Becoming a Swordmast Chapter 54 : Chapter 54

Chapter 54. Receive the New Recruits(4)

Honestly, I was a little anxious.

I had a feeling sothing would happen during this operation, just as it always had.

But in conclusion, nothing happened during the first operation with the new recruits.

We were able to safely transport the supplies and bring back prisoners and the wounded.

‘Right. It has to be like this sotis.’

Roden thought as he watched the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon scatter to their respective barracks after returning to the unit.

Then, Roden also started walking toward his own barracks.

‘Now then, shall I try to realize the idea I ca up with during the operation?’

He had to et Antonio again in the evening to practice his carving skills anyway.

So until then, it seed like a good idea to rest and review the idea he had co up with during the operation.

‘As expected, it would be best to look into ancient spells for an energy source to replace the Mana Stone.’

The Aurasong and sword dance were also cases where he had achieved research results by focusing on ancient spells.

So, it didn't seem like a bad idea to get an idea from here this ti either.

And what ca to mind was the ‘totem.’

According to the book Roden had read in the past, , totems were incredibly diverse in aning and type.

In terms of type, animals, plants, and natural objects were used as totems, and their anings could be examined in various ways, such as protection and guardianship, identity and solidarity, taboos, and religious rituals.

But this diversity could be said to converge to a single point in its essence.

That was the fact that the essence of a totem was a ‘tool’ created to achieve a specific purpose.

What Roden was paying attention to was this very essence of the totem.

‘In the end, a totem in ancient society was no different from an artifact.’

However, nowhere in the books Roden had read was there any ntion of Mana Stones being used in totems.

Most mages didn't pay much attention to this fact.

It was only natural, as there were hardly any mages interested in totems in the first place.

Even the very few mages who were interested in totems didn't pay much attention to this.

Even Aslio Toscano, the author of , wrote that totems seed to be a type of ancient artifact, but he had yet to find any record of Mana Stones being used.

In the end, there was no record of Mana Stones being used in totems.

The perspectives of researchers on this were largely divided into three.

One side thought that the records simply hadn't been discovered yet.

The second thought that they had used it without knowing it was a Mana Stone and didn't have ti to record it.

The third thought that ancient shamans had deliberately omitted the records to hide the existence of Mana Stones.

Originally, Roden also thought one of the three possibilities was the most likely.

But his thoughts changed while searching for an energy source to replace the Mana Stone this ti.

Perhaps Mana Stones weren't used in totems at all.

This was the one hypothesis Roden ca up with during the first transport operation with the new recruits.

However, this was still just a hypothesis, and from now on, he had to conduct experints to confirm whether it was true or not.

The experintal thod was simple.

By making a few of the totems described in the book and finding their commonalities, he could tell if the hypothesis was right or wrong.

‘Alright. Let’s start by making the simplest one.’

The first thing that usually ca to mind with the word ‘totem’ was a pillar with a complex shape.

But in ancient tis, it wasn't just these pillars that were called totems.

In ancient tis, various totems of smaller sizes existed.

Among them, Roden made the totems one by one, focusing on those that were described in relatively detail in the book.

Those that were accompanied by pictures.

In fact, it was impossible to reproduce totems without pictures, so he had no choice.

And so, over the course of a few days, various totems were born from Roden's hands.

The first one he completed was a wooden doll in the shape of a cat, and the last one he completed was a spinning top with a gorgeous pattern painted on it.

And in between, he also made things like necklaces and bracelets.

‘I’m glad Ernst had such good dexterity.’

If he didn't have innate dexterity, everything Roden made would have been re trash, not totems.

In fact, more than half of what he completed were objects with no value as totems at all.

Even though he had reproduced the drawings and descriptions from the book exactly, they had beco ordinary objects, not totems.

‘It can't be helped. It's originally difficult to perfectly reproduce an object with just text and pictures.’

Rather, the cases where reproduction was possible and they functioned as totems were the amazing ones.

Anyway, Roden imbued each of the completed totems with aura.

Then, the totems began to display their effects in turn.

The first cat wooden doll had the effect of boosting one's energy within a 1-ter radius.

However, the effect was rather weak.

It felt similar to drinking tea known for its awakening effect.

It was about that much.

In general, the effects of totems were not very strong.

Next, he imbued aura into the spinning top that enhanced alertness to the surroundings, then into the bracelet that made a single line of a forbidden sentence pop into his head, and finally into the necklace that made him feel reverent.

However, Roden didn't pay much attention to these effects.

Rather, he focused on what principle was used to manifest these effects.

Surprisingly, the totems ford a single magic formula with the shape of the object, the carved picture, and the thod of activation.

It was a point where one could glimpse the wisdom of the ancients, just like with the Aurasong.

‘But there doesn't seem to be anything special that can replace a Mana Stone. Did the ancient shamans just use totems by imbuing them with mana whenever they needed them?’

The thought occurred to him that perhaps the premise itself that totems were made to be continuously usable like artifacts was wrong.

‘Was it a wild goose chase?’

It was when Roden was about to conclude the experint as a failure.

‘Huh?’

The flow of energy between the cat wooden doll and the necklace felt sohow similar.

As soon as Roden realized this, he converted the magic formulas of the two objects into modern ones.

Roden’s genius brain carried out this conversion work at an incredibly fast speed.

And,

‘As expected, one part. The magic formulas of the two are similar.’

Roden was able to discover this fact.

However, he still couldn't tell what effect this magic formula had.

He had to figure that out now.

So, Roden waited for all the effects of the totems to disappear to find out the effect of this formula.

This was because there should be no other interference to accurately confirm the effect of the unidentified magic formula.

However, even though the magical effects of the spinning top and the bracelet had disappeared, the magical effects of the cat wooden doll and the necklace continued for much longer.

‘Could the effect of the newly discovered magic formula be…….’

As soon to this thought, Roden started singing an Aurasong as soon as the magical effects of the cat wooden doll and the necklace disappeared.

To cast magic, Roden had to either sing an Aurasong or perform a sword dance, and this ti, the Aurasong was more convenient.

-Pull the net from the river

Grill the fish

The head is the best part

And so, Roden sang an Aurasong with aningless lyrics.

For reference, the lyrics were taken from a song the soldiers often sang at drinking parties and were appropriately modified to fit the magic formula.

Woooong.

As soon as the song ended, the magic manifested and began to take effect.

Curious about what kind of effect it would have, Roden focused on the flow of aura tensely.

And the effect of the magic he finally confird was nothing special.

It was rely the gathering of aura at a designated coordinate and staying there for a certain period of ti.

‘…….’

But Roden did not view this effect simply.

One hour, six hours, half a day, a day, two days, three days, four days, a week…….

No matter how much ti passed, the aura remained at the designated coordinates with almost no loss.

In other words, the effect of the new magic formula Roden had found was ‘Energy Storage.’

Because of that,

‘This is it!’

After confirming that the aura was maintained for a week, Roden couldn't help but clench his fist.

By utilizing this energy storage magic, it was possible to cast the enchanted defensive magic without a Mana Stone.

In other words, he had succeeded in finding an energy source to replace the Mana Stone.

Even if it was his own energy.

***

Having succeeded in unearthing energy storage magic from ancient heritage, Roden continued to hone his carving skills.

And finally, the promised month was filled.

The mont had co when he could enchant the shields with defensive magic.

“Hoo.”

After taking a deep breath, Roden held the triangular knife, which was capable of more delicate work than the rounded knife, and began to sing an Aurasong as he carved the magic formula onto the shield.

And so, after five hours, at twelve o’clock at night, he was finally able to carve the entire formula onto one shield.

‘Hah. It’s finally over. As expected, enchanting one shield a day is the best I can do. I even have to sacrifice three hours of sleep.’

The enchanting process could not be stopped in the middle and continued the next day.

It had to be finished where it was started.

It was a task that required a high level of concentration, not allowing even a single mistake.

Not only did he have to do this kind of work once a day for nearly a month, but he also had to sacrifice his sleep ti.

Roden couldn't help but hesitate a little.

But Roden decided to complete this task to the end.

It was a job that could save a soldier's life with a single shield enchanted with defensive magic.

He did not co to this conclusion simply out of affection or love for humanity.

‘In a sense, this will produce a more favorable result for survival than

becoming stronger for one more day.’

And so, Roden enchanted the shields with defensive magic every night.

And in the process, sothing unexpectedly good happened.