08-27 Combat-ready

“Next is master’s weaponry, right?”

Ann said, because the reinforced clothing was more or less complete.

“[Water Jet] and [Laser] are too powerful, and they range from long distance to medium distance usage. Please acquire some short distance weaponry.”

“I see what you’re getting at.”

Ann’s proposal was on point. But Jin didn’t know martial arts or anything like that.

“Which means that in the end I should be fine swinging around something like a staff…”

For now, Jin pictured himself wielding a staff. …There was something wrong with it. Jin couldn’t picture it.

“How about a katana? Although they do say that it won’t cut unless you align the blade correctly, and Adamant.i.te is heavy too.”

Double strength was barely not enough to wield a katana made out of Adamant.i.te.

“Hmm… It has to be light, so that means that some materials are off the table, huh…”

After thinking it through that much what popped into his mind was a sword made out of light out of a certain famous movie franchise.

“That would probably work out, it seems.”

Jin formed a plan in his head.

“Imprison plasma and…Nope. As an anti-personnel weapon that would be way too brutal. With lightning-type magic…It’s the same.”

Jin kept puzzling over it.

“Hmm, and I thought it was such a good idea…”

“Master, before you continue that please first add a self-defense barrier to your equipment.”

Ann gave her some timely help. However, it wasn’t where she had thought she’d help, as she helped Jin reach a good idea.

“That’s right! A barrier! I’ll make a barrier’s force field into a sword!”

Usually [Magic Barrier]s spread out into a sphere or into a disk, but Jin began to consider if it was possible to make it into the shape of a sword. Spheres, disks, and other geometrical shapes were simple but making it into the shape of a sword was next to impossible.

“Alright! I can do this! I can do this!”

However, with Jin’s knowledge of magic and experience on Earth it became feasible.

“Won’t it work out if I just expand the [Magic Barrier]’s poles to the shape of a sword?”

A [Magic Barrier] was a wall made out of Ether, so to speak. In theory its construction was easy. It was a combination of attracting and repelling Ether. Using the techniques in equilibrium, you could put up an invisible wall.

Here’s some more details about the attracted Ether and the repelled Ether. They collide against each other and in the location where they’re in equilibrium the Ether density in the air becomes tens of thousands of times higher. The Ether can then link together. This [Ether Mesh] is what a [Magic Barrier] is.

A [Magic Barrier]’s strength is half decided by the Ether concentration, and half by the strength of the links of the mesh. The size of the Mesh is made so that Ether can easily pa.s.s through it, so that one doesn’t have to worry about the magician inside running out of Ether.

The poles where Ether is repelled or attracted to are generated by a magical ring for example, or the imaginary points in s.p.a.ce a magician can create. By inscribing down the complex details the designated imaginary points can be created by Magic Energy only, so by using a ring or something like that as a Magi Tool the performance is good.

And so Jin was thinking about trying to make those ‘poles’ into the shape of a sword.

“Usually the emissions come out of a point, so it becomes a sphere.”

Basically an equidistant Ether Mesh forms around the emitting point.

“To change it into the shape of a sword, the intensity needs to be changed partially…Oh, that should do.”

By changing the intensity, the distance at which the repelling and attracting forces are at equilibrium changes. For poles that are a point that control would be too difficult, but for a sword shape it was comparatively simple. (Only for a Magi Craft Meister, that is.)

It seemed like some minute adjustments were still necessary, but the sword-shaped [Magic Barrier] that Jin held did look like a 50-centimeter sword and emitted a faint light.

“Alright, let’s do this like that, and that like this.”

Jin continued tweaking the Magi Formula for the sword-shaped [Magic Barrier].

After about three rounds of adjustments,

“I’ve done it!”

Jin raised his voice in delight.

“If I change the output then… Whoa!”

From the short 40 centimeters it lengthened to over two meters.

“Now then, the sharpness.”

Jin tried slas.h.i.+ng at a block of wood that was lying around nearby.

“Huh?”

However, contrary to his expectations it wasn’t cut.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because right now it’s a simple cylindrical barrier…”

He guessed at the reason and developed it further.

“Let’s change the nature of the linked Ether at this point to fire…No, to thermal energy.”

After a small tweak he performed a second test.

“How’s it now? …Ow, that’s hot!”

Hot air leaked out towards Jin.

“If I change a bit more to thermal energy the Ether won’t be diminish.”

And then the third try.

“Mh-hm, this is good!”

A bluish-white s.h.i.+ning magic sword. Its temperature probably pa.s.sed 10,000 degrees Celsius. When he cut the block of wood the cross-section was burned black and a part of it disappeared.

Next he decided to test it on a metal rod. For now he put on the helmet too and asked Reiko.

“Reiko, can you get that metal rod from there and gently swing it at me please. Listen, veeery gently.”

“Yes.”

After emphasizing it to Reiko, she took the two centimeters thick and about 80 centimeters long metal rod and swung it towards Jin. He blocked it with the magic sword.

As it was fundamentally a sword-shaped barrier, it was able to take it on like a real sword.

Then where he blocked the pole it melted down in less than a second and was completely severed in two. If he blocked a sword, the opponent’s blade would probably get damaged.

“Alright, then how about electric energy?”

Fumbling with the Magi Language, he tried to make it produce electric energy using lightning-type magic.

“Now, how is it?”

He activated it. It looked bluish-white, but also was bizarrely yellow. That’s the kind of sword it became.

“Let’s see, touching this would be too perilous, huh… Reiko, please thrust that metal pole into the ground.”

“Yes, Father.”

Reiko lightly stabbed the 60-centimeter pole into the ground.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Aiming at the metal pole Jin swung downwards. The moment the sword was about to come into contact, an arc discharge occurred and there was a bang along with an instant of nothing but dazzling light.

Without the light-impeding feature of the helmet it seemed he would’ve damaged his eyes.

The next moment the sword and the pole made contact, and sparks as if from an electric welder came flying and the iron rod was bisected. Glowing white metal scattered around.

“To make it glow white with heat in an instant, the voltage must be hundreds of millions…”

Jin stared fixedly at the sword. He had a hunch he had accidentally made something ridiculous. If the electric energy hadn’t been produced by magic, Jin who was the closest to it would’ve been the first one to come to harm.

“Next is to make sure this voltage can controlled, I guess.”

Jin muttered, and after adjusting and refining the sword’s size in addition to the heat and electric energy, he finally finished two Magi Tools that were magical swords.

“I guess I’ll call them ‘Masamune’ and ‘Muramasa’.”

Masamune was fire-style, and Murasama was the electric-style sword. And those names were once more made up on a whim.

“Master, good work.”

“Father, would you like a bath?”

Both Ann and Reiko called out to Jin who had finished working. Jin first stretched his limbs, then said,

“Yeah, I guess I’ll take a bath.”

He then headed to the mansion. Reiko followed him and Ann stayed to tidy up.

“Ahh, the fatigue just melts away.”

While submerged in the mansion’s hot spring, Jin spoke like an old man.

＊ ＊ ＊

“I have arrived at Dali.”

“Alright, proceed as planned.”

“Yes sir.”

＊ ＊ ＊

That night, Jin was waiting for Reinhardt to make contact, but when there was no contact after the expected time had pa.s.sed, Jin began to get worried.

Then he received an urgent report from Laozi.

“My Lord, a report from Sage. It appears that Reinhardt-dono has been kidnapped.”

“What the!?”

He had just increased the SP’s numbers as he was afraid of that.

“She went via the base at the ruins of the stronghold to Dali where Reinhardt-dono was, but it seems she barely didn’t make it in time.”

“Those Unifilers… So they didn’t heed my warning.”

Jin’s anger silently flared up.

“Hourai Island, prepare to sortie.”