Chapter 180: Chapter 179 – Thinking

They bade Jeremy farewell, saying goodbye to little Lily as they passed her on their way out of the store. Yuki held a bag that contained a few of the containers Jeremy had placed the materials he had sold him. The rest he had stored into his ring. 

‘Mason Incorporated,’ Yuki thought. 

He walked to the train station as his mind considered the new information that he had just been given. Akira and Erica were beside him, quiet as they looked about the town and the places they passed by on their way to the train. Yuki checked his watch for the time. 

‘The train should be arriving in a few minutes.’

Once he reached the station, he sat on a bench and waited for the train to arrive. The other two sat beside him.

“So, why did you ask Jerry about all of those things?” Erica asked after a while, breaking the silence. 

“Hmm?” 

“It seemed kind of odd to suddenly ask him those things,” she shrugged. 

“It was important,” Yuki replied. “I decided that it would be easier to just unload everything upfront first rather than try to steer the conversation. His wife seemed to be a very touchy subject so I attacked that. It made him trust me faster which made this whole thing much easier.”

“Isn’t that kind of mean?”

“I do what I have to. I wasn’t insensitive to his feelings, so it should be fine,” he shrugged. “Jeremy got closure. I got answers.”

“I guess.”

“What I’m more worried about is the information that we just got,” he continued. “There’s a lot to consider.”

“Like what?” Akira asked.

“Well, the fact that Mason Incorporated is buying materials from a leading figure in metallurgy means that they’re trying to get some very rare metals,” he said. “Which we already knew, but this just gives more evidence. I’m more worried about the elemental jewel he sold.”

“The water jewel?”

“Yes. There’s no reason for the government to get involved with the sales of jewels and materials,” Yuki explained. “So while I don’t doubt the fact that the people who bought the jewel were from the government, I wonder what their reason for doing that is.”

Elemental jewels are powerful tools, right?” Akira said. “That would make them valuable. The government may have just wanted it to keep it safe. Or for their own uses.”

“Maybe. What do you remember about elemental jewels, Akira?”

“They're jewels that have been infused with mana that has taken on an elemental affinity,” she replied, sounding as if she’s reciting information from a book. “They can be used to amplify the strength of one’s elemental magic if one channels their mana through it. They also can be used to convert pure mana into mana of the affinity of the jewel.”

“It can what?” Yuki said, turning to look at her.

“Oh, you didn’t know about that part?” 

“I’ve never heard of elemental jewels being able to do that. I know they can amplify, but that only works when the person using the stone is of that affinity and uses elemental magic.”

“Well, jewels can also convert mana. Not much research has been done on this aspect of elemental jewels, however there are a few things that have been observed,” Akira explained. “One is that, when pure mana from the world is absorbed into an elemental jewel, it becomes the affinity of that jewel. But it has to be pure mana. It cannot come from a living being.”

“That explains why I’ve never seen it happen before,” Yuki said, tapping his cheek. “So when pure mana is released from something that has died or forcibly released from something that’s absorbed it, it can be affected by an elemental jewel.”

“Correct,” she nodded. “It no longer is pure, but now elemental mana. For instance, the water elemental jewel would transform any mana into water attribute mana. I don’t believe anyone has discovered any practical uses for this though.”

“Why not?”

“For one, people can’t absorb mana that isn’t from them,” Akira replied. “And any mana they create isn’t pure until they die and it’s naturally released back into the environment. So converting mana into elemental mana just makes it useless for people.”

“How about as a power source?”

“That’s been considered, but the only real attribute that would be beneficial would be lightning and maybe fire. And that’s not considering the main problem with using such a method as a source of energy. The problem being amount and efficiency.”

“I see,” Yuki nodded. “Jewels are rare. And I would think that the mana wouldn’t be converted very fast.”

“You’re right. It’s also the type of jewel that makes it so difficult,” Akira added. “For a large amount of mana to be converted, you’ll need a really large and pure jewel. Meaning all of the impurities are gone. Most elemental jewels aren’t larger than tiny pebble.”

“So energy is out because of the material constraint and the speed.”

“Correct.”

“Okay. Wait. Let me think.”

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He quieted, his mind racing. The possibilities that had just opened up because of this revelation flooded him. The implications of what could happen didn’t comfort him.

“Akira,” he said slowly, his eyes closed.

“Yes?”

“Let me give you a hypothetical situation. Answer it to the best of your ability.”

“Alright.”

“What if one had access to large amounts of pure mana?” he asked.

“Then they would be able to convert a lot of mana. It would still be slow and not really practical since the process itself if slow and the jewels would be small.”

“I see, I see. Then what if along with the massive amounts of pure mana I have, I also had the best elemental jewels known to the world? For instance, the Jewel of Fire.”

“Then you’ll be able to convert mana faster and at a purer state,” Akira replied. “It’ll still be slow, but it’ll be better than using tiny jewels.”

“Perfect. So then, if I use that massive amounts of mana and convert it with the perfect jewels I have, then I could create a lot of elemental mana relatively quickly.”

“Yes. Though I would wonder how you would store that mana.”

“What if I had ridyst?”

“That would work.”

“I have a question.”

“Ask away,” she smiled.

“Could elemental jewels be used as a focus? For energy.”

“I believe so,” Akira frowned, thinking. “I’ve seen blueprints for cutting machinery that used a fire jewel or a water jewel. People would channel mana, and it would focus it into a point. But that only works if the mana is already elemental in nature.”

“I see.”

“And back to the hypothetical situation, I don’t see a use in a slow generating elemental mana source. It’ll be too slow for any real energy usage.”

“That’s if you’re planning to use it to power something in the long run for long periods of time. If it’s only for short burst, then time would be a factor, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And if you’re not going to use said elemental mana for a while, then rydyst would be a perfect battery to store for later.”

“Where are you going with this?” Akira asked, tilting her head.

“Remember back when Uriel told us that Mason Inc. was making something related to beam tech.”

“Yes.”

“And I said that they didn’t have a focus?”

“Yes.”

“I also said that pure mana would be easy to disperse with a simple barrier.”

“Correct.”

“Those were all problems that would have to be fixed if Mason Inc. wanted to create a giant laser beam of death,” Yuki said.

“Yes,” Akira nodded. Yuki paused and waited, staring at her. Her eyes widened. “Wait.”

“I think I found a way to fix their problems. And I’m sure they know about it as well. Possibly years before me.”

 

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