Chapter 454: Deduction, Examination, Experiment, Verification (1/2)

On the morning of July 19, Jin, Elsa, and Saki went to Hourai Island. Berthie returned to Kartze Village, where Reinhardt was waiting for her.

Stearleana was also in Hourai Island. She had gone there after returning to her home in Goa, in the Kingdom of Celuroa, on the 16th.

“Ah, but if it isn’t Jin and everyone else.”

Stearleana had been given one room on the 3rd floor for her to use as her laboratory. Jin and his friends turned up there.

“What brings you here today?”

“There’s something I’d like to hear your thoughts about.”

“Ah, what is it?”

Jin told her about making Magi Crystals artificially. When Stearleana heard that, she started jumping up and down in joy.

“Alright! That’s what I wanted to do! What I really love are crystals, beautiful gems, and magi crystals, not materials for making golems!”

From there, they moved onto the details. Jin was the first one to speak.

“So you know about the Mana Tanks that golems use? They work by storing Mana in Magi Crystals. Do you know the principle behind them?”

“Well… It’s a bit embarrassing, but I’m using them without really knowing how they work.”

Some technologies are derived from empirical rules and some are derived from theory. The Mana tank was one of technologies discovered after a long period of trial and error.

“Everyone, try to think about how Mana is stored in a Mana Tank.”

“…I have no idea.”

After thinking for a while, Saki gave up. Stearleana followed soon after. But Elsa was still thinking. Eventually Elsa raised her face and replied in a soft voice, seemingly unconfident.

“…By filling gaps, perhaps?”

“I think that’s the correct answer.”

Jin saw Elsa’s answer and realized that they seemed to be on the same page. However, Saki and Stearleana were still struggling to grasp the idea. So Jin decided to deliver an easy-to-understand explanation.

“Let’s say I put several big round stones into a box. Well, after it’s filled with round stones, would I still be able to put something in the box?”

“Hmm? But if it’s full, then you can’t put anything else in it, right? …Ah, wait. You can still put sand in it, huh?.”

Jin nodded at Saki’s answer.

“Ah, so that’s it. Well, you mentioned sand, but you could still put water in the box, right?

Stearleana voiced her mind after hearing their explanation.

“Then, what you’re trying to say is that the things we know as Mana are actually very tiny?”

“I think so. All substances are made up of what we call ‘molecules’. Molecules are like grains, but they are so small we can’t see them. But Mana is much smaller than that. And I guess Ether is even smaller.”

Jin revealed his theory.

“Most substances can contain Ether and Mana, but I think Magi Crystals are a material that can contain a lot of Mana and are easy to carry around. Of course, since you can write Magi Formula on Magi Crystals, it is sometimes said that they’re efficient when used as tanks.”

“I see. I think I follow somehow. Though I’ll need a little more explanation on these ‘molecules’ you mentioned. Please, go on…”

“Now, what would happen if we were to put a lot of Mana in a regular stone?”

“…It would turn into a Magi Stone, right?”

This time it was Saki who shared her deductions. Jin nodded.

“If only I could, though… I’ve tried to do that before, but unfortunately, I haven’t been successful yet.”

“I-I see. So not even you can do it, Jin…”

Saki dropped her shoulders. But on the other hand, Stearleana was burning with a fighting spirit.

“But that’s why it’s worth it! It makes you want to find out more about Magi Crystals, and to find a way to replicate them, right?”

Jin nodded…

“Yeah. We’ll first have to try several things.”

…And then asked Reiko to prepare several Magi Crystals.

“First of all, I’ve been wondering why Magi Crystals have different colors depending on their attributes.”

Jin said that as he looked at the colorful Magi Crystals placed on the workbench.

“Well, that may be just a matter of course, but what’s the difference between Magi Crystal and Magi Stones? Is it just the amount of Mana they contain?”

“Most of the Magi Crystals are transparent or translucent, while the Magi Stones are opaque. I think there’s something there.”

“Ah, could it be…?”

After hearing Stearleana’s statement, Elsa seemed to have come across something.

“I think Magi Crystals are ‘crystallized’ after all. In other words, since they have a regular molecular arrangement, it’s easier for them to contain Mana. But Magi Stones are different.”

Since Saki and Stearleana weren’t familiar with the term “crystallized”, they didn’t seem to be able to fully understand Elsa’s statement, so Jin provided a supplementary explanation.

“Crystals are, essentially, molecules… Which, as I said earlier, are the small particles that make up a substance. A crystallized substance is one whose molecules are lined up in regular patterns. For instance, most common crystals and gemstones have their molecules arranged in hexagonal patterns.”

That analogy seemed to have worked, as the two of them nodded profusely at Jin.

“To put it in another way, we could say that the gaps in their composition are lined up neatly. Which would be easier to drive on, a straight road or a winding road?”

“That’s our Jin for us. I wouldn’t have been able to come up with that analogy myself.”

At least, being a crystalline material seemed to be a big factor in whether it was easy for something to contain Mana or not.

“Then, the next question is whether Mana will naturally enter such stones and crystals.”

If they were able to understand their mechanism and reproduce it artificially, they might be able to make artificial Magi Crystals.

“Is that… Is that something that can be understood?”

Saki’s tone of voice sounded as if she lacked self-confidence.