Chương 29: Chapter 28 - Sunglasses

Alex floated in a sitting position, hovering just above the open spot of Aurora's garden, directly in front of her house. She sent Aurora yesterday to the southern farmlands of Count Mourier's territory, along with her 3 new employees under her. 30 employees had applied for the Junior Product Coordinator positions. There wasn't a limit to how many Aurora could take, but she insisted on giving them a test. Only 3 managed to pass When Alex had looked at the testing papers, she had put them down immediately.

Not her circus, not her business. Technically, it was her business, but let Aurora handle all the green magic stuff. Fuck if she knew anything about flower parts. Transcendent_Analysis just told her the pods contained the chemical to make coffee better, and that's what mattered. What mattered even more were the materials in front of her. Elador and Yulka stood beside her, waiting for what was about to happen. But first, a couple of questions to Elador.

"Elador, are there any other people in this world that can create these 'mana artifacts' as you call them?" Alex asked.

"There currently are 2 legends that have the talent called 'artificing,' my Lady. They would be able to create a similar artifact to your 'ice maker,'" Elador said.

"And you said you could also find these artifacts in a dungeon?"

"Yes, in fact, most of the artifacts that circulate around Nulfrae are from dungeons. Either the monsters inside the dungeon drop them, or they are found scattered throughout the labyrinths."

"Ok, cool..." Alex muttered.

"And no one dared to create mana structures without the talent?"

"Many had tried, my Lady, such as I. However, the sequences in my design always sputter out. That was until I've learned from your 'heatplates' and 'ice makers' the reason for my own failures."

"And what was that?"

"I'm glad you asked, my Lady," Elador said, puffing out his chest and then taking a deep breath. But before he could speak, Alex held up her hand.

"No need to tell me, I can guess why," Alex said. She wasn't about to listen to a long lecture from an old man-turned-young. She honestly had no idea where she was going with that, other than finding out why this backwater dump barely had any magitech machines. If Elador failed and these legends were still able to create successful artifacts, it meant the Spirit Signs refactored their designs automatically before application to the object. Basically, it was bad vibe coding.

Should they have relied on that kind of creation since the beginning of their artificing journey, then they wouldn't understand the fundamental rules and laws regarding the syntax. The stagnation of artificing is a clear result of this. Oh well. Not that Alex cared. But it completely explained the lack of artifacts, which turned the whole economy into an artisan culture. Sanitation, for one, required 4 different people with 4 different elemental magic talents to clean up the cesspit of Nulfraen sewage.

At the end of the day, that would ultimately explain why no one has thought of artificing the 2 metals in front of her, Yin and Cinders. One could not be heated, staying at exactly a 20C temperature, and the other took too much heat and had slight mana nullification properties. Yin would've been a lot more useful if it were any colder, but that was besides the point.

"First, let's start the experiment on the Yin ores. You're saying that no matter how much it's heated, it always remains cold and therefore unusable?" Alex asked.

"Yes, my Lady. Blacksmiths from all over Nulfrae have heated it up for a day in the highest temperatures, and they could not melt it. Even the legendary fire mage of Dragus could not make the metal pliable."

"Goddess of Might, there is a story in barbarian culture," Yulka jumped in.

"Hm?"

"An idiot forgot to take out the yin ores from the furnace that was used for heat during the winter and blacksmithing. By the end of the week, the whole furnace exploded."

"Director of Construction, I've heard of that rumour as well. Would it not have been caused by constant use of the furnace?" Elador asked.

"Nah. Barbarian furnaces are always turned on. There's no way that could happen."

"I don't quite understand the reasoning of putting Yin ores into the furnace, Yulka," Elador said.

"Hehe, don't ask me. Ask the idiot, but he's dead," Yulka chuckled.

"Interesting," Alex muttered. If the rumour was true, then there was a threshold to the amount of energy the Yin ore could take. No one's been able to replicate it simply because it was inefficient to waste time making it explode. But an explosion meant the energy taken by the metal reached critical mass. Rather than wasting a week of continuously heating the metal until it explodes, it was better to find its critical point by slowly increasing the temperature.

It would give her a reasonable enough conclusion on how much energy and the amount of energy it can no longer hold.

"Stand back behind me," Alex said. Both Yulka and Elador walked back and stood behind her. Floating the Yin ore into the air, Alex cast the syntax. She didn't have a predefined function to cast a test that would gradually heat an object. Resource Access: Plasma. Resource Access: Ether(100) as storage. Function: rate(access storage, Heat(1, storage), interval: second). Apply as increasing_heat. Function: Sustain_State(increasing_heat, storage) Target Object: Yin Ore.

Predefined_Trigger: Finger_Snap(Sustain_State) After 370C (10 ether), the temperature increase would slow down. By using Sustain_State, it would prevent the temperature from dropping after 10 seconds of input. This would allow reliable temperature reading by the second, as each second would input 37C worth of heat (Transcendent_Analysis wouldn't show the logs of when it actually explodes). Alex snapped her finger, and the heat around the Yin ore gradually rose.

At the same time, she cast Transcendent_Analysis on the whole area around the Yin ore. After 5 seconds, both Yulka and Elador took two steps further back from the experiment. At the 10 second mark, the Yin ore still held up. Finally, at the 82 second mark, the Yin ore exploded, sending bits of shrapnel flying everywhere. A blue outline stopped the shrapnel just before it hit Alex and the employees behind her. This could only mean the maximum thermal capacity was between 2997-3034C. But that wasn't all.

Transcendent_Analysis caught the ambient mana released by the explosion. Oh, hell the fuck yes. It's not that the heat went anywhere with the Yin Ore, it just simply converted it to mana. Since it exploded, it stored the mana inside the metal itself. At 3034C, it meant it could carry at least 8. 2 units of mana, and it didn't yet account for how much mana per lb or kg. She could technically artifice a telekinesis mana structure to spin a shaft. But at what cost? 1 ether per 2 free spinning revolutions?

That was without resistance. Completely inefficient use of telekinesis. Although mystical energy was effective in combat, it was inefficient for everyday use. Alex quickly updated the entry of Yin ore in the Transcendent_Analysis module to reflect the new information.

"Ha! I knew they explode," Yulka shouted.

"My Lady, what does this mean?" Elador asked.

"It means internal mana combustion engine for days," Alex said.

"For days?" Yulka asked." For days," Alex said.

"Now, onto the Cinders. Mana nullification effect, right?"

"Yes, my Lady. And it absorbs all light," Elador said.

"Cool. Does it heat up?" Alex asked.

"Yes, it heats up incredibly fast."

"Alright, next experiment," Alex said. She didn't care too much about the light absorbing thing. In fact, the answer to that use case was obvious. Combine it with Yin metal, and it'll act like the perfect solar panel by directing the energy back into Fraedium gems. The mana nullification effect was more important. How does it work? A simple magic missile (mana converted into pure physical destructive force using the deconstruct syntax) would solve this puzzle.

Alex snapped her finger, and the Cinder ore bent into a metal plate of 1 centimetre thickness. Sending a magic missile at the plate, the missile punched through easily. The amount of mana left at the other side of the plate was around 7. 5 units of mana. One more snap of her finger, the cinder plate thinned to 5 millimetres and cut into two. The two cinder plate then stacked on each other while hovering in the air. She launched a magic missile again on the stacked plates, and the missile punched through the plates.

The remaining mana on the magic missile was exactly 5. 625 units worth of mana. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Another snap of her finger, and the two plates thinned to 2. 5 millimetres each. Still stacked amongst each other. Another magic missile punched through. But this time, it still turned out to be 5. 625 units worth of mana, which meant that 5 millimetres was the minimum thickness for the 25% diminishing magic nullification effect.

This would be great as magebane bullets that would disrupt a caster's mana circulation when hit. However, that wasn't the point of today's experiment. This could be used as safety lining if a mana engine ever explodes. There were still harmful effects from mana explosions after all. Apart from that, table it for now for being less useful than Yin ores. Solar panels would still work well if the ambient ether dried up.

"My Lady, I don't understand," Elador said.

"The Cinder plates have a maximum mana nullification of 25% per pass-through, but it needs a minimum thickness of 5 millimeters," Alex said.

"For now, it's only useful for engine safety. Solar panels would also be useful for water heating. I'll send the design over to you later."

"Yes. But why water heating?"

"Each house right now burns wood for their water. It's toxic and inefficient. Having a boiler in each house would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"I believe it is too much of a luxury for us..." Elador said.

"Meh, I want a boiler too so I don't have to cast shit just to have a nice hot bath," Alex said.

"Hell yeah!" Yulka shouted.

"Glory to the Goddess of Might's smartiness!"

"Also, I'm sending both of you a design you both need to work on. Calibrate it and attach it to a carriage. The design of the drive shaft and transmission is also there," Alex said. Although it was a highly simplified 3 speed, it would still be better than anything that was pulled by a horse. Refining and putting it together was her employees' job. She wouldn't do everything herself for them. That would be bad for the business.

Elador should understand the notes on the stack of paper that detail what every part does. At least, it'll keep him busy for a while. Both him and Yulka should also be able to make the parts themselves since they got power-levelled. Well, if it takes longer than a month, Alex would help out.

"Any questions?" Alex asked.

"Yes, my Lady. I have a question." Alex almost audibly grumbled.

"Fine... ask away."

"About the thing you called 'combustion engine'..." Elador started. And thus, the non-stop 6 hour grueling lecture session started on what an internal combustion engine was. Not that Alex minded since it was about engineering. The problem was, Aurora wasn't here to drip feed her Cafe Mochas. And of course... Yulka fell asleep almost immediately. ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ Bending metal, creating molds, handling heavy items, and a lot more activities became much easier after the trip to the Loomlight Grand Labyrinth.

Elador had to thank the Lady for her benevolence in allowing them to have that once in a lifetime experience. It's been 3 weeks since the start of their assignment by the Lady. In front of him was a finished 'mana rumbling engine'. He did not quite understand why the Lady called it a 'combustion' engine when her design did not have any combustion anywhere. Instead, in the 'piston', her mana artificing would increase the heat to cause the pressure to shoot up during the compression stage of the cycle.

This pressure would create force that would drive down the 'piston' thereby making power. The air heats up, but there was no sign of combustion. To smoothen the movement of the pistons and prevent wear on the components, Elador opted to kill 5 slimes and use it as lubricant. After thoroughly burning off all the water in the slime, what was left was oil that was smooth enough that it wouldn't freeze from the Yin metal's coldness.

The whole engine was made of Yin metal, the whole engine itself would be considered an artifact. The Lady had artificed the whole engine with what she calls a converter sequence that would direct the ambient mana inside the metal to a Fraedium gem. She called this Fraedium gem an 'alternator', yet it does not alternate anything. All it did was transfer the ambient mana into the gem that had a maximum capacity of 45, 000 mana units. The Lady's eccentricity once again captivated Elador.

She came up with these names nonsensically. Though, it somehow made sense since it would alternate between mana input and output for 'auxiliary' attachments. No... that did not make sense. Her design allowed it to take input and output at the same time. Elador supposed it was just the Lady's unique way of thinking.

"Elador! Come on! Come on!" Yulka shouted behind him. Turning around, he saw her already dragging a carriage made out of all metal. Since the engine would output much stronger forces than a horse ever could, the wooden material of carriages failed them numerous times. The weight of the engine alone broke the wooden carriage engine bays.

"I'm coming," Elador said, lifting up the engine with his telekinesis. He walked over to where Yulka was as she opened the engine bay. Telekinetically dropping the engine into its correct position, all the screws and bolts twisted into place with their exact weight rating. Yulka then slammed down the engine bay with a loud thunk.

"Careful, Yulka, do not damage the truck," Elador said.

"Ehh, look at it. It can take the damage," Yulka said. True enough, the carriage design that the Lady called a 'truck' was solid. The engine bay extended forward from the main carriage, and the 'cab', where the coachman would sit, was 2. 5 meters tall. Coachmen would have to climb a couple of steps to reach the seat, and that's what Yulka did, taking over the wheel. Elador entered the truck on the other side and sat beside Yulka.

"You ready?" Yulka asked.

"Ready," Elador said. Yulka placed her hand on the authorization rune. She inserted mana into it, and the engine came to life with its loud rumbling noise. The carriage vibrated along with the 4 pistons that rotated the main shaft the Lady called a 'crankshaft'.

"Ok, right now, it's in 'park' mode... pulling the lever should put us into the 1st gear," Yulka said. But before she could pull the lever, Elador stopped her hand.

"Why stop me?" Elador pulled out two shaded glasses and extended one to Yulka.

"The Lady's OSHA scripture had ordered coachmen to wear these at all times during the day."

"Thank you. I almost broke the Path's laws," Yulka took one of the shaded glasses and put it on.

"How do I look?"

"You look good," Elador said. However, these shaded glasses weren't for looks. They were for eye protection against the sun. The Lady also mentioned something about 'style points,' but Elador once again attributed that to Her eccentricity. Yulka then pulled the lever, and the truck immediately started rolling forward.

"Woah..." It wasn't even that fast, yet Elador also became amazed. They were moving without a horse.

"Elador..."

"I know, Yulka..." Elador muttered. Before the truck could hit the storage facility's gate (The Lady called this new facility a 'garage'), he telekinetically lifted the gates. The truck exited the facility and entered the open air. Employees all around, including Grey and Rand, ran over to marvel at the truck.

"Elador, Yulka, what is this mana structure you are inside of?" Grey asked. Yulka pressed the brake pedal and then peeked her head out of her side of the door.

"The Lady had named this beast a 'truck.' What say you of Her creation, Grey?"

"It is a beauty, Yulka... but what is it for?" Elador peeked his head out of his side of the door.

"Transportation, Sir Grey. This shall replace horse drawn carriages in the future."

"How does it move without a horse?" Rand asked.

"The mechanics of the mana structure are complicated. Shall I schedule a seminar to discuss?" Elador asked.

"That would be great, Elador," Grey said.

"I shall pass on the lecture," Rand said at the same time as Grey.

"I understand your worry, Sir Rand. However, I assure you that it shall be an enlightening session," Elador said.

"I apologize, Elador. I have matters to attend to. My calendar is tied up with patrols and meetings," Rand said.

"Then another time. Grey, please send me your availabilities and we shall have that seminar during work hours," Elador said.

"I shall send it to you by end of day today," Grey said.

"Alright, if the conversation is done, stand back and allow the truck to pass," Yulka said. Grey, Rand, and the onlooking employees stood back to give the truck wide berth. Yulka pressed the pedal that moved the truck forward, called 'gas pedal', They passed through the narrow paths of the headquarters and to the wooden logged gate. After telekinetically opening the gates, the truck moved through the small road and turned left onto I-10. That was when Yulka pressed the gas pedal harder to speed up.

"Yeah! Pedal to the floor, baby!" Yulka shouted. The truck began to move at a speed that carriages couldn't keep up with. There were travelers walking along I-10 that Elador had to move to the side before they got hit.

"Yulka, slow down, please. You're going too fast!"

"Woooh!" As they drove along I-10, the rumbling of the cab became heavier and heavier. Before they could even reach the convergence point, the front left metal wheel blew off, causing the cab to skid forward.

"Oh," Yulka muttered.

"Do not fret, Yulka. This was part of the test." Elador got off the truck and inspected the damage. The skid caused a lot of damage to the cab, but what was more important were the metal wheels. Wood wasn't enough, and it seemed damage to the metal wheel would add up constantly, causing the whole cab's comfort to worsen over time. This would also be a problem when it came to transporting the Lady's goods and supplies.

"Can you think of any material that would heal upon impact?" Yulka asked.

"Hard leather inflated with air... but that won't work. Leather would break too fast at high speeds," Elador said.

"Is there any other, more durable material?" Yulka asked.

"There is rubber we could try. However, let us ask for the Lady's opinion first," Elador said.

"Huh? I thought you'd want to figure it out yourself before asking the Lady."

"I know my limits, Yulka. We could create a wheel made of inflated rubber and test it multiple times. But that would also mean we would waste the Lady's money by constantly testing formulations of the rubber. She may have already seen through this error of the wheel."

"As expected of the Goddess of Might! It's best to just ask her for a peek at her All Seeing Plan, hehehe."

"Exactly." Elador lifted the whole truck.

"Come now, Yulka. Let us head back to the headquarters."

"Aye, aye, Director!" Yulka saluted, following Elador, who began walking back. ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ The engine, transmission, and alternator were done according to Elador and Yulka's report. Now she just needed to tell him how to make a proper tire and give him the blueprints for air conditioning. Can't have a car or a truck without air conditioning. Any car that wasn't sold with AC was basically a scam.

"And?" Alex asked Elador and Yulka as she sat on her fur-covered throne.

"In conclusion, the test performed spectacularly well, except for the wheels, my Lady. Metal wheels cannot handle the rough terrain. Even with smoother bricks, they would still degrade from the imperfections on the road," Elador said.

"Cool cool cool..." Alex said.

"And you tried rubber?"

"I suspect simple inflated rubber would be inadequate for such a massive mana structure."

"True enough," Alex said. Modern tires, especially for big rigs, had technology as complex as the engines themselves. Well, that could easily be solved. Rubber was technically only the surface of the tire. Inside would be a mesh of metal, ideally steel. Mithril or Adamantite would be overkill, but steel needed a different facility to produce. Dammit. They needed to use up her Adamantite. It wasn't like she was using it for armour anyways.

Alex materialized a stack of paper and printed on it the design of a tire, from bead to the metal belt to tread and rib. She floated it over to Elador, who took it with a gaping mouth.

"My Lady, does a tire require this complex of a design?" Yulka whistled.

"Adamantite too."

"Well, it'll last like 5 years and can be recycled, soooo, yep."

"I understand. We shall work on this design and update you in 3 weeks."

"Cool." Suddenly, Alex's mana communication device rang. Pulling it out, he saw Aurora's caller ID.

"Y-ello, Over," Alex said to the device.

"My Lady, we have met some issues with the Count's land. Over."

"What problem? Over."

"It is the reason that the Count's food supply dwindled, which forced him to attack the Barony. It is wild harpruffs, my Lady. Over."

"Harpruffs? Over."

"Yes, harpruffs. Over."

"Got it. I'll be over in a few. Over."

"Understood, my Lady. Enjoy your walk over to the Count's land. Over."

"Will do, hanging up now, over." Alex pressed the red button on her device and the call dropped. She turned to Elador and Yulka.

"Any other questions?"

"No, my Lady."

"Alright, dismissed," Alex said as she stood up. The hell were harpruffs even? Sounded like some kind of pests. Welp, time to go figure it out.