Though Kyaru had initially balked at the appearance of bug cuisine, one bite of Jhin's custom insect sandwich was all it took to win her over — her body betraying what her mouth would never admit. The outing came to a satisfying close, with everyone leaving full and in good spirits.
The next day, Pecorine finally unwrapped the bandages on both hands, fully recovered. Overjoyed, she rolled up her sleeves and single-handedly cooked a lavish meal for everyone — her way of thanking them for all their care during her recovery.
The reward for subjugating the Sand Scorpion King, a lord-tier commission, came out to a full two million Eris. For an ordinary adventurer's guild, that kind of money would barely cover equipment upgrades and repairs to prepare for the next outing — good gear and the materials to maintain it didn't come cheap.
The Gourmet Edifice was a rather unusual guild by any standard. Pecorine came equipped with three powerful pieces of gear she had no need to replace or upgrade. Of the two mages, Kyaru's current staff was perfectly adequate, and Megumin could literally knead magic together with her bare hands — she had no equipment needs to speak of either.
As for Kokkoro's crystal spear, she'd explained that it doubled as both weapon and staff — a custom weapon gifted to her by the Elder — and since Jhin had no intention of letting her get anywhere near the front lines in melee range, she had no armor or weapon expenses either.
Jhin was the most unusual case of all. His weapons were either his fists or the girls' Void weapons, or element-conjured arms when the situation called for it. As for armor — he didn't need any. Time Stop was the strongest protection imaginable.
The end result was that the entire two million Eris went straight toward daily living expenses. Kyaru, who managed the guild's funds, couldn't help but grumble about it — she had never seen such a frugal adventuring guild in her life. Every commission was basically pure profit, with zero spending on weapon upkeep or replacement.
When Jhin heard this, he immediately dragged Pecorine out to buy a mountain of premium ingredients. What was the point of sitting on a pile of money if you never spent it on yourself? Were they just going to let it rust?
"So," Megumin said, wiping a smear of grease from the corner of her mouth and turning back with a vaguely blank look on her face. "You've had your food. Shouldn't you be letting me draw out my Void weapon for you to study now?"
Jhin's eye twitched. "We had a deal — I cook you a few dishes and you let me draw out your Void weapon. Don't tell me you're going back on your word."
"I'm not going back on anything. Was what you just made even really 'cooking'? It was... it was just... passable. Barely average. Completely unlike your usual standard."
"You'd be a lot more convincing if you weren't stuttering, if you didn't lick your lips right after saying that, and if you didn't still have something on your face — wipe that off before you try to argue with me."
"Where?" Megumin raised her hand and rubbed randomly at her face — then froze solid as she registered Jhin's grinning expression, his eyes broadcasting a clear and unmistakable gotcha.
"Nothing left to say now, is there?"
Megumin trudged over to him, visibly deflated, and tilted her head to one side with her crimson eyes reluctantly shut, arms spread wide. "Fine. Do it."
"You're making this feel like I'm committing some kind of crime..." Jhin muttered under his breath, eyebrows raised, as he drew out her Void weapon. He took the weapon and retreated to the sofa to begin researching new magic.
With nothing to do and still pleasantly full from the meal, Megumin drifted after him, curious to see how ancient magic was actually created. She watched Jhin grip the staff, close his eyes, and sink into meditation — then couldn't resist needling him: "What kind of 'research' is this, exactly? You're just hugging a Void weapon."
Jhin opened his eyes with a long-suffering look. To head off the barrage of questions he could feel coming, he explained: "The Explosion magic we cast together — do you think its power was simply the result of combining two Explosion spells?"
"Of course not!" As the one who had actually cast it, Megumin could say with absolute certainty that the output had been nowhere near as simple as one plus one equaling two.
"By holding your Void weapon right now, I can confirm — it primarily functions as an amplifier for you. In other words, even without using Mana Touch to link our mana pools, we can still cast Explosion magic together. The power output just won't be as amplified as when the link is active."
"So you're trying to research support-type amplification magic?"
"Exactly." Jhin nodded.
"Wait!" Megumin's expression turned suddenly serious, as though she had just discovered something critically important. She stepped forward and planted both hands on his shoulders, making sure she hadn't misheard: "You're saying that without relying on Kyaru's Mana Touch — we can still cast Explosion magic together?"
"Yeah."
"Then hurry up, hurry up, hurry up — come cast Explosion magic with me right now!"
"No. I haven't figured out the amplification magic yet."
"Jhin~ please~ come do one run with me~" Megumin grabbed hold of him and shook him left and right with relentless enthusiasm, apparently hoping to rattle his brain into compliance. "Please~ pretty please~"
"Alright, alright, fine — stop shaking me. Let me finish researching the amplification magic first, then I'll go with you. Deal?"
"It's settled then. You'd better not go back on your word."
"Relax. I trained under the great Master Toma, the Evil Sword Immortal — they call me the Man Who Never Breaks a Promise. Going back on my word isn't in my vocabulary."
"You're saying things I don't understand again..." Megumin plopped down nearby, propped her chin in both hands, and fixed a steady, unblinking stare on him. "Hurry up and figure it out. I'm waiting for you to take me out and blow something up."
"I know, I know." Jhin closed his eyes and began to think.
On the subject of amplification magic — wrapping wind elements around the body was the simplest and most brute-force approach imaginable. Kokkoro's Blessing of Light, by contrast, used light element to enhance a person's speed and other capabilities. Light element, being the mildest of the base elements by nature, was the natural first choice for amplification magic.
Jhin's initial instinct had followed the same logic — amplify every attribute with light element. But that approach always felt too muddled and unfocused to him. Amplifying everything equally spread the effect too thin, and amplifying each attribute individually would require casting too many separate spells — far too cumbersome.
Then his thoughts began to wander, and when they drifted to the fact that he still lacked any defensive magic, an idea suddenly sparked. If he shaped an element into armor — wouldn't that achieve both amplification and protection at once?
The moment the thought surfaced, the mental block that had been frustrating him crumbled away.
Light element's gentle properties made it perfect as an inner lining for elemental armor. Even if the armor shattered, the light element would neutralize the destabilizing effects of elemental chaos — no risk of injuring himself.
Jhin's eyes snapped open. The Void weapon dissolved back into thought, and a thin layer of white gauze slowly materialized around his right hand. Then, one by one, different elements condensed into slender threads, sketching out the skeletal framework of a gauntlet over the surface.
The dream was elegant. Reality was considerably less cooperative. The sudden flash of inspiration had given Jhin a clear direction — but actually executing it was a different matter entirely. Just managing the distinct elemental threads as the structural skeleton of the gauntlet already pushed him to the absolute limit of his control.
He had barely roughed out the basic frame of the gauntlet before sweat was pouring off him — and then the whole thing shattered apart in a cascade of elemental interference.
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