Chapter 293: Investigating the Magic Stone
Numerous measuring devices were directed toward it. Analysis through visible light, imaging via X-rays. At the center lay a massive stone, faintly glowing.
This was the central area of the Holy Capital of the Prava Divine Nation, in the Underground Hall. The Tree was diligently analyzing the enormous magic stone installed at the heart of the city.
Various measuring instruments utilizing radiation, including X-rays. Electromagnetic wave imaging devices focused on visible light. A multitude of Magic Essence Meters were arranged around the area. And a Real-time Analysis Processor was tasked with processing the vast amounts of data collected from these instruments.
The beautifully decorated, majestic underground temple had been stripped of all its adornments during the cleanup operations following the occupation. Inside, numerous sensors were installed, with cables sprawling across the floor, leaving no trace of its original splendor.
“＜Iris＞, are there any issues with the data analysis?”
“No problems. Noise elimination is functioning well. The underground has minimal noise, making measurements easier.”
“Above ground, there are microwaves buzzing around for power supply. Well, for now, we can create a pattern map, so there’s no issue. If it were another civilization, we wouldn’t get away with this. It’s nice to have The Tree as the sole powerhouse.”
The A-class Strategic AI, ＜Iris＞, was exchanging data with Asahi while conducting experiments on the city barrier. Observing the magic stone at the core, believed to be the key to the barrier, they attacked with various means to record and analyze the resulting phenomena.
“Let’s start with artillery fire.”
Operating the Multi-legged Tank positioned at the perimeter, Asahi aimed the Main Cannon at the city wall.
“I’ll fire in five seconds. Two, one, now!”
“Barrier deployment confirmed.”
A metal shell, launched at a speed of approximately 200 m/s, collided with the city wall. In that instant, patterns of light danced around. The deployed barrier completely defended against the shell, leaving the targeted wall unscathed.
“Hmmm, ＜Iris＞, what do you think of this?”
“Insufficient data. The sample size is too small. If we trust the sensor readings, it appears the volume slightly decreases upon barrier deployment. However, since the magic stone has shown size fluctuations during measurements, there’s a possibility of error.”
“Let’s try firing about a hundred times with the same location and power.”
With that, the two began their diligent observations. The railgun allowed for adjustments to the initial speed at launch, making it ideal for such repetitive measurements. Of course, using a railgun as a measuring tool was not the intended purpose.
“It seems we can conclude there are significant fluctuations!”
“I agree. The magic stone’s size decreases during barrier deployment. It returns to its original size over several seconds. We can predict that the barrier consumes a certain amount of magic power at least during deployment.”
The sensors observing the massive magic stone recorded even minute fluctuations down to the micron level. From their analysis, they confirmed that the volume of the magic stone was indeed changing.
“The light emitted by the magic stone also shows slight variations in brightness during normal conditions… It seems to dim slightly when the barrier is deployed.”
“The barrier consumes some form of energy upon deployment. And that consumed energy appears to recover naturally.”
When the barrier protecting the city was deployed, its volume slightly decreased, and its brightness dimmed. If left unattended, the volume would return and brightness would recover within seconds. This was the result of multiple trials.
“Hmmm. To nullify the magical barrier, continuous or sustained damage is necessary… In other words, this magic stone acts like a capacitor, and if it depletes or falls below a certain threshold, the barrier will disappear. That seems to be the case.”
“Logically speaking, that’s correct.”
To verify their hypothesis, ＜Iris＞ and Asahi continued their bombardment experiments. As a result, the following conclusions were drawn:
- The barrier consumes the magic power (tentative name) of the magic stone to deploy.
- Magic power is consumed when an attack is nullified.
- When the magic power stored in the magic stone decreases, the barrier can no longer be deployed.
- The magic power of the magic stone recovers over time.
- The barrier can be redeployed approximately 18 seconds after it can no longer be deployed.
- The charge time for redeployment is between 16 and 20 seconds.
- Even with intervals, the number of times the barrier can defend against attacks remains unchanged. In other words, if the magic power is at maximum, the barrier can be deployed, but if it is even slightly insufficient, it cannot be deployed.
- The number of times the barrier can defend against artillery fire is significantly higher than against laser attacks.
- The total energy of a simple attack is not the only factor; the duration of the attack hitting is also relevant.
- Applying continuous pressure for several seconds is more taxing on the barrier than a single direct hit from a shell.
“I didn’t expect laser attacks to be effective.”
“Records indicate they had little effect on the wyverns.”
The results of the attack experiments on the city wall revealed that, at least for the magical barrier of this Holy Capital, laser cannon attacks could deploy the barrier, and the time until the barrier was nullified was remarkably short. However, when fighting the wyverns, attacks using lasers or masers had almost no effect. Whether this was due to some inherent trait of the species or another reason remained uncertain, as there were no comparative cases at this time.
“It’s been confirmed that The Tree’s tactics thus far are not mistaken! It’s a good thing to clearly observe that we can strip the barriers from threat creatures by continuously attacking!”
“It’s not a bad thing to infer that there are individual or species differences.”
It had already been established through combat that the barriers deployed by threat creatures differed significantly between wyverns and others, but the increase in case studies was beneficial. In future battles against threat creatures with barriers, it would be wise to first measure the properties of the magical barriers.
“For now, we have a good understanding of the properties of the magical barrier itself. Next, we need to determine under what conditions the barrier is deployed. What happens with attacks from within the city? There are many things that need to be confirmed.”
“Understood. I will compile a list of test items.”
They had confirmed that the barrier would deploy in response to external attacks. But what qualifies as an attack? What does not qualify? What conditions are there?
If they could elucidate these points, it could significantly ease the process of dealing with threat creatures.
And ideally, they wanted to replicate the barrier deployment using this magic stone. If they could utilize the properties of this barrier, it was believed that the strength of the structures built by The Tree could be dramatically enhanced.
“It would be best if we could use it to protect my older sister.”
“Relying on equipment with so many unknowns is far too dangerous.”
While the idea of deploying barriers using the magic stone was enticing, relying on an unknown technology carried the risk of it failing at critical moments. It could potentially explode unexpectedly. In that case, AI like ＜Ringo＞ would likely not allow such a thing to be integrated. At the very least, if they manufactured it themselves, they would fully understand the principles behind it. They could respond to any issues that arose, so that would take priority.
However, if it proved to be highly effective, there was a possibility it could be adopted as a primary defense measure. To that end, it was necessary to elucidate its properties and replicate them as much as possible.
“At the very least, if we can confirm that it won’t self-destruct, we can find a way to use it!”
“I hope we can make use of the magic stone from the captured wyvern.”
Incidentally, while this conversation was taking place, ＜Ringo＞ hurriedly began the extraction of the Rain Kroin from The Tree, but that was a side note. Until Asahi brought it up, the possibility of self-destruction had not even crossed their minds.
If the magic stone is a crystalline entity containing some form of energy, it could potentially explode unexpectedly.
Q: Why hadn’t we noticed this before?
A: We hadn’t observed the phenomena of magic power (tentative name) consumption and replenishment. It was unclear whether it was an organ that generates magic power, one that uses it, or one that stores it, so perhaps Ringo was trying not to think too much about it… Please understand this as part of a fantasy phobia.