Chapter 25 - The Birth of Magitech
The following days
Lily asked for a meeting last night. It was about the mission that I had given her before.
Unlike the other members of the mage squad, Lily's research topic is both easy and hard to do.
Her research topic is about refrigeration and temperature control. Those topics could be easily achieved with some 'primitive' technology from Earth. I can make an ice cellar and cooling pottery rack for cooling parts and well, magic is generally really versatile on the heating parts.
So her basic research should be finished, right? Well, that's not correct either. What I want is to create a device that can help people with heating and cooling without the need of people manually casting the related magic themselves.
I want a refrigerator, air conditioner, fan, stove, or heater. Simply said, the convenient things from modern Earth.
But with this isekai level of technology, it is close to impossible to reach that level in a short term.
That's why I said Lily's research topic is the easiest and also the hardest.
But I finally found a clue on how to fulfill that goal.
That clue was when I found the magic circuit casting method in the academy's library.
From the name, magic circuit, something immediately clicked in my mind. Electric circuit, that word immediately appeared in my mind.
As most earthlings know, the electric circuit is the base of all electronic devices whether it be from the simplest light emitting device or LED or simply flashlight to the most complex computer and smartphone, all of them are basically an electric circuit. Or simply a way to manipulate electricity to do the thing that its designer wanted.
In an electric circuit, there are 4 components that make it up. Energy source, energy carrier, controller switch, and the load. The source is a battery or electric port, carrier is the wire, switch is self explanatory, and load is the thing you want the electricity to do.
The load part of the electric circuit is the main point here. Because the load will dictate what the electric appliance made by the electric circuit does.
In an electric circuit, this load is composed of capacitor, resistor, transistor, and many other electronic components.
When I was studying about magic item crafting before, I found a magic item that paralleled that of an electric circuit. And that magic item is the magic scroll.
Magic scroll has an energy source which is powdered mana stone, has energy lines to loop the energy inside a closed circuit, has a load in form of runic symbols, and, although not clearly drawn, a switch to activate. And again, not by ripping the scroll but by injecting mana in the scroll.
The activation of a magic scroll can be considered a switch. As it turned on the magic circuit drawn in the scroll albeit only once as the scroll would get destroyed after activation.
So with all that information in mind, I ordered Lily to create a permanent magic scroll. One that would not get destroyed even after one use. And I ask her to create a simple light emitting permanent magic scroll first as a test.
And she reported just now that she has succeeded.
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The following day, in Sir Alfonse residence.
"I'm sorry for visiting suddenly again, Master"
"It's fine. You can freely come and play even when there isn't any business. Although I prefer to talk more about your problem in studying magic if I have to nitpick"
"Then you might be happy with what I bring today, master"
"Hoo, bring it on then"
I then ordered Lily to bring her research result in and put it on the table.
Master Alfonse greets her as she is also one of his in name disciples. Then he turns his attention to the metallic construct on the table.
"A magic scroll made of metal?"
"That is an apt short description for this item, master. I was inspired by a magic circuit casting method before and ordered Lily to research it. This is her result after 2 weeks"
"Well, I want to ask why you don't research it on your own but that's not important now. How about showing me the result first?"
"Of course"
Lily then turned on the light iron magic scroll and a ball of light slowly appeared above the magic circuit pattern. As time goes on, the ball of light gradually becomes even more intense as it gets brighter until it reaches a certain point until it stabilizes.
Master Alfonse intently examines the iron scroll. He then asked for permission to touch the scroll which we immediately gave him. He then immediately lifts the iron scroll and examines it from many angles.
"How long can this light stay active?"
"With the mana stones that are used now, it should be active until tomorrow morning. There are cases when it activates for even longer but most of the cases can stay active for less than a day"
"You managed to use mana stones as this magic item's power source? Doesn't that mean"
"Yes, it will be far cheaper compared to the light magic item that was made by the academy. At least in theory"
"Indeed, in theory, that is"
"Yes, I still haven't had the time to test it for a long time so I don't know whether the iron scroll would fail after continuous use. There's also one test item that manages to stay active longer than most other test item which I don't know the reason for"
"Even so, if this item could held on for half of that light magic item, it would be a far more cheaper option that would destroy the market for that magic item"
Master and Lily start to discuss the iron scroll animatedly. Lily indeed has a tendency of being excited by new knowledge which made her the perfect researcher / scientist material. Which is also the reason why I entrust her with this topic.
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And it would seem that Master is also someone of the same feather to her.
"This is such an ingenious idea. Who can guess that you can make a permanent magic scroll like this? I can see this technique applied with other types of magic circuits!"
"Yes, that is our main reason for visiting today. We want to learn more about magic circuit systems and about creating magic items in general. We also want to know whether it is possible to improve the existing magic circuit as further research goal"
"That is indeed an interesting topic to research. But will this increase your personal strength? As a mage, our basic goal is always to increase our own strength first”
I have anticipated that question from Master. He is an old school warmage at his prime after all. He knew how important personal strength is as a mage. And I even heard that he despises gold as he thinks it will make a mage turn weak and complacent.
It is all up to me to persuade him that gold is not evil.
“It is indeed one of the ways I can become stronger, master. If I can master magic circuit high enough, in theory, I can deduce a forbidden magic or even create a new one. I can study its depth. Whereas the chanting method does not have this kind of visible pattern as it is relying more on instinct rather than a basic set of rules”
"I can see the merit in your statement. And you dare to even dream big with forbidden magic”
"Always dream big so you will at least achieve a part of it. Anyway, in the process of research, I will need a lot of materials, a lot of manpower, and a lot of time to achieve success which is not even guaranteed. So I also have a plan to improve the iron scroll design so it would be more desirable to buy and sell it en masse”
"Have I ever told you that gold is the source of all evil?”
“This is the first time you tell me that, Master. But in all due respect. Money isn't the source of all evil. Money is actually akin to magic"
“That is such a blasphemous statement to magic but knowing you, you must have a strong proof for that, then I shall ask you why"
“Thank you for your understanding, master. Money is akin to magic, and also akin to authority. Those things have a high allure to mortal’s desires which cause them to do the wrong thing to obtain them. And it doesn't end there as those things also cause corruption in a person's mind when they already own them. The mortal could only control themselves to not fall for the devil's whisper”
"Magic would bewitch people? That's prosperous!”
"But master, have you ever heard of a mage disregarding commoners because they have magic to kill commoners easily? And there's also mages who betray humanity and side with the demon. Becoming warlocks and necromancers so they can wantonly slaughter the innocents? Of course, some of them did that for their desire to earn gold. But some of them also don't care about gold as they only want to become stronger and stronger. Isn't that why children are not allowed to learn magic as it is dangerous to let kids learn such powerful extermination tools when their minds are still immature?”
“You indeed has a point there"
It seems like the Master suddenly remembered something from the past and let out a long sigh. I wonder what it was.
“So yeah, just like magic, power, and authority, gold should not be the goal. But a means to an end”
"... So what do you propose?”
"Simply, to improve this technique and when it is good enough, we sell products based on the technology"
“If you sell it, won't other people be able to imitate your findings and recreate them?"
“On the contrary, I wish other mages would imitate my product”
"And why is that?”
"Well, simply said, to let more people be aware of this technology and make them want to buy it. Rather than only having the capital city as my target market, there might be people from the entire kingdom or even neighboring kingdoms that want to buy my product”
"I do not have the ability of a merchant but I still could see the merit of having the entire kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms as potential buyers. Even only a part of them are larger than the whole population of Whitecastle”
"That's it. Even when the Stadford are rich, I don't think I have the ability to provide my products to everyone in the kingdom. Anyway, all of this could only be achieved if we managed to learn more things about magic circuit study. So I want to ask Master to help us study”
"Don't worry. As your master, it is my duty to teach you everything you want to know that is related to magic. I am also intrigued by the possibility of reverse engineering unknown spells or creating a new spell with the basis of magic circuit study so I will give it my all. By the way, Young Emilio, what did you use to power the iron scroll again?”
“Please call me Milo, sir. It is easier to call me that way and all my close relatives call me that. And for the power of the iron scroll, Lily"
“Yes. Reporting to the teacher, I am using the same powdered mana stone like the one used for magic scroll”
"You said that there is one particular experiment that can still be active after a day, right?”
“Yes, sir. To be exact, it has been activating for around 4 days and 14 hours the last time I checked it this morning”
“I might know why it activates longer than the others. It is because that mana stone is filled with a close to pure light elemental mana”
"Mana stones also have elemental traits?"
I never knew about this so I ended up blurting out my surprises.
Mana stones are almost worthless in this isekai. They are everywhere. Although different from normal rocks, mana stones are still as common as them. It is only thanks to magic scroll that mana stones at least have some price but it is just too unprofitable to sell it.
But now that I know that I can use mana stones to power my new concept of magic tools, mana stone’s price would definitely soar in the future.
And the fact that each stone has different elemental energy within it also feels important.
I can think of many ways to make use of this. But that will be for later.
“Yes. Mana stones can contain more than one element within. But rarely, there are stones with almost pure singular element energy. I suspected that the mana stone used in that particular experiment contains light elemental energy which explain why it last longer than the other”
I see. Because of energy type compatibility, the light elemental energy could run the magic circuit in a more efficient way which could lengthen the active time of the iron scroll. And by a multiplier of 4 or 5 times longer currently according to Lily's experiment.
“I have so many ideas popping out in my head right now. I will write them down later and talk about it later. But why don't we start our lesson first, master?"
“You are an impatient one, aren't you? But it is a thirst for knowledge which I approve of so I will agree for now. But… young Milo, I want you to help Isabella with her study. Can you promise me that?”
“Umm, excuse this disciple for asking, master, but won't it be better for you to personally teach the Princess?”
"Well, just think of this as a test for you. I want to see how deep your understanding of magic is as I will also present when you teach her”
That is actually a clever way to test someone's understanding. To make them teach someone else. It was said back on Earth that the highest indicator that you perfectly understand a subject is to teach someone else and they could easily understand your teaching. The princess is the Master's granddaughter, a family after all. So it is a good thing to make her get stronger too. I don't mind sharing my secret nurturing technique to them.
“I'll be glad to help, Master. When will I start?"
“As soon as possible. Tomorrow would be best"
"Alright. I will prepare for her lesson tonight. Now shall we start our lesson, master?”
"We shall. But before that, because this iron scroll is a new kind of technique, it should have its own name. Do you have a name for it?”
"Well it is a technology created by harnessing the power of magic so let's just simply call it magitech”
" Magitech. A magic technology. It has a nice ring to it and people could easily understand its meaning from the name. That's a good name. Then today shall be known as the day magitech was born”
"That sounds so grand but we are still not yet adequate for such grandness”
"It's good that you know how to be humble”
I've been living my past life as a humble person so it's easy though.
Anyway, I hope this can be the start of a technology revolution in the capital. Having computers might be a distant dream for now but most basic electric appliances are reachable in an arm's length. And going further, I might even be able to create mecha or even a flying fortress. My dream just got expanded with this. Let's study hard. Let's make the dream turn true even a second faster.
And so, I spent all day today learning more about magic circuits and magic item making. I should say that I managed to harvest a lot of things from Master's teaching today. It was a satisfying productive day.