Let Me Borrow Some Abilities at the Hero Academy

Chapter 113 : Core Issue

The moment the monocle touched his skin, he felt a dramatic change he had never experienced before.

A clear veil instantly wrapped around him, imparting a sense of relief, and suddenly, the shadow of anxiety vanished without a trace.

The fear that he might not be able to create the Tracker Dr. Ameier requested disappeared, replaced by a firm trust in his own abilities.

This sensation was completely different from the specifications of crafting abilities that poured into his vision when he activated his Mythos Crafter ability.

He could calmly accept all surrounding information without a shadow of anxiety or doubt.

Sal looked down at the pile of documents arranged in a grid sent by Dr. Ameier.

The monocle flashed red, extracting relevant information from each document and compiling it into one.

Scattered clues and advice merged instantly into a single structure, and Sal knew exactly what role he had to play.

Things that had been somewhat ambiguous when viewed separately came together to finally draw a clear blueprint.

Sal even felt the urge to start working immediately.

However, Chatfield's voice reached him.

Sal realized he hadn't properly heard even half of what he said, being engrossed in his work.

The monocle pinpointed the meaning beyond the surface of the words, and Sal soon knew that Chatfield was excited about the Mythos Crafter ability.

Small clues became clear one by one.

Chatfield's gestures fully revealed his eagerness to see Sal's Tracker.

His gaze shifting between materials and blueprints, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards more often than before, and even the very slightly raised tone of his voice all spoke of his anticipation.

Sal could read all the subtle cues telling a completely different story from what was being expressed in words.

The monocle was truly an amazingly remarkable piece of equipment.

Having witnessed its effects firsthand, Sal could never give it up.

Keeping that fact in mind, Sal tried to manage Chatfield's expectations.

"I plan to use this monocle to assist in crafting the Tracker. Now that I know how the materials work, I intend to create it by mixing my design with Dr. Ameier's. If materials are left over, I'll make another monocle in the same way so I can keep one and give the other to you, Captain."

Sal spoke in a calm tone.

It was as if the Composure ability had erased certain traces from his tone.

What would normally have come out as a request in a cautious tone this time flowed out like a dry statement of fact.

Chatfield's nod indicated agreement to the conditions, but Sal noticed the tension slightly releasing from his shoulders.

He was clearly relieved.

His slightly more energetic gestures than usual when sitting in the chair revealed it even more clearly.

A series of subtle clues seemed to tell Sal everything.

Sal turned his attention back to the design.

He recalled the image of Quest's Tracker in his mind and compared it with Dr. Ameier's design.

The Reasoning ability allowed Sal to precisely pick out only the necessary information without falling into trial and error.

‘It's as if the two abilities are synergizing to discuss the optimal path forward.’

Sal closed his left eye to focus on the monocle.

But when there was no difference, he opened his eye again and watched the abilities analyze the design in detail.

Surprisingly, the Reasoning ability pointed out that the weapon-oriented evolution trait did not fit well with the Tracker.

The Mythos Crafter ability suggested a solution based on Sal's intent, but it wasn't the ideal method.

If followed, the Tracker would have ended up possessing a series of offensive abilities enabling Essence absorption.

Sal waited silently while calculations proceeded before his eyes.

A series of virtual blueprints attempted fabrication and kept changing to find a more optimal solution.

Adding Moonsilver and Scarlet Screen dramatically improved his design, but at the same time, it revealed that Dr. Ameier's advice was a harsh reality.

Using those materials and adding evolution traits meant it could not be below Rare rank in the end.

The Tracker had to start at a lower rank to secure a much better evolution path, gaining more skills at each growth stage.

But Sal didn't want to waste these precious materials, so he focused all his attention on finding an answer.

Every time the Mythos Crafter ability fixed the design at a Rare rank starting point, Sal forced it down to Common rank, but failed repeatedly.

So Sal gradually lowered it in stages.

Upper Rare, Mid Rare, then Low Rare.

Once the design stabilized, Sal tried lowering it one step further to Upper Uncommon rank, and then held his breath.

For some reason, the tension and anxiety he would normally feel were nowhere to be found.

There wasn't even any anticipation in Sal's body.

He unconsciously realized that the Composure effect was suppressing such emotions.

A few seconds later, amidst repeated calculations before his eyes, Sal felt a ray of hope when the blueprint was nearly completed but then collapsed with a small flash.

Instead of being discouraged, Sal replayed the simulation in his head, focusing on the point where the flash occurred.

It was exactly the Core.

"Okay, let's try this then."

Sal whispered, pushing the Tracker calculations aside and focusing on the Essence Core component.

The problem wasn't the rank itself.

It was the fact that it was being added in an unprocessed state.

Since there was no mention of Cores anywhere in Dr. Ameier's notes, Sal had to seek a solution himself.

Examining the blueprint, he confirmed that the Core was equipped with self-charging runes.

Those runes were occupying a significant portion of the usable surface area.

Sal suddenly straightened his back and sighed.

He felt like a fool.

Shaking his head slightly, he turned the pages one by one, letting the Reasoning ability process the information within.

He had already read what Dr. Ameier had written about surface area.

Nearly everything had almost gone wrong because he hadn't read the other side of the paper.

"Let's try again."

Sal muttered, restructuring the calculation in a way that didn't use the Core like a battery.

Sal thought there would be limits to the Tracker's use since it needed charging over time.

But if it could be used for a few hours or synchronized with an external Core, it was a compromise worth taking.

Without integrating the Core, lowering the rank became much easier, but he hit a wall when trying to lower it from Upper Uncommon to Upper Common rank.

What was different this time was that there were absolutely no hints or clues visible to lower it further.

No flash appeared, and nothing clearly struck his eye.

Sal tested if he could lower the specs by changing the configuration of some runes, but it was useless.

After countless trials and errors, the lowest he could reach was Low Uncommon rank.

Sal wasn't even sure if moving through Low, Mid, and Upper stages counted as evolution, and he didn't want to lower the standard excessively.

The last thing he wanted was to unnecessarily lengthen the distance between the starting line and the finish line.

"Wouldn't it help to talk through the process?"

Chatfield said, placing coffee in front of Sal.

Sal looked at it in surprise.

It seemed his Perception ability was taking a brief rest while he was engrossed in work.

Sal glanced at Chatfield, smiled, and gestured into the empty air in front of him.

"I'm running a series of simulations reflecting Dr. Ameier's advice. His evolution runes fit well with the design, and the materials are excellent. The problem is whether or not to include an integrated Core to make this work. Going without a Core would result in a better evolution path, but the speed would be slower. Plus, without an integrated Core, harsher constraints might attach as it progresses. My original flawed design was based on the unrealistic assumption that it would absorb Essence through combat."

Sal tilted his head slightly as he spoke.

He should have been relieved that he could make a Tracker with the best materials and even secured an evolution path.

What prevented him from accepting the Rare rank by crafting as suggested was the fact that Dr. Ameier had given this task as a test.

Crafting without a Core would essentially result in an unreliable product and waste the precious materials he was gifted.

Chatfield rested his head on his palm, elbow on the desk, and burst into laughter.

"You need to think long-term. If this is a Tracker you'll continue to use, you must prepare it to work in the future too. You can never use unstable equipment that needs charging in a crisis. I saw the equipment create a synergy effect when you transformed your arm. Why not synergize the Tracker with your breastplate? Then there's no need to put a Core in. The equipment itself will become the power source."

Sal shook his head and dismissed the suggestion with a gesture.

"That doesn't solve the Essence generation problem. It will only increase the likelihood of me getting Impure Essence again."

Sal ignored Chatfield's curious expression.

"If I were to have a separate Essence collection source, I'd probably need a new set piece. Based on location, the wisest choice would be a crown of some form. Or maybe something like the pendant Upgrade wears around her neck could be okay."

Sal muttered, staring into empty space.

"It would be better if the Mythos Crafter solved this problem for me instead..."

"How about thinking from a different angle? If you need immense Essence for evolution, make a weapon."

Chatfield said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Sal didn't know if it was due to the monocle's Composure effect, but he felt no resistance to that idea.

It seemed like a logical conclusion.

While Sal pondered various possibilities of how it could work, Chatfield continued his logic.

"There's no need to put a Core in the Tracker. If you connect synergy with a weapon, you won't run out of energy during combat. If you defeat enough monsters, evolution will inevitably occur, and the problem is solved."

Sal nodded.

His words seemed to make sense.

Quest, Barry, and even Chatfield had all recommended he craft a weapon.

The only person opposing that idea was himself, due to the deep-seated fear of having to fight monsters on the front lines.

Although Sal had never completed a set, he came to understand the synergy through the process of appraising his own equipment.

He hoped that would be helpful enough for actual crafting.

Sal briefly considered linking the Rare rank sword with the Tracker but gave up immediately for two reasons.

The first reason was that the sword absorbed all the user's surplus Essence, leaving nothing for the Tracker.

The second reason was that the sword was much more powerful in Anthony's hands, and taking it away would reduce their tactical flexibility in the upcoming mounted combat.

Frowning, Sal called up the gun blueprint he had brought from Quest's office and displayed it next to the Tracker.

He hoped they would synergize, and the Mythos Crafter ability instantly grasped his intent.

While the Tracker calculations had proceeded slowly and gradually, the virtual blueprints for the gun went through the same process at lightning speed.

Various variations appeared and self-corrected before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

It stabilized after going through dozens of designs.

Sal slowly reviewed every detail to ensure it met his standards.

‘Evolution trait, check. Synergy with Tracker concept, check. Powered solely by Essence, check.’

Sal realized that the last part, in particular, was an element he definitely wanted.

Reloading during combat seemed like a huge hassle, so he wanted power supplied by an internal Core.

Since the gun was a revolver, the original firing mechanism was gunpowder combustion, but he wanted to replace that with Essence even if the evolution conditions became trickier.

Sal took a sip of coffee and flinched, realizing it had gone completely cold.

He looked at Chatfield accusingly, but all he got back was his laughter.

"I don't know about your sense of time, but you've been here for at least five hours. That coffee has been sitting there for over an hour too."

Chatfield stretched and opened his tablet again, scanning the notifications on the screen.

"Originally, I intended to watch only for a few hours, but after seeing the monocle, I want to stay until the end. Even if it comes out as low rank like you aim for, I think it will be something special. Then you can give me feedback on the materials before we make the prototype. At this rate, we might have to pull an all-nighter."

There was no trace of prickliness in his voice.

Sal could tell he was excited about the fact that he could watch more of the crafting process.

Following Chatfield, Sal took his tablet out of his pocket.

There were several messages from Divinity, Hannah, and Upgrade.

Divinity and Hannah asked about weekend plans, and Upgrade asked what he was doing and if she could come see for herself.

As Sal scrolled through the messages, Upgrade's patience decreased with each message, eventually culminating in a threat to barge into the room and squat on the sofa.

-Coming is fine, but I'm going to focus on crafting.

He sent a brief message, put the tablet in his pocket, and focused on the task at hand.

The gun blueprint wasn't important right now.

The priority was crafting the Tracker.

Making a gun with the same materials to combine the two equipment well and exert synergy was something that could be done later.

"Alright, let's start."

Sal looked at Chatfield's nonchalant expression and added.

"I'm serious this time."