Chapter 65 : Chapter 65

Chapter 65. Divine Equipment

Fulan was startled by the sudden voice, but she quickly regained her composure. She realized that she had heard this voice before.

Turning her head, she saw Habos, the instructor of the Weapon Forging class, standing there.

Only then did she finally relax. Being discovered by Habos was not a problem—after all, she had intended to seek his protection.

Habos looked at her through the white mist filling the room. He had never expected that less than a month after arriving in the City of Apprentices, he would encounter a “genius” capable of solving his problem.

With a smile, he spoke.

“The reason you failed just now is that when you imagined the device you created in your mind, you only pictured its appearance. You did not imagine how it actually moves.”

“It is like imagining how a sword strikes an enemy, or how your staff releases a spell. Once you clearly visualize those actions, the spell can be realized.”

After hearing this, Fulan followed Habos’s explanation and attempted the spell again.

This time she imagined a steam engine in motion. In her mind, the machine erupted with dense white steam as the connected flywheel spun at an exaggerated speed.

However, Fulan became stuck again.

She realized that this spell required imagining how the device actually produced its effect.

For example, if you forged an exceptionally powerful sword, when casting the spell you would imagine the sword always in your hand, striking alongside your own attacks.

In game terms, the above effect could simply be summarized as a massive increase in sword damage.

But how was the steam engine she had created supposed to enhance her combat ability?

That did not trouble her for long. With her vivid imagination, she pictured herself wearing a compact, high-power steam device.

Pulleys and gears connected it to her limbs, allowing the steam apparatus to provide additional force whenever she moved.

The idea was fantastical. Based on her shallow understanding of mechanical engineering, such a design would probably collapse the moment it was used, since there were no proper structural supports.

But this was a world of magic.

She was only relying on imagination to cast the spell. Although imagining many things she had never built placed an additional burden on her mental power, she still successfully cast the spell.

Habos kept his eyes on Fulan while also examining the strange machine out of the corner of his eye.

He had never seen such a device before.

And the fact that it could enable the spell Equipment Augmentation made him extremely curious.

His previous research focused on applying special materials to weapons and discovering techniques to enhance their destructive power.

Machines had never been part of his research field, so large mechanical devices had never interested him much.

Although the Alliance had created great works such as floating cities using Mana Engines, those relied more heavily on spell structures.

Special metals were used beneath the entire city and engraved with magical patterns—this was the fundamental principle behind floating cities.

Such work belonged to the domain of the Construction School. Not only had they built floating cities, but they also had many remarkable insights regarding the construction of mage towers.

The Construction School occasionally incorporated mechanical structures, but they were mostly used as auxiliary components.

What stood before him now was clearly different.

Habos could sense that although the device had been crafted using magical techniques, its operation itself contained no trace of magic.

He studied it for a long time before realizing that its basic principle involved heating water to generate steam for propulsion.

But when the process reached the cylinder, he could no longer understand what was happening.

Why did the sliding rod move back and forth?

And how did it drive the flywheel so precisely?

At that moment, Fulan finally showed some reaction, and Habos immediately turned to look.

Habos understood the principles behind Equipment Augmentation. To learn the spell, the caster needed not only to create a powerful device but also to possess sufficient mental power.

During Fulan’s first attempt earlier, he had already noticed that her mental power greatly exceeded the minimum requirement.

That delighted him.

In his view, it was only natural that Fulan could master this spell—and that gave him hope of perfecting the low-tier spells of his school.

Fulan opened her eyes.

Under Habos’s slightly shocked gaze, her skin turned red, and white vapor escaped with every breath.

She clenched her fist and felt a tremendous surge of strength. However, the spell also carried a side effect.

Her entire body felt as though it were enveloped in scorching heat, making her extremely uncomfortable.

She even felt that if she did not cancel the spell soon, she might be burned alive.

Of course, power always came with a cost.

She threw a punch at the wall beside her.

This house had been constructed by the Construction School. Its walls were made of stone, naturally far sturdier than wood.

Her fist struck the wall with a loud crash, briefly overpowering the roar of the steam engine.

The wall caved inward to the depth of her wrist.

When she pulled her hand back, blood was already dripping from her fingers.

Her strength had increased due to the spell, but her physical durability had not. As a result, injuries like this were inevitable.

Fulan canceled the spell and turned to look at Habos.

Habos, however, looked deeply puzzled.

He understood the principles behind Equipment Augmentation, so how had this spell produced such a powerful increase in strength?

Curious, he asked Fulan about it.

Her answer was simple.

“I constructed a propulsion mechanism with gears and sliding rods inside my mind.”

Habos, whose knowledge of machinery was limited, was even more confused.

He asked whether she could draw the design.

Fulan was hoping that Habos would solve her problem with the Modification School, so of course she did not refuse.

When the blueprint reached Habos’s hands, his hands began to tremble.

In that moment, all the pieces connected in his mind.

He finally understood what Fulan had been trying to achieve.

At its core, she had transformed heat into energy that she herself could use.

Through a series of mechanical structures, that energy was then converted into the force she required.

In the past, mages relied on mental power to manipulate the fire element.

But now, looking at this machine, Habos had gained a sudden inspiration:

With mechanical assistance, fire elements could be converted into mechanical power. Then, with the aid of certain spells, that power might even be transformed into other elements.

And that was precisely one of the advanced techniques of the Elemental School—Elemental Conversion.

It was an ability that normally required extraordinarily high mental power.

Yet now, it seemed possible to achieve it through another method.

At the same time, many other ideas surfaced in his mind. He almost wanted to rush back immediately and begin experimenting.

“Ahem…”

Fulan deliberately coughed twice, finally drawing Habos’s attention.

Habos snapped out of his thoughts.

Noticing Fulan standing nearby, he suddenly removed the ring from his left hand and handed it to her.

“This is one of my finest creations,” he said.

“A reward for joining the Forge Furnace School.”