Chapter 515: A Failed Experiment!
Chapter 515
"Finally done." Grey declared with a proud smile as he had successfully crafted fourteen blue pills for himself and seven purple pills to add to the mix.
He tossed them into his storage pendant along with the remaining two cores which he intended to use for fueling his magic circles later on.
After that, he rubbed the circles on the ground away with his palm and then glanced outside. Turns out it was growing dark and the sun was already setting behind the mountains, spreading streaks of orange and crimson across the sky.
"Do you want to rest?" Thalos asked as he noticed the furrowed brows on Grey’s face.
"Me? Rest? Kek!" Grey chuckled as he strode to the center of the room, sat down on his ass and then began drawing a few complicated magic circles.
"I’m worried though. I wonder why Dame hasn’t come back with the things you sent him." Thalos muttered while rubbing his temples in deep thought, his stone-like eyes narrowing.
"I’m sure he is safe. Now, be a good gargoyle and keep shut so I can work in peace." Grey scoffed as he meticulously continued drawing the circles with steady, practiced movements.
’This circle, it’s different and harder to draw compared to the ones for crafting the pills. It should take ten minutes at most to complete, but I feel like it will be worth every effort.’ Grey thought as his eyes rapidly scanned the ground, sometimes erasing and redrawing specific parts.
He was careful and thorough, and after ten minutes, he was indeed done with the massive circle.
When he finished, he sighed with a bright smile and sat down right in the middle of it. He held out his hand and his wind magic surged to life, pulling the sack that contained the items he had bought in town closer to him.
The sack floated across the room before dropping neatly into his hands.
’Wind magic is really helpful. With it, I can save time, move objects, and control my environment. Now, I can’t wait to awaken lightning magic fully so I can destroy my foes and maybe fry their blood dry.’ Grey grinned inwardly at the thought, then shook his head to clear it and focused back on the task at hand.
He pulled out the two daggers he had purchased from the stall earlier today and stared at them quietly. Without wasting time, he placed one of the daggers into the center of the magic circle along with one of the beast cores.
’Let’s see how this works. I initially wanted to save these cores to fuel my magic circles, but I feel like this will be a better use for my experiment.’ He nodded to himself, then ignited the circle with his mana.
He also slipped a thread of wind magic into the circle, causing it to howl faintly as energy surged. A bright light immediately encased both the dagger and the beast core, illuminating the room with a pale glow.
The two items pulsed and glowed for several minutes before slowly dimming down enough for Grey to see what was happening properly. The beast core he had placed inside the circle was rapidly breaking down, its outer shell crumbling as the shimmering essence within was drawn out.
The essence surged directly into the dagger, accompanied by streams of mana from the circle. After a few more minutes, the dagger began rattling and slowly rose from the circle, hovering a few inches in the air as the experiment reached its peak.
The smile on Grey’s face widened as he stared at the strange phenomenon unfolding before him. His eyes gleamed with excitement, but as quickly as the smile appeared, it vanished. The glow surrounding the dagger suddenly flared brighter, its intensity growing far more than he expected.
A few seconds later, thin cracks began spreading across the dagger’s surface like spiderwebs. They widened quickly, stretching from one edge to another before the weapon could no longer withstand the pressure.
With a sharp shattering sound, the dagger exploded into dozens of fragments that scattered into the air. The fragments did not remain long, however, for they dissolved into faint motes of light and completely dissipated from view, leaving Grey stunned and confused.
’The fucking hell?!’ he roared inwardly, his hands clamping tightly into his hair. His chest rose and fell as he clutched at it, desperately trying to calm his wildly beating heart.
"My beast core!" Grey’s voice broke out in frustration as he stared at the failed process in front of him. The words echoed in the room, carrying the raw sting of his loss.
The sound of quiet laughter made his head snap to the side. Thalos was chuckling, the low rumble slipping out despite his attempt to hold it back.
Grey’s glare was instant and sharp. "You think it’s funny? Do you think that is funny?! I just lost a freaking earth-tier beast core!" His roar carried both anger and pain as he looked between the ruined circle and the gargoyle.
Thalos didn’t flinch. Instead, he spoke in a calm, almost nostalgic tone. "Do you know one thing I liked about my master? If he failed at something, he would try again and again and again until he finally succeeded. He wasn’t a quitter."
"And who said anything about quitting?!" Grey snapped back immediately, his annoyance boiling over.
"I’m just pissed that I lost a precious core out of the initial two I had. Now I only have one core left! I need to practice and confirm if what I plan on doing will even work before Dame arrives tomorrow."
"Then just try again. It might work this time." Thalos shrugged, as if the matter was simple.
Grey exhaled a long, tired breath. "Here goes my last beast core." He muttered with a sigh as he placed the second dagger into the circle, carefully setting down his final core beside it.
’Wait a damn second. Why am I even trying this? These daggers didn’t even react to my mana when I tested them at the stall. But then again, I was in a rush at that time, and I don’t think I tested these specific ones.
Maybe I overlooked something. I just hope this works.’ He shook his head at his own thoughts and ignited the circle again with his mana, carefully seeping strands of wind magic into it.
The circle lit up instantly, glowing brightly as it surged to life. The dagger and beast core both shimmered, their bodies trembling before slowly beginning to rise into the air.
The core cracked and broke apart just as before, releasing a shimmering essence that flowed smoothly toward the dagger hovering above the circle.
Grey’s eyes stayed locked on the scene, his breath caught in his throat. Unlike the last time, the glow didn’t spiral out of control. Instead, the dagger slowly descended back to the ground, landing right within the circle.
The moment it touched the etched lines, the circle lit up one final time with an intense flash before dimming. When the glow faded, Grey leaned forward and noticed it immediately—there was a thin crack etched across the dagger’s surface.
His heart skipped a beat as the sight filled him with dread. For several seconds, the dagger simply lay there with a faint shine, unmoving. Then, without warning, the light surrounding it fizzled out completely, and the weapon clattered loudly to the ground with a sharp metallic cling.
Grey raised an eyebrow, frozen between relief and suspicion. "Did it work? Did I succeed?" He mumbled under his breath, his tone a mix of hope and doubt. His footsteps were cautious as he slowly approached the dagger, desperate to know whether his efforts had finally borne fruit or if this was just another failure waiting to mock him.