While tiring, it wasn't all that complicated to explain to Charlie the totality of everything that happened in the dungeon. If anything, the tiring part, Huey could tell, was ahead.

"So... let me summarize everything in case I missed something," Charlie said, rubbing his temples. "You're telling me that going dungeon delving like you always do, you arrived at the dungeon being different than usual, met an injured random woman who turned out to be one of Uncle Rudy's kind, she died in your arms, and you believe that she bestowed you some kind of superpower? Is that it, or did I miss anything?"

"That's about it, yeah."

"I see...." Charlie sighed, looking skeptical.

"This is why I'm telling you," Huey said, showing his friend the manacyte chunk. "There's something here, something I'm feeling about this thing that's special. That's what I need your help in figuring out because I know... I feel there's something special about this manacyte."

"Since when did you become a manacyte expert?" Charlie retorted.

"I just told you, since I was bestowed this thing from that woman. Come on, Charlie, help me with this one, would you?"

"You talk like you're giving me a choice," Charlie said, taking the manacyte chunk from Huey's hand as he made his way to his workstation behind the counter.

"Thanks buddy…”

"Don't talk too soon. I've already told you that I've inspected this thing through and through. There's nothing special about this manacyte except that it's a high-grade one," he said before putting the manacyte chunk into a holding device. "I'm only doing this to show you that there's nothing to be shown."

"Don't say that..."

"I'm serious. The best I could really do with this manacyte chunk is make a wand with it, maybe two if I'm being frugal with the refined manacyte I'll be able to make out of this."

The reason Huey was in the Euribia Dungeon, second to harvesting experience, was to mine manacyte, which in its immediately harvested form is referred to as "raw manacyte." One primary use of manacyte is to create magic-circle enhancers like wands, staves, or scepters. Raw manacyte, after going through an artisanal process, becomes refined manacyte, giving these enhancers their magic circle-enhancing properties. It was for this reason that Charlie wanted Huey to harvest raw manacyte for him to build wands, as crafting such artifacts is deeply linked to the class he's chosen.

Charlie rolled up his sleeves, then held his hand out onto the manacyte held by the device. With a very serious, if not outright professional, expression, Huey could tell that Charlie activated one of his skills or perhaps abilities. "Now I'm using an ability of mine, Elemental Resonance, which allows me to be attuned to this raw manacyte. Things are exactly as I told you, so what exactly am I supposed to look for here?"

"I don't know," Huey admitted. Charlie, his ability still active, looked at him clearly expecting a lot more than that, prompting Huey to continue, "I don't know how to explain it other than how I've already explained it. There's a noise coming out of it. It's buzzing… intensely when I'm focused enough, intense for me to wonder how come you don't notice anything."

"It's like it's alive... No, that's not exactly what I mean... It's like I feel it could be alive... it's like it's..." As Huey struggled to think of a way to explain what he felt from the manacyte, he had an eureka moment. "Now that I think of it, there's something about this that reminds me of you."

"Me?" Charlie asked, frowning.

"Yeah, to be exact, how you use your lightning magic. Now I know what it reminds me of. The manacyte feels like it's full of energy, just like your magic circles usually are when you use your lightning magic."

Charlie frowned deeper, then admitted, "That part I'll admit sounds like you make some sense. Manacyte is, from what I understand, what the dungeon uses to store the energy it expends. Think of it like MP and SP for us. So, I would understand you saying that perhaps this raw manacyte is full of energy because it is. High-level crafters can refine manacyte in a way that they're not just magic circle enhancers but give them MP storage properties as well."

Most likely guessing that Huey was about to ask the question, Charlie added, "Naturally, I can't do that."

"I see," Huey mumbled, then asked, "Can you show me your magic?"

Charlie hesitated, narrowing his eyes at Huey. "You really want me to show you my magic? Huey, this sounds like you're grasping at straws. Are you sure you're not just imagining things?"

"I'm not imagining it," Huey insisted. "I need to see it, Charlie. Maybe it will help us understand what's going on with this manacyte and eventually me."

Charlie sighed, shaking his head. "You realize how crazy this sounds, right? A noise only you can hear, some superpower bestowed by a dying woman—it's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but I know what I felt. Please, just show me."

Charlie paused, still skeptical, but eventually relented with a frustrated sigh. "Alright, fine. But if this turns out to be nothing, you're cleaning the workshop for a month."

"Deal," Huey said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Charlie rubbed his temples, looking at Huey with exasperation. "Your confidence is starting to make me wonder if you didn't get hit too hard in the head in that dungeon. But fine, have it your way."

Charlie took a step back, holding out his hands. "Alright, here goes." He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing, and then opened them, two magic circles were conjured between his palms, which conjured lightning that began to crackle between the two magic circles. The air around them hummed with energy as tiny sparks danced and flickered. With a deft motion, Charlie formed an electrical burst, a brilliant display of lightning contained between his hands. The light illuminated the room, casting sharp shadows and highlighting the intricate pattern of the two magic circles Charlie had used to channel the magic.

One might be tempted to believe that acquiring a magic-type skill like lightning magic allows one to summon magical effects directly at will. However, this is not the case. What the skill grants is not the ability to cast the magic itself but rather the ability to conjure the component that will cast the magic. When unlocking a magic-type skill, what one gains access to is the key to the magical effect—a magic circle. Control over this magic circle enables one to produce the desired effect. The accuracy and power of this effect depend on one's understanding and ability to properly manifest the circle, which can be improved through practice, level-ups of one’s class and the right attributes. Additionally one’s summoned magical effects can also be enhanced by tools like wands, which help manifest the circles more effectively, improving the quality of the summoned effect.

Charlie's display continued, the electric arc contained perfectly between his palms. Until at some point he asked, "Satified?"

Huey, however, was agape, fully focused on the display. "Not yet. Can you do it again?"

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Charlie sighed but obliged, performing the magic again. Each time, Huey watched intently, feeling as though he was on the brink of understanding something important. This went on for at least twenty-five repetitions, with Charlie's annoyance growing each time.

After the twenty-fifth attempt, Charlie's patience wore thin. "Okay, I'm done. This is getting us nowhere."

Huey, still deep in thought, urged him on. "No, wait. I'm close to a breakthrough, I can feel it. Just a little more."

"It's futile," Charlie said, shaking his head. "Without the appropriate skill or ability, you can't possibly understand the deeper principles of magic circles. That's what this is, and it's impossible for a low-level Memory Keeper like me, let alone a barbarian like you."

"Have a little faith," Huey insisted.

Charlie sighed, a small smile tugging at his lips. "That's why I've been playing along so far. And I’ve run out of it."

"Just a little longer," Huey pleaded.

Charlie hesitated, then nodded. "Alright, but I'm about to run out of MP."

Huey couldn't resist a quip. "You have so little MP? That's embarrassing."

"I'm only a level 3 Memory Keeper!" Charlie retorted.

"That's your fault for not leveling up," Huey shot back with a grin.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. One more time."

He focused again, summoning the electrical burst. Huey watched, determined to grasp the elusive concept that danced at the edge of his understanding.

For the most part, Charlie was a recluse who liked holing himself up in the workshop, rarely ever going out. He hated socializing and had earned himself quite a bad reputation in the neighborhood. While he seemed to hate going outside, he was at least fine being out in the wild, which is how he managed to reach level 3, mostly because Huey dragged him around. If he had been as keen on leveling up as Huey, he would have been at a much higher level, and they wouldn't be in this position now.

As Huey considered the problem at hand, he suddenly remembered something. "Wait, I just remembered." He reached into one of his pockets and retrieved three different rings, handing them to Charlie.

"This is..." Charlie began.

"Found these," Huey simply said. "Two of these allow the user to store MP, I think. I don't know about the last one."

Charlie looked at him with a horrified expression. "Was this that woman's?"

Huey neither denied nor confirmed.

"It’s no wonder that you can’t keep forgetting about her…you’ve looted her for all she was worth!"

"I mean, I wasn't going to bury them with her. She's not going to need them anymore. We, on the other hand..."

Charlie admitted, "I guess…you’re not wrong," before hesitantly trying the rings on. After figuring their effect on. He then explained, "The rings aren't going to help at all. They have MP storing properties, but they won't change how much MP I have left."

"I see," Huey mumbled, before promptly, "Just do it again a few more times, just a few more times then."

Charlie seemed like he wanted to complain but gave up the idea midway to focus again, summoning magic circles which in turn summoned small electrical bursts. Huey watched, determined to grasp the elusive concept that danced at the edge of his understanding. A

fter pondering their situation for a while, he asked his friend, "Can't you make it so that the magic circle appears without the magical effect getting in the way? I want to study the magic circle on its own."

Charlie frowned at the idea before surmising, "What if I created a rune?"

One of the specialties of the elven class known as “Memory Keeper” class is crafting runes. Unlike temporary magic circles, which are briefly summoned to conjure a magical effect before promptly disappearing, runes are more “permanent” in a sense they last a little long. They also have the particularity that make it that they can be triggered through either a timer or an established condition. Memory Keepers, akin to mages which are the closest human equivalent of the class, have an increased affinity for using runes and can translate their magic circles into these more stable forms.

Charlie agreed and summoned a rune, casting it on a table. "Go ahead," he said.

"That's not going to explode in my face, right?" Huey asked.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Just do what you want to do."

After some hesitation, Huey began inspecting the rune. Even when he touched it, it didn’t set off the effect. He inspected it from all angles, spending several minutes in deep concentration.

Just as Charlie was about to lose his patience and say he was done, the rune suddenly discharged, causing Huey to instinctively backstep a couple of steps, swearing, "Son of a bitch!" A smile spread across his face.

In complete disbelief, Charlie asked, "How did you do that?! I made the rune in a way that it had no trigger. It should have been impossible to set off, but you managed to do it."

"I don’t know," Huey admitted. "It felt like I “connected” to it. I can't really explain how I did it, but I did it."

Looking at Charlie with an agape expression, he proposed to his friend, "Let’s do it again."

Charlie nodded, summoning it again for Huey to do what he’d done earlier. Once again, he managed to set it off. Trying to grasp the process, the duo repeated this process several times, but after about four tries, Charlie after explaining that he was out of MP. "Have you figured something out already?"

"Not yet, but I’m close," Huey replied.

"That's all you've been repeating since earlier in the evening," Charlie muttered.

"Faith, my friend... Have faith," Huey said, before developing an idea mid-sentence. "Would it be possible to summon another rune without you pouring in any of your MP?"

Charlie looked puzzled but intrigued. "I suppose it’s possible. But you understand that this means the rune won’t summon any magical effect, right?”

“I know, and that’s what I want,” Huey replied. “I was able to understand something while observing the rune. Just make sure the rune is only missing the MP and nothing else.”

“Observing the rune, huh?” Charlie sighed, clearly still doubtful. “Alright, let me try this.”

Taking a deep breath, Charlie held out both hands and summoned the rune onto the table. Huey inspected it thoroughly. Although he knew the rune wouldn't manifest any effect, for some mysterious reason, Huey instinctively sensed he wouldn't be able to set it off. He felt exactly the absence of the missing MP within the circuit, but something inside him whispered that it was still possible for him to set the rune off—he just needed something to replace what was missing.

He first believed he could provide it himself. Despite being a barbarian, he had some extent of MP, which he gained from just leveling up. He tried to feed the rune his MP, but it didn’t set off. He couldn’t manage to make his MP pass into it, reminding him of what his friend had told him earlier: it was impossible for someone to use a magic circle without the appropriate skill or ability, and he had no such skill or ability.

This thought triggered a memory of an earlier sensation. Glancing at the reddish manacyte, Huey suddenly felt a surge of confidence that he could succeed. Without hesitation, he reached for the manacyte and placed it atop the rune, observing Charlie’s puzzled expression as he did so.

“What do you plan to do?” Charlie asked.

“Proving you were right to put your faith in me,” Huey replied, fully focusing on the task at hand. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but he knew he had to follow the vague guideline of what he had done earlier: activating the rune and attempting to fuel it using the manacyte without the right set of skills and abilities. He treaded in the dark, concentrating intensely, and eventually, he reached a destination.

A spark, an electrical zap, surprised them both, prompting them to back off instantly. Looking at each other, “That wa—” Charlie began, but another zap cut him off, more potent than the first. This time, a bolt of lightning exploded from the rune, sending a shockwave that blasted the room apart. They were hurled onto the street, rubble and debris raining down around them.

Coming back to his momentarily-knocked sense, Huey immediately searched for his friend, “Charlie? Charlie! Charlie?!” Dust filled the air, making it hard to see, but he spotted Charlie emerging from the rubble, miraculously in one piece.

“You alive?” Huey called out, his voice tinged with a mix of concern and adrenaline.

“Somehow,” Charlie replied, shaking off dust and debris. His eyes were wide, reflecting both shock and disbelief.

Finally getting the opportunity to process, understanding dawned on Huey, and visibly Charlie too, as when he looked at his friend, the two of them simultaneously began to laugh, a sound filled with exhilaration. “I did it, didn’t I?” he shouted, his voice cracking with excitement.

Charlie, still catching his breath, nodded vigorously. “Yeah, you did…You did.”

Huey’s laughter grew louder, more triumphant. He rushed over to Charlie, grabbing him in a bear hug. “I told you to have faith, didn’t I? Look at th—” Huey was midsentence when he was interrupted.

From a nearby house, a voice cut through the night. “Shut the fuck up! It’s the middle of the night, goddammit !”

Huey and Charlie looked at each other and burst into laughter, their joy undiminished by the complaint.