Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Perfect Mana Powder Yield
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I looked at the mana stone I had received from Tio.
It felt like only a few days had passed since it was harvested, as thick mana wafted up from the mana stone.
The refreshingly crisp sensation unique to dense mana faintly emanated from it, marking it as a high-value item.
To hand over something like this without any verification...
"Should I call it bold, or naive?"
A mana stone of this caliber was probably nothing special to a dwarf like her.
It was the perfect price point to test a mage's skills.
I examined the mana stone.
Mana stones were often thought of as just stones infused with mana, but they were a bit different.
They were mana of extremely high density that had gathered in one space over a long period and crystallized.
Because it was crystallized and solidified, refined mana could be extracted from it efficiently.
If that solidified crystal was ground up, it was natural for the shocked mana to start moving.
Once the mana became free to move like that, it became difficult to control.
That was what it meant when grinding mana stones reduced efficiency.
Therefore, to grind a mana stone into powder or liquid required a fairly precise process.
"If you just grind it recklessly, the mana dissipates during the process, so the yield inevitably drops."
During grinding, you needed to suppress the mana strongly with mana power so it couldn't escape.
"You don't have to push yourself too hard."
Perhaps she thought I was tense from staring at the mana stone for so long.
"My goal is to maintain about 65 percent yield from the ground 'mana powder' compared to the original mana stone. That's what we commonly call top-grade, but I believe a human like you can do it."
Tio presented the goal for this test from beside me.
I concentrated mana around the mana stone.
A spherical mana ball formed from my mana enveloped the mana stone like a wrapper.
"Hoo."
Then, I created a small rod made of mana.
Ziiing.
The mana stick vibrated roughly, emitting a loud noise.
To reactivate the mana, the most efficient method was to make it jump wildly.
It was a method not many used because of the severe backlash.
But it wasn't impossible if you could suppress the mana.
"Ooh... Human, your mana manipulation technique is incredibly precise."
Tio's eyes sparkled as she watched.
Her face was already covered with glowing blue goggles.
"I've seen mages from various races, but you're the first I've seen handle it this well. Even artisans don't have this level of precision."
Her eyes stayed fixed on the mana stick, unblinking.
"How on earth did you do it? I've never seen a spell to fix mana like that. No, producing this output without a magic circle—I haven't even seen it in papers... Do you have any reference papers or materials? Ah, did you cite Riprea's mana utilization research paper?"
The excited engineer chattered noisily beside me.
"Be quiet. You're disturbing me."
"Ah, yes."
She covered her mouth with both hands and blinked.
I tapped the center of the mana stone with the mana stick I had refined.
Then.
Boom!
A vibration like a heart being squeezed rang out, shaking the air.
"Wow..."
Tio looked at the mana stone through her goggles.
"It's cracking! Human, it's starting to crack!"
As she said, the mana stone shattered, and the mana began dancing wildly on its own.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The 'natural mana' that had been crystallized and trapped in the mana stone for so long now ramped up inside the mana sphere I had created, as if venting its pent-up rage.
It was only natural.
Mana that had been free for so long, now imprisoned, was bound to get angry.
Like a wild horse desperate to gallop across vast plains?
And right now, I was the cowboy tasked with taming that wild horse.
To turn the wild horse into a faithful steed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
I blocked the rampaging unrefined mana using the tightly bound mana sphere.
"Human, the mana is starting to crystallize again. The readings are stabilizing too. I think this is good enough? At this rate, we'll get ultra top-grade mana powder."
Tio shouted while staring into the mana sphere through her goggles.
"I'll wait a bit longer."
"Wait longer here? But it'll strain you too much."
She looked at me with genuine concern, removing her goggles.
Enduring the collisions of natural mana with my own mana wasn't easy.
For anyone else, it would have caused internal bleeding multiple times.
"Didn't you want the highest efficiency?"
"That's true, but..."
"Regular high-grade 'mana powder' or 'mana water' won't stabilize the rylutan."
"...You mean even higher quality than this is possible? The yield's already over 70 percent."
Tio clamped her mouth shut and stared at me.
"I'm aiming for 100 percent."
"Th-that's possible...?"
Instead of answering, I shrank the mana sphere even further.
Reducing the size of the mana sphere increased the internal pressure, making the mana that hadn't yet seeped into the crystals rampage even more fiercely.
The stubborn mana that hadn't seeped in until now resisted violently.
Kukukukuboom!!!
"Krgh!"
A shock like a hammer to the heart transmitted through the mana I was controlling.
This was quite unpleasant.
A protest from mana refusing to enter no matter what, and my pride trying to calm it down—it turned into a battle of wills.
"80 percent? The yield that's supposedly impossible..."
"Krgh!"
Ignoring Tio's words, I shrank the mana sphere even more.
Kiiiiiing!!
Now, a sound like a motor whirring filled my ears.
As the unpleasant noise tore at the air, I increased the pressure on the mana even further.
"9... 95 percent... I've never seen a mana sphere hold without tearing at this point."
Finally, when I compressed the mana sphere until nothing but mana powder remained, with not even air left inside.
I forced even the last struggling bits of natural mana into the powder.
Tio, peering into the mana stone through her goggles, spoke in a dazed voice.
"I-it's 100 percent! The mana powder yield is a whopping 100 percent. I never thought this was possible..."
I, drenched in sweat, let out a deep sigh.
"I'll wait a little longer."
"You're not releasing it right away?"
"Yes. It's forcibly clumped together, so I'll leave it like this until the crystallized mana stabilizes a bit more."
"..."
Tio removed her goggles and stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.
"Are you a specialist mage in this kind of work? Meister School, was it? I heard human mages there specialize in this."
"No."
"I-I see."
"But I've done mana stone processing like this a few times."
"Ah."
I had ground them multiple times on commission from mages and alchemists.
Not many mages liked grinding mana stones themselves.
The sensation of the mana vibrations pounding the heart wasn't pleasant.
'Unless you're a Meister School mage, you hardly ever do it yourself.'
As Tio had said, top-grade items with yields over 65 percent were made by Meister School professors.
-If you exceed 75 percent during processing, it can harm the mage's body, so take caution.
There was even a warning like that.
'You won't get harmed if you can handle it.'
But items like that would only provoke the rylutan's reactivity, so I deliberately pushed past the limit, condensing it further to boost efficiency and neutralize the mana’s aggressiveness.
At my words that I had experience, Tio finally nodded.
"We're really lucky. To meet a mana stone processing expert..."
Was it my imagination, or did the way Tio looked at me feel a bit different from before?
Once I confirmed the mana had completely settled, I finally released the mana sphere.
I put the perfectly refined mana powder into a glass vial and handed it to her.
"This is beyond top-grade—ultra top-grade is more like it. 100 percent yield, and no trace of mana's inherent aggressiveness. No mana leaks out, so if you hadn't seen the process, you wouldn't even believe it was mana powder."
As Tio said, the 100 percent yield mana powder didn't emanate mana.
It looked like ordinary blue stone powder at a glance, but this was the 'real' mana powder.
Tio's goggles glowed blue as they analyzed the mana powder.
Her face brightened more and more as the analysis progressed.
"With this, I think I can make the mana storage device you wanted. Human, you're amazing... Without you, it would have been impossible."
After confirming the item, Tio asked me.
"But with skills like this, couldn't you just condense and process mana stones directly?"
"I've tried it before. I condensed mana stones and turned them into powder like this."
"Wh-what happened?"
"No matter how much post-processing I did afterward, they reverted to original form in two weeks to a month."
"Even with this?"
She stared blankly at the mana powder.
"Even 100 percent yield mana powder is still mana, it seems."
No matter how much you tame it, you can't fool its nature.
Like a fierce wild horse—even if well-trained, a moment's lapse and it bolts.
"That gives me an idea of how to manufacture the core. I need to do thorough finishing."
Her mouth shut tight as if struck by inspiration, Tio raised her index finger.
"Just wait one day! I'll bring the finished product right away!"
"Got it. I'll book a room at a nearby inn and wait."
"Ah, I'll handle the costs. Take this card and use it to pay!"
Tio handed me a rectangular yellow card.
"It might be unfamiliar to humans, but this is a dwarf card. You can pay for goods through the unique information stored in it."
Even cards, huh.
I'd heard Steam Factory's technology was impressive, but this level...
In terms of technology, they were clearly several steps ahead of the Empire.
"I'll use it well."
"You're not as surprised as I thought."
"I've seen something similar back home."
"You're such a unique human. No limit, so use it freely. Considering the mana stone you made today, I'd like to give you more money right now, but the commission comes first, right?"
"Is there really no limit?"
"Of course! How much money I've made with manacons! Heh heh heh!"
In that case.
It might be nice to indulge in some luxuries I couldn't in the Empire.
With the card Tio gave me, I stayed the night at the most expensive hotel in the Dwarf Steam Factory.
"Gold card...? P-please come in."
As soon as I showed the yellow card, I received overly lavish treatment.
'Money really does make life comfortable anywhere.'
Mana particles aside.
The next day.
At Tio's summons, I headed to her workshop.
"It's done. A mana core that won't leak mana no matter how much time passes. As long as it's not consuming mana, it absolutely won't leak! It's small, but it can run an average magic circle for 24 hours!"
The round mana core she handed me gleamed with the unique silver shine of rylutan.
Below the spherical core was a circular stand that could serve as a base.
It was clear thought had gone into making it versatile depending on installation.
"I checked stability yesterday. Because it's so refined, there was minimal backlash when inserting and operating it in the rylutan. Of course, more experiments are needed, but from my half-day test, it didn't clash even once! Even after running it 24 hours straight!"
Her bloodshot eyes and dark circles showed she had pulled an all-nighter, but relief was etched on her face.
A deep sense of accomplishment shone through.
"But there's something unusual."
"What is it?"
"When this core consumes mana, the internal mana naturally depletes too, right?"
Tio tilted her head as she spoke.
"But the consumption is less than expected. It's like the mana core is regenerating some of the used mana on its own."
Regenerating?
"Of course, since the absolute capacity is small, it's not a dramatic amount of mana. But it seems like it can output about three times more than anticipated."
Excitement for a new invention lit up her face.
"If I can just scale this up... I could make a historic invention that makes manacons look like toys!"
Her eyes sparkled.
"The ultimate invention to shake the continent by Max and Tio! Ah, I'll put your name on the invention too. It wouldn't have been possible without your help. We'll split the revenue from this 5:5!"
Revenue, huh.
She shouted excitedly, but it wasn't something you could sell to just anyone right away.
It was too small for regular magic circles.
"It'd sell well as portable."
"Yes? What did you say?"
"I said it'd sell a lot if mounted on portable magic tools."
"Portable... portable, portable! Ah, why didn't I think of that? I was only thinking of enlarging it, not using it at this size!"
Like a flash of inspiration, Tio clapped.
"This should be 6:4. It wouldn't have occurred to me without your words. You should get 6."
Tio seemed sincere.
After handing me the mana core, Tio asked.
"Um, excuse me!"
"Yes?"
"Do you perhaps have a workshop too?"