Magical Academy: Rise of the Supreme Magic Craftsman

Wallace ate his breakfast together with his sister Clarice. They had a lot to talk about since they haven't met for so long.

"It seems you're getting a lot busier on your job." Wallace said as he wanted to start a conversation where he will learn what kind of work his sister was on about.

He was only aware that his sister was part of a combat magician's battalion and he was sure that it wasn't the elite forces which were the Lucent Force. 

"Heh. I got promoted last year. I no longer work on the field." 

"Eh? What kind of soldier are you then?" 

"My battlefield was on the desk." 

"Oh, makes sense." 

"What did you do to get promoted."

"Nothing dangerous."

"It's dangerous for sure. Tell me more about it." Wallace heard that she has been involved in the joint security area in the boundary of both countries of Maja and Guwain. 

Wallace was well aware of the history of the two country due to his research about the Magic Jammers.*

"Haha! That's classified. I can't tell you. You're the one who should tell a story. Dad told us that you're making weird Mana Artifacts and devices recently. There was even a case were you even sold them to a terrorist. Urgh..." Clarice said as she grumbled remembering the trouble that they've made after selling the Float Drive System to the company associated with the Prime Minister.

They sure got investigated but because he was associated with NMTI and it seems that his parents still have a bit of reputation, they didn't get too embroiled in it and was able to smoothly pass it over.

"They're not weird. They're innovative." Wallace said referring to his Mana Artifacts he made during the past three months. He could do a lot more things after learning Arcane Link. But he was still unsure if he can be called an Adept Level due to him not learning any Arcane Spell. 

Also, he might pass as Magic Engineer but as Arcane Artificer, he would need a teacher for that. As techniques at those levels could not be found by the A.I. on the internet as they were stored in Memory Crystals and it was also carefully protected by clans, private companies, churches, or government. After all, those techniques were the foundation of their organizations. Although there were individuals who possess these techniques without having trouble, they were those people with powerful strength and has a level of influence to people. 

"Innovative?" Clarice was amused and suddenly said.

"But those inventions you made caused an issue! Infringement of privacy!" 

She was referring to one of the internet programs he made together with the A.I. The internet wasn't well developed but it was slowly progressing.

He also made some electrical devices aside from those software programs. He made some combat simulator pods which he was still perfecting.

Hi-tech equipment was still present here but most of them couldn't function without Mana. Mobile equipment was the same as most batteries, a device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy, doesn't have a long life. 

"Ah, those programs could help people, right?" He was referring to a detailed map he made with the help of his drones. At first, he didn't plan to share it and only use it for his own but because he wanted to make a name for himself and sell his Mana Artifacts that he made, he decided to release it on a whim.

Unfortunately, it was deemed as an infringement of privacy capturing photos from above. Although there wasn't any law about this, people started to complain after learning about it. It took sometime before the issue calmed down. Luckily, his combat simulation pods were released and helped to cover the issue.

Aside from several programs he made, he was also constantly making Mana Artifacts with an improved Artifact Forging Device that he made on his own. He could do a lot more with the automatons his Avalon was controlling.

Due to the large number of Mana Artifacts he made, it was taking too much of his space in his warehouse. But he couldn't just throw them away or pile them in his warehouse and gather some dust so he had to circulate them. 

After he purchased tons of materials to experiment, he then sold those artifacts that weren't too valuable for him. Of course, they could never reverse engineer them even if they found it very valuable to them.

Also, what Wallace sold were always a gun-looking design Mana Artifacts. Guns that shoot a different types of Elemental Mana Bullets. Each has different calibers and models and were highly sought after. 

Most Mana Artifacts right now we're designed like a scepter, gauntlet, sword, shield, spear, talismans, and others, so Wallace's gun-like Mana Artifacts were being highly accepted by the buyers. 

Apparently, guns were always deemed as weapons for non-magicians so they weren't inclined in designing such weapons before.

And as guns and explosives were made by non-magicians that could still kill unprepared magicians, it was deemed not to make fun of these weapons. So most magic engineers didn't touch this design, it was an unwritten rule that Wallace broke because of his cool aesthetic designs. Everyone liked his idea of improvement and changes.

More than that, Wallace had also received a mission from the Pathfinder. This is the reason he had to make some reputation.

[ Find a Master! ]

[ Your path dabbles in multiple fields. You first needed to learn from a Master Craftsman.

Be taught in a natural way and be flexible for the sake of learning the other fields. ] 

[ Rewards: Void Phase ( Intermediate Level ) ] 

Wallace was actually disappointed with the reward for this mission as he was about to reach the intermediate level on his own if he researched for a few more weeks. He had researched and practiced a lot using his Void Phase.

He was able to improve the distance that he could cover, thanks to his Arcane Link. Then after a month of experimentation, he was able to fuse it together with his Divine Sense perfectly. 

After every night of practice, he was now able to cover 5 kilometers in a single attempt, also with lesser mana consumption. Wallace actually expected before that improving the distance that he could cover means increasing his mana consumption, but after he infused his Divine Sense perfectly, the consumption was almost negligible.

But there was some problem that has appeared, he could no longer increase the distance he could take and if he maximized the 5km distance. A small explosion of Mana would appear in the targeted location. He could only use 3 kilometers of Void Phasing Steps to avoid the small Mana Explosion. 

***

After Wallace toured his sister within his workshop, the lady asked to try his unreleased version of the combat simulator pod.

Clarice observed the silver oval-shaped pod and without activating it, it only looks like a perfectly sculpted egg. 

"This looks better than the crap you sold! Nice..." She blurted upon seeing the new version.

Wallace assisted her to wear a special suit and helped her lie within the pod. 

"These things aren't in the previous pod you made. What are these?" Clarice pointed out some things in the pod. She had purchased Wallace's products before to support him so she was familiar with the old simulator pods. 

"Those are for nutrients, so your body is always in perfect shape even if you like there for 24 hours. Those gels help for sensitivity. This pod I made could simulate 20% of pain, in maximum. You can opt to activate it. It is up to the user." Wallace answered. There were a lot of problems in the first version but this unreleased version would surely take all the market for simulator pods. Although it says Combat Simulator Pod, Wallace actually made it not only for combat use.

"Whoa... That's interesting. Where did you learn all of this? This could never be taught in the academy."

"Err... I just got some ideas after the competition in Montego."

"Haha! as if... I heard that you've slept in the whole competition."

"Urgh... Why does it sound like I lazed around there?" Wallace said as the two chuckled. His sister doesn't really care where did Wallace learned all of this and only asked in a moment of surprise. 

"How to activate it?" Clarice asked after making sure that she was in a comfortable position.

"Just close your eyes and wear that breather. Then say 'Start Link' and you'll be sent to the Virtual World. Good Luck there!" 

He didn't just create this equipment to have fun, this simulator pod powered by Mana Battery was only a step to his future plans. He had to take things slowly and improve himself along with it. 

Clarice followed Wallace's instruction and sure enough, after she opened her eyes, she was back in the Virtual World.

Unlike with the previous pod, the clarity of everything was improved tremendously. It felt like she was in the real world! She looked at vast grassland ahead of her and she swears that she could smell the grass and feel the sunlight on her skin.

"Just how did my brother do this?!"