CH 70

Chapter 70: Magecraft Science

The Bear’s Keg Inn has a scheduled off day weekly.

When I’m not on an expedition, I will eat 80% of my lunches here, but the restaurant is closed.

I was wondering about what I was going to do about lunch when someone knocked on my door quietly.

Henry: “Come in, Lana.”

Lana: “Hi, Mr. Henry.”

Of course, I sensed her coming towards my room, so I answered immediately.

And Lana, the daughter of the Innkeeper and the Inn’s poster girl comes into my room.

Henry: “What can I do for you? I thought I paid you for the Inn’s fees already.” Lana: “Yes, you did. It’s actually about something else. Could I ask a favor from you?”

As she said, “It’s about this…” she pulled out two stones that are about the size of a fist onto the desk in the room. The octagonally-shaped object is something I’m well familiar with.

Lana: “The Magic Stone’s Magic Power ran out. My family members do not have much Magic Power, so could you charge these stones for me? I can give you a discount on the next Inn’s fees and payments.”

Henry: “Oh, no problem at all. Sure thing. That’s something I can easily help with.”

Magic Stones.

It is the name of stones that have the ability to store Magic Power within them.

You will usually find them among the Demonic Creatures’ drops, but these are actually used slightly differently. The Demonic Creatures’ drops, depending on their material, will be used for weapons and armor.

In comparison, what Lana brought to me was something that was excavated from mines and was shaped and refined so that it can be used to power Magecraft Artifacts.

The official name of the object is Absorption Magic Stones. And it was about 100 years ago when this was invented, and since then, Magecraft Artifacts have flourished within everyday society.

Before that time, only people with large Magic Power reserves could use Magecraft Artifacts in their daily lives, so this was incredibly useful to the common people.

……….but I heard all of this from Mr. Riol who is an Elf, a race with an extensive lifespan, and I was born long after its invention. To me, it was something that has always been there, and it’s hard to imagine life without it.

Lana: “These are fairly large but will you be okay?” Henry: “Yeah, no problem at all. I may be a Warrior-class, but I’m well adept at Magecraft as well.”

And of course, if it stores Magic Power, it can also be depleted once the Magic Power inside is used.

In that case, you would usually ask someone with plenty of Magic Power to recharge the stone.

If it was Cyril, she could probably recharge 20-30% of this City’s Absorption Magic Stones, but I could easily charge 10-20 stones alone.

Henry: “Here we go.”

I hold the two stones that Lana brought and hold one in each hand as I focus.

Within each stone, my Magic Power is being poured into it. The dim color of the stone begins to regain its brilliant shine once again.

It would take about 15 minutes to fully charge these. If I hurry too much, I could crack or split the stones if I’m not careful.

Lana: “Umー, I hate to bother you with more, but once you’re done with that, could you recharge this one as well?”

And with that, Lana brought out a small Magic Stone the size of my pinky.

Henry: “Hm? I don’t mind at all…….but what would you use that small stone for? It doesn’t look like it’s made of quality materials either….”

The amount of Magic Power you can store in one Magic Stone depends on the size and quality of the materials used directly.

If you try to be more efficient or conserve space with its size, you would need more expensive Magic Stones made from quality material, so in most cases, the daily Magecraft household items all use large Magic Stones.

And what Lana held out to me was of the same quality of Magic Stone as those daily household items. There is nothing special or significant about this stone. And it’s small on top of all that.

I don’t mind recharging it, but I didn’t know what it could be used for. Even power conserving dim lights would still require a larger stone than this.

Lana: “This is for my research.”

Henry: “Research?”

Lana: “I actually got my interest stirred in Magecraft Science during our trip to the Capital. Like, that Teleport Gate’s design was amazing. Professor Conrad is well versed in that area, and he’s currently helping me learn different things related to it.”

Oh, that brings back memories.

Lana wrote a dissertation that was highly regarded, and my Party went with her to visit the Alvenia Central University.

I knew that since then, Professor Conrad and Lana were exchanging letters of communication once or twice a month, but I didn’t know that he was knowledgeable in the area of Magecraft Science.

Lana: “In order to study Magecraft Science and do experiments, there is no way to do so without Magic Power. So I only needed something that I could use on top of my desk, and nothing more. I was trying to use my own Magic Power before but…..I realized that it was pretty tiring, so I wanted to switch to using Magic Stones instead. I knew it might be bothersome to you, Mr. Henry but…”

Henry: “If it’s something that small, it’s no trouble at all. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

The ones I’m charging now may take a couple of minutes, but this small one that Lana is using for her research wouldn’t take more than a minute. If it’s that, then compared to the amount of service and care I received during my stay here, it’s little to nothing.

Lana: “Thank you so much.” Henry: “Can I ask about what kind of research you’re doing?” I may not understand at all what she’s doing, but I ask out of curiosity.

Lana: “Well, I’ve been mainly reviewing other past research and gaining a lot of knowledge, and there was one particular research I wanted to try.”

Henry: “Oh, I see…”

Lana: “Yes, it's research about Corrupted Magic Power.”

It is said that the Magic Power we use and the Magic Power that shapes and is used by the Demonic Creatures are fundamentally from the same source.

But Demonic Creatures are not born from any of the Magic Power we exert, so I’m sure there are differences as well.

There has been much research invested into the subject, and there has been some breakthroughs, but as of now, there is still a lot that is unknown.

In fact, for commoners like me, the Corrupted Magic Power just feels wrong, but that’s about all we understand about it.

Henry: “Hmmmm…”

Lana: “Does it sound boring?” Henry: “Ohー not at all. I’m just uninformed on the subject overall. I was just wondering how understanding Corrupted Magic Power would be useful to us.”

Oh, crap. That might have been…….a little insensitive (if not insulting) to someone who’s aspiring to be a researcher.

A research in and of itself may not be meaningful on its own, but as they stack and build on top of each other, the discoveries that came of it have helped humanity progress……..and this is also something Mr. Riol emphasized to me over and over again.

Lana: “Well, I'm not sure about that at all…” Henry: “Really….?”

She was not indignant of my question, but returned a very frank answer back at me.

I remember now that Lana studies as a hobby. She just wanted to do it, and that’s why she’s doing it. There’s probably nothing more than that to her.

Lana: “But it’s an interesting subject to me.” Henry: “YーYeah?”

But this is a way of thinking that I would never understand. …….so I just give her my encouragement to do her best in my own mind.

<<<<>>>>

A week passed since that exchange.

Jend: “RAAAAAAGGGHHH!!”

Jend swings his large broadsword and diagonally slashes the Ogre. The Ogre ignites into a ball of flame as it’s cut with the fiery sword.

Jend continuously executes a movement to now a defensive posture. And he parries a strike from the other Ogre he was facing at the same time.

Henry: “Even against 2, he’s no longer at a disadvantage at all.”

I redirect a charging Ice Boar as I watch him.

The Ice Boar is redirected to a path besides me and continues to run past me, but before it can turn around, Teo strikes it down with her arrow.

Henry: “Ferris is able to handle an Ogre by herself too.”

The Ogre spins and wields an attack with its weapon at Ferris, but Ferris responds immediately and is fighting on par with it.

Ferris is also being supported by Cyril who is behind her, and Cyril is blasting away short spells to distract the Ogre, but as a Support Healer, she has more than enough strength now.

Henry: “Here, take this!”

And there was a pack of Snow Fairies who was trying to go over my head towards our rear guard, so I chunk and split my spear into clones to take them out.

And as I was trying to decide who to go help nextーーbefore I make a decision, Jend and Ferris both finish the Ogre their facing at the same time.

Teo: “........everyone! I don’t sense any other Demonic Creatures in the area. We are done for now!”

Teo was scuttling around the area shooting her arrows at the enemy and also kept an eye out for further enemies. She gives the all clear signal, and I let out a long exhale to catch my breath.

Henry: “Oh, that’s right. I almost forgot.”

I head to where Ferris and Cyril are. Well, to be precise, I had to where the corpse of the Ogre lies.

Cyril: “Oh, Henry, good work today.” Henry: “You as well. I’m gonna borrow your Ogre.” Cyril: “Excuse me?”

Cyril tilts her head in reply, and I take out my Nyoiten Spear and shape it into a knife. I cut off the Ogre’s pinky.

I take out a small bottle and place the pinky finger in it and close the cap.

Cyril: “What are you doing?” Henry: “Oh, Lana asked me. She’s studying and researching Corrupted Magic Power, so she wanted me to collect samples.”

This is also a designated Quest. Well, it’s not like I’m getting a lot of money for this, but I am getting a free lunch as a reward.

Cyril: “Huh…...and so you’re taking a piece of the corpse?” Henry: “Yeah, if you put it into a bottle like this, apparently, the Corrupt Magic Power doesn’t escape out of the bottle.”

Corrupted Magic Power and Magic Power are made from immaterial things, so they would disappear inside a regular container.

But with the Magecraft Science today, there are special bottles designed for research purposes, and the Corrupted Magic Power would not be able to escape from this bottle. The bottle itself is apparently made from the same materials as Absorption Magic Stones.

Cyril: “Yeesh….there’s some strange tools in this world～”

Henry: “Yeah, no doubt. But I don’t do this often, but it’s interesting to observe this so closely.”

The Ogre’s finger is transforming from flesh to Corrupted Magic Power inside the bottle.

Normally, it would evaporate into thin air, but the black, cloudy substance is currently trapped inside the bottle.

A Demonic Creature that turns into Corrupted Magic Power and disappears at death……….now that I think about, that is a strange mystery.

Ferris: “Miss Lana, huh. I haven’t spoken to her much, but she must be very intelligent.”

Henry: “She has to be. Otherwise, she would never have gotten invited to Alvenia Central University.”

Oh yeah. I guess Ferris doesn’t come to the Bear’s Keg Inn often, and so she doesn’t have as much interaction with Lana as we do. We were all together on the way back from the Capital, but I don’t recall them talking with each other much.

Ferris: “But if it wasn’t for her talents, I wouldn’t have been able to reunite with Jend or Cyril. I need to thank her the next time I see her.”

Well, Jend may have headed to the Capital at some point, but unlike today, he was very reserved about expressing his feelings, so things may have worked out differently or would have taken significantly longer time.

Cyril: “Well, let’s collect our Drops and keep goingー”

Henry: “Yeah, let’s.”

I placed the bottle of Corrupted Magic Power into my pouch, and we went hunting for our next target.

Later on.

Henry: “Oh yeah. Lana. Was the Corrupted Magic Power samples useful at all?”

Lana: “Oh yes. I got to learn a lot from it. Of course, everything I’ve learned so far has been proven in past research.”

Henry: “Huh….” It should have been expected, but I guess it’s hard to make a major breakthrough so easily.

Lana: “But there is a hypothesis I wanted to test. I have yet to start testing it though.” Henry: “Wow. So do you want me to keep collecting samples? I’ll do it for a free lunch.” Lana: “Yes, I’ll probably ask you again in the near future.”

And so…..

Since then, I would get a sample for her about once every 2 weeks and deliver Corrupted Magic Power samples.

I got a free meal every 2 weeks, and that’s all that mattered to me.

…….but the samples of Corrupted Magic Power led to an unbelievable discovery later.

And Lana’s name was deeply engraved into the history of Magecraft Science going forward.

But that’s another story that happened later down the road.