[Book 1 Completed] Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World [Kingdom Building LitRPG]
B2 | Chapter 46 – Theodore’s Grandfather [Important Announcement]

Theodore POV

Despite the healing, everything hurt. The problem with [Healing Touch] was that while it was effective at healing wounds and mending bones, it was unable to alleviate the bone-deep fatigue that resulted from burning through excessive amounts of mana as well as essentially putting his body through torture.

He should probably be more worried about Juliana's expression right now. Should be. But honestly… He was still riding the high of what had just happened.

Freya had stopped holding back because of him. Even though he had used purple fire recklessly, irresponsibly, and quite frankly dumbly—it had worked. However, it hadn't been easy, but it was still a step forward.

He hadn't really been worried about Freya getting hurt. She was a Rank 4, not to mention she could absorb fire—she had absorbed purple fire, even.

And, in the end, she was fine.

With apparent bewilderment, the [Healer] Juliana had brought dismissed herself after bowing slightly. It was hard to blame her. She'd been summoned to tend to what should have been two half-dead morons, only to find them sitting around chatting like they'd just finished a pleasant sparring session.

Juliana turned back to them after waiting until the woman was out of earshot. Her jaw was set in that certain manner that indicated someone was going to verbally slap them across the face, and her arms were crossed.

"Sit," she said.

It wasn't a request.

Freya, who'd been leaning against what remained of a stone pillar, slid down to sit on the ground, finding a patch of burnt ground far too interesting than she should. She looked anywhere but at Juliana.

Theodore was already seated, but Juliana's glare caused him to shift uneasily.

Oh, she was pissed.

He was aware that in these situations, it was best to simply let her vent.

"I don't even know where to start. Do you have any idea—any idea at all—what you two just did? Especially you, Theodore Lockheart?"

Juliana held up a hand before Theodore could respond.

"Don't. That was rhetorical." She sighed, settling down on a relatively intact piece of stone. "Well. That was something."

Theodore and Freya exchanged glances.

That tone was... not what they'd expected.

"You're not going to yell at us?" Freya asked cautiously.

"Oh, I'm absolutely going to lecture you. But let's be honest here. You two are adults. Reckless, prideful, possibly insane adults, but adults nonetheless. I can't exactly put you in time-out."

"So... we're not in trouble?"

"I didn't say that." Juliana gestured around them. "Look, this is Theodore's facility, so technically he can blow it up if he wants to. But it's also rated for Rank 4 maximum, and you two just turned it into a shithole. I'm more concerned about the fact that you both clearly have no idea what you're actually capable of."

"We got a little carried away."

"A little carried away, he says. Right. The way a hurricane is a little windy."

Freya shifted beside him. "In our defense—"

"No." Juliana's voice was sharp. "There is no defense for this. You're both experienced fighters. You know your capabilities. You know how to exercise restraint. And instead, you chose to have what can only be described as a magical pissing contest."

"I mean, we did learn some things."

"Such as?"

"I can make Freya stop holding back."

"You're insufferable," Juliana said.

Freya snorted. "You can make my Familiar go completely insane, you mean."

"Same thing."

"Is it, though?"

Theodore ignored her. Juliana let out a sigh. The moment lingered.

"I learned I don't have to hold back as much as I thought," he said.

Juliana stared at him. "You don't have to hold back."

"Right."

"Theodore, you were unconscious on the ground. How is that not holding back enough?"

"Well, I mean, I was still conscious when I did the fun part."

"You're insane. You're both completely insane."

"Hey," Freya said, "I was trying to be careful. It's not my fault my Familiar went berserk."

"Your Familiar went berserk because you weren't being careful," Juliana shot back with a glare. "You know how it reacts to certain types of magic! You should have been more cautious!"

"I've never seen it react like that before," Freya said defensively. "Theodore's fire did something to it."

Juliana's gaze snapped to him and Theodore looked away. "Right, about that. What was that purple fire anyway?" She waved vaguely at a crater that was definitely deeper than it had any right to be. "Because from where I was standing, everything was going normally until suddenly it very much wasn't."

How did he explain something he didn't understand himself? How did he tell them that sometimes, when he reached for fire magic, something else answered instead?

"Well, see, the thing is..." Theodore scratched the back of his head. "I actually don't know."

"You don't know." Juliana spoke with a remarkably even tone. "You summoned fire that can apparently disintegrate matter, and you don't know what it is."

"Look, it's not like it came with an instruction manual," Theodore said defensively. "It just... happens sometimes. When I'm really pushing myself."

"Just happens."

"Yeah. I'll be doing normal fire magic, and then suddenly—" He made a vague gesture. "Purple."

Freya leaned forward. "Wait, you can't control it?"

"Oh no, I can definitely control it. But I don't like to use it."

"Theodore, that fire cut through Rank 4 defenses like they were made of paper. Fire doesn't do that. Not normal fire."

"I know it's not normal fire," Theodore sighed. "But I don't know what it is. You think I haven't tried to figure it out? You think I haven't spent hours trying to understand why sometimes my flames are orange and sometimes they're purple and why one of them can apparently eat through anything?"

He didn't mean for the words to sound so harsh. He had been frustrated for several months. He had been trying to figure out what the heck was going on with him ever since he had first called out that purple flame and saw it devour his own arm.

However, there were no answers. There certainly were no convenient system messages explaining this shit. Only him, his powers, and an increasing number of questions he couldn't answer.

Freya cleared her throat. "If it helps, my Familiar seemed to recognize it. The fire, I mean. It reacted like... like it was starving and had just seen a feast. Maybe I could somehow get it to spit out some information?"

Both Theodore and Juliana turned to look at her.

"What do you mean, recognized it?" Juliana asked.

"I don't know exactly. But the way it went crazy, the way it tried to consume the fire even when it was destroying me..." Freya shrugged. "My Familiar has been with me for years. It's never reacted like that to anything. Not even to really exotic fire magic."

"So what you're saying is that Theodore's mystery fire is so unusual that it drove your ancient, experienced Familiar into a feeding frenzy," Juliana said slowly.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"That's... not reassuring."

What did it mean that his fire had been recognized by Freya's Familiar, something that had existed for a lot longer than any of them? Where had it seen such a thing before?

"So," he said finally, "does anyone know any good books on mysterious fire magic?"

Despite everything, Freya chuckled. "I think we're going to need more than books."

"Yeah," Theodore agreed, looking at the purple-tinged scorch marks scattered across the training ground. "I think you're right."

Juliana was quiet for a long moment.

"You know," she said finally, "there might be someone who could help with this."

"Oh?"

"Grandfather."

Ah. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner?

Juliana was already continuing. "He's seen more magic than probably anyone alive. Been around for what, two centuries now? Maybe more. He never talks about his exact age, but..." She shrugged. "Point is, if anyone's encountered something like your purple fire before, it'd be him. He's strong enough that weird magic wouldn't faze him. And old enough that he might actually have answers instead of just more questions."

Strong. To say that was an understatement. Theodore had seen Grandfather fight exactly once in his life, years ago, when some Rank 5 had been stupid enough to attack their estate. The old man had ended the entire conflict in about ten seconds.

And that had been him holding back. Theodore was sure of it.

"Plus," Juliana added, "you know how he gets about family. Especially when family might be in danger from something they don't understand."

Right. Family. The old man had always been protective of them in his own quiet way. Never overbearing, never intrusive, but always... there. Always aware. Always ready to step in if needed.

"He might know what it is," Theodore said slowly. "Or at least know someone who does."

"Exactly. And even if he doesn't, he's got connections we don't. Resources. Access to libraries and archives that most people will never see."

That was true too. Grandfather moved in circles that Theodore barely understood. Had friends and contacts scattered across continents. People owed him favors. Big ones, from what Theodore could gather.

If there were answers to be found, Grandfather would know how to find them.

"The question is whether we can get to him," Juliana continued. "I mean, we could send a letter, but something like this... it feels like the kind of conversation that should happen in person, and he's not a letter person anyway."

"We'll see," Theodore said. "We'll be making our way to the capital soon anyway."

"Oh yeah, perfect."

"There's still some time," he added. "I need to do some things before we can leave."

"What kind of things?" Freya asked.

Theodore thought about how he could explain this without coming across as utterly crazy. Sincerely, his to-do list was becoming a little ridiculous.

"Well. I've got to create a bathhouse."

Both women stared at him.

"A bathhouse," Juliana repeated.

"Yeah. You know, for bathing. Hot water, comfortable setup, all that."

"Why do you need to create a bathhouse?"

"Because I want one?"

Freya snorted.

"Also a refrigerator," Theodore continued. "Maybe a few of them, actually. And some other quality-of-life improvements."

"A refrig—what?" Juliana stumbled over the word. "Re-frige-ator? What is that?"

"For keeping food cold. It's very convenient."

"Theodore, we have ice magic for that."

"Ice magic requires constant attention. A proper refrigerator just works."

He could see them trying to figure out if he was serious or not. Which was fair, honestly. It did sound a bit weird when he said it out loud, for this world anyway.

"Why call it a refrigerator?"

Theodore blinked. Why did he call it that? The word was just... There, it always had been, engrained so deep in his brain that he'd never even thought about using a different name for it.

He shrugged and didn't answer her.

But the thing was, he'd gotten used to certain conveniences in his previous life. Things that made day-to-day living more pleasant. And now that he had the knowledge and skills to recreate some of those things, why wouldn't he?

"Anything else on this list of yours?" Juliana asked.

"Few other projects. Nothing too exciting."

That was mostly true. The bathhouse and refrigerator were definitely on the list. Along with better heating systems, maybe some improved plumbing, possibly some other stuff.

But there was one other thing he was dying to figure out.

The clone skill. Or spell. Or whatever the hell it was.

He had been considering it more and more. The allure of convenience was simply too much to resist. being able to manage several projects at once, be in several locations at once, and possibly conduct parallel research.

It would change everything.

The problem was figuring out how to actually learn it. He had the mana crystal that supposedly contained the skill, but understanding how to extract and internalize that knowledge was proving tricky.

He'd need to study it more carefully.

"Well," Juliana said, "as long as you don't blow anything else up while you're working on your projects."

"I make no promises."

"Theodore."

"Kidding. Mostly."

The truth was, he probably would end up causing some kind of minor disaster while working on his projects. It seemed to be a pattern with him. But hopefully nothing as dramatic as what had just happened here.

"So," Freya said, breaking into his thoughts, "when can I get into that bathhouse thing?"

***

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