Chapter 288: Mana Conversion Formula

"Greetings, Young Master Angus. I am sorry to bother you during your break. But, we need your help with project H. Please come to the research center as soon as possible."

Master Valeron, Head of the Research Center.

'Project H? Don't tell me they want to recreate the Homunculus. As expected of King Leon, he works really fast.' thought Angus inwardly.

"Haa.. It seems I will be busy for the next few months." said Angus while lying on his bed.

The next day Angus immediately went into the research center early in the morning. After going through various kinds of checks dozens of times, Angus finally entered the research center.

'It seems the security has increased a lot during my absence.' thought Angus while noticing a grade six combatant nearby.

Entering the research center, one of the staff immediately guides him towards the deepest part of the research center. 

The research center is not only guarded well but also changes internally. Inside the research center, Angus found many kinds of advanced tools that he couldn't recognize.

After walking for a while, Angus finally arrived in a specific room with the word H on its door. Entering the section alone, Angus finds Vigo, Gilford, Benjamin, and master Valeron in the room working at something.

Angus's arrival gathers everyone's attention since this place is the deepest and the most guarded area.

"Ahh.. Cousin, you are here." called Gilford.

"Good to see you too, Gil." replied Angus.

After greeting everyone, Angus notices the familiar humanoid thing in the center of the room.

"Isn't this Lily?" asked Angus.

"Yup, she is. She will be the first perfect homunculus." said Benjamin.

"I see.. So, What can I help you with?" asked Angus to the point.

About that, "Angus, did you know the difference between Colossus, Titan, and Homunculus?" asked Benjamin.

"It should be their spec and their self intelligence. But, I think you are not referring to this." replied Angus.

"Correct. Though many do not know this, actually, the three of them are not too different from the others when they first were created. The one that makes them different is their learning capability and elemental mastery." explained Benjamin.

"Elemental Mastery??" said Angus.

"Yeah, when an artificial intelligence learns an elemental and wields it, their power will increase by leap bound. Titan and Homunculus is the only artificial grade that could wield it."

"Titan could only wield one elemental while the Homunculus in the myth is capable of learning any kind of elemental. From my long research, I found a way to create an artificial intelligence to learn all basic elemental."

"However, because of limited technology of that time, I couldn't create a vessel or body that could produce elemental mana. Even now, we have a hard time creating such a thing." explained Benjamin.

"Normally, humans have an elemental affinity to help them convert their neutral mana into elemental mana. 

"But, the homunculus is artificially made and doesn't have any elemental affinity. Even if we give one, they will only be able to use that one element as a result." said Valeron.

"The mana conversion into elemental is a complicated topic and also impractical in combat. Only the Archmage Bern that managed to successfully delve into this topic and wield any kind of elemental easily." added Valeron.

"That's why I remember how you could use many different elements despite only having fire affinity. I think you could help our predicament." said Gilford.

"I get it now. Hmm… I admit I have this mana conversion formula." replied Angus.

Hearing this, "Really?? That's great." exclaimed Benjamin.

"Truthfully, I found it among the legacy of Archmage Bern. However, I am not sure it could be applied to the homunculus or not. Since it needs breakneck calculation speed and precise mana controlling." said Angus.

"Legacy of archmage Bern? Awesome?? Did you still have it?" said Valeron.

"Hahahaha…. So, that's the secret you could use all the elements." said Gilford.

"I think I could work something with the mana controlling part." said Vigo.

"Fast calculation speed?? That's certainly trouble. How fast is it?" asked Benjamin.

Everyone gave a different reaction to Angus's sentence.

"Hold on. First, I only receive it in the form of information, and it is about seven times the normal adult calculation speed for the first cast. It will reduce the burden after you get used to it."

"However, the human brain could remember this hard calculation with practice. I am not sure it is the same case with the homunculus. Lastly, the control over mana is really precise. It needs at least to be capable of doing this." said Angus.

Then, Angus makes a fine mana thread in all his fingers. Looking at this, the four people in front of Angus couldn't help but be surprised.

"Such refined mana control. Hmm.. I think it will be difficult. But, it is still possible theoretically." said Vigo.

"Alright, let's get to work. Before that, Angus, you need to sign this contract first." said Valeron while giving him a piece of parchment.

Angus finds that everyone in the room has already signed the contract. The contract is a soul-bound type about non-disclosure of any information about this project. 

After carefully inspecting every clause of the contract and not finding anything fishy, Angus immediately signed the contract.

"Good, with this, you are officially part of this project. Anyway, did you say you got the legacy of archmage Bern in the form of information?" said Valeron.

"Yeah, After reading a storybook about archmage Bern in the royal academy many times. A mysterious person stood in front of me and gave me this ring. I couldn't get it off after I put it on, and I received a lot of incomplete formula information from it." said Angus.

"I see. It is intriguing. Actually, the research center also collects some legacy of Archmage Bern. Since you also got this ring, why don't you look at it later." said Valeron.

"Certainly." replied Angus before following Benjamin to his workstation.

Benjamin needs to test if his artificial intelligence is fast enough to process Angus's mana conversion formula. 

After giving the complete formula and magic diagram to Benjamin, "Hmm… this is very complex. No wonder you said it needs a lot of calculation speed. I think I need to upgrade more of it." said Benjamin.

Then, Angus begins to help them create the perfect homunculus using all his knowledge. To Benjamin and Vigo's surprise, Angus is apparently quite adept at mechanical engineering and a fast learner.

Not only that, some of his ideas are very brilliant since he is also adept at human anatomy. Angus helps Vigo create a mana path for the homunculus. Usually, they use material with the help of a rune to transmit mana.

Angus proposes to make something similar to muscle to enhance the control and move the mana faster. This way, not only is the homunculus moving faster, but they could channel their mana quicker and precisely.

However, they find it is too challenging to engrave mana to the tiny part. In the end, they decide to make the larger prototype before shrinking it using Gilford's shrinking rune. 

For a whole week, Angus and the others worked non-stop to improve the mana control of homunculus.

They find Angus' idea is perfect for improving the control of mana. However, they also see the mana transmission is not fast enough. They couldn't find any material that could transmit mana as fast as an ordinary human body.

The average human body speed of nerve to brain is around 3560 m/s, while standard mana transmission around people's bodies is different for each race, with the demon and elf race the fastest.

For regular human combatants, their mana transmission on their body is similar to the speed of nerves to the brain. But, they could be improved as their mana core grows. Homunculus is an artificial being. Unlike living being core, it could never upgrade on its own.

Therefore, they need to find the best material for the mana transmission on its body part. After brainstorming for a while, they decide to create an artificial material through many kinds of experiments.

Since it will take a lot of time, Angus decides to return to the royal academy as his break ends. For now, project H is going into a stalemate state, and Angus could leave it for the time being.

Although Angus couldn't rest during this break, he still managed to avoid his aunt and mother as he stayed in the research center all the time. Arriving at the Spring dorm, Angus immediately gets tackled by Anna.

"Angus!!" called Anna.

"Anna, it seems you are going stronger." said Angus.

"Yeah, I beat a lot of mean weak bubbles in the big sister Jayna's place." replied Anna.

Because Anna is a troublemaker, Angus and Jayna decide to take care of Anna alternately. During this break, Anna happens to stay with Jayna in the royal palace.

"Mean Weak bubble?? Do you mean the guard?" asked Angus.

"No, it is some mean weak bubble that tries to approach big sister Jayna." replied Anna.

"Anna, how many times have I told you not to run on your own. Ohh.. Angus, welcome back." said Jayna.

At the same time, Jayna somehow finds some dark aura from Angus.

"Anna, tell me more about this mean weak bubble." said Angus coldly.