My Joker System: From Low Mana Trash to the Mightiest Wizard!
Chapter 61: Manaforge Initiate Competition: Main Event (2)

Chapter 61: Manaforge Initiate Competition: Main Event (2)

Hal took a deep breath, scanning the materials on his desk.

Earlier, the old man overseeing the competition announced the theme of the main event: a blood-pumping, weapon-type artifact—the Elemental Staff.

It was almost certainly the most widely used weapon among combat wizards, as most had an affinity for elemental spells, though usually limited to a specific type.

They were given ten minutes to decide what they wanted to craft and what materials they needed. Ten minutes later, all participants had received the materials they requested.

To the crowd’s excitement, an auction would be held after the event, with all 150 artifacts up for grabs.

Their attendance had truly been worth it.

The old chief scanned his eyes over the participants’ workstations, lingering a little longer on a young man with a jester mask before turning to the crowd and announcing:

"The materials have been delivered, and the young arcanists seem ready to showcase their skills. I, Buster Collins, shall not rob everyone of the entertainment you deserve. Let the main event of the Manaforge Initiate Competition begin!"

In the next moment, Buster and his assistants descended from the stage, and a massive holographic timer appeared about ten meters in the sky, ticking down.

The main event had begun.

Hal closed his eyes for three seconds and took a deep breath before proceeding to grab the F-ranked Arcane Core.

This time, since what he was making was an elemental staff, he didn’t absorb mana from the core, instead infusing more to increase its size.

The sheer boost in destructive power was the reason why staves were the most famous weapons for wizards, after all.

Hal should make the core as big as possible without breaking it.

Fortunately, this was where low-mana affinity guys like him had the advantage.

They were incapable of both absorbing and infusing mana too quickly, making it almost impossible to mess things up.

While the other competitors cursed in frustration as they popped their cores and burned through their reserves, Hal steadily increased the size of his.

’This should be fine...’

Placing the core down once it reached the appropriate size, Hal looked around.

Even the so-called Big Four handled their cores with care, perhaps even more so than he did.

Not only were their mana affinities high, but as apprentices of high-ranking masters, it would be embarrassing for them to pop their cores even once.

Unexpectedly, Hal was the first to finish, proving that slow and steady could win the race, at least this time.

He quickly began preparing the other materials, such as the Kindlewood, which would serve as the main body of his elemental staff, along with the Ember Seed and a few other ignition minerals that could enhance the effects of the Flame Elemental Staff he planned to create.

Hal had to make sure he was ready to weave his links by the time the Big Four and most of the seeded candidates finished their material preparations.

After all, he not only had to avoid drawing the crowd’s attention by weaving his links at the same time the Big Four wove theirs but also had to avoid finishing among the last few, as he could bid farewell to victory, otherwise.

Hal needed to complete the Chaos Links, the mana-woven masking links, and the fake links that would conceal the real ones before most of the seeded candidates finished their arcane links.

He even considered using regular mana-woven links to make things easier for himself.

But he wasn’t confident he could win that way, which was why he ultimately stuck to his original plan.

All or nothing; Hal decided to play high-stakes.

Besides, even if he was exposed here, the curious ones wouldn’t dare make a move inside the city.

Instead, they would tail him, trying to uncover his true identity.

They would only act on the information they gathered once he left the city.

Hal had a backup plan for that, too, of course.

Placing down the now-ready Kindlewood staff, he picked up the Ember Seeds one by one, removing their coatings as swiftly and carefully as he could.

According to the Novice Arcanist’s Tome of Knowledge, the maximum number of Ember Seeds an F-ranked arcane core the size of his could handle was five.

Six, if he was feeling cheeky, but he couldn’t risk too much for now, as his entire plan would fall apart if he failed.

It didn’t take Hal too much time to remove the coating of the seeds, as he had been working with artifacts that boost fire-type elemental spells for quite some time now.

The reason for this was that fire was one of the most common paths an elemental combat wizard could take.

Furthermore, wizards of this type were well-received in both the military and the Imperial Wizard Guild.

Although widespread and conventional, fire-type spells were powerful and among the most effective in combat.

There was also a lingering sentiment in his heart to support Ennya in her path as the future Flame Magna.

He just couldn’t help but worry about the not-so-bright midget.

And finally, the fire-type industry was perhaps among the most profitable, since there were far more fire-type wizards than any other kind.

The path of flames simply allowed him to hit two or three birds with one stone.

Of course, Hal planned to dabble in all the paths, as all Arcanists did, but for now, he would focus his efforts on fire-type artifacts.

...Kindlewood staff, Ember Seeds, Cinderdust...

After half an hour, Hal wiped his face with a towel, scanning everything on his table with a satisfied smile.

Everything was going according to plan.

A few more minutes later, a few people in the crowd gasped.

"Look, Altair is starting to weave his Arcane Links! C-Can we record this?!"

"D-Dumbass! Do you want to end up in prison? Put that darn Orb of Memories away!"

"Oh, young miss Allyson is starting to inscribe her links too!"

"Young Sir Cornelius Gray as well!"

"Aihh... Miss Irish is so dreamy... If only I could inscribe my core in her body..."

The crowd noticed that the Big Four had finished their material preparations and had begun weaving Arcane Links using the rare styles their masters had taught them, seizing everyone’s attention and making the others fade into the background.

Even the scouts who were ordered to keep an eye on the one hundred commoners at all times couldn’t help but be momentarily sidetracked.

Of course, Hal was among the first to know that the four had already begun weaving links, as his eyes were on them all the time.

It was time for him to begin as well.