Chapter 207

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1.

The next morning.

As the sun rose, the students of Arsen Academy gathered once again. It was time to kick off the real itinerary of the school trip.

“Ah, I slept so well after a long time.”

“I slept so much on the train, but I’m still sleepy.”

“I feel a bit lighter thanks to my good rest since we got our accommodations last night.”

Thanks to a good night’s sleep after being assigned to their lodgings, the students generally had bright expressions.

Ulan and Noa also looked refreshed.

But Ivella was a different story.

“Sigh.”

Letting out a quiet sigh, she frowned slightly and clutched her head.

‘Ugh, I got careless.’

She had a purpose yesterday.

After the accommodation assignments were done, she planned to sneak into Ulan’s room as the night deepened.

Her ultimate goal was to secure a promise to explore the city together during the free time on the last day of the trip.

‘But…’

She just lay on the bed for a moment while waiting for nightfall and fell right asleep.

When she finally woke up, the sun was already high in the sky, and her plans had crumbled.

In truth, if you only considered this, it wasn’t that big of a deal. There were still a few days left before the school trip wrapped up.

However, her reason for self-reproach was another matter.

‘What if the others went instead?’

She couldn’t shake the thought that Delia or Fertisha might have snuck into Ulan’s room while she was out like a light.

Waves of anxiety washed over her, and as she bit her lips in distress, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and called out to Ulan.

“Hey, Ulan?”

“What?”

“After we got our accommodations yesterday, did anyone come to your room?”

“There was.”

“R-Really? Who was it?”

Her heart sank as if it had dropped into her stomach.

Tension spread over Ivella’s face, tightening her grip into a fist. As she anxiously awaited his answer, she got an unexpected response.

“It was Noa.”

“Eh? N-Noa?”

Not Delia or Fertisha?

As she dumbly repeated his words, Ulan nodded again, and Ivella immediately turned to look at Noa. Noa, upon meeting her gaze, quickly grasped the situation.

“Oh, I just had something to discuss with Ulan. So I stopped by to chat for a bit.”

She answered as calmly as she could.

It couldn’t be helped.

After all, in Ivella’s eyes, flames of jealousy were burning bright.

“Is that all?”

“Yep, that’s all.”

“Really?”

“Yep, really!”

It wasn’t until Noa explained the situation several times that Ivella finally lifted her doubts.

While she sighed in relief, Noa let out a different kind of sigh.

‘I don’t know if it’s just me, but the penalties seem to be getting stronger by the day.’

Jealousy and lack of understanding.

Remembering the penalty imposed on Ivella, Noa wore a troubled expression.

‘At this rate…’

After the Abyss War concludes, a battle over Ulan among the heroes might break out.

Other heroes who held rational interest in Ulan had penalties similar to or even stronger than Ivella’s.

‘But it’s ultimately Ulan’s decision.’

Even so, the concern lingered.

While Noa was lost in thought, Professor Melt, who was leading the students, suddenly came to a stop.

“This is Plume Workshop.”

The first destination on today’s agenda.

This enormous workshop within Plume Academy was akin to a holy ground for magic engineers, with excellent students and professors gathered together.

“Oh, just so you know, the Magic-Powered Train you all rode here is one of the masterpieces born from Plume Workshop.”

At the mention of the Magic-Powered Train, a few students’ eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Of course, Noa was the exception.

Having played the original countless times, she already knew this information and had something far more important on her mind.

‘Lord of the Abyss.’

Through her conversation with Ulan the previous night, Noa became absolutely certain that one of the Lords of the Abyss had emerged.

Now, there was only one thing she needed to do.

She had to figure out who the Lord was.

‘Only then can I formulate a perfect plan.’

Noa’s mind was filled with strategy information about each Lord. Identifying the Lord was crucial.

Meanwhile, around the same time.

There was someone who, like her, was half-listening to Professor Melt’s words. It was Ulan, who was on a similar wavelength.

‘Three Lords remaining.’

The Lord of the Immortals, Giant King, and Wailing Eyeball.

Each known as Lords ranked 1, 2, and 6. However, unlike Noa who was puzzling over the identity of the Lord, Ulan didn’t bother to contemplate which one had emerged.

‘The outcome will be the same anyway.’

Just like the other Lords he had defeated before, he would break them down and smash them to pieces. And there was something even more important than identifying the Lord.

It was Noa’s hypothesis that the Lord of the Abyss might be located in the Eastern Jungle. Remembering this made his body itch with anticipation.

‘I want to fight soon.’

Now, Ulan’s goals were no longer limited to just the Lords of the Abyss. He had come to realize that there were powerful enemies beyond the six Lords.

‘Right now, I can’t defeat that one.’

The countless hands he faced in the Abyss.

The unidentified foe, whose identity was unknown, exuded a pressure greater than any Lord he had encountered so far.

So, to eliminate it, he needed to reach a level that transcended a Master.

‘Realm Beyond Mastery.’

In his past life, Ulan only realized the existence of that realm after he reached the pinnacle 5-star mastery.

In other words, he had to first complete 5-star mastery to even begin to step into the Realm Beyond Mastery.

‘So…’

His next goal was clear: eliminate all three remaining Lords and absorb their essences.

Thus, the identity of the emerging Lord was not particularly important.

‘I need to wait for the right moment.’

It takes about half a day to ride a horse from the Endrak border to the Eastern Jungle. Not to mention, if Ulan sprinted with all his might, he would arrive even sooner.

‘Maybe tonight.’

Once he figured out the exact direction and destination where the power of the Abyss was emanating from the Spirit of the Abyss, it would be a good idea to swing by the Eastern Jungle.

Just as he had made that determination, a sudden whisper caught his attention.

“Hey, look over there.”

“Isn’t that the famous ‘Delia Arpen’?”

“It sure looks like it when you see her face.”

“But is she really 17 years old?”

A crowd of dozens of students had gathered.

Unlike Arsen’s free-dressing students, everyone around was wearing a white school uniform.

They were the current students of Plume Academy.

“If someone is beloved by mana….”

“They said they can see the magic power with their own eyes, right?”

“Wow, that’s seriously enviable.”

“Yeah. It means they can grasp all magic flow without using a magic observation tool.”

“They’re a talent essential for magic engineering.”

Students who were both engineers and mages showed exceptional interest and curiosity towards Delia, who was known as a Genius Mage.

However, that didn’t mean everyone only had eyes for Delia.

“Hey, look at that bare guy…”

“He’s the youngest Master known from the rumors.”

“…But is he really 17 years old?”

Students were skeptical about his age in a slightly different way from Delia. Each of them sparkled their eyes as they looked at Ulan.

“I hope he drops by our place later.”

“Right. If we could borrow the Master’s power, it would help with our stalled experiments.”

“I have to talk to him during the exchange schedule.”

From all around came a chorus of conversation.

Hearing this, Ulan felt oddly fascinated. After all, no one had called him a barbarian this time.

As he was receiving curious glances, Ulan and the other Arsen students finally reached their destination.

“This is the Exhibition Hall of the Plume Workshop. You can think of it as a place where the magical tools currently in development and testing are gathered.”

There were plenty of intriguing items on display.

From magical tools that could replicate the contents of letters and deliver them to a distant recipient, to devices that automatically dig when infused with minimal magic.

The presentation of eye-catching inventions left the Arsen students wide-eyed with wonder.

Seemingly satisfied with the students’ reactions, Professor Melt smiled and spoke.

“Although these items are all still in the development stage, if they are mass-produced in the future, they will bring about significant changes to daily life.”

Creating magical tools that aid people’s lives—this was the reason and purpose behind Professor Melt’s devotion to magic engineering.

‘But…’

Sadly, all of Professor Melt’s inventions were used for war.

The magical tool that replicates letter contents served to communicate orders along the battle line, and the device that digs automatically was used to make trenches.

‘His intentions are all well and good, but still, Professor Melt’s magical tools must never be mass-produced.’

Humanity must unite until the Abyss War breaks out. Therefore, Noa hoped to prevent the mass production of these developments.

Even if there was an unexpected incident that completely destroyed Plume Workshop. While harboring these grave intentions in her heart…

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Ulan stopped in his tracks.

Not just him. Most of the Arsen students had their feet stuck in the central part of the exhibition hall. They were all fixated on a gigantic exhibit.

“What is that?”

“It looks like a Golem…”

“But it’s empty inside, isn’t it?”

“Is it some kind of Golem dissection?”

As the students speculated, the identity of the massive display was a Golem that stood about 4-5 meters tall.

However, the peculiarity was that its interior, which typically would have a power source, was hollow, and its inner lining was studded with numerous Magic Stones.

“Oh, it’s Magic Armor.”

Just at that moment, Professor Melt noticed their gaze and kindly explained.

“Magic Armor is a magical tool designed to protect the bodies of mages and knights working in dangerous environments.”

According to him, the reason why the inside is hollow is that a mage or knight must enter it to use it.

“In short, you can summarize it as a ‘Golem that you wear like armor.’”

A magical tool that allows you to wear the outer shell of the Golem like armor. So, it was essentially a full plate armor.

The students listened intently to Professor Melt’s explanation, their eyes shining with enthusiasm. It was a stark contrast to their earlier attitude.

Even Ulan, who had shown little interest in other areas until now, found himself intrigued and attentive to the professor’s words.

Just as they were deep into the explanation…

From not too far away, he felt a presence.

“Uh, excuse me…”

“Sorry, but…”

“Can we excuse ourselves for a moment?”

Three individuals wearing work clothes.

Assuming they were magic engineers, they approached cautiously as if they had something to say. Professor Melt immediately recognized them.

“Oh, if it isn’t the Henness Team.”

“The Henness Team?”

“They’re a team that develops and creates various magical tools and have previously participated in the development of the Magic-Powered Train. They’re quite talented.”

After exchanging friendly nods with the engineers, Professor Melt smiled brightly.

“Also, they’re the ones who designed and created the Magic Armor you’re looking at right now.”

“……!”

The students’ eyes widened in disbelief.

They never expected that those wondrous magical tools had been developed by them. Soon, they gazed at the Henness Team with curious eyes.

After a brief moment, the Henness Team, receiving the spotlight, revealed the reason they sought out Professor Melt and the students from Arsen Academy.

Chapter 48. The Secret Weapon of Plume Workshop