Loop Mob – A Mob’s Interdimensional Travel Caught in a Loop

Chapter 54: Magic Stone Transmutation

After that, time passed by as I couldn’t decide on anything. I’m an incurable coward, unable to reveal crucial things. And there was a reason to justify that. I collected various materials from here and there and enjoyed applying bestowal in various ways.

—Oh? The first unpopular dungeon, the magic stone of those slimes, is a drop item, right?

That’s what happened. I frequently visited there, collected plenty of cores, and used them as a source of magical essence for magical tools. Always grateful for the help.

So, I tried putting them in the automatic etherization device. It etherized successfully. It’s water attribute, but the ether doesn’t have any special effects. When applied, water attribute items get +1, and other items remain unchanged.

Enchantments can also be applied to magic stones. I’ve been doing it for a while. However, enchanting the ether of the same magic stone onto a magic stone resulted in the transmutation of a magic stone +1 for the first time.

We repeated the concentrated bestowal, and soon the magic stone +Max was completed.

– Magic Stone (Slime Core)
→ Water attribute, Weight 0.1, MP Content 10

This turned into

– Magic Stone (Slime Core) +Max
→ Water attribute, Weight 0.1, MP Content 110

But, you know,

“Does this change anything?”

Yeah, it didn’t change much except for the MP content. Well, maybe the carrying amount or, in other words, the volume decreased. However, the use of the worthless magic stones for etherization resulted in a deficit.

Can’t be helped. If etherizing this and bestowing it on other items doesn’t bring about any significant changes, let’s stop etherizing magic stones here.

I thought that, but…

“You! You! Look at this!”

After leaving it on the etherization device for a while, Urrica shouted in a hurry. Looking at it, in the lower tank receiving the ether, distorted magic stones were piling up rapidly.

– Magic Stone
→ Non-attribute, Weight 0.3, MP Content 1,210

“Woah!!!”

Both of us raised shouts of joy. A magic stone like those mined in a mine, and moreover, a high-purity large crystal had been created. However, it was formed by the flow and accumulation of ether, so depending on the perspective, it could be seen as, um… no, it didn’t look unlike soft-serve ice cream. No, no, I shouldn’t be thinking about such things.

In the end, I etherized ten slime magic stones +Max, resulting in this. The weight increased threefold, MP increased tenfold. The attribute was removed, becoming non-attribute. This truly feels like concentration. So, what happens if I concentrate this further?

– Magic Stone +Max
→ Non-attribute, Weight 0.3, MP Content 13,310

So far, 11 magic stones became 11, then another 11, resulting in the concentration of 1,331 stones. The weight is three times that of the initial magic stone, but the MP content is 1,331 times.

There are two notable features. The first is that there is no set size beyond the regular magic stone, and the more ether you pour in, it endlessly grows larger in the receiving tank. And the second is the increase in capacity. While the “contained” MP increases at the same rate from the initial slime core, the “maximum containment” is different. With repeated concentration, the amount of useless magic stones needed for etherization clearly increases. Etherization of drop items, not just magic stones, saturates the maximum content of magical essence. In reality, the finished magic stone can contain much more MP.

What does this mean?

“This… unless we defeat a disaster-class dragon, it’s impossible.”

Urrica muttered while holding the completed giant magic stone. Although reasonably large magic stones can be obtained in magic stone mines, the purity is decent due to being mined from deposits. Magic stones with such high purity and containing a large amount of magical essence are usually generated only inside the bodies of significantly high-level magical creatures.

The giant magic stone, eagerly sought after by royalty and nobility. It symbolizes wealth and power, but more importantly, it can activate large magic circles, unfold grand magic, or cast city-wide protective barriers. With just one, it can overturn the strategic situation of conflicts, or become a lifeline saving many lives during natural disasters. It’s a dream energy source that fills, stores, and releases vast magical essence.

After discussing with Urrica, we decided to utilize this for ourselves for the time being. Of course, we’ll keep its existence secret, but with something so useful, once you know about it, it’s hard not to use it. Until now, I used slime magic stones bundled with magic power threads as the power source for magical tools, but from now on, I’ll replace them with smaller, higher-capacity magic stones +Max. While the inventory has unlimited storage space (I’ve never been told “it’s full” so far), it’s a bit troublesome to take them in and out, and replacing packs of magic stones bundled with threads is cumbersome. From now on, the frequent use of skills with high MP consumption, especially in boss battles, should become much easier.

But still, um… the soft-serve ice cream shape is a bit much. I made molds and mass-produced gem-shaped magic stones +Max. Urrica was exasperated, saying, “How many are you planning to make?” but better safe than sorry. I’ll just leave them on the automatic etherization device and check on them occasionally.

By the way, refilling magical essence is also possible with the automatic etherization device. Just leave them within the filling limit. It’s like having a large-capacity mobile battery, a massive acquisition!

“Well, well. Being with you makes research progress rapidly.”

Urrica sighed while saying this in her usual tone, “Another interesting toy is acquired, so it’s time for a three-day binge.” We’ve been together for exactly a year. Hearing that her research spanning several hundred years(?) progressed rapidly, I feel a bit proud too.

Now, let’s energetically head to the dungeon today. There’s a little over a year left until the end of the loop, all while keeping an eye on the approaching deadline.