Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 102: Magic-Powered Engine

Gawain knew a few ‘trivial spells’ that were very interesting, like the Transformation spell’s simplified version ‘Dye spell’. It could change the target’s hair color according to the situation, but apart from the change in color, there wasn’t any lethal power, and it was only able to be maintained for two hours. There was also the spirit-tempering trivial spell ‘Toughen Will’. After execution, the spellcaster’s vision would summon a phantom that would immediately start to recite the spellcaster’s youthful and sorrowful experiences. It would keep on repeating until the spellcaster stopped the spell. It had an unbelievable effect on toughening willpower…

Okay, youthful and sorrowful stories were just Gawain’s own understanding. The local mages realized that the phantoms would mainly be reciting the spellcasters’ failures and foolish mistakes from their entire life. Because the phantom would only be seen by the spellcaster, it was something like a mental hint to oneself. It was a technique that was in between a spell and a skill. It was very effective when used to toughen the willpower, to self-reflect, and to summarize one’s experiences. But most of the people weren’t willing to learn this trivial spell.

Official mages weren’t willing to be grouped as ‘spellcasters’ together with people that merely learned trivial spells. It referred to those street performers who used trivial spells to deceive uneducated commoners or to those shoddy apprentices who relied on trivial spells to trick countryside knights. Even apprentice mages wouldn’t feel proud for mastering a few trivial spells… On the other hand, if one wasn’t even able to master a few trivial spells, it would definitely be humiliating…

Rebecca was obviously a dauntless general of the shamed and humiliated mages.

The Repulsion trivial spell was something that had nearly caused Rebecca to have a mental trauma during her childhood. It was a rather powerful spell among the various trivial spells.

It was the prerequisite spell for the force field-type spells. It was in the same category but a variant of the trivial spell, ‘Telekinesis’. It was also a training method for advanced spells like the Gravity Control spell, Levitation spell, or the Sculpture Hand. The Repulsion spell’s function was to push away anything in front or within the vicinity of the spellcaster (as for which effect, it would be decided by the type of runes added during the construction of the spell). As for the object being pushed away, it would be up to the spellcaster’s magic strength. It was one of the rare trivial spells that could be effective during battle… to push away enemies or to make the enemies lose their balance.

Gawain knew of this trivial spell, but he had never thought of it.

His mind was only filled with the forces of expansion or high temperature and high-pressure airflow. Even though his mind would flash with the electric-motor model occasionally, he didn’t correlate it with this world’s most fundamental ‘Repulsion spell’.

After seeing how Rebecca described her idea in high spirits, Gawain used a self-mocking attitude to reflect upon himself.

He told himself not to overestimate his creative thoughts and other world’s experiences as a ‘transmigrator’. These thoughts and experiences might be very effective, but there were plenty of moments when it would become a transmigrator’s restriction and obstacle. Just like this time, Gawain Cecil’s memories contained the Repulsion spell, but why didn’t he think of it?

Because Gawain’s mind was filled with Earth’s classic engine model…

Rebecca had never seen a steam engine before and wouldn’t know what an internal combustion engine was. She wouldn’t even understand why Gawain insisted on adding a sealed cylinder in the machine; therefore, her thoughts didn’t have such restrictions. She merely required Gawain to propose a rough idea, and she would use her fine brain and her magical knowledge of this world to think of a perfect solution.

Of course, there was another very important reason — that Rebecca was indeed abnormally talented. With her highly creative ideas, as long as she didn’t starve to death in this world, she would probably be a significant person. She would at least become those people who were printed on history books and would take up two lessons to fully explain their accomplishments. But one had to admit that: how could the other world people be silly?

They simply didn’t consider things in a certain direction!

Heidi’s train of thoughts had opened up because of Rebecca’s idea. She took a piece of paper and casually drew runes and lines on it. “That’s right… the Repulsion spell is very suited for simple magic circles. In fact, there are plenty of magical mechanisms like the automatic door, and the most common floor traps are all actuated by the Repulsion spell. But no one had ever thought to transform such energy into sustainable operation and standardized machines… Ancestor, your wisdom and thoughts are truly unfathomable.”

As she spoke, she handed over the rough sketch she had done.

The back of Gawain’s head was perspiring with cold sweat after getting praised by Heidi. I am not done with my self-reflection yet…

After taking over Heidi’s sketches, he took a glance and realized that it wasn’t just the sketches of the simplest Repulsion magic circle; there were also markings of the corresponding magic effects and the cheapest material for assembly.

She was truly hardworking and frugal. If the camp didn’t have Heidi, there would be plenty of pointless expenses.

The trio’s minds were working together as their discussion revolved around the ‘Repulsion spell’ that was one of the most fundamental spells. Rebecca pointed at Gawain’s initial blueprint of the cylinders and said, “If we are using the Repulsion spell, we can simply do away with the sealed cylinders. Perhaps, we will leave behind a protective cover to avoid any foreign material from dropping inside, but it wouldn’t need to be so tight.”

“We can carve the Repulsion magic circle at the underlay for it to actuate the ‘piston’ thing.” Heidi’s interest in research was aroused. “But how will the piston return after being pushed away?”

“Using inertia — this steel wheel’s inertia. It’s called the sprocket wheel.” Gawain pointed at the sprocket wheel that was connected to the piston. “It is connected to the crankshaft and piston. When the piston is away from the Repulsion magic circle, the sprocket wheel will turn and reset the piston.”

Amber had been staring blankly for a long time. At the start, she couldn’t understand at all, but as Gawain and the others continued to discuss, she finally had some clues. After all, the fundamental theorem of this machine wasn’t considered complicated. The main structure was a bunch of wheels and connected shafts. As a thief, Amber had frequent contact with various mechanisms and traps; thus, she was rather familiar with these wheels and shafts. When everyone was discussing the problem of the piston reset, she murmured something by the side, “What about the process when the piston is trying to return to the Repulsion magic circle? The magic circle will still be pushing outwards… but this large wheel will only be able to continue acting after turning the last half of the circle. It means that the machine will be competing against itself.”

“That’s true…” Heidi frowned in response. “When the piston is moving away, it naturally needs the force from the Repulsion magic circle. But when the piston is resetting, the Repulsion magic circle will counteract with those useful forces…”

“Useful forces would be called ‘work’.” Gawain made use of this opportunity to impart them with the terms he was familiar with. At the same time, he had already thought of a solution about the machine ‘competing against itself’. For the Earth’s four-stroke engines and other classic engines, the piston reset process required ventilation to relieve the pressure in the cylinder. But for this machine, the Repulsion magic circle had to stop working the moment the piston was resetting. “Rune triggers. We can use rune triggers to control the Repulsion magic circle. When the piston is close to the magic circle, the rune trigger will be connected. When the piston is being reset by the sprocket wheel and approaching the underlay, the rune trigger’s connection will be severed…”

Heidi’s mind emerged with various magic runes before she asked, “But how are we going to control it? The sprocket wheel is moving very quickly and so is the piston. Magic circles with such quick reactions that had to instantly change based on the position of the rune trigger… This would require high-grade runes…”

Before Heidi had finished her thinking, Rebecca casually said, “Put the rune triggers on the piston then. When the piston is near the underlay, it will be connected and will push the piston away. It will be pushed away once it is close… pushed away once it is close — Wow, so bouncy and vivacious.”

What kind of image had appeared in this lass’s mind for the words ‘bouncy and vivacious’ to emerge?

Heidi and Gawain glanced at Rebecca. The former was astonished at the delicate solution, while the latter was surprised that this foolish girl was truly an engineering genius. How was she able to switch between the magical knowledge and the mechanical knowledge so seamlessly? She was able to instantly jump ahead of his thoughts and obtain a result from the new train of thoughts. Didn’t her brain require any cooldown time? Or were the two kinds of knowledge actually synchronized in her brain? Whichever side was able to provide a solution, she would be able to take hold of that solution?

Rebecca’s neck withdrew when she was stared at as she asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no, no, this is a very good idea.” Heidi quickly shook her hand. “I have even thought of more things. Why are we carving only one Repulsion magic circle? The piston is going to operate back and forth, so we can simply carve the Repulsion magic circle on the other side of the mechanism too. This way, the piston will be able to receive twice the power in a single repetition…”

Gawain looked at the sketches seriously while his mind was thinking about the problem of the rune trigger’s position. He suddenly had an idea too, “Also, fixing the rune trigger on the piston isn’t the best method either. This means that it will only be connected for an instant during the operation. We can connect it with the sprocket wheel’s axis and allow two magic circles on both ends of the piston to be controlled by this rune trigger. We can then use a kind of ‘prod’ system to switch the rune triggers’ magic circuit. It also means that when the sprocket wheel is at the first half of the turning process, the runes will be within the first magic circle. When the sprocket wheel turns to the second half, the runes will be connected to the other magic circle. This way, when the piston is being pushed away for the first time, it will be under the force of the first Repulsion magic circle until the piston reaches the furthest point. At this moment, the first Repulsion magic circle will switch off, and the second magic circle will activate, allowing the piston to reverse in direction. What do you think?”

Rebecca’s mouth was agape. She took a look at Heidi before looking back at Gawain while pouting her lips and feeling dejected. “As expected, I am still the stupidest…”

“You are not stupid at all!” Gawain felt both funny and embarrassed by this lass who was habitually self-abased. “The theory of the Repulsion magic circle was started by you. Me and your aunt are merely following up on this basis.”

Rebecca continued to pout. “But this machine is still proposed by Lord Ancestor.”

“But without your enlightenment, my machine will probably remain a blueprint for eternity.” Gawain laughed. “Aren’t you incredible?”

“Really?”

Gawain smiled and nodded with Heidi. “Really.”

“Oh!”

“That’s right, Ancestor. What name are you giving to this equipment?” Heidi suddenly recalled something. “This is a completely new thing… You have the right to give it a name.”

“Name, huh…” Gawain pondered, and a name immediately came into his mind. “I shall name it Magic-Powered Engine.”

Heidi listened to the unfamiliar and strange combination of words. A smile slowly appeared. “Ancestor, that is indeed a great name.”

Rebecca nodded repeatedly. “Yea, yea, I might not understand the meaning, but it sounds very cool!”

Seeing his two ‘granddaughters’ excited, Gawain lowered his head and looked at his sketches while a new idea appeared in his mind.

This structure, could it be further improved?

Or should he say… Since the Repulsion magic circle and the rune triggers had already laid the foundation, why shouldn’t he simply make an even more advanced machine with an entirely different framework?

Like the use of electromagnetic force to actuate electric motors — eliminating the pistons and crankshafts. Directly carve the Repulsion magic circles in a certain angle on the annular shell to actuate the magic guided rotor inside?