GameDev Reincarnated into His Own Creation

Vol 2 - Chapter 32.5B: R & D

Moana gasped, his eyes widening. He stumbled backward, nearly knocking over his chair.

"Impossible," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

The old man approached the table again, circling it slowly as he studied the projected magical circle from different angles. His face had lost its skepticism, replaced by a mixture of awe and concern.

"This isn't just an unstable reading," Moana said, more to himself than to Vel. "The artifact is trying to communicate something. It's found an anomaly it doesn't know how to process."

Vel stared at the artifact's frantic display, but his attention was fixed on something else entirely—the debug message that had appeared in his interface, superimposed over his vision.

[Debug message received]

[Translating...]

[Execution error. Division 02 — Sigil: _getTargetProperties()]

The sigil zoomed forward in his mind's eye, expanding to fill his vision with its complex patterns.

Along with it came related sigils, branching out in a network of connections that revealed exactly how the artifact functioned. Vel could see the elegant architecture of its design—how it was meant to detect and classify magical affinities, then convert the reading into crystal signature.

And there, at the heart of the error, was the reason for its malfunction: it was trying to read his [Null] affinity.

Vel's breath caught in his throat. The device wasn't broken—it was trying to categorize something that didn't exist in its system, an affinity that defied its entire classification structure.

Vel carefully removed his hand from the crystal. The white mist continued to pulse within the artifact for several seconds before slowly fading, leaving the crystal clear once more.

"Remarkable," Moana whispered, his eyes never leaving the artifact. "Simply remarkable."

The sigil that had malfunctioned—_getTargetProperties()—was the exact one he'd been searching for. Thanks to the debug message, it was now imprinted in his memory, every pattern and connection crystal clear.

But Vel's eyes shifted to Moana, who was staring at the artifact in stunned silence.

This was going to get complicated.

Moana's sharp eyes shifted from the artifact to Vel, studying him with newfound intensity.

"Who are you, exactly?" he asked, his voice low but pointed. "Not just Velarian Novalance, unstable attunement student—but who are you truly?"

"Just a student interested in magical theory," Vel replied, trying to sound casual despite the hammering of his heart. "I told you my reading was unusual."

"Unusual?" Moana barked a short laugh. "Young man, in forty-three years of working with this artifact, I've never seen it react like that. Not once."

He began to circle Vel slowly, reminding him uncomfortably of a predator sizing up potential prey.

"Saint Landre's brother, Lyvenna's star pupil, and now this..." Moana's fingers drummed against his thigh as he walked. "Three extraordinary circumstances surrounding one unremarkable-looking boy."

Vel needed to deflect this dangerous scrutiny. "Maybe it's just a coincidence?" he offered weakly.

"There are no coincidences in magical phenomena," Moana dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Only patterns we haven't yet recognized."

He stopped directly in front of Vel, leaning forward slightly. "This warrants further investigation. We should inform Archmagister Elyssia immediately. Your affinity reading—or lack thereof—could represent a previously undocumented magical condition."

Alarm bells rang in Vel's mind. The last thing he needed was to become a research subject for the entire Academy, with mages dissecting his magical nature and possibly discovering his true identity.

"I'm not sure that's necessary," Vel objected, trying to sound reasonable rather than panicked. "It's probably just some anomaly with my particular mana signature. Nothing worth troubling the Archmagister about."

"Not necessary?" Moana's eyebrows shot up. "This could be groundbreaking! A new classification of magical attunement—perhaps even a new understanding of mana itself!"

His excitement was growing by the second, each word increasing Vel's anxiety.

As Moana rambled on about research protocols and potential publication titles, Vel desperately searched for a way out of this situation. He needed to redirect this enthusiasm without appearing suspicious.

"Actually," Vel interrupted, inspiration striking, "maybe we should wait until after the Ternion Tournament?"

Moana paused, turning back to face him with a questioning look.

"I'm competing," Vel explained. "Any unusual tests or procedures might throw off my mana balance right before the matches. It would be a shame to compromise my team's chances because of research that could wait a few weeks."

Moana's expression flickered between disappointment and understanding. "The tournament... yes, I suppose that's a consideration."

Vel pressed his advantage. "If we wait, we could also gather data on how my anomalous attunement affects combat performance. That would make your research even more comprehensive, wouldn't it?"

This suggestion visibly appealed to Moana, who nodded slowly. "A practical application component would strengthen the paper considerably..."

Moana sighed, reluctantly returning the artifact to its box. "I suppose a few weeks won't matter in the grand scheme of academic discovery."

As he secured the box back in its compartment, Vel said.

"Thank you for showing me the artifact," genuinely grateful despite his anxiety. "This has been... illuminating."

"Indeed it has," Moana agreed, locking the compartment with a soft click. He turned to face Vel with a shrewd expression. "But don't think I'll forget about this, young man. Once the tournament concludes, I expect you to return for proper analysis."

"Of course," Vel promised, already planning ways to avoid that particular future.

As they descended on the magical platform, Vel felt both triumph and trepidation. He'd obtained the crucial sigil he needed for his appraisal spell—a significant victory.

But everything has a price, doesn't it?

The only consolation was the tournament's impending deadline, giving him a temporary reprieve from Moana's academic curiosity. For now, that would have to be enough.

Vel left the Artifex building with quickened steps, his mind already racing with possibilities for completing his identification spell.