Complete Private Eastern Brisshal Living machinery

[MAI]

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"Yes. If someone believes that the manastone helps them improve their abilities, then they will probably feel better training near it, or even using it as a practice dummy."

Those things were nearly indestructible, after all. Even hitting them with the highest-ranked spells didn't do much. Although MAI wondered if the result would still be the same if someone were to hit them with a super-powered critical hit... maybe then it would shatter, and everyone could take a piece home.

Regardless of that possibility, it was nice that Luna was trying to figure out exactly how these things worked. Especially if she was actually going about it in a smart way, rather than the monkey with a stick way. Although the point she brought up did get MAI to raise an eyebrow.

"You'd... send someone into it if you could and had some test results..?"

She wasn't sure if that was pure dedication, resourcefulness, or something a bit worse, to be perfectly honest.

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Well, that was the end of that, probably. The placebo effect was a thing that nobody could really deny, or at least, Luna was pretty sure that it was undeniable. The idea that people would practice throwing attacks out against the manastones, just because they were thought to be indestructible, was a bit silly. If one did happen to break, one day, what would happen to all of the energy stored inside of it? Would it dissipate harmlessly into the atmosphere?

Or would it explode out?

She'd been caught in one too many mana explosions in her lifetime. Luna absolutely did not want to have to deal with something like that ever again.

Though it seemed she needed to clear a misunderstanding before MAI started thinking she was just looking for test subjects to throw at things. She raised her hands, waving them like she was dispelling some foul air.

Not like what you're thinking, no. If I COULD go myself, I would. But I can't, so I'd have to rely on somebody being willing to volunteer to go inside for me.

She really would go if she could, but her Masteries just didn't make that possible. She was too corporeal now.

And too terrified of Arcanamancy to ever touch it again.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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MAI nodded as Luna clarified herself. That probably made more sense, yes. The beastfolk seemed far too skittish and nice to be an evil scientist that would happily sacrifice others to get test results. And as cartoonish as that description sounded, the magia did remind herself that she was in a fantasy game where anyone could become a hero or a villain, so such a stereotype was probably being fulfilled by someone as the two girls spoke.

"A direct method of interacting with the stone would be nice, even for us. It does accelerate our charging, but it could probably go even faster."

As if to demonstrate, the magia somewhat comically took hold of the cable she used to connect herself to magitech and started tapping it against the crystal, very clearly showcasing that there was indeed no convenient port she could just slot herself into and let the mana flow directly from the source into her body to fuel it.

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Luna wasn't going to think about the fact that there were definitely people out there that would do some pretty heinous things in this game. She tried not to think about the fact that she herself had associated with those very same people, or some of them, at the very least. People that had summoned demons, or had tried to play every side of a conflict for their own benefit, or had defiled the corpses of the dead.

It was all enough to induce a shudder when she thought about it.

I think for there to be a direct interface, you'd need to be able to damage the stone. Well, that, or make a device somehow capable of sucking mana out of the manastone at more than just a passive rate. I haven't quite figured out how to make a device suck, rather than pump.

She was roughly seventy percent confident that her device would succeed at pumping mana into the manastone, but her efforts to make something like a mana collector or mana drainer had proven difficult and unsuccessful. That was part of why she was doing this, after all.

I have been working on an idea that could achieve a similar thing but, well, it's not exactly subtle and barely portable...

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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As the two girls talked, the skies above them slowly darkened. The night was ever so slowly approaching, yes, but it seemed that there was some rain to be had as well. MAI didn't seem to particularly mind as she continued to engage in conversation.

"Having such a device would be nice. Even if it isn't all that portable, it could be placed near manastones to essentially improve them. I wouldn't mind hearing more about the idea, if you wanted to share."

With the question, the first few droplets shattered against the crystal. As the area darkened, the green glow of the manastone became more noticeable and pronounced, bathing the entire clearing in the same color. Even MAI's own hair, dyed in very deep and saturated hues, would be subject to the green coloration of the glow.

It was moments like these that reminded the magia just how beautiful the world was, even if it sometimes seemed rather bleak. And if the girls were willing to get tucked in enough, they could hide from the rain under some of the larger crystalline protrusions.

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Oh, uh, the idea really isn't anything all that advanced or anything. It's just, well, what's the best way to explain it...

Luna stood up and paced back and forth, before she glanced up a bit when she noticed the darkness of the sky and the first few droplets of water against the manastone. That was fine, it wasn't like she could catch a cold or anything, as far as she was aware. She didn't mind the rain a bit, though she did duck underneath one of the crystal protrusions to protect herself from the rain just a tad.

Well, you know how these things constantly radiate mana, yeah? Well essentially, my device is just a large solar blanket, almost like putting a tent up around the manastone. It'd catch all of the mana being radiated before it disperses into the air and keeps it contained.

The concentration of mana that could build up inside was just incredible. She pretty much never deployed it, though, because she wasn't exactly sure what to do after she had the escaping mana contained inside of the makeshift tent.

I mean, maybe I could just make it a literal tent that coul;d be deployed around manastones. It'd make sitting near one to charge more efficient and protect Magia from the elements.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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MAI listened carefully even as the drumming of rain against the crystal grew louder, providing a relaxing ambiance to the girls... or at least it was relaxing for the magia. She couldn't even begin to guess what kind of tastes Luna had. But she wasn't saying anything about the rain, so it seemed that she didn't mind it, at the very least.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea! Simple things are sometimes the most effective. I think yours could have some good uses, especially down the line, as you figure things out and improve your mastery even more."

The praise was genuine. For as good as MAI herself was with magitech, she never thought of something like that. If she had, it would have been already deployed to ensure she didn't have to leave her body near these stones, defenselessly charging as she logged out.

"It actually sounds kinda like you would be extending the size of the manastone and then actually being inside of it... just the part that you personally made."

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Well, at the very least her idea wasn't being laughed at, though Luna still wondered if it was perhaps too simple. Surely there was no way that nobody had even considered the idea of trapping the escaping mana into some kind of enclosed space, considering how simple of a thought process it was. The equivalent of putting a bucket underneath a leaking pipe to catch the water that was being lost otherwise.

Right. For the moment, it is quite literally just essentially a tent with no other functions other than everything a tent can do, aside from the fact that mana can't pass through it, but maybe in the future it could be used for other things.

And, if anything else, it would make recharging a lot more comfortable for Magia, if they had shelter whilst they could rest and recharge themselves. Considering how defenseless some Magia seemed when they were charging or logged out, maybe her tents would be a godsend for them.

You're pretty much spot on with that description. It's just creating more space to be filled with mana, rather than allowing the leakage. Of course, I'm not too sure if blocking the leak would have negative effects on the environment, so that would need to be monitored.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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The girl was happy that she managed to randomly meet someone who was this enthusiastic about magitech, even if Luna seemed to have a thing for bringing herself down here and there.

"Even if the functions are limited for now, I think it's important that you came up with it. For many things, the most difficult part is starting the whole process, the first step. But you seem to already be past that hurdle."

It wasn't like everything after that initial bump would be a breeze, free of any effort... but it did mean that perhaps the most difficult part was already finished. Surely that was a motivating thought, right?

"If you keep going and try to not lose that momentum, I'm sure you will be able to come up with something fascinating, even if it ends up a niche in the end."

In a way, helping magia was a bit of a niche. The race wasn't among the most popular, and there didn't seem to be any Lander magia around outside of Vintergard either. But that didn't mean such a thing would go unappreciated.

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Well, I didn't really consider it the first step, when I was making it at least. It was actually a failed product, since I was looking for something that would reflect mana back to the sender. A kind of reflection armor material, if you will.

And well, the best she'd managed to come up with was a material that mana couldn't pass through, one that was too weak to be made into any kind of armor. She was sure it would stand up against rain and snow, and wind for that matter, though any kind of actual assault on it would probably destroy it in under a few seconds, if it even took that long.

Still, MAI being excited about it was nice, even if that was probably helped by the fact that it was something that MAI herself would directly benefit from. Of course, the end goal was still a device that actively sucked up all of the mana in its surroundings in order to charge its own reserves, but she was still a ways off from that.

I could give you the material, if you want. I know how to make more, so you could test out the Magia charging tent idea, if you wanted?

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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Armor... that certainly wasn't a bad idea. Although MAI had a feeling that making an armor that could completely reflect or even block magic-based attacks just wouldn't be possible to be made as the world would outright reject it for balancing reasons. It was a bit jarring to think like that about something as realistic as TerraSphere, but it was kinda how things were.

She herself was using heavy armor, and it had saved her more times than she could count. If Luna could make something even better, then she would surely become a hero to many players. It would honestly be quite amazing.

"I will be cheering you on if you decide to resume that project then. And even if it failed, it did result in something else that could still be helpful... I'd call that a success still! And if you don't mind parting with that material, my inventory has plenty of room."

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

It was probably a testament to how realistic this world could seem, that Luna hadn't even begun to think about things such as game balance, or the fact that it was a game at all, instead immediately setting to work trying to understand and break down the science and meta-science of this world so that she could figure out what was and wasn't possible. The thought that the developers just wouldn't allow something that could reflect all magic to exist had never even crossed her mind.

Still, it was all just about experimenting and coming up with things that were new, just to see if they could be done and see if they would ever help anybody. She didn't really have a reason to tinker and invent, she just kind of did it anyway.

Right. Thanks for cheering me on, then. Maybe something good will come of that project, but if not, then it's fine.

The flicked a hand out, navigating through her menu until she had opened a trade request with MAI, slapping an item that was labelled as 'magprooftarp1' to the trade, before she sent it to MAI. If the girl retrieved it from her inventory, she'd find a silvery sheet, not unlike a space blanket, but bigger and with a hollow inside and holes for tent poles.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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The magia smiled. It seemed that Luna was taking the right approach to all of this, which was very good. Hopefully, she'd be able to keep it up... and, with a bit of luck, actually succeed in her endeavors as well.

"Yeah. I wish you the best of luck. And, well... you did already send me a friend request before, so you can pretty easily contact me if you'll ever feel like it!"

Perhaps at this point, they could look back at the context under which said friendship request was sent and laugh at the silliness surrounding it all. Though, of course, MAI was gonna keep her word and pretend that none of it happened if Luna didn't start anything of the sort. Accepting the trade, the mechanical girl did indeed summon the item from her inventory, the whole thing quickly covering her body. But as she got her head back out, hearing the rain beating against it... it felt quite nice!

"Feels like it could be a nice blanket, too..."

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Luna hadn't even been aware that MAI had actually accepted her friend request. In all honesty, she tried to avoid looking at her friends list. Seeing all of the names that should be lit up and active that no longer were, or knowing that some names were missing entirely, was always quite a sad and sobering reminder about the way her life was going. Still, she opened it now and sure enough, there was MAI's name, lit up to signify that the girl was active.

Not that Luna needed the visual reminder, considering that she'd been looking at MAI for basically the whole conversation that the two of them were having.

Of course, she was going to do her best to forget the context of exactly when and why she'd sent the girl a friend request. That was probably the meanest she'd ever been to somebody. And she'd blown herself up to kill some kind of demon once!

It probably would make a good blanket, yeah. I can't really say that was intentional, though. It just happens to physically resemble a space blanket and it's nearly as good at conserving heat.

She'd still recommend using it as a tent rather than just a blanket, but well, there was no rule saying that she couldn't produce more of it and fashion that into blankets. Why stop at just tents, after all?

Her parents and their business practices had rubbed off on her...

I've used it to shelter from rain once or twice. The sound of rain hitting a stretched out sheet of it is actually quite soothing. I can help you stretch it out to use as a cover, if you'd like?

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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As tempting as the idea of just wrapping herself in the tent and enjoying the cozy warmth was, Luna would also benefit from the whole thing being properly set up, so that she wouldn't have to get too wet while hiding under the crystal. Although it was somewhat possible that the rain wouldn't last particularly long, there was no real reason not to do it.

MAI nodded along with the explanation and comparison to a space blanket, which was indeed quite fitting now that the idea was brought up. It was always a bit amusing when such modern or even futuristic ideas were brought up in this fantasy world that did not even go through an industrial revolution yet.

And despite being a magia, the girl's body was quite watertight and resistant, so she had no problem being in the rain for a little bit as she scooted over from below the crystalline growth and tried to properly unfold the tent in her hands.

"That would be nice, thank you."

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Well, apparently they were going to set the tent up after all, though Luna didn't mind too much, considering she'd been the one to suggest such a course of action in the first place. Luna watched MAI scooch over and start to unfold the tent, before the felis woman decided to help out, scooting over to the Magia in question and reaching out to grip one corner of the material.

Together, it would take the two of them five minutes to get the strange space-blanket material unfolded and set up as a kind of tent, sheltering both of them from the rain. Inside, almost immediately it would become clear that neither warmth not mana could escape from their little tent. MAI might even notice that she was recharging energy a little faster, if she tried.

You know, I never thought I'd actually be testing this full thing out. I had considered it to be pretty much nothing but a failed experiment and stashed it deep in my inventory, since I figured that nobody would ever find it useful.

It was nice to be proven wrong, especially by somebody with whom she hadn't had the best of first impressions. Maybe there was a chance that she and MAI could be friends after all.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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The beauty of science was that even failure was, in some way, a success. As long as new knowledge was created, there was no wasted effort that one should cry over. Luna's invention appeared to be the same. She might have considered it useless originally, but it now had a purpose despite the label. One simply only had to change their viewpoint.

"Okay, this seems to be holding good."

With everything set in place, the inside was definitely quite cozy. Shielding them from the rain, they didn't have to hide in the cramped space under the manastone anymore, even if the grass they were standing on still remained a bit wet. A brief respite in this weather.

"Everything has some kind of use, even if it's not what was originally intended. Even literal junk can be useful, broken down, and made into other things. So I'd say it's always worth it to keep such things around."

At least, that was the way MAI usually thought about things. Or maybe that was just her inner collector speaking?

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

The only real issue that Luna could find with her blanket/tent creation now was that the material didn't exactly blend into its surroundings, being metallic to look at and looking as if somebody was using aluminum foil as a tent. If the sun was shining on it, the reflected light would probably attract all kinds of attention. Either that or it would make the tent damn near impossible to look at without going blind.

Granted, it was nothing that a bit of paint and some time being artistic couldn't solve. Probably.

Actually, she had no clue if painting over the material would damage or ruin some of the properties that made it useful in the first place. It would be a shame if it did.

I guess you're not wrong. That's the whole point of recycling, after all. Still, it's just unexpected when you cast something off as a failure only for it to turn out to actually have some kind of value to it.

Luna had never really been the type to throw something away just because it wasn't useful, but she DID have a tendency to bury and forget anything she wasn't using in the immediate moment.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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Given that this space was now much more welcoming and warm, MAI walked around the manastone to sit on the other side from the entrance to the tent, folding one leg over the other and letting out a satisfied sigh. It definitely did seem that she would be able to charge faster than usual here, which as certainly welcome. Unlike other races that simply needed to consume food and water, magia had to do the same but then also recharge like this... and given how long it often took, they needed to keep their bodies around after logging out.

Starcalled always had the advantage of being able to make their own bodies disappear after logging out, but that was often not beneficial to the magia. If the entire process could become faster, the trouble caused by this would lessen.

"Perhaps the solution is to not look at things as failures and try to find use for them even if they do not fit their original design."

@Luna Avalbane

 

[Luna Avalbane]

Sometimes it's just hard to try to look at something optimistically when it doesn't do the thing that you wanted it to do when you were designing it, y'know?

She'd certainly not intended to create the perfect material for a Magia to take camping with them when she'd been working on this little piece, which was why, when it had failed to do what she wanted it to do, she'd chalked it up as a failure and moved onto other things. She'd figured she would return to the idea of reflecting magic later, when she had a better understanding of how all of it worked.

It was nice to see somebody using her failure and getting some enjoyment or satisfaction out of it. It made it feel like she hadn't just wasted her time.

Maybe I'll work on making it more durable so that Magia using it whilst they recharge are better protected. I don't think it'd save anybody from an attack or anything, based off of how it is right now.

@MAI