Chapter 66 : Magic Engineering
Chapter 66. Magic Engineering
There was something Yul realized after loafing around in the Belteine Family for several days without paying a single coin.
‘Polymorph is dangerous.’
It felt like his thoughts were being assimilated into the species.
As a representative sensation, even going a single day without drinking water became painful.
In his previous life, he knew this as if it were common sense, but until now, Yul had lived as a sea creature. He had never nearly died from being unable to drink water.
Marine mammals such as orcas and whales obtain moisture from the prey they eat in the sea.
Fish like salmon and herring are composed of 60–80% water, and through metabolic water produced by breaking down protein, they can obtain sufficient hydration from food alone. Even if they accidentally drink seawater, their kidneys function well enough to expel it naturally.
But the human body is structured in a way that it will die if it does not drink clean water.
The water issue itself was a very trivial problem. When he thought about physiological needs and desires, and the will to survive, it felt strange.
His intelligence was also becoming similar to that of a human.
While walking, violent thoughts would suddenly occur to him, and branching from that, he would often ponder deeply about morality and ethics.
The assimilation with humans was continuing to progress.
‘If I use the Polymorph skill this way and transform into another animal, I might become assimilated into that animal as well.’
If he were assimilated into a cat, there was the risk that his intelligence would drop to a cat’s level.
Yul decided that even if he used Polymorph again, he would not transform into a creature with low intelligence.
If his intelligence dropped too much, he might not even be able to think about returning. It was far too dangerous.
Instead, he checked whether he could use ‘skills’ even in a human state.
The result was that he could. He could use all skills.
As an experiment, he used the skill [Evolution]. While transforming via the skill, it was nerfed, allowing him to independently evolve or devolve up to four body parts.
[High-Growth Muscles]
[Powerful Reflexes]
[Developed Neocortex]
[Ultra-High-Efficiency Lungs]
After evolving roughly four parts, he was able to use superhuman physical abilities.
Of course, this was at the human level. Even so, it was still weaker than the split soul of the Deep King Tribe he had been before using Polymorph.
An interesting point was that when devolving these evolved parts, an invisible cooldown would occur. So to evolve again, a certain amount of time was required.
Yul looked down outside from the balcony of his room.
He liked this mansion. The people were easygoing, and the atmosphere was pastoral.
He glanced outside briefly and saw Lucian moving about busily.
‘What is he doing so early in the morning?’
Since this morning, Yul had occasionally seen parts of Lucian’s field of vision through their bond.
But it looked like he was constantly moving things around in the warehouse.
Yul secretly followed behind Lucian. The place he arrived at was a workshop set up in a corner of the first floor of the mansion’s annex.
And there, in a secluded spot, Lucian was alone, making something with creak-creak sounds.
‘The smell of oil, the smell of magic stones.’
Magic stones stored nearby and oddly shaped mechanical devices were lined up everywhere.
“What are you doing?”
“Gah!”
Lucian lifted the magnifying glass he had been wearing up over his head. He placed a hand on his chest as if his heart were about to drop.
“Please give some warning.”
Yul grinned without replying. Looks like I’ll be able to use this often. This is fun.
“I’m making a piece to submit as a university assignment this time.”
“What is it?”
“A firing mechanism. You know, bullets usually need flint to fire, right? And to create sparks from the flint, you also need gunpowder separately. Instead of that process, I'm using this magic stone the size of a finger."
Lucian lifted a magic stone about the size of his pinky finger and fitted it into a component.
“You embed an ignition spell here. Among common spells, using [Ignition] is enough.”
“Oh. So this is magic engineering.”
Yul recalled the firing mechanisms used in his previous world. In the Middle Ages, ignition used matchlocks, then flintlocks, and then gradually developed into percussion caps.
At this stage, was this world heading in the direction of using magic instead of flint for ignition?
“You only need to use ignition for a very short moment and then turn it off, so I’ve been thinking about how to control that. If it works well, I think I could even file a patent.”
“That’s fascinating. Was magic engineering popular to begin with?”
“No. It’s a newly established department. After the 『Great Catastrophe』, when waves large enough to cover the sky struck, magic stones started being discovered everywhere.”
According to Lucian, magic stones that could originally only be mined from mines began to be found anywhere.
More precisely, he said they were now scattered all over the coastline that had been swept by waves.
‘Considering this world where the sea is saturated with magic power, that’s not particularly strange.’
The sea had such a dense concentration of magic power that if you dropped a magic stone into it, it would melt away like cotton candy. If that seawater surged onto land, would it turn into magic stones?
In any case, because of incidents like this, prices had become incredibly cheap.
“They say an exceptionally large number of magic stones were discovered in the Kingdom of Frangia, especially along the damaged coastlines.”
“I’ve seen the coastline change so much that the terrain itself was altered.”
At Yul’s words, Lucian spoke as if impressed.
“You even remember the old terrain?”
“Of course. But about magic engineering, what principle does it operate on?”
“Hmm. Originally, to use magic, you needed strong soul power.”
“That’s right.”
Soul power is determined at birth, and that is a limit that cannot be changed.
“Most people who were interested in magic didn’t have a magic core. But they did have wealth and technology. So about a hundred years ago, one of this country’s wealthy gentry came up with the idea of recreating an artificial core through machinery without a magic core.”
“So did it succeed?”
“No. Back then, magic stones were expensive, and after blowing through their funds several times, they didn’t have the resources to continue.”
“That’s rough.”
“But now magic stone prices have dropped a lot, and the pioneer of magic engineering has opened a new horizon.”
“Who is it?”
“Professor Quentin Blackmoore, who teaches in our department. He developed a method to create magic engineering engines using runes.”
“Runes? Oh? And what do you do with the engine?”
“With a magic engineering engine, even ordinary people can partially implement the magic that traditional mages used.”
Yul thought to himself. This is an invention as revolutionary as the Industrial Revolution. In genre novels, this is usually around the point where magic engineering civilizations begin.
“I originally aimed to become a mage too, but as you know, my hands are like this.”
“Mm.”
Lucian showed his gloved hands. Lucian’s hands—one of the most important parts for releasing magic—were tightly wrapped in Krelsite gloves.
Lucian’s soul was not small. But the problem was that the channel through which it had to be released was far too narrow.
Seeing him try to overcome his heavenly affliction, Yul felt a lump in his chest. What a commendable kid.
“Well done.”
If he were a boy, Yul would have patted his head, but instead, he lightly tapped Lucian’s shoulder a few times.
“So in the end, instead of learning my father’s magic, I chose to walk the path of magic engineering.”
“That’s why you went to university for that?”
“Yes. I returned to my family home temporarily because the university is relocating.”
“Your university is relocating?”
“Oh, I told Mother yesterday, but I haven’t told you yet, Yul. Our university is relocating. To the western sea.”
“Huh??”
Lucian spoke a bit vaguely, but after hearing more, it became clear.
“So, like a floating university?”
“They said they’re moving it to a shallow-water area.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? It’ll flood. What about the waves?”
It sounded like a bold plan to build a university on the water like Venice on Earth, except the problem was that the location was the sea, not a lake.
“There’s a solution to the wave problem. They plan to use an artifact called the Orb of Harmonious Design.”
“An artifact?”
“Yes. It has the ability to calm waves over a wide radius.”
“Is it really necessary to go that far just to build on the sea?”
“It’s because of the Seaborn. There are quite a lot of people bonded with Seaborn, and to accommodate them, who can move on water, they plan to build the university over the sea. There’s another reason too.”
“What is it?”
“Our university is in a leading position when it comes to technology, and it’s because of research into extracting magic stones from seawater.”
“What? Extract magic stones from seawater?”
Is that even possible?
“Normally, it would be impossible, but Professor Quentin believes it’s possible. So he voiced his opinion during the relocation discussions. The demands of wealthy elites who wanted a sea for the Seaborn aligned with Professor Quentin’s proposal, and that’s how the relocation was decided.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“They’ve been building it for several years now. Once this spring break ends, we’ll be going there starting from the summer term.”
“Oh.”
“Would you like to come with me? You can tour the university interior, too.”
An unexpected offer. Yul felt his interest pique slightly.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
* * *
After parting ways with Lucian, Yul returned to his room and, while leisurely drinking the coffee the servants had brought out on the terrace, read through the records left behind by the deceased.
“What did Ian see?”
It was Ian’s record that Celestia had tried to give him when they first met.
“Parchment?”
Records were usually written on paper, but this one was written on parchment. Moreover, it was fully bound like a proper book. Finding that strange, he read the first page.
[Record of Everything]
[This is a compiled record of the grimoire, ‘Record of Everything.’ I forcibly revived and wrote down fragments of the memories I obtained while observing the moon. Only those who can read fate and cut through the fog of perception may open these pages.]
He tried to turn the page, but it would not budge from his hand, as if the pages were firmly stuck together.
It wasn’t glued. It felt as though some kind of magical seal had been placed on it.
He could probably force it open with strength, but he thought it might tear.
‘One who reads fate.’
Perhaps it referred to something like a prophet? In a broader sense, it might mean someone like Rukit.
Yul decided to return the book to Celestia. For now, he could not read it.
Maybe it would be possible if he could see many things like Rukit.
Smacking his lips in regret, Yul looked toward Cecilia.
Beside her…… was an old man. Judging by his attire, he was clearly a mage.
‘Ah, come to think of it, I’ve seen him once before.’
He was one of the mages who had been standing beside Celestia when Yul first arrived at the beach.
He was a mage of the Great Balance school, someone who, after Ian disappeared, had taken a seat as an elder.
However, Cecilia did not look particularly pleased. She walked with an expressionless face, then met Yul’s gaze as she looked up.
“Yul!”
She immediately broke into a bright smile and waved her hand back and forth. Yul waved back at her.
Seeing that, the elder mage carefully lowered his head.
The mages of the Great Balance school showed a strong sense of reverence toward Yul. In addition to having encountered him on the beach, they had probably heard something separately from Celestia afterward.
In any case, they didn’t seem like people he would be deeply involved with.
‘I see.’
Perhaps Cecilia had talent for Great Balance magic.