Chapter 11: Ch. 7: Reaching for the Sun Part II

"...Nightstalker Wyvern, D. nocteventoris- An elusive species of fairie wyverns. Its habits and habitat remain unknown. Unlike its counterparts, it is considered a nocturnal ambush predator, and though it rarely attacks people, it can be rather feral when it feels threatened. Its dark hide is used to make gear suited for stealth because of the way it is attuned to the Nox and Locus affinities. It makes for good night-time camouflage, and during the daytime, its ability to leave afterimages when in movement makes the wearer elusive and hard to pin down…” from Philiarz Oonswarner's Bestiary for Adventurers.

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The dragon, much to her magnanimity, had provided him with a dozen unenchanted leather bags the size of two fists that could be used for enchanting practice. The youth could tell through his mana sense that, as all enchanting materials went, the leather pouches had some residual mana from the monster from which they originated.

Dwomdaer Anvilfall’s tome on spatial enchantments mentioned that any first time [Enchanter] and [Artificer] worth their beard could fail four times out of five. It was then that he went into it with tempered expectations.

Before he knew it, he had worked from mid-morning to late evening. Out of a dozen trials, he only got two successful items. Most of his failures imploded like something collapsing on its weight and burst into a confetti of leather. It was a scene that made him glad he wasn't going to tinker with his mundane bag.

Further reading revealed that he would sooner burn through the duffel bag before it held any enchantment because it was not magically attuned. Either way, Arthur could not shake the fact that he was essentially creating mini wormholes in the workshop.

The reagents were simple enough, he’d mixed the base of the resin from a crystal pine with crushed Tertherite crystals then mixed it again with powder from some obscure alloy called magillium. Alternatively, he would have preferred magicore with Ter affinity but it hadn't kept that well compared to the crystal.

He'd known where to find the reagents sitting in the bottom of Holding Bags. He likewise found the tools like the rune scriber in the same place. He was lucky that time inside had been suspended otherwise he’d have to clean out the magical gunk out of the tubing and vials. Different from etching runes on metal, doing it on leather was essentially tattooing the runes into the material.

The relationship between Tertherite and storage enchantments was as befuddling as quantum physics―it wasn’t his cup of tea either. There was a scientific explanation somewhere but he was juggling equations to do with aertherite and pyrtherite crystals and didn’t have the time or resources.

That said, for the successful items, it was within his expectations. Their durability was not at par; the pouches would lose their enchantments in a few months. Satisfied that he’d made progress, he decided to grab some cold cuts of meat and turn in early because enchanting left him mana exhausted. Nonetheless, he went to sleep with a smile on his face—and for a good reason.

[Enchanter Level 7!]

[Mage Level 10!]

[Conditions Met! Affinity Acquired!]

[ Affinity- Locus Acquired!]

[Heritage Derivative Skill- Inventory Chest Acquired!]

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Tray’seday morning, caught Arthur all by himself in the keep. Despite the previous day’s exertions, he was well rested and ready to break a sweat in the workshop. He found a note from Aeskyre letting him know that he had free rein of the keep and not to go outside because the storm had not abated.

Also, it was rather dangerous for him now that a weyr of storm wyverns had come to roost on some of the aerlands. Grimly, he accepted that he was too underpowered to fend off one, let alone several of the creatures.

In between breakfast, Arthur reviewed his blueprints and marked off everything on the inventory list that Aeskyre had molded for him. He also went over his notes for the magier engine’s concept, which read,

The magier engine’s mode of operation is based wholly upon the concept of the conventional turbojet engine. While a jet engine operates on the basis of burning fuel enriched air to generate thrust, the magier engine does the same with the reaction between Aer and Pyr. I call this thaumic fusion. Using chemistry terminology, the reaction that occurs when Aer meets Pyr is exothermic (produces heat), which forces the rapid expansion of gases. Directing this expansion provides thrust.

The Aer-Pyr fusion magier engine retains the design language and form of the jet engine by having a cold section and a hot section. The cold section will have the intake and condenser (which is the compressor in a turbojet), while the hot section will have the combustor and nozzle.

While a jet engine starts with an electric motor that spins the main shaft until there is air blowing through the compressor and combustors, I had to get creative with the magier engine. Enter Heron of Alexandria, who is renowned as the inventor of the aeolipile, or Hero’s engine.

Hero’s engine was a copper sphere spun by the thrust from two jets of steam. The fastest model ever reported was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5400 revolutions per minute. The following changes must be made:

A hollow nullsteel disc shall replace the copper sphere.

The arms of exhaust nozzles should have an aerofoil cross-section rather than a circular one. As a result, the flattened cross section means that the flattened arms form turbine blades.

In place of steam, the turbines will turn using the phase transition of magicore. (refer to Nys’vera’s Properties and uses of Magicore and Mana Crystals). A mana crystal's phase transition is the process that occurs when a mana crystal decomposes into magicore and then its constituent affinity.

In nature, this depends on the concentration of the affinity in ambient mana but can be forced through the breaking down of the crystal lattice or draining of the crystal using a rune of [Flux]. During phase transition, Aer will occur as its elemental manifestation before its ethereal phase. This means it will exist as a gas for a few seconds, exerting some pressure as it expands, therefore spinning the shaft.

Given its size, the magier engine will have five rows of turbines with 12 blades each. The first three turbines will be in the forward section, while the rest will be in the rear section after the combustion chamber. The spin needs only exist until there is enough pressure to pull in air and subsequently aer mana through the intake, causing a self-sustaining motion upon which the turbines no longer need an infusion of magicore for phase transition.

To create a favourable gradient for mana collection, only the first row of turbines shall be enchanted and consequently made of blue mithril. The subsequent rows of turbines will be made of a less mana-conductive material. This ensures the compression chamber only becomes saturated and does not absorb the aer mana meant to flow to the combustors.

From here the process is straight forward aer flows from the condensers (the cold section) to the combustors (the hot section). The combustors can be thought of as individual combustion chambers arranged about an annular frame that holds the turbine shaft.

The combustors are the beginning of the hot section and the process here is straight forward. Each combustor could be thought of as an independent combustion chamber with its own intake and outlet. Herein, the thaumic fusion of Aer and Pyr shall take place.

Each combustor has a pytherite crystal and a focus from the appropriate gem (ruby, garnet or carnelian depending on availability and efficiency). The gem will function as a stoichiometric focus to regulate the amount of pyr mana infused into the thaumic reaction and thus control the power of the engine.

More pyr in the combustor creates a negative aer gradient which necessitates the intake of more aer mana into the engine. Each stoichiometric focus is enchanted with a [Flux] and [Delay] to ensure timed discharges of pyr mana. This assembly functions as a carburettor (pyraetheretor?) for each combustion chamber. I had to get inventive since I could not find the rune equivalents of capacitors and resistors.

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There were old pitons and pulleys lying in a crate somewhere, caked with rust and grime. Arthur used his [Inventory Chest] to move the crates around. He thought it was a steal, like his very own Bag of Holding that he could reach at a moment’s thought. Like it said on the tin, it was only the size of a large chest. A quick reference in Aeskyre’s library mentioned that with the magical aptitude of its wielder and only incurred mana costs when retrieving or depositing items.

After dusting off the detritus from the pitons, hammered them four ways and used the pulleys, corded dwarfsteel cables and a wooden pallet to create a harness . The harness would hold the engine frame as he worked. Some of the parts were heavy but overall, the engine shouldn’t have weighed more than 150kg

The fabricated parts included the front and back frames, the annular shaft, the turbine shafts and blades, the condenser, combustors, mana crystal canisters and conduits and lastly, the exterior housing. The diameter of the intake was just 50 centimetres which meant he could just grab it with both arms and comfortably at that. The total assembly from intake to nozzle would be twice that at 1 metre or its equivalent metronic units.

Arthur needn’t have worried about thrust to weight ratios as such because aer had a negation factor that could reduce gravity by 75 percent through the aerostatic floats. All he had to concern himself with was how much thrust the engine, now called the Mark II would churn out and build the rest of the aership around it.

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Once the completed engine frame was ready, he delicately screwed in the nullsteel canister containing the volatile Pyrtherite crystal into its emplacements. It was a cylindrical container the size of his wrist, but the Pyrtherite crystal housed within was only a thumb sized gem. He had to handle the sample with care like he would a piece of radioactive isotope.

After balancing and greasing the rotary shaft and checking everything for obstructions, on Octis’day, one nundine after the Mark I , the Mark II was completed. The engine nacelle was exactly a looker because he hadn’t chipped off the welding slag so it was shiny in places while sooty in some. He also had a mana burn for this troubles in his right hand though not as sore as the last time. Letting his mana veins adjust was like working a muscle.

Of course he was haggard from working non-stop. There were bags under his eyes, soot on his cheeks, and unkemptness in his hair. His leather overalls were mired in deeper shades of brown and pockmarked by smudges of lava wurm grease and underneath, his outer clothing felt ripe from old sweat. He definitely needed a bath three days ago—

Also his eating had been meagre and as a result, his stomach felt like a nagging, gnawing pit. Running on fumes was also reflecting on his general demeanour as his hands would tremble from the lack of sleep. Regardless, he was still determined to test the engine before the day was through.

“Now for the test,” Arthur murmured, moistening his chapped lips. His throat was so dry his voice came out as a dry croak. Picking up the slate of magestone that he’d etched the control runes, he infused mana to initiate the test. A twinge from his sore vasculi made him wince. Nonetheless, the mana circuits started up as the accompanying gems that served as foci glowed at his touch.

In the dim workshop, the slate flickered brightly for a moment, bathing Arthur’s careworn face in magical light. As sudden as a moment, a roar that an Erythean native would not have associated with an inanimate object rumbled through the workshop.

The engine’s fan blades slowly spun from rest to a loud whirr that devoured the air in the workshop while ejecting it through the nozzle in sputters and starts. Detritus behind the nozzle was punted away, peppering the walls with a staccato of their impacts before the engine settled into an incessant drone.

Invisible exhaust gained corporeality as it transformed into mana-charged tongues of cyan mage fire that licked the air, bathing the workshop in caressing warmth. It was another resounding success. The thaumic reaction had reached the lowest threshold to be self-sustaining. All that was left was record the amount of thaums being used and therefore extrapolate the amount of thrust being put out.

Arthur whooped, waving the slate in the air as cathartic tears welled up in his sleep-addled eyes. He’d done it!

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At first glance, everything seemed to be working perfectly. If you were a native of the aerlands surrounding Sturm’s Keep, you would have had the experience to know that spells and mana around those parts tended to behave anomalously.

Arthur should have known that the occasional mana storms that ravaged the archipelago were anything but ordinary storms. They were moving pockets of mana dense regions, which left even the most well-informed sages baffled.

Arthur was unaware of that and the only host of Sturm’s Keep had been absent for a while. Truthfully, if Aeskyre were here to use her draconic sight, she would have had a forewarning that things were about to get dicey.

The first sign that something was amiss came from his [Mana Sense]. Despite his sleep-weary state, his perception honed in on a sudden spike in mana levels in the workshop. One of the things that lay-people tended to gloss over was that mana sometimes had an uncanny tendency to follow physical laws even though it could bend them just as well.

As the concentration of mana dropped inside the workshop, mana from elsewhere flowed through the walls of the keep to plug in the rapidly expanding void. The engine kicked up a furor as it greedily devoured more essence than it knew what to do with.

Unfortunately, there was no limiter, or klaxon siren—or an emergency shut down. The only commands on the slate of magestone swere two foci, and neither provided a kill switch. It might have been an oversight on his part or he was so simply exhausted that he forgot to account for contingencies.

Consequently, the Mark II meted out more thrust, overshooting its tolerances well on its way to tearing itself apart. Were it not for the dwarfsteel cabling reining it in, it would have reached the workshop’s ceiling. Like a chained beast, it bucked against its restraints, making them creak ominously.

The pitons securing the pulleys shook loose as detritus and masonry flaked and fell from the pillars. Arthur's enthrallment morphed to horror as he caught himself punching the stop command—nothing happened.

“Damn it! Why won’t it work?” he yelled in alarm. Before he could blink, a piece of the engine ripped off its anchor, pirouetted through the air, and narrowly avoided clipping him in the face.

Were its trajectory a little further to the left, he would have been dead before his body hit the floor. But for all that, he was not unscathed. While the near-death experience He stood transfixed. His body hadn’t registered the stump that remained on his right arm.

Before he could scream himself raw, the canister containing the Pyrtherite crystal fulminated like a [Fire Ball] spell. The cascading explosion blasted Arthur off his feet, subsequently slamming him into the wall and knocking him out cold.

Perhaps fate was kinder because, several breaths later, Aeskyre happened to arrive not a moment too soon to have caught the tail end of the incident.

“Arthur! What in Aeris’ name happened to you!?” shrieked the normally bold as brass draconic woman as she flew to his side. Battered, Arthur lay soaked in his own blood while the magier engine continued to burn in the background.

“[Null Domain]! [Zephyr's Quietus]!" Aeskyre snapped. The atmosphere around the Mark II turned into a total vacuum, devoid of mana and air. With a clang, the twisted frame of the defunct Mark II fell onto its side. Lacking air, the smoke creeped out along the floor like fog in a graveyard.

Despite all her magic, Aeskyre was not a good healer, moreso, when dismembered limbs were involved. She had to choose between reattaching the maimed arm and healing it wrongly or closing up the mortal wound and leaving him disabled for life.

Time was running out for Arthur. While Aeskyre fussed over him, his pulse was growing weaker . She went with the first option, reattaching his arm and using a Potion of Greater Healing. Only a few breaths had passed and she could reattach it—the potion worked, knitting the bloody skin back to wholeness. However, it remained lifeless; Arthur was still in hypovolemic shock.

A Potion of Greater Healing was no Potion of Regeneration; the former could not be expected to replenish lost blood. Copious amounts of it still pooled on the floor, drenching the hem of Aeskyre’s sundress while Arthur remained comatose.

"Aeris, take me!” Aeskyre cursed out loud when she realized the potion would not pull him from the brink. There was no time to go through her hoard for another potion or artifact to remedy the situation in front of her.

Her draconic mind flew into overdrive, weighing alternatives in the span of one breath. She latched onto one idea even though it was one that would have made a [Healer] blow a gasket.

Nonetheless, if it had a chance of saving Arthur, no matter how minute, she would take it. Aeskyre bit her claw, puncturing it with her sharp canines to induce bleeding. She got down on her knees, soiling her dress on the bloody floor and eased her bleeding claw towards Arthur’s lips—and she dribbled her lifeblood into Arthur’s mouth.

Simulacras were magic made flesh, and some powerful beings like Aeskyre occasionally used them to take on hominid forms. They usually used their users' preferences as a template. However, the blood that carried their magic was inherently immutable.

Even in this manifestation, it carried some of their potent abilities, like [Greater Regeneration], for example. What Aeskyre was doing had the potential to induce spontaneous combustion of Arthur’s body . There was only so much dragon magic a human body could sustain.

Taking control of all the excess mana coursing through him, Aeskyre burned it out of his body . She forced the excess mana to discharge in the form of lightning, which gave him some margin to regenerate his own blood without turning into a human cinder.

The workshop shook as lightning radiated from within Arthur’s flesh and bones. The discharge grounded onto metal and raw ore strewn around the workshop. It scoured divots on the walls and melted some parts into incandescent slag, wrought with nature’s unfettered power. Aeskyre prayed that the World would be kind enough to look Arthur’s way.

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