Trait Hoarder-Chapter 204: An Old Bet (1)
An Old Bet — Part 1
Drip.
The coffee overflowed.
The hand tilting the pot had frozen stiff.
“What did you just say?”
“The coffee is overflowing.”
“Hm? Oh dear!”
The Tower Master flailed his hand.
The coffee pooled on the saucer shot up and smoothly flowed back into the cup, like a serpentine dragon.
The Tower Master turned to me with eyes that could devour a man whole.
“I must have misheard you, right?”
“You heard correctly. I have completed Ultimate Flame. In my own way.”
“Hah…”
The Tower Master’s mouth hung open.
He stared at me for a long while, then got up, paced around, sighed several times while looking out the window, and finally sat back down.
“Show me.”
“Yes.”
The trait was already prepared.
Just as it had been when I left the heretical cult’s temple.
I raised my index finger.
Click. Imagining the sound in my mind, I ignited a flame.
A small fire flickered to life.
Sacred and pure, yet at the same time persistent and ruthless.
Supreme Flame.
The Tower Master gazed at the flame, entranced.
“This is… Ultimate Flame?”
“Strictly speaking, it is not Ultimate Flame. My approach was different.”
The difference wasn’t just a single character.
“As I understand it, Ultimate Flame is meant to surpass even the Solar Flame in destructive power, be suitable for combat with its fast casting speed, and have minimal mana consumption. Isn’t that correct?”
“That’s right.”
“My Ultimate Flame… or rather, Supreme Flame, is different. I sacrificed some of its destructive power. No matter how large my mana capacity is, I can’t compete with magic-type superhumans.”
“That much is clear.”
“But in exchange, I drastically reduced its mana consumption. And its casting speed is even faster.”
“And you claim that this tiny flame can rival the Ultimate Flame?”
“Yes. I am confident.”
The Tower Master scrutinized the golden flame for a long while.
Then, he suddenly clenched it in his hand.
The flame flickered as his shielded hand squeezed it tight.
The Tower Master grinned smugly.
“Doesn’t seem very strong.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Whoosh!
I infused it with mana.
Mana carved from my own life force as a sacrifice, then further enhanced by the Thor Cultivation Technique and Mana Soul.
The flames flared up wildly.
They threatened not only to burn the Tower Master’s hand but to consume his entire office.
“Mm!”
The Tower Master let out a low groan.
[Casting Time] 11
[Difficulty] 33
[Total Score] 441
“Hm…”
A dissatisfied voice hummed from the crowd.
“There’s still a long way to go.”
“The destructive power is almost there, but…”
“What’s with the range? That means the mana concentration is way too low.”
“The difficulty is an issue, too. Even Solar Flame is a complex spell, but at this level? I doubt it’s viable in real combat. This isn’t the Joseon era; no one is going to sit around for 10 to 20 hours waiting for a spell to be calculated.”
“No matter how high we set Solar Flame as the standard, this is too much. Even for a midterm evaluation, 441 points? That’s barely progress! If anything, it’s a step back!”
It seemed they had rated each metric with Solar Flame as a perfect 100.
A disastrous result.
Sure, the casting time of Solar Flame was short, so comparing it to Ultimate Flame might not be fair, but the range was shorter, and the mana consumption was five times higher—completely unusable.
As one of the elders pointed out, this wasn’t the Joseon era.
By the time a mage finished chanting their long-winded incantation, a bullet would have already punched through their barrier and their skull, sending them straight to America.
“I’ll give it a try as well.”
“Hm…”
“You will?”
“No, we need to evaluate this fairly. Do you think your mana alone could even scratch the barrier? Wait a few days. If we stack multiple Dimensional Mana Focus Arrays and use a mana core, we can replicate the mana output supplied by our Tower.”
“Oh, come on. And what if the future CEO of Solar Security ends up causing a mana overload?”
“Tch, even if he’s from the warrior class, he’s Level 7. That won’t happen.”
Typical arrogance of a mage.
Let’s see how long they can keep that up.
I stepped into the testing area.
The melted scarecrow was removed.
[Range] 100
[Mana Consumption] 100
[Casting Time] 200
[Difficulty] 200
[Total Score] 800
Perfect numbers.
A flawless display of 0s across the board!
The crowning achievement was the total score.
A staggering 800 points.
Nearly double Ultimate Flame’s recorded 441 points.
Even compared to their so-called ambitious goal of 750 points, Supreme Flame was still superior.
‘Ah, I couldn’t hit 120%.’
That was my only idle thought.
Because the grading was relative.
The scores were based on Solar Flame being rated at 100.
If this had been an absolute scale, I might have actually hit 120%.
“H-H-Huuaaah…”
“This is…”
“Y-You… Are you seriously telling me you made that yourself?”
“Yes. Would you like me to swear on magic?”
“Hahaha.”
“Hah… Hahaha.”
“Heeheehee!”
Their mental states had completely collapsed.
Their sanity had left the building.
The elders chuckled to themselves in disbelief.
But the head researcher was the most spectacular of them all.
“I… I… Just what was all my work for…?”
He looked like he had lost his entire nation.
The man who designed Solar Flame and conceptualized Ultimate Flame.
He lacked the magical ability to cast Solar Flame himself and would never be able to cast Ultimate Flame when it was complete.
Which made this even more devastating.
Even if his prowess as a mage was lacking, he had always prided himself as one of the top researchers in the country.
And now, he had been completely outdone—by a mere warrior, not even a mage or a magitech engineer.
“Well then, what do you think? I believe I’ve won the bet.”
“Urgh…!”
No one could refute it.
Especially not these prideful mages.
The Tower Master slowly nodded.
“Fine. I acknowledge it. With results like this, there’s no way I can deny it. Hah… I really underestimated you. I thought I had judged you correctly.”
“You weren’t the only one, Tower Master. We were even worse.”
“He was never meant to just be a corporate executive in the first place.”
“With that kind of power, he should be at least a Legion Commander, don’t you think?”
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
“Hm… Maybe he’ll become the next Heavenly Demon, like the journalists speculate.”
“Pfft, nonsense! Heavenly Demon is Level 9! Level 9!”
“Well, who knows? He reached Level 7 in just one year. In ten years, he might be Level 9.”
The elders erupted into murmuring discussions.
The Tower Master raised a hand, silencing them.
Then, with eyes gleaming sharply, he spoke.
“I lost the bet. And if I lost, I promised to grant you one wish. Speak. The Mage Tower will fulfill it.”
I could ask for anything.
A magic sword, an airship, even a skyscraper—everything was on the table.
But I needed none of those.
I already had far better things.
What I desired was something far more valuable.
Something I couldn’t simply demand, even after winning a bet.
Something so weighty that even the straightforward, fire-loving Tower Master might shake his head at.
Which is why, instead of stating my wish outright, I made a counteroffer.
“How about this instead?”
“Hm? What are you suggesting?”
“I will assist in the completion of Ultimate Flame. You and the elders must have already noticed—the similarities between Supreme Flame and Ultimate Flame.”
After all, half of their components overlapped.
The fundamental design philosophies were similar as well.
“If I participate in Ultimate Flame’s development and contribute significantly, I ask that you seriously consider granting my wish.”
“What exactly are you planning to ask for?”
“If it’s you, Tower Master, I’m sure you’ve already guessed.”
The wish I intended to ask of the Tower Master.
An alliance.
Specifically, a joint front against the Old Father’s Cult.
A Blood Pact.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! .gg/BWaP3AHHpt
