Free Web NovelChapter 22: When the hearts align
The previously empty basement of the annex building used to be a forgotten place until a few days ago.
The basement that was used as a storage space until a decade ago only had one small entrance that, with the passage of time, got hidden behind a big closet used by the servants.
The basement had nothing of importance, and until a few days ago, there were very few who even knew about this basement space.
However, a few days ago, the youngest son of the house, the only direct descendent of the patriarch to live outside of the main estate building, opened up the previously barren basement.
He made it into his personal space, barring anyone but his personal maid, the head maid Lexie from entering in.
While no one really knew what went on in that space, the talks of wild nature were already spreading throughout the Sungrade.
"He’s conducting experiments down there."
"He tortures people and eats them."
"I’ve heard he hurts and kills magical beasts down there as well."
"I hear strange cries from down there."
"A friend of mine told me she saw him bringing a big, bloody sack down there."
"He makes sure nobody is watching him. In fact, I’ve heard that he has already killed the people that tried going down there."
The rumors going around the house were pretty wild.
Despite him being the center of the other’s criticism all this time, even when they had called him useless until now, they had now made him into this evil villain.
"Even that head maid..."
"I’ve always felt uneasy around her."
"An old maid even called her a demon... could she really be a demon?"
"No way... then does that mean they are conducting demonic rituals down there?"
If the rumors about him weren’t enough, they had started targeting Lexie as well.
It had only been a few days since all of this started, but throughout that time, a lot of people had tried investigating this mystery.
However, anyone who had remotely succeeded in going down there had returned with a horrified expression on their face.
"There’s... there is nothing down there..."
"N-no. Leave me!"
"I told you I didn’t see anything!"
The more people that came out frightened from that underground hell, the less people tried proving their bravery.
Slowly, the servants stopped paying attention to the door leading to the underground as well as the young master that was involved with that place.
They started avoiding and fearing the same person they had laughed at and looked down upon all this time.
And, to the person in question here, this was the best outcome he could hope for.
"We will add 0.1g of the (Green Floral mist) now."
"Chirp~."
It was true that Prism was conducting secret experiments in this underground chamber.
It was also true that he had brought bloody things in here.
As a matter of fact he was torturing people down here. But that was a different matter.
He had identified and captured the people that were anyhow connected to the incidents that were happening in this house over the last few years.
He did not cover just the things that had happened after his regression a few days ago but everything that made anything look suspicious from the last few years.
He was eliminating people that would pose a threat to the people in this house with Lexie’s help and while doing that, he was creating some things that were not supposed to appear in this world for a few more years.
"Alright. Now we will superposition the spell circles over the item."
"Chirp~!"
He had turned the entire underground floor into a hightech lab.
The sterile floor reminded one of the hospitals while the clean equipment would remind one of the research facilities.
There were shelves full of materials on one side, shelves full of equipment used in alchemy, magic engineering, and enchantment, and also shelves full of ’sample’ creatures that he brought over from all over the city.
From sewer rats to the invasive species of birds, rodents and reptiles, he collected all the creatures that had something secretly special about them.
They were going to get killed by him, but at the very least, he would make their deaths worth it.
Anyways, this underground was ultimately a secret research facility right now and anyone that entered this place without his permission was made to see some horrible things that, as he threatened them, might happen to them the next time they tried something like this.
"We need this to be perfect, Nix. We have wasted too much money on these scrolls."
"Chirp!"
While most of the things in this place were stolen, borrowed, or bought with ’information’ and ’secrets’ of future knowledge, it had cost him a lot of his resources.
There were far better facilities in the main estate but he wasn’t qualified to use them just yet. However, that was going to change after today.
Today was the day he proved his worth to the people who doubted him in this family. But, today was also the very day that might become unforgettable to many of them.
Thus, he was preparing for the important battle.
"Alright, I’m going to extract them one by one. Get ready."
"Chirp~!"
After creating various potent poisons and enhanced healing potions, he was creating a magic item that’d help him in the long run.
This item which essentially looked like eyeglasses, was made with tens of rare materials. On top of the structural uniqueness and inherent functions, he was doing something that was not yet possible in the mainstream.
"Huuuu..."
By extracting the magic circles from the costly magic scrolls, he was implanting them on this item, going as far as to superposition different kinds of magic spells on a single item.
"Chirp..."
With Nix, the smartest and most capable aide by his side, he was now placing the extracted magic circle from the pre-soaked scroll with the help of specially enchanted tweezers onto the concentration funnel that looked like a Klein bottle.
The shortest looking end of the bottle was connected to the part of the glasses where the magic was supposed to be implanted, while on the other hand, Nix was controlling the flow of Mana that was going to guide this entire process.
If either of them were off even by a margin of 1%, the implantation process would fail and their precious item made over the last three days would just... poof!
But they could not afford failure.
Each one of the magic scrolls cost them as much as a fourth of the blue honey jar that they gave to their elder sister.
The maximum spells that an item of this size can handle was six. And they also only had six of the scrolls to make this work.
Failure was not an option... and the passionate duo understood that very well.
Therefore, when the first spell was extracted, Nix used his precise calculations and judgement to guide the spell circle and without any errors, he placed the spell circle onto the glasses.
However, that was only the beginning.
"Ready!"
Prism picked up the next spell with his tweezers and placed them on the funnel’s opening.
"Chirp~!"
The young phoenix guided the spell to the destination once again, adjusting the position of the glasses down to the perfect angle.
"We’re not done just yet!"
The third spell was going to complete the full circuit on one side of the glasses.
"Chirp!"
And the little one, already in the Zone, was already prepared in his position.
"Here goes nothing..."
The third spell was picked.
Placed steadily on the funnel’s opening.
It passed through the opening.
-Ooooooooooooong!
Nix activated his energy and guided the spell through the tube.
And then...
After a moment that stretched too far...
Just as their hearts had almost stopped beating...
They heard it.
-Click.
The sound of the three spells interlocking on the glasses, synchronizing into a complete circuit that would allow them to use the <Farsight>, <Detection>, and <Appraisal> spells.
"We did it!"
"Chirp~!"
"Nix we did it! Yeiiiiii~!"
Even though it was just one side of the item, the joy the two felt in that moment was immense.
This was nothing compared to the ones they will have in the future, but they had just created a [MagiGlass], the first of its kind right now.
They still had three more spells to complete the whole circuit, but this alone proved that they were on the right path.
"Alright. Let’s do the other side."
"Chirp~!"
Prism didn’t know Nix would be such a great help.
He wasn’t even going to attempt making something like this.
But, this little bird proved out to be an incredible help in everything that made him move.
If he was interested in something, he was more helpful than a dozen lab assistants.
Even right now, he was the only reason they were able to do something that would be impossible without technologies that would only come to be after a few years from now.
Still, the joy of doing these things together was greater than anything else.
"Huuu... I’ll start now."
"Chirp!"
As they worked together, the two felt alive again.
This complicated relationship of theirs... might not be as bad as they had thought at first.
