Volume 8 - Chapter 27 – Combat-ready (1/2)

08-27 Combat-ready

“Next is master’s weaponry, right?”

Ann said, because the reinforced clothing was more or less complete.

“[Water Jet] and [Laser] are too powerful, and they range from long distance to medium distance usage. Please acquire some short distance weaponry.”

“I see what you’re getting at.”

Ann’s proposal was on point. But Jin didn’t know martial arts or anything like that.

“Which means that in the end I should be fine swinging around something like a staff…”

For now, Jin pictured himself wielding a staff. …There was something wrong with it. Jin couldn’t picture it.

“How about a katana? Although they do say that it won’t cut unless you align the blade correctly, and Adamantite is heavy too.”

Double strength was barely not enough to wield a katana made out of Adamantite.

“Hmm… It has to be light, so that means that some materials are off the table, huh…”

After thinking it through that much what popped into his mind was a sword made out of light out of a certain famous movie franchise.

“That would probably work out, it seems.”

Jin formed a plan in his head.

“Imprison plasma and…Nope. As an anti-personnel weapon that would be way too brutal. With lightning-type magic…It’s the same.”

Jin kept puzzling over it.

“Hmm, and I thought it was such a good idea…”

“Master, before you continue that please first add a self-defense barrier to your equipment.”

Ann gave her some timely help. However, it wasn’t where she had thought she’d help, as she helped Jin reach a good idea.

“That’s right! A barrier! I’ll make a barrier’s force field into a sword!”

Usually [Magic Barrier]s spread out into a sphere or into a disk, but Jin began to consider if it was possible to make it into the shape of a sword. Spheres, disks, and other geometrical shapes were simple but making it into the shape of a sword was next to impossible.

“Alright! I can do this! I can do this!”

However, with Jin’s knowledge of magic and experience on Earth it became feasible.

“Won’t it work out if I just expand the [Magic Barrier]’s poles to the shape of a sword?”

A [Magic Barrier] was a wall made out of Ether, so to speak. In theory its construction was easy. It was a combination of attracting and repelling Ether. Using the techniques in equilibrium, you could put up an invisible wall.

Here’s some more details about the attracted Ether and the repelled Ether. They collide against each other and in the location where they’re in equilibrium the Ether density in the air becomes tens of thousands of times higher. The Ether can then link together. This [Ether Mesh] is what a [Magic Barrier] is.

A [Magic Barrier]’s strength is half decided by the Ether concentration, and half by the strength of the links of the mesh. The size of the Mesh is made so that Ether can easily pass through it, so that one doesn’t have to worry about the magician inside running out of Ether.

The poles where Ether is repelled or attracted to are generated by a magical ring for example, or the imaginary points in space a magician can create. By inscribing down the complex details the designated imaginary points can be created by Magic Energy only, so by using a ring or something like that as a Magi Tool the performance is good.

And so Jin was thinking about trying to make those ‘poles’ into the shape of a sword.

“Usually the emissions come out of a point, so it becomes a sphere.”

Basically an equidistant Ether Mesh forms around the emitting point.

“To change it into the shape of a sword, the intensity needs to be changed partially…Oh, that should do.”

By changing the intensity, the distance at which the repelling and attracting forces are at equilibrium changes. For poles that are a point that control would be too difficult, but for a sword shape it was comparatively simple. (Only for a Magi Craft Meister, that is.)

It seemed like some minute adjustments were still necessary, but the sword-shaped [Magic Barrier] that Jin held did look like a 50-centimeter sword and emitted a faint light.

“Alright, let’s do this like that, and that like this.”

Jin continued tweaking the Magi Formula for the sword-shaped [Magic Barrier].

After about three rounds of adjustments,

“I’ve done it!”

Jin raised his voice in delight.

“If I change the output then… Whoa!”

From the short 40 centimeters it lengthened to over two meters.

“Now then, the sharpness.”

Jin tried slashing at a block of wood that was lying around nearby.

“Huh?”

However, contrary to his expectations it wasn’t cut.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because right now it’s a simple cylindrical barrier…”

He guessed at the reason and developed it further.

“Let’s change the nature of the linked Ether at this point to fire…No, to thermal energy.”

After a small tweak he performed a second test.

“How’s it now? …Ow, that’s hot!”