I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula - Chapter 10

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise

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◈ I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula ◈

Chapter 10: Learning from a Genius Makes Magic So Easy

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The next night, at ten o’clock.

When the appointed time came, I heard a sound from one side of the split cavern.

“I’m here.”

A girl came in, struggling beneath a pile of books.

Ellen looked close to tears.

“The material for tomorrow’s exam increased. And this topic is really difficult.”

She set the books down on the desk.

The most noticeable title was Second-Tier Mana Manipulation: The Clash and Control of Different Attributes.

“The professor is too much. We have to mix fire and wind attributes to create the basic form of a Flame Whirlwind, but it just keeps exploding and won’t hold. Sophia even laughed at me during yesterday’s practical class because of this.”

Ellen bit her lip in frustration.

“Let’s take a look.”

When I opened the book, it was packed with complicated magic circles and formulas.

“This formula is far too inefficient.”

“Inefficient? This is a standard Magic Tower Academy textbook! The Empire’s greatest mages reviewed it.”

“Those mages have mana to spare. They probably had no need for tricks. It doesn’t suit people like you or me, my lady, who still lack sufficient mana.”

I picked up a quill.

“Let me ask you one thing. How did you mix fire and wind?”

“Well... I made the fire first, then blew wind into it. Then it went boom and exploded.”

“Of course it did. They have different natures, so forcing them together makes them repel each other.”

“Then what should I do?”

I brought over a red thread and a transparent thread from the workbench.

“Think of magic as sewing.”

“Sewing?”

“Look. This red thread is fire, and this transparent thread is wind. Fire wants to blaze, while wind wants to scatter. Instead of forcing them into a bundle, you only need to make paths for them to pass through each other. Like this.”

Without twisting the two threads together, I crossed them and tied a knot.

“When the fire tries to spread, the wind slips into the spaces between it and fills the gaps.”

I scattered a little mana crystal powder and demonstrated.

A tiny flame bloomed at my fingertips.

Fwoosh...

The flame rode the wind, spinning in a pretty spiral.

A small but perfect Flame Whirlwind.

And it used only one-tenth the mana required by the textbook’s method.

“Wow.”

Ellen’s mouth fell open.

“That works?”

“Once you understand the principle, it’s very easy. Hold out your hand.”

I took Ellen’s hand and guided the flow of her mana.

“Relax. Don’t pour mana into it. Thread it gently, like passing thread through a needle’s eye. If the fire turns right, let the wind wrap around it from the left.”

Following my lead, Ellen’s mana moved.

The mana that had refused to be controlled moments ago began tracing a calm path.

Whoooosh!

At the same time, a fairly large Flame Whirlwind formed above her palm.

“I did it!”

Ellen jumped with joy, yet still looked unable to believe it.

“I used up two mana crystals practicing this. But following your explanation, it barely uses any mana at all.”

“An efficient design saves resources.”

“Right.”

The look in Ellen’s eyes as she watched me was strange.

“Your explanations are so much easier than the Academy professors’. At this rate, I might end up relying on you all the time.”

“Please rely on me as much as you like... No, make full use of me. Isn’t that a tutor’s role?”

“Good. Then teach me the next problem too.”

“This one is even easier.”

Ellen bombarded me with questions like a fish in water.

Each time, I explained complicated magical theory through everyday knowledge, such as sewing on buttons, ironing, and removing stains.

With each explanation, the tangled knowledge in her head was neatly sorted out, and she delighted in the feeling.

Ellen said she had never known studying could be this fun.

Before I knew it, it was three in the morning.

The tutoring session was over.

Ellen’s eyes sparkled without a trace of fatigue.

“Thanks, Hans. I’m definitely getting a perfect score on today’s exam. I can already picture Sophia’s face.”

She waved at me with her right hand.

After holding a quill and taking notes for so long, her middle finger was swollen and red.

“Just a moment, my lady.”

I opened the workbench drawer and took out something I had made out of boredom.

It was a rough but soft quill cover made from scrap leather and pieces of Depleted Mana Crystal.

“What’s this?”

“Put it on your pen.”

I fitted the cover around her quill.

[First-Tier Composite Formula: Micro-Vibration + Fatigue Recovery]

The moment Ellen gripped the pen, her eyes widened.

“Oh! This... My hand doesn’t hurt at all! It feels like someone is massaging it.”

“Your hand needs to be comfortable for you to study well.”

In truth, this was an application of First-Tier domestic magic that imitated the principle of Second-Tier healing magic.

It was a trivial invention that battle mages would never imagine, something only a domestic mage like me could create.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well. I’ll treasure it for the rest of my life.”

“You don’t need to go that far... Just use it casually and throw it away when you’re done.”

But Ellen carefully put the quill cover into her pocket.

“You worked hard. See you tomorrow.”

With an unruffled back, she disappeared through the secret passage.

“Whew...”

The door shut, and silence returned.

“To think I became a noble young lady’s secret tutor.”

For some reason, this situation did not feel real.

It felt like I was dreaming.

But this was no time to get sentimental.

Ellen was a dependable shield, but also a glass shield that could break at any time.

A crisis could come without warning, just as it had in the slum alley.

There was no guarantee someone would appear to save me again.

Would I be helpless again when that happened?

My mana core had grown a little recently.

Still, combat magic remained far beyond me.

“But that doesn’t mean I can only fight with combat magic.”

People looked down on domestic magic.

They thought it was insignificant magic, useful only for mending clothes and cleaning.

They only said that because they did not understand magic’s true nature.

“If sewing magic is used to mend clothes, it is domestic magic... But if I use that same precision to strike a person’s vital point, it becomes killing magic.”

A needle that could pierce the threads of fabric could certainly pierce human skin.

In fact, an invisible needle could be far deadlier than something as loud as a Fireball.

The Mana Needle that had pierced that thug’s foot in the alley not long ago was the perfect example.

One thought led to another.

“The problem is output.”

With my mana, even levitating a single needle was difficult.

I could not block or dodge a knife flying at me in a real fight.

“I need to change the conditions.”

What if, rather than moving myself, I made the enemy enter a field I had prepared?

“I can use mana crystals.”

The mana crystals on the workbench.

They were low-grade, but the mana condensed in each one was on an entirely different level from the faint mana in my body.

“Should I make a defensive magic circle?”

On the floor of the underground secret room, I drew a magic circle and wedged a mana crystal into a gap.

[First-Tier Transformation Formula: Shadow Needle]

“The moment an enemy steps here, their foot will be sewn to the floor.”

An enemy with their foot bound would not be able to move.

Of course, that would not be the end.

“Once I’ve bound their movements, I need to finish them.”

I continued applying Transformation Formulas to the ceiling and surrounding areas, setting up new magic circles.

I used four more mana crystals.

Tsss!

Installation complete.

The blue light of the low-grade mana crystals flowed over the floor and ceiling.

Then, after a moment, it faded into transparency and vanished from sight.

“Done.”

Nothing was visible to the naked eye anymore.

A perfect trap.

“It’s complete for now... but how powerful would it be?”

I imagined the magic circles activating, assuming an enemy really came.

The enemy entered.

The magic circle on the floor reacted, piercing their foot and stitching it to the floor.

While the enemy panicked, an invisible thread descended from the ceiling and wrapped around their neck.

[First-Tier Transformation Formula: Invisible Thread]

And then...

“Whew... Wait.”

Cold sweat formed all over my body.

It was only in my imagination, but the sensation of killing someone with my own hands felt too vivid.

“...What am I doing?”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

This was the Valderk family’s top-secret shelter.

Ellen had said so.

Only a very small number of people in the family knew of this secret place.

An assassin entering somewhere like this?

It was unlikely.

Besides, this was only a crude trap made by modifying First-Tier domestic magic.

It had subdued the enemy perfectly in my imagination, but reality could be different.

The Invisible Thread might snap, or the Shadow Needle might bounce off the enemy’s mana core resistance.

“Catching an enemy with nothing but sewing magic. Maybe I’ve let my fantasies get out of hand.”

I laughed awkwardly.

It felt embarrassing to have put on such a serious act while setting it all up alone.

“Should I remove it?”

I thought for a moment.

Digging out the mana crystals I had carefully embedded in the floor and ceiling would be a pain too.

“I worked hard setting it up, so I’ll just leave it.”

I had received ten mana crystals from Ellen.

I had used five on the trap, but I still had five left.

That was more than enough for mending clothes and training my mana for a while.

Then a concern crossed my mind.

What if Ellen or Count Valderk came here in a hurry to take shelter and got caught in the trap?

“There’s nothing to worry about. This isn’t an automatic detection trap.”

There was only one way to activate it.

A signal from sewing magic containing my unique mana signature.

Unless I directly infused mana with intent, these magic circles were nothing more than meaningless doodles on the floor.

I was the only crazy person in the world who had elevated sewing into magic.

So the chance of the homeowner being hurt by a malfunction was 0%.

“It’s late. I should sleep.”

I immediately headed to the lodging in the annex above the cavern.

* * *

Rowen Magic Academy.

Ten minutes before the exam began.

The tiered lecture hall was full of tense anticipation.

The students each had thick major textbooks open, working hard on their final memorization.

“Oh my, Ellen? What brings you here so early?”

It was a mocking voice.

A girl with splendid red hair cascading down her back.

Sophia Bergen.

Noble young ladies who followed her stood behind her like a folding screen.

“What’s wrong, Ellen? You’re not going to make your mana run wild and burn off the professor’s eyebrows again like you did in the last practical class, are you?”

“Ho ho ho!”

Her followers giggled along.

“That really was a sight. To think the young lady of House Valderk cannot even properly control basic Second-Tier fire magic.”

Sophia opened her fan for all to see and covered her mouth.

“What will you do if it happens again? Why not forfeit today? It might be the best way to protect your family’s honor.”

She sounded concerned, but it was an obvious provocation.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Sophia.”

Ellen met her gaze calmly.

There was even a faint smile on her lips.

“But that won’t happen. It’s only your fantasy.”

“Hmph...! Interesting. Where does that confidence come from?”

“You’ll find out later.”