Chapter 144: Magical Power… The Capacitor

Melita had left, taking with her the ring left behind by the cultist. As part of their deal—and as a token of gratitude for helping recover the ring—Melita, on behalf of the Mithril Vault, made a promise:

From now on, whenever any fragments of the Eternal Stone Tablets, or similar “non-human artifacts,” were found abandoned outside, they would inform Gawain first.

To Gawain, that promise was worth far more than the ring itself.

But one particularly shameless half-elf didn’t seem to share that view. Amber was sprawled across Gawain’s desk, face pressed flat against the surface like a salted fish, muttering to herself, “That thing must’ve been super expensive… and they just took it without paying a single copper… The Mithril Vault folks are way too stingy… and then they even had the nerve to mooch a meal before leaving…”

Gawain shot her a sideways glance. “They’re helping gather intelligence on the Eternal Stone Tablets and similar artifacts. Don’t you think that’s more valuable?”

“But you can’t spend that as money,” Amber grumbled, still lying there. “And that veiled lady made it sound so easy—who knows how long it’ll take them to find new fragments? Those are Eternal Stone Tablets, not just some random rocks on the road.” She sighed. “What if they don’t find any for a hundred years? You gonna wait a hundred years?”

Before Gawain could answer, Amber kept whining, “Well, you do have special skills. Worst case, you get bored and just die, then when they find the fragments, your descendants can burn the news at your grave, and you can crawl back out…”

“Honestly, even if you really are the Shadow God’s chosen, it’s a miracle you’ve lived this long,” Gawain said, raising an eyebrow and glaring at Amber. “Enough nonsense—go help me open that chest over there and bring me the topmost bag inside.”

Amber, still like a salted fish, slowly got up from the desk, wobbling as she shuffled over. “Isn’t this usually Betty’s job? Why me today? By the way, where did that little maid run off to? Haven’t seen her all day…”

“I gave her the afternoon off to get Pea familiar with the place. Pea’s shy and can’t speak, so she gets scared around people from the territory, but surprisingly, she and Betty get along well. Maybe they’ll become friends.”

Amber placed the bag in front of Gawain, grinning as she leaned in. “You know, I’m starting to actually respect you. At first, I thought your friendliness was all an act, but turns out it’s genuine. You don’t get this far without really caring.”

“Well, thanks for the compliment,” Gawain said casually, brushing Amber’s head aside as he emptied the bag’s contents onto the desk.

Inside were a bunch of dull gray-white crystals, each about the size of a pinky finger. Their surfaces shimmered faintly with a misty glow, carrying the mysterious aura typical of magical materials. But judging by their appearance and texture, they hardly looked like anything valuable.

“What’s this?” Amber, who had been quiet for barely two seconds, immediately leaned in again, eyeing the crystals that might fetch a little coin. “Crystals? But they look so cheap…”

“These are mana storage crystals just shipped from Tansang Town—samples from the first batch. Forgot? I placed a huge long-term order with Viscount Andrew.”

“Mana storage crystals? These things?!” Amber’s eyes widened as she stared at the dull gray crystals, then she burst out, “That Viscount Andrew can’t be serious! We saved his life, and this is what he gives us? These crystals would be tossed as worthless slag in any decent mine!”

Gawain looked at the half-elf, surprised by her sudden passion over the territory’s losses. He just smiled. “Don’t exaggerate. These are way better than mining slag. And the Viscount didn’t rip us off—he sold them at three Cecil silver coins per taka.”

“Three silver coins…” Amber quickly calculated the size of a newly minted Cecil silver coin in her head, then her expression shifted. “That is pretty cheap… But why buy so many low-quality mana storage crystals? With that appearance… probably only the most basic apprentice mages would use them for practice. And even then, most with some money wouldn’t want to.”

Gawain smiled. “You know what the biggest problem with these low-quality crystals is?”

“Their storage capacity is only half that of premium crystals of the same size, and they leak energy like crazy. Especially the second part—that makes them basically useless,” Amber said, clearly familiar with the basics, since it affected their market value. “That’s why artificial mana crystals aren’t popular.”

“Exactly. Low storage capacity is a minor issue—you can just use more crystals. The real problem is the rapid energy leakage. The magic stored dissipates quickly, which is fatal for crystals meant to store mana. That’s why these crystals are so cheap. They hold a lot, but are hard to use effectively.” Gawain opened a cabinet under the desk and pulled out a hexagonal metal plate, placing it on the table. “But if you think about it differently, even these energy-leaking crystals can be useful…”

Amber watched curiously as Gawain took out the metal plate. She recognized it as something Rebecca had sent recently—apparently a product from the mechanical workshop. The plate was just a bit bigger than a palm, hexagonal, made using the latest stamping technology—an industrial product pressed out in a machine mold in an instant. Its surface bore neat grooves inlaid with magical materials.

It was a “universal substrate” engraved with a magic array, and Amber thought she’d seen the rune pattern before.

After a moment’s thought, she exclaimed, “Oh! I know this! It’s the thing Rebecca and Jenny drew up earlier!”

“A honeycomb magic network unit. It’s a basic unit that can operate on its own. I engraved it on a portable universal substrate, turning it into a ‘component’ that can be combined with other things at will,” Gawain explained, flipping the substrate to show the empty slots on the back. “These slots connect to other components.”

“So this metal plate is constantly gathering magical power?” Amber’s eyes lit up, fascinated by this device so different from traditional magical tools. “What do you plan to do with the mana? A magic network unit this small can only gather a limited amount, right?”

“Exactly. The output alone isn’t enough to activate even a first-level spell. So first, the energy is stored in these crystals,” Gawain pointed to the low-quality mana crystals nearby. “After a full charging cycle, the mana is drawn out from the crystals. Since charging is continuous, the leakage isn’t a problem anymore. The crystals act as temporary storage, holding the small amount of mana generated by the magic network unit. If you arrange enough crystals in an array and allow a long enough charging period, this basic unit can release enough mana to power high-level spells.”

Amber’s eyes grew wide as she listened, and by the end, her gaze toward Gawain was full of disbelief. “Are you sure you’re really a knight?”

“Uh… is that such a big deal?”

“You’re a knight, but where did you learn all this magic theory?!” Amber stared, then looked incredulously at the magic array substrate and crystals in Gawain’s hands. They weren’t fully assembled yet and lacked many key runes and control arrays, but it was clear the project was close to completion. “Is this a magical device? Or just a component…?”

“Exactly—a component, but a very important one. With this, I’ve completed the most crucial part of my plan: solving the problem of mobile energy supply without fixed magic network power,” Gawain smiled. “I’m thinking of calling it a Mana Capacitor. What do you think?”

“Mana Capacitor?” Amber blinked. “What does it have to do with electricity? Are you planning to use it to cast Lightning Bolt or something?”

“Uh… didn’t think of that,” Gawain said, thinking it over. “Well, I’m sticking with the name Mana Capacitor.”

Amber: “…You really went there!?”

Seeing Amber’s stunned expression gave Gawain great satisfaction. Cheerfully, he bent over to pick up some unfinished drafts, ready to continue calculating the honeycomb magic network unit’s power output and charging efficiency. But just as he started working, a sudden commotion outside caught his attention.

“I’ll go check it out!”

With that, Amber dashed out in a flash. Whenever Gawain started writing, she’d get a headache and was always looking for an excuse to escape.

But she hadn’t been gone long before she burst back in, breathless. “Gawain! Gawain! Sir Byron is back!”

“He’s back?” Gawain immediately set down his pen. “Let him in!”

Sir Byron entered the tent, looking worn and dusty from days of exploring the ruins. Yet despite his fatigue, his expression was clearly excited. He saluted Gawain with a knight’s courtesy and said eagerly, “My lord! We discovered a hidden area in the ruins—possibly the secret testing grounds of the old Gondor Empire! There are many intact instruments, equipment, and supplies inside, and… and we even found a few legible manuscripts and documents!”

(End of chapter)