tools that Ennis requested were unfamiliar, yet they weren’t hard to obtain right away.
“Alright, delivery team, move quickly! I’ve placed the call, so go pick up the items in person.”
“Eugh! Why do we need so many things?”
Within less than an hour, once we secured the equipment, Ennis looked surprised.
“Did you get this all so quickly?”
“There’s nothing impossible for us Violets!”
Once everything we needed was ready, we started hounding the workers.
“If you can’t fix it, from tomorrow, your meals will be just bread and water!”
“What’s with bread and water! Just give us cup noodles!”
“Yes, understood… By the way, Ms. Violet?”
Just as I was about to turn around, Ennis called out from behind.
Curious, I looked back to see him slowly raising both hands to show his restraints.
“I’m truly sorry, but could you please loosen these restraints? Magic is needed for the job.”
After freeing him from the restraints, I held my gun and kept watch from behind.
“Alright, here! If you mess around, I won’t hold back.”
“We’re watching you!”
The Guard Violets kept an eye on him to ensure he didn’t act up.
At first, Ennis was a bit wary of us, but then he donned some oddly shaped gloves, pulled out an iron tool, infused it with magic, and began to work with the pile of wands and parts scattered across the desk.
Before dinner, news arrived. As I entered the workshop, he presented the results.
“Here you go. It won’t perform as well as the original ones used by the agents, but it should cover all the basic functions.”
Violet 1001 tilted her head at the sight of the wands.
“What’s with all these?”
“Remember the parts you gave us? The core components were intact. With that, we can quickly repair them just by reconnecting the magical circuits. We’ve even repaired worse than this in the Clan.”
“Is that so? I didn’t know that.”
Oh, I found it intriguing as I held the wands. By their appearance, they seemed quite decent.
“Alright, then let’s test them out!”
I picked up one of the wands from the desk and poured magic into it. The wand I raised proudly unleashed a cross-shaped beam of light near its tip.
“Whoa! What’s this?!”
“Oh, that’s the targeting reticle.”
After hearing the explanation, I aimed it around. Indeed, it had some targeting equipment for the casting spell.
The Violets discussed among themselves for a moment.
“At least it looks decent. But aren’t researchers just folks who write papers and read books?”
“Well, I did some digging about the department that lady came from. It seemed like a place where they take things apart and analyze them for development.”
“I dunno. Wouldn’t it be better to buy new ones?”
Our opinions clashed. After a five-minute marathon meeting with 300 Violets participating, we decided to conduct a field test.
“Boss…?”
“Wait!”
I picked up the wands and put them into the inventory one by one. Ennis’s eyes widened at the sight. A few seconds later, the wands were transported to an unmanned workshop on Rustroom Island.
“Wow! I was feeling bored during dinner, but this is perfect.”
“Okay, let’s have a look!”
Violets, who were grilling sausages by the campfire in front of the tent, couldn’t resist the excitement and started standing up one by one. The one leading, Violet 102, examined the wands closely. Using the status window to filter between one-star and two-star wands, about four remained.
Three were three-star, and one was four-star. Unfortunately, the status window revealed no specific abilities.
“…Standard issue weaponry of the Magnavis unit. Damaged after fierce combat, repaired through transmutation. Each possesses a unique ability…”
“That’s all? What’s with the ‘unique ability’?”
In the end, we had to test them ourselves. 102 headed for the gravelly beach, where target boards were lined up.
“Alright, prepare to shoot!”
I raised the wand, aligned the crosshair hologram with the target, and prepared a spell. The spell was Fireball, a basic area attack spell. Even we could manage it, but it was more powerful than the typical projectile, making it suitable for testing the wands’ performance.
As calculations began, a twisted abacus-like symbol floated before our eyes, complete with twelve beads attached to it. Moving the beads to their original positions would complete the formula.
“Alright, let’s start the calculations. First four to raise their hands! Each gets a tub of ice cream!”
“Me! I’ll do it! I want chocolate!”
“No way, I’m going first! I’m getting vanilla!”
After a brief commotion, the Violets started to collaborate on the calculations.
Unlike when they first learned and could only move one bead at a time, the Violets’ skills had marginally improved. Currently, one Violet could move about two to three beads in a second.
Therefore, it took roughly four Violets to shoot one Fireball per second.
“Three, two, one. Fire!”
As soon as the calculations wrapped up, the Violets fired a Fireball. A fist-sized fireball launched from beyond the wand, soaring towards a distant mannequin.
-Boom!
With a deafening sound, the mannequin exploded.
“Alright! Let’s keep testing like this!”
The Violets sequentially tested multiple wands.
“This one’s casting speed is too slow, and this one’s really mediocre. Oh, wait?”
“Wow, look at this! It uses way less mana!”
Remarkably, one of the three-star wands halved the mana consumption for casting spells. Though this effect didn’t apply to clone generation, we had to consider that unique abilities were different from regular spells.
The ability of the remaining one-star wand was even more astonishing.
-Boom!
“Yikes! Why’s this so powerful?!”
Incredibly, the four-star wand’s firepower was astounding. The fireball we launched had nearly two to three times the potency.
A fireball with the strength of a decent grenade blasted around like a rocket launcher.
“Not bad at all, huh?”
“Uh, Boss…?”
While observing the experiments through the Violet Network, I heard someone call for me.
Ennis was looking at me restlessly.
His eyes seemed to portray annoyance since I stood there dumbfounded and said nothing.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just watching the wand performance tests. The repairs turned out excellent!”
“Really…?”
“Yep!”
This test led me to view our enslaved worker in a new light. Though he didn’t replicate the original power exactly, he had managed to create an impressive chimera magic wand using nothing but the junk we collected from the battlefield.
“Great! I’m in a good mood! Tonight, your dinner will be meat and alcohol!”
“Th-thank you…”
Awesome. The magical power of the Violets made a step forward. We gazed after Ennis, who vanished, following the guard Violet to dinner.
“She has skill. What should we request next?”
“Well, since she’s both a technician and a mage, how about asking for special ammunition production? A magical bomb!”
“That sounds great!”
Tomorrow, I’d have to see if she could etch magic circles onto regular bullets. If she had that capability, we could mass-produce expensive special ammunition like dragon-slaying ammo for free.
“If she says she can’t do it, we’ll just make her keep trying until she can!”
We should probably set a target production of around a thousand rounds as a trial.
The interest of the Violets shifted towards acquiring more powerful attack spells, following the confirmation of the magic equipment production worker’s skills.
“We can replace weak attack spells with firearms or sword techniques. We need truly powerful magic!”
Just then, someone happened to pop up to inform the Violets.
“So, you’re saying you’ll stop learning basic magic? You want to be taught powerful combat magic instead?”
“Yes! I don’t want Fireball or a regular bullet spell! I want magic that brings down whole buildings and armies!”
Albert, hearing my request, replied in an irritated tone.
“…How about explaining your absence from my personal classes? Why’d you suddenly call me to frantically ask about Fire Suppression Magic?”
“Eh heh heh… I’m sorry…”
Hearing the professor’s words made me flinch inwardly. It was because I had skipped class while messing around at the Vittorio Dungeon.
I had to face a serious scolding from the professor for an hour.
“Well, if you understand the problem, maybe the professor will come around?”
By the way, I still wasn’t sure when I should explain the situation to the professor or instructor. It would be proper to ask for cooperation before the great undertaking.
Oh, right! I just remembered I had a question.
While we were exploring the dungeon with our team, Instructor Frederick had taken a short leave.
-Hey kid, as I said last time, if I have work, I might not be around. Training will be on hold starting tomorrow, so keep that in mind.
-Oh? Really? When will you be back?
-Don’t worry, I’ll return soon enough. If you have more questions, ask Albert.
I had to ask Professor Albert about the instructor’s whereabouts. I had hastily created several clones from outside when we needed mana, so I didn’t have the time to look properly.
The professor thought for a moment before slowly replying.
“Ah, that guy? He went off somewhere for an important matter. I contacted him about that just yesterday.”
“Really? Where is he?”
“…Don’t worry about it. Anyway, you said something about combat magic?”
Albert, shifting the subject, returned to his usual self and started grilling me again.
“You complained that learning basic magic gave you a headache, so what are you thinking about for harder spells?”
“Come on, professor. I’m strong in actual combat! Look at this!”
As I said that, I summoned several Fireballs into my hand. The professor sighed.
“This is strange, strange. How can a guy who barely passes in math and theory excel at casting magic this well? I’ve never seen someone like you before.”
“See? I’m different! I’ll learn on my own if I have to. Just teach me some powerful combat magic!”
The professor sharply rejected my request.
“No way. After the basic stage, serious risks come into play with advanced combat magic. If you mess up the calculations in basic spells, it just drains your mana and that’s it, but anything beyond that could lead to serious problems.”
“And what happens then?”
I played clueless while asking Professor Albert. Well, I knew very well from game settings what happens in these cases.
If you mess up while calculating complicated magic…
“Your mana could backfire, injuring you, or your brain could get overloaded, leading to serious harm. Perhaps both could happen. Do you understand? This is a matter of safety. Right now, basic magic is low-risk, but if you recklessly jump into higher-level spells, you could die.”
Once the professor finished, I nodded. Safety was crucial.
However, I still had something left to explain.
“Actually, there’s something I need to confess to you, professor!”
“What is it? Did you steal my wallet or something?”
I shook my head, dismissing the joking remark and created a clone.
“Well, that’s your unique ability. What do you plan to do with that?”
“The thing is, that’s the secret to my magic!”
I demonstrated parallel processing right in front of the professor. He was astonished, his jaw dropped as he stared at us and then collapsed onto a couch.
“Oh my god…”
I roughly explained that ‘for some reason, I can let my clones handle the calculations.’
I kept our core secret, the Violet Network and collective intelligence, under wraps. That was something they didn’t need to know right now.
Once I finished my long explanation, the professor sighed.
“…No wonder it didn’t make sense. It was strange for a guy who couldn’t study to wield magic so well. So, you mean to say you can delegate some calculations to your clones?”
“Yep. That’s right!”
As the intelligent person he was, the professor swiftly understood my explanation.
After pondering for a moment, the professor started rummaging through the bookshelves, pulling out thick tomes locked with several padlocks. They were spellbooks. The locks clicked open one by one.
“Wow, no way! You’re giving these to me?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea, you fool. Even if I give them to you, you won’t be able to use them. Still, take a look at this.”
The professor handed me the smallest, thinnest book.
“Well, you do have some practical ability. It’s time to move beyond basic magic. Here, take this.”
The professor snapped his fingers. A page slipped out from between the books and landed in front of me.
“This is…?”
“It’s the area-of-effect attack magic you were so eager to have. Just give it a look. I’m letting you see how difficult it is. You’ll take it back immediately, so just look—don’t cast it! And don’t take a picture!”
Written on the paper titled <Daen-Quren's Melting Ray> were complicated magic circles and various formulas.
“I need some time to think. I have to figure out what to do next. Would you like a cup of tea?”
The professor briefly stood up and headed to the kitchen. I found myself coveting this magic.
“Scan preparation!”
I immediately sent the paper into my inventory, took a photo, and scanned it with my phone. Then I quickly laid the paper back down.
“…So, did you understand it?”
“No! I don’t know much.”
“As I expected. Let’s start the lesson. In the dimension according to the interpretation of Ether, the layers are…”
Several hours later, as Violet wrapped up her lessons and headed home, Violet 506 raised the wand. It was time to test the snatched Melting Ray spell.
“Let’s practice this magic! And show it off! The professor will acknowledge us, right?”
“Let’s demonstrate Violet’s greatness!”
The <Daen-Quren's Melting Ray> was a technique that unleashes a powerful thermal ray. After several glances, we figured out what this spell was.
“This is it! It’s the beam the Vanguard guys used to shoot at us!”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
I don’t know how many Violets were slaughtered by it at the hands of the elite forces of Magnavis.
“Alright, I have to learn this even more! Let’s return the favor to those guys with the magic they used on us!”
Violet 506 activated the formula.
Before our eyes appeared a more extensive and complicated calculation formula than when launching a Fireball, along with countless beads.
The number of beads swiftly soared into the hundreds in a blink.
“Yikes! No way. Gather a hundred people!”
Violet 506 hurriedly called other Violets.
A hundred Violets gathered inside the factory and began the calculations. The formula was activated at a quick pace.
“Ugh! This is hard! My head hurts!”
“Just hang in there, we’re almost there!”
One minute later, the calculations were complete. Violet 506 raised the wand. Now, it was time to cast!
At that moment, an anomaly occurred.
“Uh, uh! The mana! No!”
“Ugh! My head!”
The Violets inside the factory, sitting and focusing on the calculations, began to fall, one by one, bleeding from their eyes, noses, and ears.
Violet 506 panicked.
“Uh? Uh! This isn’t right!”
The Violets were collapsing or fainting in succession.
Indeed, both 302 and 217, who participated in the calculations, began to dance wildly after failing.
“Ew! The world is spinning!”
“Ugh! I made a miscalculation! The mana is backfiring!”
302 shouted as she hopped around in panic.
At that moment, someone barged in through the door. It was Irene.
“Violet, I came to ask you something… What’s happening?”
“Kyaaa! No way!”
-Boom!
302 couldn’t withstand the overload, and her head exploded.
“Ukkkyaaat!”
Moments later, 217’s head also exploded in succession. The bodies of the two Violets fell to the ground, headless.
Irene stared at us, eyes wide in shock. Her expression, failing to understand the situation, twisted in disbelief.
After a few seconds, the Violets shook off the dust and got back on their feet. Seeing this, Irene returned to her usual calm demeanor.
“Oh dear…”
She sighed softly.
“…Really, Violet. Even if you’re not dead, this is a bit off. What kind of experiment are you conducting? It’s not like you’re manufacturing bombs in the barracks, right…?”
“Heh heh heh…”
As we barely deflected her incredulous gaze, we chuckled weakly.
The first research into Violet’s combat magic had ended in failure.
