Volume 6 - Chapter 18 – Chat 3: One Day on Hourai Island (1/2)
06-18 Side Story 3: One Day on Hourai Island
This world is filled with Ether.
In addition, the composition of the ground, the mantle, and the core differs from Earth’s.
The mantle is of rock containing Magi Stones and Magi Crystals, and the core is of metals like Mithril and Adamantite.
Similarly to geomagnetism’s magnetic poles, magical poles generate lines of Magical Energy.
Since the magical north pole draws in Ether, when approaching the North Pole (magical north pole = magnetic north pole) the Magic Energy concentration in the air increases.
On the other hand, when going towards south the Ether gets thinner.
Consequently, devil beasts that use Magic Energy as sustenance inevitably gather near the North Pole.
By the way, the South Pole doesn’t draw in Ether towards itself.
Because the South Pole doesn’t have a magical pole. This is one of this world’s great mysteries.
For this reason, the area around the north pole is devil beasts’ territory, and the rest is human habitat.
However, because exceptions sometimes happen, one Sea Dragon left its den and swam south.
On the way the sea dragon preyed on a group of Death Serpents it saw. Half of the about 100-strong group ended up in its stomach.
The remaining Death Serpents went south in order to escape the Sea Dragon.
The Death Serpents swam around as if they owned the place in the sea that had no enemies because of the low Magic Energy concentration, and as soon as they found frail sea creatures that didn’t possess Magic Energy they immediately ate them.
However, that group of fifty-odd Death Serpents met a powerful foe near a certain unpopulated island, and faced a crushing defeat.
Majority of the Magic Energy from that scattered around to the sea and the skies.
The naturally impossible concentration of Magic Energy dissolved into the ocean, and flowed north with the currents.
And then, the stray Sea Dragon noticed it.
The Sea Dragon was attracted by the flowing Magic Energy, and restarted its journey south. It didn’t know that this would lead it to its own doom.
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A warm current flows around Hourai Island. It starts at around the equatorial region, brushes against the peninsula of Elias Kingdom, and then flows north in the sea Hourai and Kunlun islands are in.
In this current, a great deal of fish do their seasonal migration.
Right now, the Navy golem of Hourai Island, Marine-67 was onboard the triple-hull catamaran ‘Hydro-23’ fishing along with the maid golem Aqua-67.
(Marine-67, the fish are biting a lot today, aren’t they?)
(Yeah, how about freezei and drying these?)
(Sounds good. The master loves fish, after all.)
At that moment.
(Marine-67, did you feel that?)
(Uh-huh. Powerful Magic Energy. We should hurry and go back.)
Hydro-23 urgently turned back towards the southeast bay, with its Magi Water Jets on full throttle.
Avoiding the fish preserve in the southeast bay, they docked by the pier, and Marine-67 went to the research facility using a Warp Gate to deliver a report. Aqua-67 used the Warp Gate after gathering up all caught fish.
The magical intelligence Laozi that managed the island in Jin’s absence received the report, and immediately began handling it.
(Air Force, urgent dispatch. Sky-1 in command. Sky units from 2 to 10, protect the research facility’s airspace. Units from 11 to 50, patrol the sky above the reported point on alert state two, rest on standby.)
(Sky-1, roger that.)
(Navy, urgent dispatch. Marine-1, have Marines from 2 to 80 circling the ocean area north of Hourai Island. The rest on guard against a strike to the southeast bay.)
(Marine-1, roger that.)
(Army on alert status one. Land-1, have Land units from 2 to 10 defend the research facility and the mansion. Deploy the rest on the coastline from the north to the eastern side.)
(Land-1, roger that.)
(Soleil and Luna, along with Planetarium, Satella, as well as the number 100 golems, defend Kunlun Island.)
(Roger that.)
Laozi gave orders one after another. The military style wasn’t quite right because Jin’s knowledge used as the basis was incomplete.
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After two hours, Sky-45 detected the wake of a boat heading from north to south. Along with the nearby Sky-33 and 37 it descended, and identified that it was a devil beast like a huge dragon.