Chapter 179: Flagship Upgrades

AN: Starting next month, I will be only releasing 2 chapters a week (Monday and Friday) for various reasons, one of them being health-related. It’s nothing major, just insomnia, but it’s bad for productive work when half the day, I’m too tired to do anything. The other reason is that I want to start preparing for the rewrite of this story which I hope to start next year. I will still work on this as it’s good to get the story in order and try things and see what works.

When I first started writing this story, I didn’t know where or even how to take it, I just had the start and end in mind and that was it. I didn’t know what I wanted the story to be, but that is much clearer to me now. I have a better grasp of my strengths and weaknesses. Fight scenes have taken a back seat, and there’s more focus on science and slice of life and especially the exploration of how the world works.

There are endless possibilities for me to explore this world; even if I run out of ideas for mana and magic, there’s still space and souls, anima, and so much more.

In the rewrite, I will cut out some things, characters, and story arcs that haven't worked out well. Others I will expand upon and see if I can’t salvage them; some I will reorder, so they happen at a later time than they did.

I have a mental checklist for what needs to be done before I start the rewrite; one is proper character building. Having a backstory and set personality for them to make them more fleshed out is one of my goals since I always felt like I could have done the characters better. I also want to do more world-building that isn’t mana physics, but things like culture, folklore, and other things like that to make the setting feel rich and real. I want to finish what I started with the Runalymo language, early criticisms kinda scared me away from it, but I feel like I can get it right.

So what does this mean for Patreon now that there will be fewer chapters? It just means that it will be cheaper. Instead of 2$ for 5 ahead it will now be 1$ and for 10 ahead will be 4$ instead of 5$; however, the 10$ tier will remain the same because I will be adding more to it.

For 10$ patrons you can help me world-build by giving suggestions. I am only one person with limited experience in life. I am not a musician, an architect, a linguist, a cook, etc. Everyone sees the world in a different way and may have a unique idea that may take me years to come up with, if at all. So every week on Wednesday, I will give a topic for suggestions in addition to my own ideas like Runalymo customs, folklore stories, past events, and mythical monsters like the Loch Ness monster or Chupacabra.

Obviously, it’s up to me if suggestions are accepted, and even if they are, they may not make it into this story.

So what’s the plan when I am ready for the rewrite? I won’t have deadlines for it. The chapters will be done once they are done but will also be longer. The first book will end after the Cursed being event. Once the book is completed, I will post it to RR and SH, but patrons will be able to read it as it’s written.

Also, changing the tier’s price requires me to delete the current one so I will do that as close as I can to the turn of the next month.

A few days later, I have ruled out the possibility of the Inscriptions being related to my low anima, which is relieving but worrying at the same time. I’m glad that it isn’t the problem, but that also means that the problem may be something more important.

My next test is to try and rule out [Manipulate Mana] by having Uloru and Kadona watch my anima level while I work on upgrading the flagship. However, just as I start that, one of my other minds make a breakthrough in my inscription research!

With the goal of finding an inscription that transforms elemental mana into reserved mana, I had begun working off of the [Manipulate Mana] magic circle, going through thousands of iterations to see if I can get any transformation of mana, and I finally did!

It doesn’t transform mana into reserved mana, but it does change fire mana into air mana which is a start! Now that I have a foothold, I should be able to work off this design, but this will likely take weeks or even months to figure out, and then I have to refine the inscription design.

The mana transformation inscription is similar to the mana gathering inscription in the sense that it doesn’t need a core, which means it won’t destroy the mana. I should probably make a distinction between inscriptions that burns mana to fuel magic and ones that don’t.

It’s almost like false magic, but from what I know, magic doesn’t need mana or miasma, just that those help it. Think of magic like a smoldering log. The fire reaction is still happening, heat is being produced, but there is no fire. Mana and miasma make it ‘hot’ enough to produce flame. Coreless inscriptions use that smoldering type of magic, whereas core inscriptions use the hotter, more effective magic.

Coreless inscriptions are inarguably the safer forms of inscriptions, but cored inscriptions are more powerful; however, I only plan to use coreless inscriptions on the flagship because core inscriptions will just destroy the airship. I don’t think there is a possibility for them to be used on mana structures.

As I upgrade the Airship’s hull, I don’t make room for future Inscriptions; the reason is simple, I will be making another thinner layer of mana for decorations and incorporate the inscriptions in that.

Once I have finished the hull of the airship, compressing the solid mana into supersolid mana and enchanting it, Uloru and Kadona give me some good news.

“Unless the drain on your anima is so low that we can’t detect it, we can safely say that your extensive use of [Manipulate Mana] is not draining your anima,” Kadona says while Uloru does her best to not look at my tails lustfully.

I have to say it does make me self-conscious, but I can’t really blame Uloru since it’s a product of hormones. I am keeping my Hormones under control with a spell every morning, but Uloru can’t do the same.

I am relieved to hear the good news, [Manipulate Mana] is a staple of my skillset, almost an entire Class by itself, and while it is not my strongest skill, it is my most useful skill due to its versatility. However, this doesn’t quite explain how I can make magic items easier than others. While it does rule out normal usage of [Manipulate Mana], I am not entirely sure it’s not the cause, but I also don’t see why the curse will only drain anima when the item becomes magical.

The flagship is not a small ship. It’s not the Titanic either, probably closer to a Galleon in size, but considering the normal boat size for Runalymo, it might as well be the Titanic. In any case, it’s a ton of work, and all of it through [Manipulate Mana], so if the curse were to drain my anima, it should have done so in a noticeable amount.

This leads me to think that the most probable cause is my [Astral Projection] curse which I never found out what it did. I still don’t know what the curse is, but I suspect it has something to do with anima considering recent events.

I need to find out how my curse works and properly understand it to know what my limits are until I can finally cure it.

“Thank you for your help; this narrows down what I am looking for. I will probably have to make a magic item to really find out what is going on.”

“How do you intend on doing that? Arent magic items suppose to be hard to make? It’s more luck than anything,” Kadona asks.

“I just have to do my best with this airship and hope it becomes magical,” I answer with a shrug.

I never intended to make the airship a magic item; I’m not even sure if something so big can become magical, but even from the start, I just wanted to make it as best I could. Relying on something becoming magical has already sort of backfired on me, and being still recent, the bitter taste hasn’t left yet.

Now that I think about it, doesn’t the hope of one’s craft becoming magical mean that one’s own abilities fall short? It’s like admitting that I can’t achieve something greater or even what I set out to achieve in the first place. I should hope that it doesn’t become magical, not just because of my anima situation, but also because I want to make the best airship with my own abilities. It’s about having pride in my own work that I hope it doesn’t become magical.

A week later, I attend Esofy’s and Chyzu’s wedding. The previous day I made the most fabulous and stunning dresses I could for them.

“Thank you so much, Aly!” Chyzu says, crushing me in a hug. “This is perfect!”

I haven't seen Chyzu in a long time, and it was a little surprise to see another mana signature in her belly indicating that she is pregnant.

Esofy is likewise appreciative of my gift but much more controlled.

“You didn't have to do this, Aly, but thank you very much.”

The marriage ceremony isn’t long, and like the adulthood ceremony, it takes place during the Lojyo. The two cleanse each other with a special bathing oil under Myrou’s statue then they exchange their right adult earring to symbolize their joining and show everyone that they are now married. After that, everyone joins them in the bath, continuing the normal Lojyo customs.

A few days later, my house is finally complete, and with the help of a few dozen A.I.-managed clones, I have everything moved out in one trip.

“We’re going to miss you!” Mom says dramatically.

“My little Aly, all grown up and living on her own,” Dad says proudly.

“Don’t go, Aly!” Yafel and Yafe say, clinging onto me with their arms wrapped around me.

“Geez! I’m just moving a few streets over, not to another village! You can visit me whenever you want!”

“Wait, does that mean we get two houses?!” Yafe says, greed in her eyes.

I can’t help but smile amusedly at my family’s antics.

“Yes, you can come over whenever you want,” I say, patting the twins on their heads.

Having a large home and plenty of space to store my experiments is like a breath of fresh air. No longer will I have to trip over my stuff when getting out of bed, no longer will I have to go to the beach to do my studies, and I finally get my own shop.

“Saving up all your money really paid off; I’m so proud of you,” Dad says, seeing the double lot building.

Unless I wanted a four-story house, I needed two building lots which makes my house one of the biggest in the village, and depending on the future; I may buy the two lots behind my house for further expansion.

The twins run ahead to explore on their own while I give my parents a proper tour.

After moving into my new home, I quickly adapt to the new living situation. Being able to go to my parents' house for dinner or vice versa really helps with the adjustment. I have a clone working the shop full time, but since I now have thirteen minds, I have a few to spare.

With my living arrangements finished, I set my task back on completing the airship. With the hull upgraded, I can now focus on the interior and setting up mana wiring leading all through the airship and connected to where the airship reactor will be and where the mana collecting and transforming inscriptions will be placed.

The airship has three floors below deck, the residential floor on top, the industrial floor in the middle, and the storage floor on the lowest. Since this will be a mobile base, the industrial floor will have everything necessary for everyone’s crafts. There will be lifts that go all the way to the bottom floor for easy access to the storage.

I attach landing gear, then folds up when not used so the airship can land on the ground. I add powerful shock absorbers so the landing will be smooth. Above deck at the back of the airship is the command section where the battery room and reactor will be as well as all the other necessities for the flight of the airship is.

There’s one more thing that needs to be added. Defense. The airship needs to be ready to fight powerful heroic tier monsters with a thousand levels or outrun them. I make a separate battery room with its own mana wiring that leads to spell cannons that fire cannon rounds of pure solid spell mana. With such high mana density, the cannons should be able to pack a powerful punch even if it’s not enhanced by Classes.

Who knows, maybe in the future, there will be a Class that specializes in making mana bullets; maybe I can teach it to someone? It’s similar in concept to mana weaving, so maybe an evolution off of that… Right now, I am the only one who can make the cannon shells, and I’ll need to talk to Tusile about the prospects of an ammunitionist profession.

Being able to fight on its own is good, but what if there’s a legendary monster that we can’t fight? The airship will have to be able to run away at a fast speed, but how do I achieve that? Rockets? I don’t have the mechanical knowledge to do that, though… mana rockets then? I can use enchantments to draw in the air like a compressor, then use inscriptions to gather mana and transform the mana into fire mana which will heat up and expand the air to produce thrust. Doing it that way, I can make a mana thruster that will work similarly to how airplane engines work but without the mechanical stuff!

However, that hinges on me getting the inscriptions right. So far, I’ve found out how to transform mana to half of the elements with inscriptions but none into reserved mana. Without that, the cannons will have to drain the reactor, which may impact the normal operations of the airship. And the emergency thrusters won’t be possible without being a massive drain on the reactor.

With the inner workings of the airship done, its hull upgrade is done, the enchantments are in place, and all that’s left is the decorations, the inscriptions, and the reactor. The rector will be made with the monster parts that produce their own reserved mana, so I only have to wait for the dungeon monster slayers to get them.

The mana gathering inscriptions alone won't be enough to power the airship; it’s only to supplement the emergency power source, so the reactor has to be made. The only problem is that the airship needs a minimum of half a million mana production per hour, with an ideal amount being seven hundred thousand mana per hour.

With the reduced efficiency versions for mana structures, the mana gathering inscriptions might max out at a hundred thousand per hour altogether.