Reinventing Magic: An Inventor's Tale
Chapter 112: The Revelation

Chapter 112: The Revelation

"An Aether Core? That’s impossible! How could Gregor obtain such power?"

Kael’s mind raced, torn between cold analysis and the fury blazing in his chest. Gregor had always been known as a 5th-Class Magician—even when they clashed in the last war.

But Kael couldn’t ignore the truth. Gregor had cast Titan’s Leap, a legendary 6th-tier spell thought lost to time, a spell that even Keira had only read about in ancient tomes.

Back then, Kael had reached a grim conclusion—Gregor had broken through and ascended to the 6th Tier, granting him the strength to wield such powerful magic. But that alone wasn’t enough. With the cursed Umbral Doom Staff in his grasp, he had nullified the spell’s staggering mana cost, allowing him to fight like a berserker consumed by madness.

But now? How had he obtained an Aether Core?

Kael knew the process well. When he absorbed Nyx’vorran’s core—guided by Alice and Nexus as they carefully managed the mana flow—he had transformed his five cores into a single, unified core. This new power source was different. Purer. Nexus had called it an Aether Core.

It raised countless questions. How was it different from a normal core? The mana coursing through his veins was undeniably more refined, more potent. It didn’t just amplify his spellcasting—it granted him full mastery over Nexus’s abilities, unlocking their true potential.

"The energy flowing within you is called Aether," Nexus explained. "It is a different form of mana—purer, more refined. To harness it, you must possess an Aether Core. The mana you absorbed from Nyx’vorran was that very energy. However, storing it was only possible by merging all of your cores into a single, unified core.

But such a feat would have been impossible without the help of Alice and me. That’s why not just anyone can obtain such power."

Kael’s thoughts spiraled. "Then how?"

"Insufficient data," the AI admitted. "But there are only two possibilities—either he had assistance in replicating your process, or..." Nexus hesitated.

"Or what?"

"Or he is someone like Alice and Astra."

Kael recoiled. "What?! That doesn’t make sense!"

A golem?

Nexus’s voice remained steady. "One thing is certain. The core he wields—it is far from stable."

Kael’s gaze snapped back to Gregor, who hovered above the battlefield, his Spirit Crystal pulsing erratically. The energy radiating from him was volatile—wild, like a storm barely contained.

"Then he’s a walking bomb," Kael realized.

Gregor drifted above the battlefield like a wraith, his form flickering in and out of sight with every unnatural movement. He glided, propelled by an unseen force. The air itself crackled around him as he surged forward, his fist radiating raw, unstable energy.

Kael barely had time to react—his Arc Nexus flared to life, nanites surging across his body as his black armor encased him in an instant.

The armor was a masterpiece of arcane engineering—sleek, form-fitting, yet impossibly durable. Obsidian plates interlocked seamlessly, etched with glowing blue runes that pulsed with each breath Kael took.

The helmet’s visor was a single, unbroken pane of reinforced Eldersilver, displaying real-time combat data fed directly from Nexus. Gauntlets hummed with stored energy, fingertips crackling with potential spells.

And yet, even with the armor’s enhancements, Gregor was fast.

A fist collided with Kael’s chest, sending him skidding back, his boots carving trenches into the earth. The impact rattled his bones, but the armor held—barely.

"Warning: Structural integrity at 78%. Reinforcing nanite deployment." Nexus’s voice was calm, clinical.

Kael exhaled sharply, his mind still racing.

Gregor smirked, his Spirit Crystal pulsing erratically in his chest. "You’re slower as always, Kael."

Kael didn’t answer. Instead, he moved.

His augmentation spell flared—Ascendant Veil, a 5th-tier enhancement that sharpened both his strength and reflexes just enough to track Gregor’s movements. Not as potent as Titan’s Leap, but it would have to do.

Gregor lunged again, but this time, Kael was ready.

A nanite-forged blade materialized in his grip mid-swing, its edge crackling with lightning. The clash sent shockwaves ripping through the air, the ground beneath them fracturing under the force.

Torvin watched from a distance, his grip tightening around Ragnarok’s Maw. His instincts screamed at him to retreat—Lucius’ orders echoed in his mind—but something held him in place.

Gregor wasn’t supposed to be here.

This wasn’t part of the plan.

And that mana...

He had felt similar power from Astra and Kael. But Gregor’s energy was wrong. It felt corrosive, like it was eating him from the inside.

"What the hell happened to you?" Torvin muttered.

He knew Gregor back in the capital. Ambitious, yes. Ruthless, absolutely. But not like this.

Gregor had never been powerful.

Astra took a step forward, his gray eyes locked onto the battle, but Kael’s voice cut through the chaos.

"Stay back!"

Astra halted, his expression unchanging.

Kael didn’t take his eyes off Gregor. "This is my fight."

Gregor chuckled, the sound dripping with malice. "Such pride. But pride won’t save you."

His Spirit Crystal flared again, and suddenly, the air around him warped. A dozen spheres of condensed dark energy materialized, hovering like executioner’s blades.

Kael’s eyes widened.

No incantation. No buildup. Just—

The spheres streaked toward him.

"Barrier Protocol: Full Deployment!"

Nanites surged, forming a hexagonal shield just as the first projectile detonated. The blast sent Kael sliding back, his boots digging into the earth. The second hit before he could steady himself, then the third—each impact rattling his bones, his shield flickering under the assault.

"Barrier integrity at 42%. Sustained bombardment detected."

Kael gritted his teeth. He’s not giving me a chance to counter.

Gregor wasn’t just strong—he was efficient. Every movement, every spell, was calculated to overwhelm.

But Kael had one advantage.

Instability.

Nexus had warned him—Gregor’s Aether Core was volatile. Unstable. And if Kael could exploit that...

He just needed an opening.

Gregor raised a hand, another spell forming—

Kael lunged.

His Ascendant Veil tore through his mana reserves, but Nexus managed to reduce the Aether cost. In an instant, he closed the distance—so fast it was as if reality had blinked.

The impact sent a visible shockwave rippling through the air.

Gregor staggered.

For the first time, his smirk faltered.

Kael didn’t let up. His other hand formed a blade—Arc Edge, a nanite-forged weapon humming with disruption enchantments. He swung—

Gregor blurred, twisting mid-air to avoid the strike. But Kael had expected that.

His free hand grabbed Gregor’s wrist. His grip tightened around Gregor’s wrist like a vice, the nanites in his gauntlet flaring with disruptive energy.

"Got you."

And then— the bastard kicked.

A boot clad in reinforced greaves slammed into Kael’s sternum, the force of it cratering his armor and sending him hurtling backward. He crashed into the earth, skidding through dirt and stone, his vision swimming.

"Warning: Structural integrity at 54%. Impact absorbed, but core systems strained." Nexus’s voice was clinical, but the numbers flashing across Kael’s visor told the real story—Gregor’s strength had doubled since the last strike.

"You are still weak!" Gregor sneered, his voice now layered with a metallic resonance. "I don’t know how you managed to obtain that artifact in your hand, but you are not the only one."

Kael forced himself up, his breath ragged. Then he saw it.

Gregor’s body was changing.

His skin split like cracking porcelain, revealing a lattice of glowing runes beneath. His limbs elongated, his frame expanding as plates of dark metal unfolded from within, encasing him in an armored shell. His Spirit Crystal pulsed violently, its light bleeding from white to a sickly crimson.

"Nexus—"

"Confirmed. Golem transformation detected."

Gregor wasn’t just a mage anymore.

He was a war machine.

Titan’s Leap had already made him a monster. Now, with his body reforged into a golem’s chassis, he was something else entirely.

Torvin took an involuntary step back, his scarred face twisting in disbelief. "By the Queen’s grace..."

Gregor’s transformation completed with a final, sickening snap of shifting bone and metal. His voice, when he spoke, was a distorted growl.

"Let’s see how long you last now."

He raised a hand.

A sphere of energy erupted from his palm—a concentrated beam of raw destruction, streaking toward Kael with the force of a falling star.

Kael didn’t evade. He couldn’t. If he did nothing, the devastation would be absolute.

He countered.

"Proton Cannon: Full Discharge!"

The Arc Nexus flared, nanites surging into formation along his forearm. The air warped as a spiraling barrel of condensed energy materialized, its core burning white-hot.

The two blasts collided mid-air.

For a heartbeat, the world held its breath—

Then the shockwave erupted.

The ground beneath them vaporized, the force of the clash hurling debris in every direction. Torvin barely raised Ragnarok’s Maw in time, the sword’s innate destruction aura shredding the incoming rubble before it could eviscerate him. Astra stood unmoved, his gray eyes tracking the combatants through the chaos.

In the sky, Kael and Gregor clashed again.

Gregor moved like a living storm, his golem-enhanced body blurring with Titan’s Leap still active. Every strike carried the weight of a siege weapon, every spell fired without pause or incantation.

Kael matched him, blow for blow.

His armor’s runes burned blue as he pushed Ascendant Veil to its limit, his movements a seamless dance of evasion and retaliation. The Arc Nexus fed him data—predictive trajectories, spell analyses, weak points in Gregor’s unstable core.

But Gregor wasn’t slowing down.

"He’s adapting," Nexus warned. "His combat algorithms are evolving mid-fight."

Kael gritted his teeth. Just like Astra and Alice.

Another mana blast screamed toward him. Kael twisted, letting it graze his shoulder—

Gregor was already there.

A fist hammered into his ribs, the impact shattering nanite plating. Kael coughed blood, his vision flashing red as he was hurled into the ruins of a collapsed tower.

Stone and dust swallowed him.

For a moment, silence.

Then—

A pulse of energy detonated from the rubble.

Kael emerged, his armor reforging itself in real-time, the Arc Nexus humming at critical output. His visor locked onto Gregor, now hovering above the battlefield like a vengeful god.

Gregor’s voice dripped with mockery. "Still alive? How tenacious."

Kael didn’t respond.

Instead, he charged.

The two met in mid-air, fists colliding with enough force to split the sky.

The battle wasn’t over yet.

And Kael had one last play.