Reinventing Magic: An Inventor's Tale-Chapter 90: The Paradox of Eldersilver

Astra led them to a vault where the Eldersilver was securely stored. Behind him followed Lucien, Isolde, and the seventeen dwarves, their eyes scanning every artifact they could see. Meanwhile, Kael and Alice walked at the rear, keeping a watchful pace.

The Eldersilver. Kael had only heard of this legendary material through Alice. What it looked like or what it was composed of, he did not know. His curiosity was beginning to get the better of him.

As an engineer from Earth, Kael’s mind buzzed with questions. ’Was this material metallic? Did it have properties akin to alloys from his home? Or was it something entirely alien, defying the laws of physics he was taught?’

The group arrived at an imposing door, its surface alive with intricate runes and carvings that glowed faintly in the dim corridor. At the center of the door rested a crystalline orb, pulsating softly.

Astra stepped forward, placing his hand upon the orb. The crystal flared, reacting to his mana signature as the runes ignited one by one in a radiant sequence. A deep, resonant hum reverberated through the air as ancient mechanisms stirred, and the massive vault door began to shift and groan open.

The sight beyond the door was staggering.

The vault was vast, its walls stretching high and disappearing into shadow. It was completely filled with Eldersilver—tons upon tons of it, glittering and pulsing with ethereal energy.

The radiant material cast an otherworldly light throughout the chamber, filling every corner with a mesmerizing glow. Tiny arcs of energy leapt from one mass of Eldersilver to another, creating an intricate web of shimmering light.

Kael stood speechless at the sight. This wasn’t just a treasure—it was a bounty beyond comprehension. The sheer scale of the Eldersilver’s presence defied expectation, and its power seemed to press against the air itself, like the heartbeat of something alive.

Around him, the others gazed in awe, the brilliance of the vault leaving them momentarily frozen.

Durnek was the first to break the silence, his gruff voice thick with reverence.

"By the molten heart o’ the world... I never thought I’d lay eyes on such a sight!"

"Aye... this is the stuff of legends," one of the dwarves whispered, his voice tinged with awe. His hands trembled as he gazed at the glowing metal. "The very same the ancients used to forge their miracles."

"The energy readings are unlike anything I’ve ever encountered," Lucien remarked, adjusting his glasses as they caught the faint shimmer of light. "It’s as though the material is alive, infused with mana itself." His analytical mind was already at work, piecing together the implications with precision.

"It’s warm," Isolde murmured, her fingers gliding delicately over the nearest vein of Eldersilver. "Not like metal fresh from the forge, but... as if it carries a fire within, alive and unending."

Kael hefted a large piece of Eldersilver, its smooth surface emitting a faint, ethereal glow as it rested in his hands.

’Lighter than Mythril,’ he mused, marveling at the unexpected weightlessness of the metal. The realization only deepened his curiosity.

"I need to test its toughness," Kael declared, his eyes alight with scientific fervor.

With a flick of his wrist, he summoned Shadowfang—the dagger’s midnight blade humming with latent energy. He tossed the Eldersilver piece into the air, then slashed with precision honed by countless battles.

The dagger should have cleaved steel like parchment.

Instead, something extraordinary happened.

There was no metallic ’clang’, no spark of impact. Shadowfang struck—and the Eldersilver ’absorbed’ the blow entirely, halting the blade’s momentum as if swallowing its energy.

The metal piece floated back into Kael’s palm, pristine and unmarked, its glow pulsing faintly.

Kael frowned, turning the Eldersilver over in his hand.

"Astonishin’!" Durnek bellowed, his soot-streaked beard bristling with excitement. "That there metal just laughed at yer fancy blade!"

"Fascinating. It doesn’t merely resist force—it completely nullifies it," Lucien remarked, a glimmer of intrigue in his eyes as he adjusted his glasses with measured precision.

Kael’s mind raced. ’If raw Eldersilver is this resilient, why did Alice’s Astral Nanite armor crack against Gregor?’

The memory surfaced vividly—Alice’s battle form, reinforced by Eldersilver-derived nanites, fracturing under the warlord’s assault. A contradiction gnawed at him.

’Did refining it into nanites weaken its properties? Or is there something else at play?’

"Master, my nanite composition is comprised of 87% Eldersilver; however, the forging process modifies its structure," Alice said softly, her movements synchronized with his thoughts as she stepped closer.

"Eldersilver in pure form exhibits quantum-stable resonance. Processing disrupts this." Astra, standing motionless nearby, added flatly.

Kael’s eyes narrowed. ’Quantum-stable?’ The term sent a jolt through his engineer’s mind. "So the nanites sacrifice raw durability for adaptability."

"Aye, like temperin’ steel!" Durnek chimed in, giving his leather apron a hearty slap. "Ye trade a bit o’ hardness for some flexibility!"

Though he had no understanding of what the Astral Nanites truly were, he had pieced together the concept just from their conversation, his intuition as sharp as ever.

Kael exhaled slowly. That explained the vulnerability—but it also presented an opportunity. If he could replicate the pure form’s resilience ’within’ the nanites...

His gauntlet pulsed as an idea crystallized.

"Alice," he said, turning to her, "what if we ’re-engineered’ the nanites? Used raw Eldersilver as a base but preserved its quantum stability?"

Her gray eyes flickered with calculations. "Theoretical viability: 68%. Risk of catastrophic failure during integration: significant."

Kael smirked. "So we’re doing it."

With a spark of determination, Kael set to work, carefully stowing every fragment of Eldersilver within his infinite storage.

The sheer enormity of the treasure turned the task into a meticulous endeavor, but his precision never wavered. Each shard, no matter how small, was secured with exacting care, the process reflecting both his excitement and unyielding focus.

With the task complete, they made their way back to the storage chamber, where the rest of the artifacts lay dormant.

Kael activated his mana sense, the mystical waves spreading across the room like ripples in water, scanning for artifacts of significance.

His senses quickly honed in on a few items radiating extraordinary power—but to his surprise, they weren’t among the weapons and relics scattered before him.

Instead, their energy signatures pulsed faintly from beyond the confines of the chamber walls.

Kael turned to Astra, his gaze unwavering. "Astra," he said firmly, gesturing toward what appeared to be a dead end, "is there a hidden door here?"

Astra stepped forward, his movements calculated and precise, his silver-gray hair glinting faintly in the dim light. His crimson eyes locked onto the wall as his Spirit Crystal emitted a faint glow, silently analyzing Kael’s query.

"Affirmative," Astra replied after a moment, his voice devoid of emotion yet laced with certainty. "A concealed mechanism exists within this structure."

Kael watched as Astra’s fingertips brushed the cold surface of the wall, his stoic presence unyielding. The Spirit Crystal embedded in his chest shimmered softly, feeding data to his advanced systems.

He paused, his expression unchanged as he continued his analysis. "The mechanism employs an ancient locking system responsive to mana input and specific commands," Astra stated concisely. "Manual activation will be required."

Kael nodded, his mana flaring to life in response. He had encountered hidden passages before, but Astra’s logical and efficient approach to decoding ancient systems always provided an advantage.

Kael relied on Astra’s vast database of ancient knowledge, though Astra’s singular focus often reminded Kael of the layers of mystery surrounding him.

"Let’s proceed," Kael replied, his tone resolute.

Astra didn’t respond but began to coordinate his Aether Core’s output with Kael’s mana, their combined energies illuminating faint sigils across the wall.

As the intricate designs shimmered with increasing brilliance, a low hum of activation reverberated through the chamber. The so-called dead end dissolved into illusion, revealing a hidden door that emerged gradually, piece by piece.

Kael’s anticipation mounted with each passing moment, his gaze fixed intently on the unfolding mystery, ready to confront whatever secrets lay concealed beyond the threshold.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel