Chapter 102: Uses for Magic Stones

Thanks to Erica-sensei teaching me the knack, I managed to create a Magic Stone. It has become a red Magic Stone because I poured fire magic into it. That is fine, but for some reason, I feel like it shines more brightly compared to the one Sensei made for me yesterday. As I was pondering this, Sensei explained it to me. “As expected, the Magic Stone you made has a stronger shine, William-san. Actually, the more magic power is infused, the higher the quality of the Magic Stone.” “Is that so?”

“Yes. Please try Appraising it.” When I Appraised it, it displayed “Magic Stone (Fire): High Quality.” “Sensei, it has become a high-quality Magic Stone.” “The quality really did become high when you made it, William-san. It seems people with large magic capacities naturally pour more magic power into the Magic Stone.” “I see.”

“If you can make a Fire Magic Stone, you can make Magic Stones of other attributes in the same way. Shall we try making one of each?” “Yes, Sensei.” Then, just like the Fire Magic Stone, I made a Wind Magic Stone, a Water Magic Stone, and an Earth Magic Stone. Sensei Appraised the Magic Stones I made and nodded with satisfaction. “They are all high quality. Wonderful.” “Thank you.” I’m glad I have a lot of magic power. Once again, I must thank God.

Since Magic Stones are prone to exploding, I carefully wrapped them in cotton. Then, I placed them in a hemispherical iron container and covered it with another hemispherical iron piece to form a sphere. “With this, the bomb is complete. We made it simply with a single attribute this time, but we know that combining a Fire Magic Stone and a Wind Magic Stone increases the power.” I see. Using two Magic Stones, fire and wind, seems like it would be powerful. I understand the terror of monsters, so I think bombs are necessary. But if magical energy can be handled with the Production Skill, I wonder if we can’t make things useful for daily life too.

“Is something the matter?” Erica-sensei asked as I was deep in thought. “Ah, I’m sorry, Sensei. I understand that bombs are necessary for countermeasures against monsters, but I was wondering if we couldn’t make things useful for daily life as well.” “I see. That is a very kind idea, typical of you, William-san.” Erica-sensei smiled at me.

“There are two challenges in using Magic Stones for daily tools. One is that they explode immediately upon impact. The other is that ‘Empty Stones,’ the material for Magic Stones, are rare.” “True, unless we clear those hurdles, we can’t use them for daily tools.” However, regarding the point about exploding upon impact, the same method used to stabilize nitroglycerin might be usable.

“Sensei, you mentioned having doubts about whether it should be called a stone, but is the inside of a Magic Stone perhaps liquid?” “You figured it out well. Actually, the inside of a Magic Stone is apparently liquid. I heard that someone who accidentally broke a Magic Stone before—and was fortunately unharmed—testified that the contents were liquid.” “Hearing that it explodes with a slight impact, I thought that might be the case. If so, there is something I want to try.” “My, what kind of method is it?”

I spoke about the idea of having the liquid inside the Magic Stone absorbed into a porous material. If I recall correctly, nitroglycerin was stabilized by being absorbed into diatomaceous earth. “That is an interesting idea. I see, if it is absorbed into a porous material, it seems likely to stabilize.” “Yes. If we let diatomaceous earth absorb it, there is a possibility that it won’t explode easily even if impacted.” “As expected of William-san. To come up with such an idea immediately.” No, I just have knowledge from my previous life. I feel somewhat guilty being praised for it.

“However, there is danger in experimenting. This workshop is surrounded by thick iron plates and designed so that even if an explosion occurs, the impact on the outside is minimal, but we want to avoid an explosion in the Royal Castle.” “No, no, I didn’t even dream of experimenting here.” “Ufufu, I’m half joking. It is better to conduct the experiment in an open space.” “I-Is that so? Then, I will conduct the experiment in a wide space once I return to Northernford.”

“No, I shall conduct this experiment.” “Eh, you will, Sensei?” “I do not want to let you, who have a bright future, perform dangerous experiments. I will tell you the results, and I will speak to His Majesty about the fact that William-san was the proposer.” “Thank you for your concern. But I don’t want you to do anything dangerous either, Erica-sensei. And regarding the proposer, since I stand out too much already, I wouldn’t mind if you took credit for the idea, Sensei…” “No. Please leave the dangerous things to the elderly. Besides, this idea is revolutionary. I do not want to do something like stealing my disciple’s credit.”

When Sensei said that, I had no choice but to bow my head. “I understand. But please, be careful.” “I don’t want to die yet either, so I will be careful. After all, I want to watch over William-san’s future success.” Erica-sensei casually said something that made me happy. I realized once again how lucky I was that Erica-sensei became my master.