I Studied Mainly Textbooks! Chapter 26

Just like that, the incident with Goel was quietly concluded in order to protect the reputations of the Academy and Gauss.

Meanwhile, at Apocnaty's Hela branch.

"Tardema has begun moving."
The hooded man started off the meeting today as well.

"They are progressing faster than I initially predicted… but this is to be expected. That old man is interested in nothing but the Hela Empire. The five kingdoms and the Kreuz Empire are in our hands. Soon, the time will come. Hela Empire will become the final offering."

Thinking that there would soon come a time where they no longer had to hide, the masked man's lips curved upwards. Though, no one could see it because he was wearing a mask.

The teachings of the magic department weren't limited to magic theory and spellology. There were other magic-related classes as well and 'Artifacts Studies' was one of them.

"There exists numerous artifacts in this world. Such artifacts are difficult to create, and producing one of quality is even harder. However, due to the versatility of such artifacts, their value is almost immeasurable. This is why some mages proficient in crafting artifacts choose to live their lives as 'artifact makers'. They can get their hands on huge sums of money. Try and see if you have any talent in this field and consider it as a career path."

"Anyways, according to records, the artifacts dated prior to the Apocalypse are known to have uses that far surpass those of the current era, but the number of such artifacts are few and far in between. Among them is the legendary…."

The professor in charge of teaching artifacts studies was clearly very passionate in teaching.

However, Abel wasn't listening to it at all. It was going in one ear, and out the other.

"Abel, do you have any major worries or something that you are pondering about?"
Luna asked, with a tinge of concern in her voice.

Abel was pulling his hair out by the roots due to stress. His eyes were directed towards his Casio calculator.

"What do I do? Casio is dying…."
"Casio? Is that thing alive?"
"Not exactly… but I think its going to die soon."

Luna was unable to understand Abel's puzzling words. It's not alive, but it was dying…?

"Then can't you just save it."

"How…?"

"Uhm… try using recovery magic!"
Luna was a really kind girl. She was replying to Abel without knowing anything that was going on.

"Recovery magic?…… Wait."
Due to the sudden realization, Abel's body shivered. He almost toppled his seat.

'Why hadn't I thought of that?'

Last night, he had been working hard(?) as Kyle's calculation slave, when the anomaly occurred. The LCD display of the Casio was getting dimmer, obvious signs of the battery running out.

Humans were really regrettable beings. They didn't know how to appreciate something precious until they were going to lose it.

'What if I didn't have Casio with me?'

He would have to use his brain to do the math. It was clear that he would not dare try using space magic, as the calculations were so complex. His IQ was not as high as someone like Einstein after all.

He turned the power off whenever he wasn't using it and treated it as well as he could. Though, it did last quite a long time considering that he has been using it for the last 2 years.

The current model of calculator Abel was using was the FX-9860G II SD model from Casio. It ran on 4 1.5v AAA alkaline batteries. In other words, electricity was required to run it.

As he didn't major in chemistry, it was impossible to make the same kind of battery. He stayed up all night thinking about a solution to no avail. But…….

"Luna! You're good at making artifacts."

"Uh, Uhm, yeah. A little, I guess?"

"Then help me out a little."

Luna was smart. No, she was VERY smart. She maintained exceedingly high grades in subjects like mana theory and other written subjects. However, she was very weak in spell casting and had a low score in practical classes even with Abel's help.

The field she was most interested in, and also specialized in, was artifact crafting.

As she was of common birth, it was difficult for her to succeed as a researcher or a battle mage. There was a limit to how high she could go. Moreover, she had a family to take care of. She was given a full scholarship as she scored well on the entrance exam. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to pay for her tuition and living expenses.

This was why she chose her future career as an artifact maker. Although she wouldn't gain much glory, she would be able to gain wealth.

The quality of the 'recording artifact' she had created for Abel for his birthday was very good, and that implied that her talent in crafting artifacts was incredible. That artifact came in very handy when Abel used to study in the room of spirit and time.'

'What if lightning magic is applied to the batteries?'

'Mana' was the purest and most versatile energy in this world. It was naturally possible to convert it to electrical energy. The very existence of lightning magic was proof of that.

"I'll bring some peridot stones here. So please enchant lightning magic onto them,. permanently."

He used Nufer peridot stones every night to train mana. As Kyle packed him a handful every semester, he had plenty left. It was perfect as an artifact material.

"Okay! That's something I'm good at. Hehe."
Luna replied with a smile. She had received a lot of Abel's help until now, she looked very happy to be able to repay the favour.

Abel helped her get into MEAT, and helped her out in various subjects as well as making friends. She could do this 100 times over without qualms.

Abel returned to his dorm immediately after the class ended. He then took out 4 peridot stones from his magic pouch.

Then, he flipped his Casio to see the back and took off the back cover to remove the 4 AAA batteries from it.

"…Distortion cutter!"

Abel distorted space to shave off the peridot stone.

As he had to be careful to trim it to the same size and shape as the AAA battery, he used all of his concentration to focus on it.

His spatial awareness had risen dramatically over the past few years after studying spatial magic. Although peridot stones were extremely hard, the newly cut surface was very smooth as he was cutting space to cut it. Cutting hair and cutting diamonds expended the same amount of mana.

Now, he had to set the current and voltage and cast the magic on it. If he made it such that it absorbed mana from the environment, then he would have a semi-perpetual battery. Never would he have to worry about running out of battery ever again.

Lightning magic was relatively simple and he could cast it himself, but Luna's work standard was much cleaner. She was really talented in crafting artifacts.

'Since I'm at it, I should make a lanyard for it as well.'

That came to mind as he was making the battery. It was a bother to take it out of his pocket. It was especially stuffy in the summer as it wasn't a small device.

Moreover, he felt the need to be able to cast even faster after Goel's incident. He would be able to do so if it had it around his neck all the time.

He hadn't cared about anything so much until now.

'What if it breaks?'

What if he fried the CPU?
What if the motherboard burned?

He would never even dream of being able to repair it, as he had practically no knowledge of electrical engineering. Then…

'Let's cast permanent preservation magic as well!'

He would make Casio into a proper artifact.

"The battery will be enchanted with lightning magic… where should I cast this then?"

The button! Yes, there were the buttons. If he replaced all 50 or so buttons with peridot stones, he should have plenty of options to cast magic. His current plastic buttons only served as ordinary buttons, so it didn't matter if he changed them out to other things.

"…Distortion cutter!"

He took out more peridot stones and started cutting them. He focused intently on every single one of them. It was for his Casio after all!

Eventually, Abel succeeded in replacing all 50 or so buttons with peridot stones.

"I guess I should go to visit Luna now."

He also packed some scorched rice to give to Luna as a gift.

Intensive care ward, Infirmary building.

'Cain, that d*mned b*stard!'
Goel, who still had splints tied all over his body, cried out in his heart. If it was before, he would have shivered in anger, but he couldn't put any strength into his body.

Although the two had conspired to get rid of Abel, he never realized that he would be backstabbed by Cain. Thanks to that, Goel had become a cripple.

His anger was directed towards Cain. However, Cain had already been secretly punished for his actions and his soul was imprisoned forever. It was unknown whether his anger would be redirected at Abel.

Although Goel wasn't aware, due to the effects of the absolute recovery spell he received, his tendons were reattached to some extent. If he worked hard on his rehabilitation, he would regain about half of his physical strength. Meaning, he would be able to walk again.

Though, if he conspired against Abel once more, it wouldn't just end with broken tendons…

However, human greed was endless, and history would eventually repeat itself.

"Here."
Luna finished working on Casio and gave it back to Abel.

"Wow, it works great! Thanks! You really have a knack for this. From what I see, you will definitely be successful as an artifact maker."

"Th, thanks!"
Abel's compliment made her blush a little.

"You'll give me a discount once you become an artifact maker, right? Friendship discount!"

"Of course!"

"Well, then Ms future artifact maker. What's the one thing you'd like to make the most?"

"Mm… Of course, that would be an ego artifact!"

"Ego artifact? What's that?"

Abel seemed puzzled. Luna looked at him strangely.

"Didn't you read books about them when you were young? Before the apocalypse, there were things called 'ego artifacts' that had its own consciousness! Although most people say that it's nonsense, dreams are dreams, right? I'll do my best to research it and make it happen!"

'An object with its own consciousness? Is it something like an A.I.?"

This world definitely had all sorts of weird things.

Abel thought while looking at his newly reborn Casio. The newly crafted buttons glowed subtly with mana, and the Casio looked more handsome(?) than ever.

Chapter end