Return I — Ambrosya

Since Vlønn's techniques differed greatly from mine, I had to work around his enchantments. Luckily, with the Starlight Anvil, I had a little more leeway when it came to adding my own twists. If not, then I had to slave away through an activity that was akin to carving a star out of a banana.

Moreover, the enchantments that I was adding to this yellow-gold emblem were going to make it a powerful A rank item.

"Well, in the first place, it already is worthy of being within the ranks of A," I muttered as I made use of Vlønn's tools. At this point, I was winging things. The only reason why I could even make use of these foreign mechanisms was that I had Mutated Physical Intuition.

It didn't take ages for me to achieve a satisfactory mastery over the tools I was making use of.

However, my lack of mastery still had negative effects on the emblem I was enchanting. Although I was able to invert its use from [ identification ] into something akin to [ non-identity ], I had sacrificed its durability.

The task didn't take long, and when I finished, a certain quote flashed through my mind.

[]=[]=[]

"Humans are like the characters of a story, where names bring relevance and purpose. The unnamed does not even deserve a single mention, voiding their existence as if their mere presence was implication. Therefore, I grant you this name, so that even your god will recognise you when you die."

[]=[]=[]

It was a line that a character of mine had once spouted. It came from a different book, but it was a book I wrote nonetheless. Such were words that had practically inspired this modding session. I reversed the powers of an emblem—something that would usually be used to identify oneself—and turned it into an item that pulls one into stealth through the concepts of non-identity.

"Having good foundations in mana programming is a blessing," I sighed. The book that I studied and used for the enchantment of Miana's Mana Core, [ Grimoire of the Ashes: 3333 Programs of Construction and Deconstruction ], was of immeasurable help.

"...Are you done?" Camellia's voice was a whisper in my ear, sending lightning through my spine.

I jumped, shocked that I hadn't noticed the fact that she was standing right next to me.

"Whoa!" I shouted the name of a famous Earth-born human god whose initials were J.C. "How long have you been standing there?"

"For a good few minutes." Camellia smiled with a purity that could blind me. "You're really good at enchanting. Where did you learn to do that?"

"I'm a student of Aethercaller, princess... I cashed in all of my benefits so that I could access high-level manuals and tomes." I put distance between myself and Camellia. "If you want to do what I'm doing, I can teach you."

"Oh~? What do you want in return?"

"I'd like to keep the Equalizer Card for myself," I said, hoping for the best.

Camellia's eyes narrowed, "Can you give me an idea of what you can teach me? I'll decide after seeing how wide your breadth of knowledge is."

"Very well..." I started what was going to be a slightly lengthy lecture.

...

Long story short, I gave Camellia a glimpse of what the creator of the world knew. My technical omniscience paired with my developing analytical ability made for a stunning combination. I pulled Camellia into a trance, as well as Rose and Han.

I ended up looking like a prophet preaching to lost sheep, bringing all three of my students a pinch of enlightenment.

King, who was unconscious, was the unluckiest of them all.

In the end, Camellia snapped out of her daze. The way she looked at me was full of anticipation. Meanwhile, Rose and Han shook themselves awake.

"I expected you to know a lot since you're... that..." Rose said, "But where did you get all these theories from? Don't tell me you've studied them all. I've read my fair share of books, and the things you've told me are all more thought-provoking than anything I've read."

"I just gave things a bit of thought," I replied with a mysterious smile, "As long as you apply enough logical reasoning and think about things deeply enough, you'll arrive at the same conclusions that I have."

"Really..?" Rose and Camellia doubted my words, but they could find no other explanation. I mean, who would expect Emerallia's creator to be standing right in front of them?

'No one,' I inwardly remarked as I gazed into the astounded expressions around me.

For reference, I had given them only a few mathematical assumptions—facts that made sense if one were to apply rigorous logic, but were difficult to prove in reality. These statements of mine were like Einstein's theories. They were statements that would come to light sooner or later.

For now, they could only bear with having the idea make sense, but with no way to see how it would actually appear.

In other words,

'Technology has yet to catch up.' I smacked my lips before turning to Camellia once more.

"So, do you think my intelligence and pool of knowledge is worth exchanging for an almost-priceless treasure?" I asked, pretty sarcastic at this point.

I already knew what Camellia's answer would be. As a person who wished for a better world, a treasure that would only benefit her was much less valuable than the knowledge that I had given her. In her mind, I was a genius who could bring the world forward.

If she could learn from me, then perhaps she could help push humanity into a much more prosperous era.

Unfortunately for her, Ragnarök was just around the corner with the appearance of the seventh Roaming Tower.

"I guess it's time we split up again," I said. "I need to gather the last item I need for us to escape this place."