Chapter 243: The Birth of the First Magus Set (Part 1)

Magna didn’t try to change the artifact right away. First, he wanted to see whether the spell could help him examine how it had been made.

If it worked like a developer console, as he suspected, it should let him do more than just edit data. He decided to test that with his next command.

"Enter inspection mode. Generate an exploded view with material layers sorted by assembly order."

Amazingly, it worked just as he had guessed. The armor rose into the air, surrounded by green light, with the words still circling it.

Its layers then began to spread apart like pieces of a lego model.

First, the lines of flowing magma lifted away, keeping their original shape. The thin outer layer of metal followed, then the layers underneath, each separating into smaller components.

Soon, what looked like a 3D blueprint floated before him, every part held in place where he could examine it.

"What did you do?" Renna stared at the armor, her face filling with horror.

It had been crafted to withstand even high-tier spells, yet he had seemingly taken it apart with a single spell.

"Don’t worry. It’s not broken," Magna quickly explained when he noticed her expression. "Think of it as an inspection spell. The spell is just letting me see all the layers separately. Once I end it, everything will go back to normal."

He was sure the spell could destroy the armor too, but that would cost far more mana than simply inspecting it.

Activating inspection mode alone had cost him 5% mana. Keeping it active continued to drain his reserve with every passing second. The armor only appeared separated while the spell was active. Once he ended it, everything would return to its original state.

Still, seeing it work this way confirmed that he could use it like a developer tool. A few commands let him examine how something had been created. With enough mana, he could then edit it however he wanted.

For now, he needed to understand what he was looking at before spending more mana on changes.

He started studying the separate parts.

After everything he had learned about artifact crafting, they no longer looked so unfamiliar to his eyes.

He could even identify some of them.

The outermost metallic layer, thin as a sheet of paper, was processed Grak Steel. The fine, threadlike connections included Desert Hare tendons, Sky Locust parts, and several other materials listed in Renna’s book.

Knowing what each component was and how it had been used would let him change the armor piece by piece. If he tried to reshape the whole thing without understanding its structure or where each material belonged, the spell might fail or consume more mana than he had.

It was like an engineer reverse-engineering a machine, a common practice on Earth, as far as he knew. They would first take it apart to understand how each component worked so they could recreate or improve it.

He carefully studied where each section belonged and how it connected to the others. Once the total mana cost reached 7%, he finally canceled the spell.

That left him with 71%.

The separated layers returned to their original positions before Renna’s eyes. Within moments, the armor was whole again, exactly as Magna had promised.

She was relieved to see it undamaged, though she was still struggling to believe a spell like this existed.

Yet that was only the beginning.

Now that Magna had memorized its layers and components, he cast the spell again. This time, he targeted only the outer layer made of Grak Steel.

Green light flowed from his finger, turning into words that spread across the armor’s dark red surface.

"Convert the outer layer into fine cloth. Preserve its defensive properties and enchantments."

Across the chest and the sections below the waist, the hard metal surface began turning into dark red, cotton-like fabric. The helmet and boots remained untouched.

Renna said nothing at first. He had already shown her that he could use the spell without breaking the precious armor.

But as more of the metal became soft-looking cloth, she began wondering whether she had trusted him too soon.

Magna paid no attention to what she might be thinking. He was focused on the changes in front of him, checking his mana reserve as they took shape.

What had once been a knight’s metal armor now looked like a crumpled, poorly made cloth shirt with a terrible design. But this was only the beginning, so Magna wasn’t concerned about its appearance yet.

Converting the material had consumed only 10%, less than he had expected. With enough mana left to continue, he moved on to the design.

"Extend the lower section to ankle length. Keep the front open below the waist."

The dark red fabric stretched downward, forming 2 long panels that parted at the front.

"Adjust the torso to a fitted cut. Leave enough room around the shoulders for unrestricted movement."

The broad shape of the chest armor gradually narrowed. Its rigid edges softened into folds as the cloth took the shape of a fitted upper garment.

"Extend the sleeves to the wrists. Taper them toward the cuffs."

Fabric spread down from the shoulders, covering the spaces where the separate arm pieces had been. The sleeves narrowed as they reached the wrists, leaving no loose fabric hanging around the hands.

"Raise the collar. Keep the front slightly open."

The neckline rose on both sides, forming a high collar with a small opening beneath the chin.

By now, Renna could see what he was making. The armor was becoming a robe resembling a Witch’s, though its design seemed more suited to a man.

She watched with wide eyes as Magna paused to examine it.

His mana reserve was still well above 50%, so he decided to finish the remaining details.

"Reposition the glowing lines along the collar, cuffs, and front edges. Preserve their connections."

The magma-like lines slowly shifted across the fabric. They followed the edges of the new design, branching into thinner patterns around the shoulders.

With that done, Magna checked his mana once more. He had 51% left.

He looked over the result. The long panels, fitted sleeves, and raised collar finally gave it the appearance he had been imagining.

His design wasn’t the work of a complete beginner either. He usually designed the character skins and equipment models for his games himself, so he was quite confident in his skills when it came to appearance.

More importantly, the armor hadn’t lost any of its defenses or buffs in the process. He had changed the form of its components while preserving their other properties.

Satisfied, he canceled the spell, then bent down to pick up the robe.

"How does it look? Think it’ll suit me?" he asked with a laugh, holding it up in front of Renna.

She stared at it for a few seconds before finding an answer.

"It looks good, but..."

The design was fine. What worried her was whether it could still function as armor. Looking at the soft fabric, she found it hard to believe it had kept its former durability.

Noticing her concern, Magna chuckled and put it on. Once it was in place, he spread his arms with a confident look.

"Go ahead. Test its durability. I’m sure you’ll be surprised."