The forest clearing still bore the charred marks and blackened branches from the last "experiment", a vivid reminder of Yuuna and Sakura's cloak project that ended in rainbow-colored smoke and a dented tree. A wooden structure stood awkwardly in the middle of the wreckage: Yuuna's makeshift laboratory, reinforced with mismatched boards and enchanted nails. The air was quiet, save for the faint rustle of wind and occasional chirp of birds unaware of the arcane chaos this clearing had seen.
Yuuna, calm as always, stood in front of a large wooden board nailed to the outer wall. Several sheets of parchment were pinned across it, each etched with magic circles and scribbled notes. Her black eyes scanned the lines meticulously. She made a soft "hmm" sound, then adjusted a rune with chalk.
Inside the open lab, Yetsan sat cross-legged on a flat rock, his full helmet gleaming in the sunlight that filtered through the trees. He had placed his portable blacksmithing kit neatly beside him and was currently cleaning a delicate gear with a soft brush. His fingers moved with mechanical precision, not a speck of dust left unchallenged.
"Too much grime between the teeth," Yetsan muttered. "Unacceptable."
Gigih knelt nearby, crouched in front of his open magic bag. Inside were dozens of fire mana stones, each wrapped in soft cloth to prevent unnecessary activation. He picked one up, held it to the light, squinted, frowned, and placed it back with a huff. Then he tried another. It sparked faintly in his palm, too reactive. He muttered something unintelligible, returned it, and reached for a third. This one was dull and cold to the touch, no good. The process repeated, almost like a sacred ritual of frustration.
Yetsan glanced over. "Are you... communing with them?"
"I'm selecting a partner," Gigih said without looking up. "This isn't a choice, it's a relationship. If the resonance isn't right, it'll either fizzle... or explode."
"Like last week?"
"That bench had structural weaknesses."
With a quiet groan, Gigih finally pulled out a medium-sized stone with a soft ember glow. He held it up reverently. "Not too small. Not too flared. You, my friend… are the chosen one."
He cradled it gently and began pouring mana into it with cautious precision, whispering incantations like coaxing a sleeping cat. The stone flickered to life, not bright, but a perfect dim warmth, just as he wanted.
---
Suddenly, a sharp rustle sliced through the calm air above them. Leaves shook violently, a few breaking loose and fluttering down like green confetti. Heads turned upward just in time to see a blur of pink hair and flailing limbs plummeting from the canopy. Whatever it was, and by now it clearly had limbs, motion, and far too much drama, was falling fast, but with unmistakable intent. There was no panic, only flair.
"Crimson Thunder Princess descends!" came a voice midair before it landed in a dramatic roll beside Yuuna.
It was Fahleena, unmistakable in her twin-tailed pink hair and theatrical presence. She landed with a bounce, rolled once, more for effect than necessity, and sprang to her feet in a pose of practiced grandeur. Her hands found her hips in a flourish, chin lifted proudly like a victorious heroine. A few leaves clung stubbornly to her hair, adding an accidental touch of wilderness to her self-proclaimed imperial aura. She didn't bother brushing them off. To Fahleena, even forest debris could be a fashion statement.
Yuuna looked up from her diagram, one eyebrow slightly raised. "How did you even get up there? That tree is at least thirty feet tall."
"The methods of the Crimson Thunder Empire are beyond mortal comprehension!" Fahleena declared, rising to her full height with theatrical flair.
"She used a rope," Gigih said matter-of-factly, not looking up from his mana stone.
Fahleena's cheeks flushed pink, matching her hair. "That's... that's just a tactical climbing enhancement tool!"
Yetsan's helmet turned toward her, and even through the metal, his amusement was evident. "So what were you doing up there, oh Crimson Thunder Princess?"
"There was a golden beetle," Fahleena declared with sudden seriousness, her eyes narrowing as she slipped effortlessly back into her chuunibyou persona. She took a dramatic step forward, one arm gesturing to the sky as though painting the moment into legend. "It wasn't just any insect, it herald glimmered like the Crown of the Forgotten King, lost in the annals of a thousand-year empire. Its radiance called to me, a summons only a true heir of fate could hear." She paused, letting the gravity of her words settle. "I had to investigate. The mission was clear. Destiny waits for no elf."
"Did you catch it?" Gigih asked, finally looking up with mild interest.
Fahleena deflated slightly. "The herald... chose to continue its celestial journey without bestowing its blessings upon me."
"So, no," Yuuna translated dryly, returning her attention to the magic circle.
---
Ignoring the theatrics, Yuuna turned back to her diagram. She circled a rune, frowning. "This alignment is off. The power channel isn't stabilizing."
Fahleena peered at the board and tilted her head. "What manner of arcane mystery is this, wise sage?"
"The new circuit incorporates a stepped amplification array with integrated feedback dampeners," she continued, warming to her subject. "The primary enhancement ring channels ambient mana through a series of focusing crystals, while the secondary ring provides stability through harmonic resonance dampening. Theoretically, it should provide consistent illumination with automatic brightness adjustment based on environmental conditions."
Fahleena nodded sagely, understanding perhaps one word in five.
"Does it look ugly?" Yuuna asked, suddenly self-conscious.
"Nay!" Fahleena proclaimed. "It is not ugly, wise sage, but... the sacred geometries are beyond the comprehension of even the Crimson Thunder Empire. Perhaps they are too advanced for mortal eyes to fully appreciate."
Yuuna translated this as 'completely incomprehensible' and sighed.
"Why not make it shine with destiny? Like a beacon guiding heroes through dark abysses!" Fahleena asked earnestly.
"…That would be a lighthouse," Yetsan murmured.
Undeterred, Fahleena approached the partially assembled lantern on the central table. Its crystal chamber gleamed with etched runes, surrounded by polished metal gears. She pointed. "Might the Ladyluck of Fated Princess be permitted to adorn this vessel with symbols of power and majesty?"
Yuuna nodded absentmindedly. "Just don't touch the gears."
"Glass body only," Yetsan added firmly. "Gears are precisely calibrated."
---
With a gleeful sparkle in her eyes, Fahleena reached into her magic bag and, with a flourish, produced a fine-tipped brush, an unexpected item for someone better known for grand declarations than quiet creativity. The brush shimmered faintly, enchanted with a soft enchantment that pulsed gently in her hand. She uncorked a tiny bottle of magic-imbued ink, the liquid inside glowing faintly like starlight caught in a bottle. Without hesitation, she leaned over the lantern's smooth crystal surface and began to paint with quick, fluid strokes. Stars bloomed first, delicate, five-pointed bursts of light, followed by crescent moons and swirling constellations. The design slowly came together, forming a whimsical night sky that wrapped around the lantern like a dreamscape. Her concentration was absolute, her usually over-the-top flair replaced with quiet focus. By the time she set her brush down, the lantern had been transformed into a miniature galaxy. The result was unexpectedly stunning, a window into the imagination of a girl who so often lived in fantasy.
Gigih, watching over the rim of his chosen mana stone, gave an approving nod. "Still showing off, I see."
Fahleena didn't look up from her work. "Art is the soul of empire," she replied smoothly, adding a tiny comet trail to a painted moon. "A proper heir must wield both blade and brush."
Yetsan leaned in to get a better view and whistled softly. "It's no wonder Lucretia always made you design our tea cups."
"She said my art 'radiated authority,'" Fahleena said proudly, adding a final swirl of stardust. "Obviously, she was correct."
Yetsan assembled the last components with practiced efficiency. "Let's test this."
Yuuna stepped forward, her expression unreadable as she stood before the newly assembled lantern. She raised her hand above it, fingers splayed with deliberate precision, her posture calm and assured. Taking a slow, focused breath, she began channeling her mana, steady and controlled, into the intricate circuit engraved into the lantern's core. For a brief moment, all was still. Then, the etched runes lining the crystal chamber lit up one by one, glowing with arcane brilliance as they activated in sequence. The surrounding gears responded instantly, spinning with a soft mechanical hum. But before anyone could comment, the lantern flared violently to life, unleashing a blinding surge of light that filled the entire lab in a flood of raw, uncontrolled luminance.
"Too bright!" Yetsan shielded his eyes.
A moment later, the lantern let out a high-pitched hum, then exploded in a burst of mana and light, sending smoke everywhere. Everyone ducked instinctively.
"…Another failure," Yuuna said, frowning.
"Beautiful explosion," Gigih noted.
---
As the dense veil of smoke slowly drifted away on the breeze, a dark silhouette stepped through the tree line with quiet purpose. The figure's outline grew clearer with each step, slim frame, dark clothes, and feathered wings folded neatly behind his back. A faint glint of gold from his notebook caught the fading sunlight. There was no urgency in his stride, just a tired familiarity, as if he had long accepted that explosions in this forest were simply part of the routine. Wildan had arrived.
"Explosion again?" Wildan, the clumsy blackangel, stood there holding a notebook. His black wings were folded tight, and he looked half-expecting the smoke.
"I felt the mana spike," he added. "Thought it might be you."
"It was me," Yuuna confirmed. "Testing a new magic lamp."
Wildan walked over and inspected the fragments. "You're flooding it with too much mana at start. Some devices, magical or mechanical, need a boosted spark, then steady flow. Not both at once."
"It's not a machine," Gigih argued. "It's magic."
"Hypothetically speaking," Wildan continued with a slight smile, "the principle might still apply. Channeling mana into a device is fundamentally different from casting spells directly. Your explosion magic, while impressive, operates on immediate energy release patterns."
Fahleena's eyes widened with excitement. "Oh! Does this mean Gigih is like... the Master of Explosive Enlightenment? The Sultan of Spectacular Sorcery?"
"Please, no titles," Gigih said hastily, his cheeks reddening. "I just have trouble controlling mana output. It's not a talent."
Unbothered by the tired groans and fading attention spans around him, Wildan cleared his throat and launched into a full-blown lecture, his tone shifting into that of a university professor midway through a semester, earnest, technical, and completely unapologetic. "Mana flow," he began, adjusting his stance like he was standing behind an invisible podium, "behaves similarly to fluid dynamics. Think of it like water in a narrow pipe. If the pressure is too high at the start, the containment fails, things rupture, explode. If it's too low, nothing moves, no energy is transferred. Stability comes from balance, not brute force."
He picked up a piece of chalk and started drawing diagrams in the dirt, unaware or uncaring that no one had asked for visuals. "Now, as for fire mana stones," he continued, "there are typically three grades used in enchantments, red-glow, ember-core, and flare-crystal. Each has distinct thermal signatures and mana retention properties. Red-glow stones offer steady low-intensity output, ideal for long-duration use. Ember-core gives a stronger surge but tends to be unstable if not properly regulated. And flare-crystal? High output, brilliant ignition, but volatile. Perfect for high-level casting, but utterly impractical without an external regulator."
He glanced up to make sure someone, anyone, was still listening. Yuuna, of course, was following intently. Gigih and Yetsan looked like they were fighting sleep with every blink. Fahleena, on the stump nearby, had fully surrendered to slumber, a leaf gently rising and falling with each breath. Unfazed, Wildan kept going. "The key difference between science and magic," he added, gesturing like a seasoned academic, "is that one obeys fixed laws, while the other rewrites them. Physics relies on constants. Magic creates exceptions. Try applying the laws of thermodynamics to a summoning ritual and you'll end up with a fire elemental in your living room."
"…and of course," Wildan concluded, "you can use a control seal to regulate flow post-initiation."
Yuuna stepped up to the wooden board with renewed determination, brushing aside the old chalk lines with a swift swipe of her sleeve. She selected a fresh stick of chalk from the box nestled near her diagrams and, with careful precision, began redrawing the mana circuit. Her strokes were confident, each rune and arcane symbol etched with clarity and purpose. She adjusted the positioning of the channel nodes, refining their angles and spacing to improve mana flow just as Wildan had explained. Her eyes remained fixed, unblinking, as she worked, completely absorbed in the calculations dancing through her mind. Every mark on the board was deliberate. Every correction built toward stability. In that moment, nothing else in the world existed for her but lines, magic, and the pursuit of perfection.
"Let's try again," she said.
Yetsan reassembled the lantern, faster this time. Gigih stepped forward with a new mana stone, one glowing dimly orange, stable and warm.
He looked nervously at the lantern. "If this one explodes, "
"It won't," Wildan assured. "I'll assist."
Yetsan took the carefully selected mana stone from Gigih's outstretched hand, inspecting it with a craftsman's eye. The faint ember glow within the stone flickered softly, steady and promising. With deliberate movements, he opened the back panel of the lantern's base, revealing the internal housing designed to cradle the mana source. His gloved fingers moved with practiced ease as he fitted the stone into place, locking it into the socket with a precise click. A low hum resonated through the frame as the runes surrounding the chamber reacted, synchronizing with the stone's latent energy. Yetsan gave a small nod of approval, then stepped back.
"It's ready," he said simply.
Taking a deep breath, Gigih closed his eyes and began to channel his mana into it, slowly at first, then gradually increasing the flow with practiced restraint. The magic stone responded, pulsing gently in time with his breath. Beneath the lantern, the ground shimmered, and a magic circle bloomed into existence, intricate, layered, and glowing with steady arcs of energy.
Yuuna extended both hands toward the glowing magic circle beneath the lantern, her fingers moving in deliberate patterns as she guided the mana flow with precise control. The circle responded instantly, lines shifting and symbols rotating in sync with her gestures. The gears within the lantern began to turn, slowly at first, then with increasing rhythm, clicking into place with a mechanical elegance. The crystal chamber flared, casting out a blinding radiance that filled the entire lab. Gigih took an anxious step back, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"It's getting too bright," he muttered. "It's going to blow again, isn't it?"
"No," Wildan said calmly, stepping beside Yuuna. "It's within threshold."
Without waiting, he raised his hand and layered his control over the magic circle, supporting Yuuna's efforts. Their combined mana stabilized the flow, and the circle's lines began to smooth out, no longer flickering. The excessive brightness dimmed to a balanced glow, warm and steady. The gears locked into their final positions, humming gently.
"It's holding," Yuuna said quietly, eyes still fixed on the lantern.
The magic circle pulsed one last time, soft and even, before fading into the ground like mist. The lantern remained, shining bright and perfectly stable.
"Success," Yetsan whispered.
Everyone paused, savoring the quiet light at the center of the table. Then, they all collapsed onto nearby stumps and benches.
--
Gigih carefully lifted a small iron kettle from a nearby crate, an unassuming object that had somehow survived every explosion, flare, and magical mishap the lab had endured. With the reverence of a seasoned survivor, he poured steaming tea into four mismatched cups, the fragrant aroma of herbs drifting gently through the air. He handed one to Yetsan, who took it with a grateful nod and leaned back on his seat, taking a slow, appreciative sip. "Finally," he murmured, the warmth spreading through him. "Something that didn't blow up."
Yuuna sat quietly beside the table, her cup untouched. Her gaze remained fixed on the lantern at the center, its soft light reflecting in her eyes. She wasn't admiring it as a finished product, but analyzing it still, already thinking of improvements, enhancements, and backup configurations for future field use.
Wildan, ever methodical, flipped to a fresh page in his notebook and began scribbling rapid notes, rune stability, output ratios, energy fluctuation timings. His handwriting was an elegant mess of diagrams and annotations, a hybrid of science and magic that only he could fully decipher.
For a moment, none of them spoke. The lantern pulsed steadily in the middle of the table, its glow casting long shadows across the wooden floor. There was peace in its light.
They had done it, a working, advanced magic lamp. A rare success in a string of glorious failures.
"It'll make night expeditions easier," Yuuna said.
"Let's make backups," Gigih added. "For when it explodes again."
"It won't," Yuuna insisted.
Gigih raised an eyebrow, his expression tightening into a look of deep skepticism, the kind that suggested he fully expected the lantern to detonate at any moment despite the apparent success, his doubt not born from logic, but from long, repeated experience.
Fahleena lay sprawled across the wooden bench, her arms loosely draped over her chest and one leg dangling just off the edge. A soft, steady snore rose and fell in rhythm with her breathing, her pink twin-tails fanned out like silken ribbons against the wood. A leaf had settled on her forehead, fluttering slightly each time she exhaled. She looked entirely content, as if the world around her no longer mattered, completely lost in the depths of her dreamland empire.
Yuuna approached quietly, her steps light as she stopped beside the bench. She looked down at her sleeping companion with a faint smile, equal parts fond and weary. With two fingers, she reached out and gave Fahleena's shoulder a gentle tap, enough to stir her without startling her.
"It's done," Yuuna said softly, "Wake up."
"...Mmmn?"
"Look."
Fahleena blinked and rubbed her eyes. When she saw the glowing lantern, she gasped dramatically. "A celestial orb of brilliance! The Eternal Star of Twilight!"
"How about we just call it the 'Advanced Magic Lantern'?" Yuuna suggested diplomatically.
"The Sacred Moonstar Illuminator of Destiny!" Fahleena countered, undaunted.
"Advanced Magic Lantern," Gigih voted firmly.
"Lantern of Celestial Glory!"
"Advanced Magic Lantern," Yetsan agreed.
Fahleena looked hopefully at Wildan, who considered carefully before speaking. "Perhaps... the Crescent Lantern? A compromise between functionality and... theatrical flair?"
Fahleena's eyes sparkled with delight. "The Crescent Lantern! Yes! It shall be the first of many legendary artifacts created by the Crimson Thunder Empire!"
And so, beneath the trees of Etheria, with the stars beginning to peek through the dusk above, the lantern shone on, soft, steady, and bright. A small success in a world of unpredictable magic. But they would need many more. Adventures awaited. And this time, they'd bring light.
---