Chapter 46: A study of Crystals

The amount of mana a spell crystal can process is proportional to its size. I note down in my scroll my observation. I had already written how the spell crystals work, how they are made, and how the mana is transformed.

Simply put, a small spell crystal is effectively useless, well, except for objects of study. The larger the better, but they have a weakness, they can't hold a capacity. That is they can't build up a large amount of the spell mana for a massive effect, they can channel but they can't be effective weapons. That is if I can't find a way to make a capacitor or battery.

The outermost layer of the spell crystal is meant to lock in the spell mana. Turns out, this is very important as the ambient mana will wear away the spell crystal rather quickly. Spell mana is volitile and fragile. For example, a fire spell crystal will burst into flame much like thermite, direct observation showed exactly this.

Too much of an outer layer of course will make the mana hard to enter the spell crystal. It had taken several tries during the creation process but I was able to intentionally make pockets for the spell mana to gather, making the spell crystal have a capacitor. In fact, my study of normal mana crystals and mana gems has shown these empty pockets within the mana structures, meaning that batteries can be made intentionally.

My next goal is to try and find an optimal creation method for the spell crystal. Two mana weavers have shown interest in making spell crystals and are helping me make them.

"Hyura, can you bring me sample thirty-one? I want to compare it to sample twelve" I ask my assistant. She doesn't have a high [Sense Mana] level so I am the most capable of finding the best ways to make the crystals.

These crystals are about fist size at the largest. I sent my mana through them and observed the capacitors. A star shape seems to work best, eight points in the star is most efficient in terms of the amount of mana held versus the ease of and consistency of creating them. It's hard to make these and hard to get the number of points right but we are able.

We of course experimented with just a battery crystal and found that it works wonderfully, able to store any spell. Problem is, a lot of people may not be able to cast the spell on an airship so a few spell crystals are necessary, large ones too for the mana processing capabilities.

A full battery of one of these fist-sized crystals can hold about one hundred mana. Pathetic if you compare it to my Kyhosa, we aren't going to have some sort of technological revolution and start having motorboats and cars but it's enough for a single strong spell, enough for someone to take out a level twenty monster in one hit if aimed well.

Of course, the battery amount increases with its size, and it follows the square cube law, seeing as how the capacitor number increase with volume. This means that one twice the size of the sample would have about four hundred mana storage capability which is great! Have a supermassive crystal that can hold hundreds of thousands of mana to power the airship, just need a pilot right?

Well, there are downsides. Batteries, when broken, tend to release all that mana... violently. It's a risk, the bigger the crystal the bigger the bomb you have, and they aren't easy to make and the only one capable of producing consistent results is me.

There are other downsides too, the batteries tend to suck up the mana around them, which means that mana can't be used for spells and it's tricky to get them back out which has led me to make really thick walls for the crystals except for one spot where it's easy to store and draw mana. One also can't tell what kind of mana is in the crystal unless they have a mana sensing skill.

A person's mana reserves are neutral and easy to transform, it's perfect for use of any spell type which means one will want that in the batteries. If however, an element were to get in you can't use that mana unless you use a spell that uses that element, which means batteries will have to be flushed every now and then.

It has been about two weeks since the battle with the Matriarch and the Chayotmo clean-up has been going well. A few surviving eggs were captured to be placed in Tolr island, an island with a lake in it. There is little risk of the monsters breaking out and we get to farm the new monsters, their meat is rather tasty and their skin and teeth are very useful monster parts for armor, clothes, tools and weapons.

I look over the Matriarch lens, the lens is taken from its only surviving eye, I had blown the other up when slaying the monster.

Chayaotmo Lens of Death Sight: Allows one to see dead beings when looking through it.

By dead beings it means the corpses of others, these monsters are scavengers as well as predators, they aren't very picky. However, I won't be surprised if it included spirits and ghosts if those even exist.

The lens has actually come in real handy when looking for Domr pearls, and it's already proven itself better than the Aydomr pearl, best reward I'd gotten from killing a monster yet. Esofy was gifted a tooth from the Matriarch, much better than the ones from the young and mature ones. Chyzu had gotten some of the skin that she made into a cloak of invisibility, of course, it only works when in contact with water, dunno where Chyzu might get some in a pinch though.

I have to say though, Chyzu looks really cool with a leather cloak trailing behind her. The other mages also got cuts of the skin, there was plenty to go around. I declined my share in favor of the lens, I can just use a spell to turn invisible after all.

Hyura noted down my observations and soon the workday ended.

I walk to the pier where a new airship is being made. This one is much larger, a double-decked airship made for impressing the other villages and to spread the new technology, well, knowledge of it at least. Tusile wants us to remain the sole creators of the airships for now.

I can understand her desire to grow our village and exporting the airships will be a major boost to our village's revenue. However, the creation of the spell crystals are already the thing preventing others from copying us so she doesn't need to worry. I also disagree with this approach because the more people that build airships the faster the technology will grow and improve.

This new airship is modeled after the Guardian. With one massive embroidered sail over the airship like giant dragon wings and two large lifting and drive sails to the side made to look like dragon wings and well. The ship will be able to fly even with the added mass. The four-pitch/roll sails are made to look like the feet of the dragon. These are much smaller and are really only needed for redundancy and to overcome any extra weight the ship might not have normally been able to handle. If need be they can also cause the airship to tilt forward a little to fly like a helicopter. The tail sail is exactly that. A long tail that has a large fin on the top and bottom that can open and close to provide yaw.

The airship is named the Winamr, or Wind Dragon if you translated it. The Winamr's bottom floor is for storage but for her maiden voyage around the nexus, it need only to carry people, mainly other elders who'll want to ride it.

The Valymo had been brought out of the water and is being repaired and renovated. It will still have the drive sails and tail sails but with a large overhead lifting sail. The pitch/roll sails are being made much smaller as it doesn't need to be made large anymore, its lifting role now made redundant.

Another airship, one made to be manned by one or two people had been made too, about as large as a rowboat it's basically a tiny version of the Valymo. Naturally, no airship is getting off the ground without spell crystals which is why I've basically been... bribed into spell crystal research. I get my own lab and assistant as well as decent pay.

"How goes the research?" Guklaro asks. She has been watching over the construction of the airships.

"Fruitful, but there are still many more things to test and improve, I want to see if I can grow a battery crystal around a spell crystal. That way we might be able to seal in the battery storage so it doesn't degrade and won't need to be flushed."

"How big does such a crystal have to be for the Winamr?" Guklaro said, nodding toward the airship.

"Dangerously large, it will need to hold at least fifty thousand mana to be safe and the spell crystal has to be able to process a few thousand mana per hour."

"So you're telling me that the crystal room needs to be well defended"

"Pretty much, yeah." I nod.

"How long will it take to make one?"

"Hmm, three days for the spell crystal and at least that long for the battery and has to be done all at once, no stopping" I sigh. " But first I have to make a few large batteries so I don't run out of mana. Not to mention that a crystal made with one spell is better than one made with two spells so we'll need to grow two different spell crystals and their batteries. One for the reduced weight and one for wind control."

"Two weeks just to make the crystals... can't you make something to grow the crystals for you? There has to be a better way" Guklaro says, shaking her head.

"I can try, the easy part is actually making the spell crystal but the hard part is making the battery, it's a constant effort to do it correctly otherwise you won't have a battery at all. Besides having such a thing that can make spell crystals it would require having a large battery anyway."

"I see, good luck I hope you find a better way," Guklaro dismisses me.

Back at home, after taking a bath, I ate dinner with my family.

"Play with us, Alysara!"

"Yeah, you haven't played with us for so long!" My sisters complains.

I sigh. I wanted to train my class skills but I suppose that can wait for a few hours. "What do you want to play?" I ask, patting my sisters head.

"Let's play on the island beach!"

"Yeah, let's make a sand house!"

"Let's make the biggest sand house!" I smile and after dinner led my sisters to the beach. I kept watch around the beach making sure no Domrs are around. Sometimes they walk on shore, most are below level ten and can fit in your palms but there have been sighting of level forty Domrs roaming the orchard.

The next day I made my yearly appointment with the Guardian.

As we approached the Guardian calls me forward, sitting up.

"Last year I haven't had the opportunity to mention this but you'll want to restrict how many people know how to get [Sense Mana]" The Guardian says. Not angry, just matter of fact. "You see, races don't need Heirloom evolutions to evolve a species. Species will evolve should a given path be taken generations after generations. If parents and children and grandchildren all take [Sense Mana] chances raise that somewhere down the line a child would be born with [Mana Sight], maybe, if you're lucky they will be born with [Mana Sense] but this will always be at the base skill"

"So what you are saying is that we'd cripple our chances of getting [Sense Mana]? A skill so useful it is revolutionizing our society?" I ask. I was not aware something like that can happen.

"Yes, it happens often, many of the greater races eventually learns a great general skill and spreads that knowledge to the rest of their people which in turn locks them out of getting the skill as an improvable general skill. Knowledge is lost over the millennia but the race skill is typically not. It is best if the skill remains a trade secret, kept only for your Storm Wardens, and other professions that would benefit from it." The Guardian says.

I'm positive the dragon doesn't really care, just a 'are you sure you want to do that?'.

"So, there can't be a race that has accrued knowledge of all the best skills, or if they do they have to keep it restricted to only what is relevant. Otherwise, they'd lose the ability to get them as general skills altogether, right?"

"Yes," The Dragon nods. "It is important to record the best skills but it is equally important to keep them secret. On another note, you have discovered spell crystals. This is good. Many races have that technology and it is useful in defending your settlements from the attacks of powerful monsters. I am sure, however, that you may have already found ways to make better spell crystals due to your [Sense Mana]. Please tell me what you have learned"

I wasn't going to tell the being with a mana core that can hold millions of mana "no". I told the guardian what I've learned from [Sense Mana] and of spell crystals and batteries.

"You are getting close, little one... Perhaps you can change the fate of someone" The guardian mutters before shaking her head. "Never mind, you have indeed caught up to some of the best crystal makers in the other kingdoms, at least last I checked anyway. However, I shall urge you to start looking at the Mana Arc that rests at the top of the temple, you'll find it very enlightening."

Then the Guardian did something for the first time; turning her head to Dad and dismissing her. "Go back to the pier, do not worry, I promise your child will be safe"

Dad bows, but with an anxious look on her face, before leaving.

"Now," The Guardian says and stood up on all fours, the mana pressure around her raising. "First you'll need to improve your [Mana Toxicity Tolerance]"

"You see, little one. The more powerful you are the more susceptible you become to areas of higher density. The stronger you are the more mana you produce, the more mana that will damage you. Beings above a certain level of power simply cannot exist without at least one hundred levels in [Mana Toxicity Tolerance]"

My legs were starting to tremble and I took a shaky step back, my instinct is telling me to run. The Guardian didn't sound angry but more like a mother bird ready to drop its young out of the nest to teach it how to fly.

"You've grown a lot in a month, more than most will ever achieve at your age, this is good, but it also shows that you are ready. Start healing yourself, little one, I will teach you how to not only resist mana toxicity but also have it heal you, empower you, sustain you."

And with that a burst of mana erupts from the Guardian, the grass withers as the wave approaches.