My Joker System: From Low Mana Trash to the Mightiest Wizard!
Chapter 57: Manaforge Initiate Competition Preliminaries (2)

Chapter 57: Manaforge Initiate Competition Preliminaries (2)

Hal took a deep breath, scanning the materials on his table then turned to the wood partition that separated his personal workspace from the other competitors.

With how many people there were in the waiting rooms, he didn’t expect that the stations would still be quite comfortable.

’I should be able to weave that today...’

The main event will be held at the Azmarin Public Square.

While he knew it was impossible to keep his revolutionary arcane links from the public forever, he didn’t want to reveal them too soon, as he still didn’t have the power to ensure his safety.

This was why Hal thought long and hard about how he could use the Chaos Arcane Link Set during the main event, where a live crowd would be watching his every move.

His solution lay in creating masking links made from mana essence.

Drawing from the knowledge he had about Chaos Karma masking links, he did his best to convert them into a more conventional form using mana essence.

They wouldn’t be as effective, but they’d draw far less attention.

Alas, he hadn’t succeeded yet.

Still, with each failure, he felt himself getting closer.

He believed he could pull it off this time, or at worst, the next.

Performing a few finger warm-up exercises, Hal began.

The time limit was three hours.

He had ample time to experiment.

The basic steps couldn’t be skipped, however, so he began with absorbing the mana essence from two of the six F-ranked arcane cores in front of him, shrinking them to a size appropriate for an earring.

The common-tier accessory artifact Hal planned to create was called the Flame Origin Earring.

It required only three materials: an ember seed, an F-ranked arcane core, and simple double-edged stainless steel needles.

Once done with the cores, Hal prepared the ember seed, carefully removing the coat using tweezers to not damage the source of the fire elemental bonus.

He then placed the seed atop a special container before picking up a stainless steel needle.

Hal heated one of the needles using the ember seed, then carefully bent one end into the shape of a secure hook.

He repeated the process with another stainless steel needle.

With both pieces prepared, all that remained was to weave the arcane links.

He started with the Chaos Links, as they would serve as the true connection to bind and activate the ember seed’s effects, allowing it to supply origin embers to the artifact.

Hal had practiced drawing these links with Chaos Karma quite a number of times, so inscribing one of the simplest stabilizer Chaos Arcane Links didn’t even make him break a sweat anymore.

Once the stabilizers were in place, Hal pierced a large enough hole into the arcane core to carefully slot the ember seed inside.

He then sealed the opening using the stainless steel hooks, locking the components together with precision and care, repeating everything for the second earring after a short five-minute break.

The entire process took only an hour and a half.

’Phew... now comes the hard part...’ Hal thought, taking a deep breath as he prepared to inscribe the masking links.

He began once he was ready, his focus sharp as the tip of a needle.

Time passed as Hal’s hands worked slowly but with immaculate precision.

The difficulty lay in the extremely small, hanging cores of hook-type earring artifacts, which required the links he wove to fit precisely.

He needed the assistance of a tool called a mana-weaving pen to meet the link size requirement.

"Hahaha!" he laughed heartily in celebration half an hour later. "I knew it! Why did I only think of that now?"

After numerous failures, he finally managed to create a masking link woven from mana essence instead of Chaos Karma.

This invention of his would likely be considered revolutionary and could become extremely popular among low-key Arcanists once it spread.

But that was a matter for the future.

For now, the masking links were his alone, and he would make sure to earn plenty from them before contributing the technique to the empire.

Hal was confident he was the inventor of the new type of mana-woven links because their creation was impossible without knowledge of the Chaos Arcane Link Set, which he had obtained as a quest reward from the system.

Only those chosen by Primordial Chaos would have the chance to learn them.

Of course, Hal didn’t dismiss the possibility that he wasn’t the only one, though he remained fairly confident that he was.

’Phew... focus, Hal, you’re not done yet...’ he reminded himself, regaining control of his emotions with a deep breath.

He had only finished the masking links.

He still needed to inscribe actual mana-woven links that would make sense and fool the artifact inspector’s eyes.

The step wasn’t too difficult for him, though, as he had attended twenty-five Basic Arcanist Knowledge classes and had also obtained the Novice Arcanist’s Tome of Knowledge from Act 2 of his system quest, enriching both his understanding and experience in a mystical way.

Another quarter of an hour later, Hal finished one earring, completing the other after another half hour. That left him with fifteen extra minutes to double-check his Flame Origin Earrings before submitting them to the inspector.

"These should do quite well..."

Hal was fairly confident in his crafts, so he strode out of his workspace with a subtle smile on his face, though no one could see it because of the jester mask.

He inevitably looked around as he walked and realized that he was among the last to finish, which wasn’t a good sign.

After all, if the grade, effects, and aesthetics of the artifact were equal, the Arcanist who would advance would be the one who finished their work first.

Arriving at the inspector’s desk, Hal handed over the container holding his Flame Origin Earrings and reported his alias.

He was then instructed to leave the room and follow the marshals to the Grand Auditorium to wait for the results.

He was also advised to have lunch first, as the evaluation would take some time, which Hal happily accepted.

He was famished after a tiring crafting session.

And so, after receiving confirmation that he could leave for now, Hal exited the Imperial Arcanist Guild to enjoy a well-deserved meal.

He at least deserved some spicy lobster tails after inventing a revolutionary type of arcane link, no?

...Time marched ever forth.

The inspectors of the Manaforge Initiate Competition Preliminaries carefully checked hundreds of artifacts, double-checking their effects using two different devices to ensure the results wouldn’t be mistaken.

Soon, one of the inspectors, a dignified old man, opened one of the cases, slightly dumbfounded and confused upon realizing there were two Flame Origin Earrings inside.

"Aihh... we should’ve clarified the rules better..."

This was clearly a misunderstanding, as the aspirants only needed to craft a single earring for the competition.

Perhaps there were others like this youngster with the alias Joker...

Shaking his head, the inspector placed one of the earrings into the mana-powered appraisal device... and was bewildered at the results:

==

Mana Affinity: +6%

Effectiveness of Fire Elemental Spells: +10%

Artifact Rarity: Common

Artifact Grade: Mastercraft

Crafter: Joker

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