If the enhancement failed, the structural stability of the original material would completely break down, triggering a thermal reaction.
Since the materials were mostly ore, the usual result of failure was an "explosion"!
The power of the explosion depended on the mass—the heavier the material, the stronger the blast.
Four kilograms of white steel ore, which had roughly double the density of iron ore, was basically like turning eight kilograms of iron ore into a bomb.
This was no longer just material.
It was TNT!
"Wind!"
Noah instantly used Spell-Weaver to control all the surrounding wind and hurled the "bomb" high into the sky outside the workshop.
Zing! BOOM!
A blinding flash lit up the sky, followed by a huge explosion a second later.
"Tch, the failure rate is still way too high," Noah muttered.
Unlike basic abilities, developmental abilities needed separate experience to level up.
That meant he had to keep trying enhancements over and over.
For example, the sage from eight hundred years ago had used ultimate-level Mystery to create the Philosopher's Stone.
His Mystery must have reached an incredible level, maybe even A-rank.
Improving developmental abilities was notoriously difficult—even cheat like Bell Cranel had to build it up slowly.
This was because developmental abilities had very limited chances to be used and the right conditions were often hard to meet.
Enhancement was an active ability, but it was restricted to only five uses per day.
To level it up, Noah picked items to enhance every day, but so far, not a single object had reached +3 or higher.
Moreover, the ones that did reach +3 were mostly low-tier items.
"Tch, my knowledge of magic is still too shallow," Noah sighed.
...
After a whole night of intense study, Noah didn't feel sleepy at all the next morning.
He closed the workshop and headed to the Guild alone.
He knew someone there who was very familiar with books, and her background was quite interesting.
"Ara, Noah?" A half-elf adventurer guild staff member greeted him in surprise.
It was rare for a novice adventurer like him to visit the Guild so infrequently.
Because of that, he had become a "rare guest" at the Adventurer's Guild.
"How unusual for you to come here."
"I'm here to see you, Miss Eina."
"Eh? For me?"
"Yes."
Eina tilted her head, glanced at the long queue and whispered, "Let's talk in the back then."
As an advisor, giving a bit of extra attention to a promising adventurer wasn't strange.
Being newly promoted, Eina handled very few adventurers, and Noah was her first one after the promotion.
Noah nodded and followed her to the rest area.
Eina brought him a cup of coffee, but Noah preferred to get straight to the point.
"Miss Eina, are you familiar with books on magic theory or magic tools?"
"Ah? Magic... and magic tools?" Eina looked puzzled.
She explained, "Noah, you should know—such books are extremely precious. In Orario, the major Familias keep them guarded, and even their own members usually can't access them freely."
He knew that, of course.
The Hephaestus Familia was no exception, though they were more open—but only to their own members.
Outsiders couldn't just browse them.
And because of Tsubaki, the original contents had already been leaked once.
The current versions were handwritten copies he helped Tsubaki reorganize, and they probably still had a few mistakes.
To prevent that kind of situation, the major Familias guarded their books closely.
Large Familias even built dedicated archives or libraries.
"I don't need advanced knowledge. I'm looking for the basic theoretical foundations," Noah clarified.
Magic wasn't something you could simply learn. It was divided into innate and acquired types, and it awakened based on a person's aptitude or was present from birth.
Everyone had a different number of magic slots.
The city's strongest mage, Riveria, had three magic slots for attack, defense, and recovery.
Each type could produce different effects depending on the chant stage, letting one spell function as three, for a total of nine variations.
This was the origin of her title, Nine Hell.
While others had no magic, one, or at most two spells, she had nine.
It was a dream beyond most mages' imagination.
One could say she was cheating.
A millennium ago, before the gods descended to the lower world, humans rarely possessed such miraculous power as magic.
Only elves could use it.
Yet, many magic books had circulated among nations back then.
Noah wanted to read those ancient texts.
Modern magic books relied on Falna and mostly recorded spell names, effects, and user information.
They were more like magic encyclopedias than real magic theory books.
Books on crafting magic tools were extremely rare, with only a few in circulation, mostly written by the sage who created the Philosopher's Stone eight hundred years ago.
That sage was now hiding within the Guild, working for the old god Ouranos.
Meeting him was currently impossible.
Ouranos intentionally kept his existence hidden.
Directly looking for him wouldn't cause harm, but he would definitely play dumb.
So, where could one find these ancient texts? There was only one answer!
"Miss Eina, I'd like to know about the School District. Could you tell me about it?"
"The School District?" Eina looked surprised. "I can tell you, but Noah, you should know—the School District isn't permanently located in Orario."
"It moves?"
"Exactly. And usually, outsiders aren't allowed inside, let alone into the archives."
Noah's brow furrowed.
...
As he left the Guild, lost in thought, Noah heard hurried footsteps behind him.
He turned around and saw Eina rushing toward him, waving her hand frantically.
"Noah, wait!"
'Hm?'
"What is it, Miss Eina? You seem in a hurry—wait, what's that in your hand?"
"Um, this is... well, a notebook on magic tools that someone left with the Guild."
'A notebook on magic tools!'
'She had just said there weren't any.'
'How suddenly...'
"May I take a look?"
Noah took the notebook from Eina and gently opened it.
It wasn't very well preserved, but it was genuinely new.
He glanced suspiciously at the flustered Eina.
Then he closed the book.
"Appraise."
"Magic Tool Notes"
Author: Asfi Al Andromeda
Records early insights of the Thousand Elf, handwritten by the Thousand Elf herself.
The bookmark between pages 23 and 24 is a gift from Lidith, the late captain of the Hermes Familia.
"Asfi Al Andromeda?" Noah unconsciously murmured the name.
Noah looked at the half-elf staff member and smiled thinly. "Where is the guy who gave you this book?"
"Um, what are you talking about? I don't really understand."
"Heh."
"I see," Noah sneered. "I understand."
He took a deep breath, then crouched low.
Spell-Weaver gathered the surrounding wind beneath his feet, while Raven Feather adhered to the ground.
"Then I'll find him myself."
Noah spoke in a dark tone before a roar erupted.
Propelled by the explosive force, he shot off the ground, riding the wind as he soared high above the city.
The wind pressure tousled the half-elf's hair and nearly blew off her glasses.
She stared in shock at the suddenly enraged youth.
'That expression he just had... was terrifying.'
'No wonder god Hermes had insisted his identity must not be exposed.'
'Judging by Noah's reaction, their grudge must be irreconcilable.'
But she didn't understand how Noah knew it was from Hermes.
...
High above, Noah scanned every corner of the ground like a predatory eagle.
West.
East.
South!
His eyes locked onto a figure with an annoyingly carefree posture.
The figure was walking briskly, one hand holding a hat adorned with feathers.
'Haha.'
"Found you..."
Noah formed an air wall, stepped onto it, and crouched mid-air, facing downward.
The cheerful man suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if targeted by a dangerous beast, his sharp intuition had saved him many times in the lower world.
He turned around in panic.
His eyes immediately found the youth staring down at him from the sky.
"Yabai!" Hermes paled and dashed into a nearby alley.
Noah's gaze sharpened.
He accelerated mid-air, plunging straight toward the alley.
He clenched his metal-gauntleted fist, the scene was very familiar to what happen over a year ago.
"You dare show your face before me again, Hermes!"
'Impact—Resonance Detonation!'
"I'll smash you to pieces!"