Chapter 169

Colonel Delgado belonged to the same generation as Zerena, though he had chosen an entirely different path.

He had come of age during the emergence of a new phenomenon that was beginning to reshape the world—the rise of mana.

While Zerena focused on understanding the foundational principles of this new phenomenon—the runes—and used that knowledge to grow stronger, Delgado chose a different approach.

He began absorbing mana directly, allowing it to tear through his body before using that same energy to heal the damage.

Through that brutal process, he eventually became one of the world’s body cultivators.

That didn’t mean he neglected runes, however. He understood their importance. Runes were the foundation of nearly everything in this new world, and ignoring them entirely would have been foolish.

Body cultivators also relied heavily on runes to increase their bodies’ capacity to withstand the mana flowing through them.

As for why Delgado could understand such complex rune arrays—and the enormous structure Max was currently working on—the answer was simple.

Even body cultivators like him had to learn how to use magical rune constructs known as spells.

And now, Max was constructing one right before his eyes at a speed utterly unheard of for someone his age.

Delgado assumed it had only been a few years since the boy awakened his mana sense.

He would have been considerably more shocked if he knew the truth.

It had been barely a few months.

By then, Max had already completed the central layer—not merely outlining it, but fully constructing the entire formation.

He hadn’t stopped there.

Using the connections he established between the runes, he had begun building sections of the surrounding layers as well, expanding outward from each link.

The speed at which he was progressing was so ridiculous that even Max found himself a little surprised.

"Mrs. Falkner, tell me the truth..."

Colonel Delgado turned toward her, his expression unusually serious.

"Is he really constructing those formations himself, or is someone controlling him?"

That was the only explanation he could come up with.

Under normal circumstances, he would have found it impossible to believe that a boy like Max could produce A-grade potions with the abilities he had demonstrated so far.

But the way Max was constructing the formation—with nothing but his own mana—was equally difficult to dismiss.

The green glow radiating from the runes was especially strange. Delgado suspected it had something to do with the nature of Max’s mana ring.

Even from a distance, simply looking at that green light made him feel refreshed.

Zerena looked slightly confused by the question.

"He’s doing it himself, Colonel. We were telling the truth from the beginning. The boy really is a genius..."

Her answer wasn’t entirely honest.

Zerena believed most of Max’s absurd abilities came from his System. But technically, that was still his power.

So, in her mind, she wasn’t exactly lying.

Delgado had only asked to confirm his suspicions.

There was no way someone could secretly control Max, especially inside this building.

The entire structure was heavily protected against both direct and indirect attacks, with numerous defensive formations spread throughout it.

After all, this facility housed the army post’s most important personnel and served as a central storage site for its gathered resources.

The main magical research laboratory was located here as well.

Anyone attempting to interfere from the outside would have to get past an absurd number of security measures first.

Delgado nodded as he rose from his chair.

"That changes things..."

He sounded genuinely regretful.

"I probably shouldn’t have promised to keep this a secret."

The colonel had already begun imagining how impressive it would be to show Max off.

If Zerena was telling the truth, then he might have stumbled upon someone capable of changing the world—or at the very least, reshaping this region and the city around it.

The boy possessed knowledge of the wider world that surpassed what most local mages had accumulated in their entire lives. And the speed at which he had understood those layered formations and begun constructing them was practically unheard of.

Delgado had expected Max to spend half of the allotted time studying the layers and the other half attempting to construct them.

Even if the boy had managed to complete a quarter of the entire structure, Delgado would have considered that sufficient proof.

But this?

Max was progressing far beyond anything he had anticipated.

But Max had already accomplished that in just two and a half hours.

Delgado was thoroughly convinced by now.

Still, he couldn’t help wanting to see whether the boy could complete the entire formation—and make it function properly.

From what he had seen so far, however, it looked increasingly likely.

A formation this complex would collapse from even the slightest mistake in a single rune. Yet Max continued connecting each part with astonishing precision, without showing any signs of slowing down.

"What the fuck is this formation even supposed to do?" Max muttered, frustration creeping into his voice.

Constructing it wasn’t the problem. In fact, thanks to his understanding of runes, he was finding the process easier than expected.

The real problem was figuring out its purpose.

Every layer contained large areas of empty space, making the overall formation appear far bigger than necessary. Max suspected those gaps were designed to allow the array to gather an enormous amount of mana.

But even after accounting for that, one particular section still bothered him.

A large empty space had been deliberately left in the center of the formation—roughly the size of a gun barrel.

And Max had absolutely no idea what the hell it was meant for.

There was no space between the layers either. Every formation was tightly connected to the others, creating one massive, seamless construct.

Still, several small pockets had been deliberately left empty, each shaped in a peculiar way.

The more Max examined it, the less it resembled a traditional magical formation.

Instead, the entire structure looked like something straight out of science fiction.

If he looked at it from the right angle, it almost seemed like some kind of massive laser weapon.

Max had no idea what the formation actually did, but he was certain its effect would originate from the large spherical space at the center of the layers.

When viewed as a whole, the completed structure resembled a massive cylinder, with a hollow channel running straight through its center from bottom to top.

The opening only made it look even more like some kind of gigantic magical weapon.

Max couldn’t help seeing the entire thing as nothing more than a gigantic gun barrel.

Maybe that was exactly what it was.

But if so, the design seemed ridiculously wasteful. Why construct something this absurdly complicated just to fire a concentrated bullet of mana?

Max could create an array capable of doing the same thing with only a few simple layers. It would gather mana more efficiently, consume less energy, and probably achieve twice the output of this unnecessarily elaborate monstrosity.

Whatever this formation was meant to accomplish, simply firing a mana projectile seemed far too underwhelming an explanation.

And there was no way the person who invented this formation hadn’t understood that.

The runes, their connections, and the way mana flow was concentrated at different points before being redirected toward a single location were far too deliberate.

Whoever designed this entire array was undoubtedly a genius. Someone at least as brilliant as Max himself. Of course, Max considered himself the far greater genius.

After all, he was the main character of this world.

At least, that was what he liked to believe.

Max continued staring at the formation, his brows furrowing deeper with every passing second.

There was clearly a purpose behind the way the mana was being gathered and redirected.

The problem was that the formation seemed to be hiding that purpose behind several layers of unnecessary complexity.

"Whoever made this really liked showing off," Max muttered.

The formation wasn’t inefficient. That was the annoying part.

Every rune had a role. Every connection served a purpose. Even the empty spaces were positioned carefully to control the flow of mana.

It was just that the entire thing had been designed in a way that made understanding its final function unnecessarily difficult.

But as Max continued constructing the formation, he gradually began to understand some of its complexity.

The connections between the layers weren’t merely designed to direct mana. They also maintained the balance of energy required to keep the entire structure stable.

It was surprisingly similar to the principles used in potion brewing.

That made Max consider another possibility.

Maybe this was some kind of potion-making formation—one designed for an exceptionally powerful recipe, perhaps involving ingredients that were difficult to process and required enormous amounts of energy.

That would also explain why mana was gathered at multiple points throughout the array. Different ingredients might need to be processed at same in the construct before their energies were brought together at same time..

The theory made considerably more sense than the idea of this enormous construct being nothing more than a glorified mana cannon.