Magic Research and Analysis – Part 4

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Morning. Courtyard. In front of the thunder ore.

I’m standing in front of the ore, which intermittently carries electric current. My sister is standing next to me in the same way.

Today, Father isn’t here. Until now, he had always said not to do experiments when he was absent. However, he said that we could do a simple experiment if my sister was present, and to keep a bucket of water nearby just in case. Apparently, in his mind, experiments always required water.

“Um, Marie,” I said, glancing over to her, trying to figure out what to do.

“What is it?”

She was close, with her arms folded and not moving away from me. She rubbed her cheek against my arm, which was cute like a cat, but more like lovers than siblings. I didn’t mind it, but if we got too clingy, Father would scold us. Plus, this level of intimacy is bad for our future.

Anyway, right now, it’s inconvenient to be this close.

“Sorry, could you back off a bit?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m about to do some magic experiments, and it’s dangerous if you’re too close, right?”

“…Am I in the way?” she said with a sad look, dropping her eyes.

What’s going on here? To outsiders, it might look like we were being too intimate. When I was in Japan, I used to curse couples like this in my mind, but now, here I am in the same position with my sister.

“It’s not that you’re in the way! But, you know, it’s just easier to do it if you’re a little further away.”

Pouting her lips, she moved away from me. She looked regretfully at my right arm. Maybe she really likes my arms.

“Fine, I got it,” she said, sitting at the edge of the courtyard, hugging her knees.

My sister can be selfish at times, but she can understand if I explain things to her. I sighed softly and smiled.

Alright, let’s begin today’s research.

Up until today, I’ve been continuing with some training and experiments. It’s about changing the shape of magic power.

When I released my magic power outside, it always took the shape of a perfect circle. At first, I thought it was just a natural occurrence, as if the magic power settled into that shape on its own. However, the other day I realized that I could change its shape. It took me a while to come up with the idea, but once I focused on it, I was able to do it.

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There are some things I’ve learned about changing the shape of magic power.

Firstly, it is possible to increase one’s magic power beyond the amount of magic power released externally from the body.

If my mind is clear, I can create a perfect circular magic power with a diameter of approximately twenty centimeters. Unlike clay, which can be molded by adding or subtracting mass, magic power can be stretched thinly in itself.

Suppose the amount of magic power released outside and its volume is 60. This amount is not fixed; it’s inversely proportional. This means that if I increase the volume, the amount of magic power decreases. For instance, if the volume is 80, the amount of magic power fluctuates back and forth between 40. So, this doesn’t indicate that the total value is constant.

In this example, the total value is 120, but in reality, it’s quite different. Although I don’t intend to calculate the exact ratio at the moment, I’m confident in it.

Isn’t it evident? The energy of the magic power released externally remains constant. As energy is consumed, it decreases, and it also gradually diminishes just by existing.

At the point when I realized this fact, several questions arose in me. How far can I expand it, and how far can I shrink it? The former is approximately a perfect circle with a diameter of five meters. If stretched thinly and made into a puddle-like shape, it’s possible to reach up to ten meters.

However, if magic power is too thin, it cannot be sublimated into magic. It won’t ignite, and it won’t conduct electricity. A certain amount of magical power is required.

By the way, at about five meters, electricity only passes through a tiny bit. The current is barely visible.

At three meters, it glows for a moment, and the current is visible for just a moment.

At one meter, it shines brightly, and electricity can be seen clearly at the same time.

The reaction varies depending on the amount of magic power, and the difference in power is obvious.

At five meters, it probably doesn’t mean much even if electricity passes through it.

I think it’ll just give you a little shock.

When it comes to using Flares, they need to have enough magic power at the moment of release outside the body, or else they won’t ignite. It’s pointless to spread them thinly because they won’t catch fire. Now, what if the magic power is condensed? In the case of electricity, it only lit up a little before it ended. This is probably because the volume of electricity was too small. Although the condensed Flares might have more power, they’re currently not useful.

But what about Flares? They showed a slightly unexpected reaction. Instead of normal fire, a flame like that of a burner was born. It was a reaction similar to gas catching fire. Until now, Flare was like Will-o’-the-wisps, meaning it was just regular fire. However, when condensed magic power ignited it, it clearly improved in terms of firepower.

As an experiment, both Flares were released towards a wooden board. The previous Flare just burned the wood like regular fire, and it took time to catch fire after touching it. Let’s call the condensed latter Flare, provisionally, a Gas Flare. When the Gas Flare was used, the surface of the wooden board burned in an instant. The spread of the fire was no different from that of the Flare, but the surface of the board had black marks on it.

The Gas Flare was definitely more powerful. However, the Flare lasted longer. The duration of the Flare was five seconds, while the Gas Flare lasted about three seconds. The difference in duration meant that if released outside the body and aimed at a target, the Flare would travel a longer distance. The Flare was about ten meters long, while the Gas Flare was about five meters long. This was the first realization.

Secondly, It’s difficult to make precise shapes with magic. The shape changes of magic are generally rough. You can make shapes like triangles, squares, and pentagons, but when it comes to more complex shapes, they tend to become fuzzy and rounded. It might be due to a lack of practice. This aspect needs further verification.

In addition to clear shapes, other forms besides formal shapes, such as bundles of thread or shapes that combine circles and squares, are also possible. However, it’s much more challenging, and it’s even harder to achieve the desired form.

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Compared to things like releasing magic outside the body or issuing vague commands, magic shape-changing is incredibly delicate. It requires a clear image in your mind.

Human thoughts are complicated and unclear, with various things mixed together. Even if you imagine something, distracting thoughts can get in the way.

No matter how much you try to calm your mind, unless you’ve undergone significant mental training, you won’t be able to form a complete image. Therefore, continuous training is necessary.

For now, there is no need for precise images in magic shape-changing, which is good news. However, considering the future, I think it’s worth practicing manipulating magic.

And thirdly, it’s the ability to change the shape of released magic after it has been emitted from the body.

Basically, when I release magic, I generate it from my palms. This is because it creates a larger surface area of contact, making it easier to visualize.

For shapes with a large surface area of contact, there’s no problem. However, if I want to create, for example, a long, cylindrical shape of magic, it’s generated straight from my palms.

For shapes that cannot be produced by generating magic from the palms, such as circles or squares, this is the method that is used. It’s similar to the way Son Goku’s staff extends in “Journey to the West”.

If it’s around one meter in length, I can release it in an instant, but if it’s longer than that, I cannot create it in a moment.

As I’d expect, the more I extend it, the less magic power it contains, but the volume increases.

Of course, since the magic comes into direct contact with my palms, I also give the command to release it from my palms to prevent the magic from touching my body like electricity or fire.

So, that’s all there is to know about shape-changing magic at this point.

With this in mind, I stand in front of the thunder ore.

I create magic from my right hand, imagining a cylinder extending from a point slightly away from my palm.

And it touches the thunder ore.

Then, electricity flows towards me.

Right in front of me.

A terrifying sound like a crackle.

The thorns flowed and disappeared with the sound.

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The dazzling light illuminated the courtyard and disappeared.

I reflexively pulled my hand back.

Since I had already released the magic from my hand, I wouldn’t have been hurt even if I had extended my hand, but my heart started to beat loudly for a moment.

“Are you okay, Theon?!” My sister rushed over to me, checking my hands multiple times.

I wasn’t injured. I was just scared.

I had expected this outcome, but it was still unsettling.

“I’m fine, nothing happened.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “What was that earlier? The electricity was coming towards you. I thought it was going to hit you, Theon.”

“Well, you see, it’s like I explained during the Flare experiment. Magic is created by consuming magic power. So, it’s not strange for the power to flow towards where there’s magical energy. When the magic power touched the thunder ore, it was natural that it flowed towards me.”

My sister tilted her head in confusion. It was difficult to explain, especially since the concept of electricity wasn’t widely understood in this world. Thunder was present, so it was possible to give some explanation. Now, let’s analyze what just happened.

It was obvious. I created a stick-like magical energy from a distance and touched the tip to the thunder ore. The electricity traveled through the magic power, flowing towards me. In other words, towards my hands.

Well, this was as expected. It was just scarier than I thought.

However, unlike the Flare, in this case, the electricity was discharged as soon as it touched the thunder ore. It was difficult to release it towards the target. To release it, the magical energy stick had to be fully extended towards the target from me and touching the thunder ore.

In other words, I had to be positioned between the thunder ore and the target, stretching the magic power towards the target, and then touch the thunder ore with the center of the magical energy stick. This would create a flow of electricity towards the target.

It was quite inefficient, and required many complex commands and intense consumption of magic power. The process involved emitting the magic power out of my body, stretching it, fixing it in place, and touching the thunder ore with the center. This involved a lot of unnecessary commands.

It would be great if I could just extend the magic power straight and release the electricity at any time, but that was impossible. The thunder ore was discharging electricity intermittently, and it was impossible to hold it with my hands. If only there were insulating materials like mica, instead of perak ore.

Hmm, the way it is now, it doesn’t seem like it will be as easy to use as Flare.

I reassured my worried sister and returned to the experiment.

This time, I touched the thunder ore with the released magic in a relatively diluted state, stretched out.

As I mentioned earlier, if it’s a thin circle with a diameter of about three meters, it will light up for just a moment and electricity will run for just a moment.

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But I have to shape it before I touch it.

Lightning magic has a bit of a learning curve.

At the moment of contact, the electricity rampages to consume the magic.

Fire is the same way, but it has staying power.

Thunder consumes magic in an instant, so there is not much time.

Unlike the fire magic Flare, there are many problems with lightning magic.

What should I do?

I feel like there are many possibilities for it to be used in various ways.

I experimented for a while, verifying it in my head and repeating it, and before I knew it, it was already noon.

“Theon, should we head back now?”

“Yeah…”

My sister was worried about me.

Since my father wasn’t around, my sister skipped her sword training to accompany me in the experiments.

She had already done so much for me, so I couldn’t burden her any further.

With a smile on my face, I returned home with Marie.

I had begun to realize that something was missing.

At this rate, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to use lightning magic properly.

It hasn’t even taken shape yet.

And I couldn’t come up with a breakthrough.

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