Kays Translations

Chapter 19: Modified Fireball Technique

The castle courtyard was lively today. Fanny was continuing her mana control training, Mapel was conducting her regular drills, and even Lilica was present.

After spending enough time around Owen, Fanny had finally seen his true character and felt at ease bringing her little sister along. With Lilica watching, Fanny practiced with extra enthusiasm, seemingly wanting to show off her magic to her.

However, Lilica wasn’t paying much attention to her sister’s magic. She was busy with basic literacy lessons instead. Since she had come along, it was only fitting she do something meaningful—and this task was taken on by the steward, Ryan, who adored children.

Ryan was especially dedicated. He prepared lots of little sweets, and as long as Lilica passed her daily reading test, she would earn a treat. Driven by the prospect of sweets, Lilica gave it her all.

Besides them, Owen was also practicing magic.

Fireball!

With just a thought, Owen effortlessly cast the spell, and a flame the size of an apple hovered above his palm. The yellow outer fire flickered joyfully.

This was the most basic spell—Owen had already mastered it before even entering the Magic Academy. He could cast it almost reflexively, without any incantation.

After all, chanting spells merely sped up the mana conversion process. If one was familiar enough with a simple spell, chanting became unnecessary. However, for slightly more complex spells, chanting was still essential—otherwise, the casting would be slow and prone to failure.

But Owen wasn’t just practicing a spell he already knew. He had previously discussed with Winston the feasibility of modifying Fireball, and if successful, it would be a huge help for the next phase of work.

First, he moved the fireball from hovering over his palm to above his index finger. This was simple.

Next came the hard part—he concentrated and wrapped the fireball in mana, gradually compressing it inward. The previously flickering flames tightened, forming a near-perfect sphere.

As the ball shrank, he could feel the fire inside resisting—the flames didn’t want to be squeezed.

When the fireball was reduced to the size of an egg, sweat beaded on Owen’s forehead. The internal flame raged violently, and his controlling mana began to fluctuate.

This wouldn’t do. He steadied his mind, reinforced the stability of his mana, and gradually smoothed out the fluctuations.

Compressing further, the fireball became the size of a cherry. Irwin smiled with satisfaction. After so many failed attempts, he had finally grasped the key—he had succeeded in compressing it.

Though it wasn’t yet the final form he wanted, compressing the fireball was the most important and difficult step. This success proved the modification was feasible.

For the final step, he opened a small hole at the top of the compressed fireball. Fwoosh! A brilliant, almost white, high-temperature flame shot out, about twenty centimeters long.

Holding his hand slightly aside, Owen quietly observed the flame jet. Once he confirmed it was stable, he clenched his other fist in satisfaction. This was the result he had been aiming for.

Increasing the mana output slightly, the flame turned blue, growing even hotter.

The flare naturally drew Fanny and Mapel’s attention. They came over to take a closer look.

“Marquis Owen, what are you doing?” 

Fannyasked.

Worried the flame might burn them, Owen dispelled the spell before answering.

“I’m modifying Fireball into a high-temperature jet flame.”

“I did see you using Fireball earlier, but I never thought it’d turn into that. It’s practically a new spell.” 

Mapel remarked.

During training, Mapel would occasionally glance over at what Owen was doing—not out of curiosity, of course. As the head knight, she had to be constantly aware of the lord’s safety—or so she told herself.

“But… what’s it for?” 

Fanny asked, puzzled. 

“As an offensive spell, its range is way too short. Wouldn’t it be more practical to just throw a Fireball?”

“I never said this was an offensive spell.”

“Huh? Then why did you modify Fireball?” 

Fanny asked, puzzled.

“Welding.”

At this unfamiliar word, both Fanny and Mapel were completely confused, their faces blank with incomprehension.

Not that they could be blamed—at present, people only used bolts or mortise-and-tenon joints to connect materials. Welding technology simply didn’t exist yet. Owen had only learned about it through Winston.

Seeing their confusion, Owen chuckled and said. 

“I’ll take you both to the blacksmith shop in a bit. I’ll personally demonstrate what welding is.”

Just then, a notification window appeared in Owen’s vision—it was Winslet contacting him. Perfect timing, as Irwin had planned to call him anyway.

Stepping slightly away from Mapel and Fanny, Irwin answered the call.

[It’s been a while since we last talked. I’ve made some progress on the magic stone research and wanted to share the results.]

Winston jumped straight into reporting his findings, clearly eager.

[Hold on. About that Fireball modification we discussed—it’s feasible. I successfully created a high-temperature flame jet.] 

Owen interrupted.

[Oh? So how’s the blacksmith shop coming along?] 

Winston asked.

[Everything’s ready. They’re just waiting on my magic.]

When the system upgrade was completed, Winston had originally planned to talk to Irwin about the steam engine. But once he got his hands on the magic stones, he became so absorbed in his research that he completely forgot. Owen’s follow-up reminded him.

Given the possibilities magic presented, Winston provided specially designed steam engine blueprints, including features like double linkages and slide valves.

Taking into account the technological level of Owen’s world, the design wasn’t overly complex—he didn’t want a situation where the blacksmith couldn’t even manufacture the necessary parts.

That said, building this steam engine would still require magic.

The forge had already produced the individual parts, but assembling them into larger components for final construction required welding. That’s precisely why Owen had been working on modifying Fireball.

[Then what are you waiting for? I want to witness a historic moment in your world’s development with my own eyes!] 

Winston urged excitedly.

[Don’t rush. I’m getting ready to head out now.]

Once he had everything in order, Owen left the castle with Fanny and Mapel, headed for the blacksmith shop.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Lilica was in the middle of a literacy test. Staring at the character Ryan had written on the slate, her face was twisted with frustration.

What does this character mean again? Ugh, I can’t remember! Oh, wait—I can ask big sis!

In previous tests, whenever she came across a word she didn’t know, Lilica would glance at her sister for help. Fanny would then walk behind her and casually say a sentence, deliberately emphasizing the pronunciation of the character in question.

Thanks to that little trick, Lilica always managed to pass her tests and earn her sweet reward. And Ryan hadn’t caught on—yet. The tactic had worked flawlessly every time.

Lilica glanced in the direction where her sister usually practiced magic… and froze. Big sis isn’t there!

Ryan noticed her attention drifting and gently reminded.

“What’s wrong? The slate’s over here. Do you remember how to read this word yet?”

Busted, Lilica quickly turned back around, her face now even more distressed.

Ahhh!! Where did sis go? No sweets today?!
Ugh… ugh… sob…

Meanwhile, Ryan stroked his beard thoughtfully. From Lilica’s little reaction just now… he was starting to suspect something wasn’t quite right.

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