Chapter 455: Training (2/2)

That being said, they just brought in the food that Peridot had already prepared. And most of the carrying was done by Reiko anyway.

Since Jin, Elsa, and Saki came from Kaina Village, they had had breakfast recently, so lunch was rather modest.

It was a hamburger with steak and vegetables, and the buns were made with yeast.

“This is yummy.”

Stearleana had 3, Jin had 2, and Elsa and Saki had 1 each.

*   *   *

“Next, we need to determine how Ether turns into Magi Atoms.”

After lunch, Jin talked about the next topic.

“Do Magi Atoms and Mana combine to make Magi Crystals? …Ah, my father is going to go nuts after he hears about this.”

Saki’s father was the renowned alchemist Toa Eschenbach.

“Speaking of him, where’s your father now, Saki?”

“I heard he came back home for a couple of days while I was staying at my grandfather’s house. Then he left once again to who knows where…”

He was the kind of person who couldn’t just stay at home.

“I-I see…”

After pulling himself together, Jin started over.

“Ok, so, how does Ether turn into Magi Atoms…?”

Now, the four people there had a general idea about atomic structures. Although it was a simplified concept, it was enough for everyone to be able to discuss the current topic.

“To begin with, we don’t even know how the activation magic process works…”

“A mage can take in the Ether in the air by breathing and convert it into Mana in their body. This Mana can be made to take the form of various types of energy, and even be manipulated depending on the will and imagination of the purified person. This is what we have thought to be magic.”

“…Huh?”

“…Is that the knowledge passed on by Adriana Balbora Ceci…?”

Jin nods at the two surprised faces.

“Yeah. Though that may be a little outdated. This knowledge dates from before the Great Magic War…”

“…So, in other words, if force of will can transform Ether into Mana… It should also be able to transform it into Magi Atoms, right?”

“I think so, yeah.”

While replying to Saki’s remarks, Jin thought that a mage might be closer to a person with supernatural powers on Earth. At least he couldn’t see any problems with that comparison.

Both people with supernatural powers and mages had in common the fact that not everyone could replicate their wondrous feats.

“…So, what exactly is a naturally made Magi Atom?”

Jin returned to the main topic.

“I’m really interested in that as well, but let’s return to our goal of making artificial Magi Crystals first.”

“Hmm, that’s right. We’re not going to find an answer to that no matter how much we want to right now.”

“Then, if you know the structure of an atom, perhaps we might be able to make a Magi Atom?”

Stearleana took a stab at the heart of the matter.

“Yeah. Maybe we should start with the atoms of the simplest structure.”

“Hydrogen, right?”

“Right. However, Hydrogen is an invisible gas. It’s going to need some craftiness.”

So, they decided to try the method that is often used in experiments to collect gas, that is, using a pneumatic trough.

Since Ether was also present in water, all that was left was to determine how to convert Ether to hydrogen.

“…”

“…!”

The four of them tried to generate hydrogen in various ways.

The general idea was to imagine the structure of hydrogen and make the Ether in the cup change, but it didn’t go that well.

The first one to succeed was Jin, perhaps due to the difference in power for making mental images.

“Got it!”

“Oh, some gas is being generated. “Analyze” … Hmm, it’s definitely hydrogen. That’s our Jin!”

Saki didn’t know all there was to know about the Analyze spell, but she now knew the existence and structure of hydrogen, so she could analyze it.

After Jin’s success, Elsa, Saki, and Stearleana all succeeded as well. Seeing a precedent seemed to be an effective means to get results.

At any rate, it seemed possible to create atoms from Ether. However…

“…J-Jin, I feel so tired for some reason.”

“…Me too.”

“…Me too, a bit.”

Except for Jin, the other three complained about feeling sluggish.

“They’ve all run out of magic, huh?”

That had been Reiko’s diagnosis. It seemed that “alchemy” wasn’t such a simple thing to do.