As Gin approached the warehouse door, he paused.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Can't leave without these."
He turned back and removed the bracelets and boots from Lorien , carefully prying the wand from the unconscious mage's grip. Gathering them into a small bag he found nearby, Gin slung it over his shoulder. Just the thought of analyzing these magical artifacts later brought a slight smirk to his face.
Once outside, Gin expanded his magical domain.
Shrinking the area behind him and extending it forward, he quickly caught information about the individuals who had been watching him.
Two n.
Compared to the rcenaries inside the warehouse, their mana reserves and flow were noticeably weaker—barely half the level.
If these were the reinforcents Astra had intended to send, Gin wondered what kind of overconfidence had led them to entrust the task to such underwhelming individuals.
Gin redirected his steps toward the building where Jay was hiding. As he walked, the two observers began moving. One headed directly toward Gin, while the other made for Jay's location.
Gin didn't interfere. He allowed their movents to unfold naturally, curious to see what might co of it. He wasn't entirely certain of their allegiances, but any potential variable was best neutralized.
There's no need to kill them, Gin thought. If I spared the three inside, there's no reason to eliminate these two—it's possible they're just more of Astra's hired help.
Before Gin had taken more than a few steps, one of the n appeared before him, his expression sharp and calculating.
"What happened inside the warehouse?" the man demanded abruptly.
Gin tilted his head slightly, the gesture laced with disdain.
"And why should I tell you?"
The man's authoritative deanor grated on Gin, as if he had any right to act superior.
"You need to be clear so I can clean up properly. Judging by the situation, you're not running away. Did you kill the ones inside?"
"Are you with them?" Gin asked coolly.
The man chuckled, a thin, mocking sound. "No. I'm from Astra Pharmaceuticals. That makes your ally, doesn't it? Shouldn't you also be concerned about your companion's safety?"
Gin's eyes narrowed. "Pick one—are you trying to negotiate or threaten ? And why should I trust you? Where's your proof?"
The man's confident mask slipped for a mont, irritation flashing in his eyes. He had no proof, of course. He had expected the young freelancer to yield without question.
"I'm not a rcenary. I'm directly employed by Astraa. Cooperation would be wise," he said, doubling down on his tone of authority.
Gin gave a faint nod. "I've decided."
The man's confidence wavered, but before he could react, he crumpled to his knees with a heavy thud.
Thud!
Pain shot through his legs as though his knees were shattering. Gritting his teeth, his bloodshot eyes glared up at GIn, silently demanding an explanation.
Ban, unconcerned, muttered, "Enjoy staying like that for three hours."
Thin, precise spikes of mana erged from Gin's core, embedding themselves into the man's body. One spike even cut off his voice, rendering him mute.
Paralyzed and mute, the man's eyes widened with growing terror. Gin leaned down and patted him lightly on the shoulder. Then, without another word, he walked past him toward the building where Jay was hiding.
Monts later, another thud echoed from the building. Gin didn't need to look back to know the second observer had t the sa fate as the first.
Gin's face twisted with anxiety as Gin approached.
"Hey, isn't this going a bit too far?"
"What is?" Gin replied nonchalantly.
"That guy out there… he's clearly from Astra. Did you really need to… you know…?"
"Nothing's confird," Gin said. "And the one outside tried to threaten ."
"We could've just called Astra to verify—"
"Not yet. Let handle things first. anwhile, go check the warehouse for anything useful. I've already secured the recipe, so don't worry about that. And don't call Astra just yet."
Jay hesitated but eventually nodded. "By the way, how did you even know there was a mage in there?"
"Just knew," Gin replied curtly.
"'Just knew'? Co on, if you don't want to tell , just say so."
"Why ask if you already know the answer?"
Jay scoffed and shook his head before heading toward the warehouse. If there was anything worth salvaging, he'd find it.
Gin settled onto the low steps at the building's entrance and pulled out the stolen recipe. The golden rod glead faintly in the light, its surface engraved with intricate magical patterns that ford a dense, almost impenetrable magic circle.
At first, he had assud it was a simple data storage device, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was a fully-fledged magical artifact.
The engravings were layered with "dummy" security spells—designed to obscure the true protective magic beneath.
While the surface appeared intricate and complex, it was, in fact, composed of rudintary formulas repeated in excessive quantities.
"A fascinating approach," Gin mused. "The redundancy makes it tedious to break, but not impossible."
The design lacked a master key to bypass the dummy layer. Even its creator would need to manually unravel the spells to access the true security chanism.
Gin's lips curled into a faint smile.
The challenge stirred his interest.
His magical instincts sharpened, ready to dismantle the puzzle.
"Only three types of formulas. Simple but cleverly intertwined."
He visualized each formula as a basic shape, allowing him to map the entire structure as a whole.
"If it were , I'd have added variations to the formulas.
That way, no one could reduce it to a simple diagram. But then again, even the creator might struggle to crack it later."
With a clearer understanding of the design, Gin quickly identified the simplest way to bypass it: dismantle all the formulas at once.
Had the designer been present, they would have been horrified by how effortlessly Gin tore through the dummy spells. Beneath them lay the true security magic—a lock spell requiring a precisely matched key.
His smile deepened as he worked thodically, dismantling the final layer. Each step felt like solving an intricate puzzle.
Finally, the core of the recipe revealed itself: a detailed, three-dinsional magical record of potion crafting thods and principles.
It was ticulous in its design—clear enough for anyone to replicate the process.
Gin leaned back, examining the artifact with a sense of satisfaction.
"Now this… this is interesting," he murmured to himself, already pondering the possibilities it offered.
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