Chapter 103 - Talk with a Ball

Chapter 103: Talk with a Ball

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

To be honest, after receiving the enlightenment from Rebecca, Gawain immediately realized that this small ‘Repulsion’ spell was simply a great pleasant surprise from this world. It was easy to use, low consumption, stable, and had a good effect.

Anyone who had experience with magical mechanisms would be familiar with this fundamental magic. Be it the magic door that opened automatically or anything else, as long as there were mechanisms, it required the actuating structure, and it would definitely consist of the ‘Repulsion’ spell. But how much was the power output? As a kind of spell, its power depended on how much magic you supplied or the performance of the magic guided material. In Gawain’s opinion, the spell efficiency was extremely high. The treasure vault in the mountain had a door that was forged with the dense purple steel, and a single door would be several tons in weight. The operation of the door was done by an ancient mechanism that basically didn’t have mechanical optimization but was still able to operate with ease. Of course, this was because the ancient Gondor Empire had its black technology, and the magic-guided crystals that they purified had wicked capabilities. But the current era’s ‘inferior goods’ weren’t bad either as there were plenty of magic traps that could push giant rocks!

For all these magical mechanisms, the usage of the Repulsion magic circle was actually rather primitive and botched. They were basically using the concept to use brute force to create miracles and using the Repulsion magic circles to shove. They never considered using crankshafts and sprocket wheels to conduct optimization…

As such, Gawain had a high expectation for Magic-Powered Engine. He believed that even if he used low-cost materials to create the engine, the motive power generated by the engine would still be unbelievable.

After the discussion of the ‘imitation’ Magic-Powered Engine was done, Gawain started to think of how to use the Repulsion magic circle in the future before Rebecca and Heidi finished the modifications, and they verified the details of the blueprint. He had already expanded the use of the Repulsion magic circle to the composition of electric motors.

A motor that used a stator and a rotor naturally had additional advantages: its structure was relatively simple, so the malfunction rate was greatly reduced. During operation, the rotor’s repulsion point could function at full load. The initial torque was great, but it wouldn’t be like the piston-type engines where initial torque would be insufficient and would need to wait until the angular velocity was increased before the torque could reach the greatest. The electric motor’s size could be compressed to a very small size, and with the energy supply from Magic Web 1, it would have a higher efficiency. Due to the benefits of magical technology, the ‘rotor-type Magic-Powered Engine’ wouldn’t need carbon brushes and wouldn’t need a ‘prod mechanism’ to frequently switch the rune triggers. This would lower the malfunction rate and also increase the machine’s lifespan (because of fewer friction parts), making it rather cost-effective…

But it had obvious flaws too. There wasn’t a need to compare with the pros and cons of Earth’s electric motors and internal combustion engines. Just looking at ‘this world’s’ technology, the rotor-type Magic-Powered Engine in Gawain’s imagination would require a large quantity of ‘repulsion points’ along the entire outer shell. It would ensure that the augmentation process was balanced and continuous. With so many independent magic circles in close vicinity, there was also a need to ensure they wouldn’t cause interference to one another, to ensure that the force exerted would be precise and unanimous, to ensure the accurate distance between the rotors, etc. This way, it would lower the technological difficulty on the engine’s mechanical structure but would increase the difficulty of the magic circles’ drawing. The latter… would require skilled workers that were harder to nurture. The complexity of this aspect would be much more troublesome than the complexity of the mechanical aspect.

No matter what, this concept was still particularly attractive, and it was impossible for Gawain to give up on it.

Hence, he took out a blank piece of paper from the side and started to make sketches on the paper under the curious attention of Amber, Rebecca, and Heidi.

He drew a ring-shaped shell with an inner rotor that had many slanted blades. On the outer shell, there were many corresponding Repulsion magic circles.

The structure was just so simple.

“This is…” Heidi’s brows lifted as she asked curiously with hesitation.

Gawain put down his brush and spoke with some excitement, “Second-generation machine.”

Apart from him, the three other individuals had stupefied expressions. After quite a while, Amber looked at Gawain as though she was looking at a monster and asked, “How does your brain operate?”

“You are not allowed to insult my Ancestor!” Rebecca was instantly enraged and brought up her magic staff to point at Amber’s head, but she quickly turned her head and asked, “Lord Ancestor, how does your brain operate?”

“…”

Rebecca only reacted two seconds later before she withdrew her magic staff and apologized sincerely, “Sorry, Lord Ancestor, have I spoken without using my brain again…?”

“No. That isn’t the problem.” The half-elf young lady who had just gotten out of the danger of having her head exploding didn’t tone down at all. She continued to stare and exclaim, “The discussion of the first-generation blueprint hasn’t even ended yet, and you actually made a second-generation blueprint? Furthermore, be it the principle or the structure, it looks like it was born from a different mother… Your brain probably has a large pile of blueprints waiting in there right?!”

A mouthful of saliva nearly choked Gawain’s airway; this fellow had unexpectedly guessed things correctly for once?

“It is just an incomplete idea.” He quickly pulled back his expression that had nearly crumbled. He then looked at Heidi who had a much more meticulous mind and asked, “Its theory is very simple. Do you think it’s feasible?”

“It is indeed much simpler, and it is very feasible in theory… But to do it in reality, it will not be easy.” Heidi took a glance and noticed the problem, and it was the same answer within Gawain’s conception. “When so many Repulsion magic circles are arranged in order, and in such symmetrical and close positions, it looks like it is specially prepared for magic resonance. There is a 100% chance that it will cause mutual interference, and it’s unknown if it can continue moving after the activation.”

“What if the diameter is bigger, and each ‘repulsion point’ is further from one another?”

“…It isn’t as feasible. I can understand your intention but these repulsion points need to continuously ‘relay’ in order to rotate the center part with the greatest efficiency. Hence, the distance between each repulsion point is limited. Instead of increasing the distance, why not put in an additional magic-inhibiting structure in between each magic circle to block out the interference. But doing it this way… the costs will be very horrific.”

Gawain’s tooth was immediately aching. Magic inhibiting materials. Even the cheapest would be comparable to the precious metals among the magic-guided materials. If it was going to be used for mass production… Even if he died now and was buried for Rebecca and Heidi to sell tickets for the kingdom’s citizens to visit him, they wouldn’t be able to afford it…

Wait— what kind of metaphor was this?

“Make a prototype as a study when there is spare time. Consider it an accumulation of technical knowledge.” Gawain sighed. “The priority is to finish the prototype of the piston-type engine. Most of the parts can be forged by Hummel and his apprentices. As for the difficult parts and Repulsion mechanisms, hand them over to the newly arrived rune craftsmen. Remember, don’t worry about the cost for the first machine. As long as it can operate in a stabilized and safe manner, it will be our success… Also if some of the functions have to be sacrificed, it isn’t a problem too.”

Heidi and Rebecca brought a large pile of design plans and left. After considering the administrative pressure that Heidi would face, Gawain had handed the main task of the Magic-Powered Engine prototype to Rebecca, while Heidi would be providing technical support. This was something that made Rebecca extremely pleased.

After the duo left the tent, Gawain kept the rest of the design plans and handed it to Betty who was squatting nearby and using a small branch to practice writing in a very serious manner. “Keep it up. That’s right. I have asked the carpenters to make a small study table for you. They will deliver it to your tent later in the evening. Also, there will also be a set of stationeries and some white paper that will be provided… Use them sparingly.”

Betty, still storing the design plans in the sheepskin bag, was shocked. She then immediately revealed an especially happy expression before bowing forcefully and nearly fell forward. “Thank you Master~! You are awesome!”

The maidservant was almost hopping as she ran out.

Gawain smiled while looking at the hopping back view of the young maidservant and couldn’t help but shake his head. At the side, Amber had strange eyes as she said, “It feels weird. You are always so busy, but you actually have the time to take care of that silly maidservant… Could it be that your real obsession is actually like this? Ehh… People like you will always make a move on your own maidservant… Hey hey hey, pain pain pain!”

Gawain pulled Amber’s ear with force and spoke in an unpleasant tone, “What obsession and making what move? I simply like that child’s diligence and studious drive. Can’t your brain be a little cleaner?”

Amber rubbed her ear while looking at Gawain with anger. “Didn’t you always say that my brain was very clean?”

Gawain: “…I was saying that your brain was empty, ignorant, and incompetent!!”

“Ha? It turns out that you’re not praising me?!”

Gawain glanced at this embarrassing half-elf before walking towards the exit of his tent.

As expected, Amber couldn’t suppress her curiosity and followed along. “Where are you going? Are you sneaking off to eat some good food? Bring me along!”

Gawain waited for Amber to catch up before replying without consideration, “I’m going to have a heart-to-heart chat with that large metal ball. It has been holed up in the tent for a long time, and it should be willing to say something to me now.”

Amber heard the reply and instantly lost interest. “Oh, then I shall not be going…”

Gawain conveniently reached over and was preparing to trap this lazy bum in between his armpits.

But he had failed this time; Amber, who already suffered such an experience, had instantly blended into the shadows and caused Gawain to feel emptiness in his hand. The half-elf thief had already run over ten meters away.

“Go and have your heart-to-heart talk with the ball~” Amber stood from far away and spoke with a proud face, “I will go and ask for a meal from Betty~~”

Gawain didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry as he watched this ‘nominal guard’ who did things her own way as she waved and turned around to leave.

In front of the special tent at the south of the camp, Gawain inquired about the metal ball’s situation from the guards. “Is there any commotion from that fellow inside the tent?”

“No.” The responsible soldiers stood straight and replied, “We have been guarding this place. That ancient magical device had been staying inside the tent obediently and didn’t have any intention to exit.”

‘Ancient magical device’ was the explanation that Gawain gave to the soldiers who witnessed the metallic ball. From the looks of it, they had already accepted this explanation.

After encouraging the soldiers that were standing guard seriously, Gawain walked into the tent.

The metallic ball was floating in the middle of the tent and was roughly half a meter above the surface of the ground. It looked like a floating device from science fiction.

But this science-fiction ball started to speak in a garrulous tone, “Damn it, I thought you had already forgotten that you left me here! There is only a group of retarded soldiers standing guard in the vicinity, or that annoying little old man, or the female human that always wears a red dress. All of them are very boring. Let me tell you, if this ball didn’t value promises, I would have already left this morning…”

Gawain ignored the nagging of the ball and walked in front of it. “I’m here to have a chat with you today. I need to verify something first. You aren’t… a person… a ball from here, right?”

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Chapter 104: Foreign Person… Ball

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The ball was probably startled by Gawain’s question. There wasn’t any method to determine if the ball was startled as it was merely a smooth metallic ball; it didn’t have any facial features or any body language. When it was floating in midair without moving, you wouldn’t even know if it was listening. But it did stay silent for two seconds before replying, “Aren’t you talking nonsense? I was transported to this place from another place by you. I am definitely not a local ball!”

“You should know that isn’t what I mean.” Gawain remained unmoved and said, “You must have come from a place that is further away. In fact, it wouldn’t be appropriate to describe it as purely further away. A metallic ball that can think, talk, and can even release strange energy waves, with control over magic and metal. I have never heard of such a strange race in this world.”

“That is because you don’t have enough experience.” The ball seemed to be mocking as it said, “During the past two days, I have already found out about you people from the self-proclaimed druid. It seems like your people have gone through a great regression and are now unbelievably backward. How much could you have witnessed in your lifetime? Just based on your measly human eyesight and knowledge from oral tradition, the things you can experience in your entire lifetime is still little!”

When Gawain heard this explanation, his heart was much steadier.

This ball was right. Most of the people in this era indeed had their eyes ‘covered’. The deficient information relay method and the chaotic division of the continent made it hard for people to communicate and gather new information. Only a rare few high-ranked noble clans, mages, or knights would be paying attention to the outside world. The others, including a feudal noble like Viscount Andrew of the Tanzan Town, were all shutting and closing themselves off. The farmers that were either facing the soil or the sky would only be able to receive fresh information in their entire lifetime through a few pieces of newspapers. As such, if Gawain was also a person whose eyes were ‘covered’, then it would indeed be ridiculous for him to judge that the ball came from outer space just because ‘he had never seen it before’.

But the real Gawain didn’t have covered eyes: he had been staring at this world’s evolution for countless years. He had been observing this continent before monkeys started to walk straight. He might not have seen the situation in other continents, but no matter how the other continents’ lifeforms were isolated from this place or how strange they might be, it still wouldn’t evolve into a metallic ball from a pile of carbon-based life!

Unless, there was a cheat-like race outside of Gawain’s vision that developed rapidly and reached the zenith of science and technology, allowing them to create this alloy, anti-gravity, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, this thing had been stranded on the Loren Continent 1,000 years ago and had been captured by a group of Gondor Master Mages… Instead of believing such an explanation, Gawain would rather believe that Amber would return Viscount Andrew’s butler’s pocket watch.

Thus, Gawain smiled and arrived in front of the ball before pressing his hand on the surface of the ball.

The ball immediately screamed, “Hey, hey, what are you doing!? I am going to be shamed into anger! I will—”

The ball was interrupted halfway because Gawain used magical resonance to transmit a message into the ball’s brain (then again, does a ball have such things?): “Don’t you feel that your appearance and this world’s living beings are drastically different?”

The ball fell into silence for a few seconds before using magical resonance to reply: “…You can just talk using your mouth. Why do you have to do it so mysteriously?”

“Because I know there are some things that you don’t wish for others to know.” Gawain smiled and said, “Therefore, you can just tell me alone.”

“I don’t wish to let you know!”

Gawain remained calm. “Where are you from? How did you get stranded in this world? How long have you been here?”

The ball pretended to be muddled. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about… Isn’t your mental association a little too good?”

“Sigh, I can understand why you are trying so hard. However, you have to admit that your novel and outstanding appearance doesn’t allow you to conceal such information. Furthermore, you are underestimating the knowledge I have. Did that druid called Pittman mention to you that most of the people in this territory might have been born after the civilization regressed, but the feudal lord here— that would be me — revived from over seven hundred years ago when the civilization was at its prime. Furthermore, I am a natural science scholar.”

The ball was in utter silence this time. It was obvious that the unreserved druid, who had a mouth like Amber’s, had mentioned it before.

With the open mind of a transmigrator and the current information Gawain had, he was able to determine that this ball was a guest from a foreign place. But he wasn’t able to determine if it had transmigrated to this world like him, or did it merely come from another planet? But no matter what, this unlucky fellow was definitely the most unfortunate one among all transmigrators: its appearance was entirely different from others…

This was goddamned awkward. In comparison to those black-haired and black-eyed transmigrators who were treated as the child of the devil, this situation was at least two hundred times more awkward. How were you going to use an atypical form to explain to someone else that you came from a strange remote eastern nation?

For his own safety and because he didn’t know this ball’s inside information, Gawain couldn’t just reveal his secret of being a transmigrator either. Instead, he could explain that he had another identity: a natural science scholar who came from a developed society 700 years ago. This identity should be much easier for this ball to communicate with as compared to those ‘ignorant fools that cut themselves from information’.

“Think about it carefully. Your secret might not be as critical as you imagine.” Gawain lowered his tone and said, “I am not a member of those fanatical religions or those Master Mages that studied you from a thousand years ago. Hence, I don’t really mind if you are a foreign guest, and I will not call some god’s name to purify you, nor will I use metallic tools to drill holes on your body. I simply wish to have a good conversation with you. On the one hand, it will satisfy my personal curiosity. On the other hand, I will also be able to help you.”

“You need to know that you have nowhere else to go. The other side of the mountain is a wasteland, and it is filled with the monsters that you saw two days ago. If you head north, it will be to a feudal kingdom that was founded after civilization declined. Ninety-nine percent of the people there are more stubborn, extreme, superstitious, and unreasonable than me. Since you can only stay here, why not become friends with me?

“Of course, if you are still suspicious, I can let you leave. You can try going to the human nation or the southern side of the mountain. But I cannot guarantee that you will make it back alive. Also—”

“I can’t remember very clearly…” When the magic was resonating, the ball suddenly echoed with a metallic and trembling voice that interrupted Gawain’s words.

Gawain blinked before realizing that the ball was heeding him. He quickly controlled his excited emotions and asked curiously, “Can’t remember clearly?”

“I don’t remember clearly where I came from, or how I came here,” the ball said with a smothered voice. “Your guesses are correct. I did come from a ‘very far’ place, and it is much further than you can ever imagine. One thousand years ago, your people had the concept of planets and a universe. Hence, you should have it too. I shall tell you directly. Back then, those people who studied me had discussed it privately and were guessing that I came from another planet. But I want to say, it is even further than that. The distance has exceeded the concept of ‘universe and outer space’.”

Gawain had a stern expression. “In fact, certain astronomy knowledge wasn’t entirely lost either. But after losing this aspect of observation and calculation skills, the related knowledge had degenerated and twisted into a legend. But didn’t you say that you don’t remember clearly about your homeland, or how you arrived here? How can you be so certain that you didn’t cross the universe and outer space to arrive here?”

The ball’s voice sounded a little helpless. “I lost my memory, but I didn’t lose my common sense. If the two places’ laws of physics are different, how can it be the same universe?”

Gawain had an emotional and excited feeling that was hard to suppress. A comrade (although it was just a ball); a comrade that had transmigrated just like him (although it was just a ball); a comrade that could discuss concepts of planets, the universe, and time travel with him (although it was just a ball). Gawain who had been alone in this world for tens of thousands of years, this was an extremely emotional event.

Of course, Gawain now had new friends and relatives (although the bloodline was rather far away). Amber, Rebecca, Heidi, and Byron were all people that he trusted but were they able to discuss the universe or outer space with him?

Mm… It might be possible if Rebecca’s mind was expanded a little larger…

Gawain had worked hard to suppress all the disorderly thoughts that had surged out instantly. He had a hard time finally finding a new question. “Are you so sure that you have crossed the universe? Have you ever thought the laws of physics in the universe might not have ‘equal proportions’? Perhaps each star system might have a different law?”

“Sigh, how can I not think of that. But it is impossible,” the ball spoke in a dispirited manner. “My race has already explored all our remaining survivors in the entire universe and has even started to consider opening a hole in the world’s barrier. If the universe’s law of physics was disproportional, we would have written it in the elementary textbooks… Thus, since the first day I arrived, I had already excluded the possibility that I was stranded on a foreign planet.”

Gawain was dumbstruck.

This ball actually came from such a powerful and advanced civilization? They had already explored the entire universe? They were even researching how to travel to other universes?

Gawain was a transmigrator, and when he realized that the laws of physics here were different from Earth, he already guessed he had entered a so-called ‘foreign universe’. As such, he wasn’t too surprised by the ball’s explanation about crossing over to a new universe. But he was very surprised that this ball’s race was actually so advanced… Then could the ball be Gawain’s chance for a science and technology explosion, allowing him to dominate the entire continent in half a year, unifying the entire planet in one year, and rushing into outer space in two years?

After thinking like this for a moment, Gawain laughed. Just the thought was fine. The laws of physics were different… In this bizarre world, anyone would be caught unprepared if they were to transmigrate to this place.

Furthermore, this ball should be more unprepared than Gawain: the ball only had its own outlook of the world, but Gawain had the knowledge of Gawain Cecil…

At this moment, the ball was deeply moved as it said, “It has truly been tough to find a human to speak with. This era’s humans are all ignorant and prideful. Let alone talking about the universe or outer space, the people in your camp don’t even understand what the atmosphere is… I finally found a person that could have a conversation with me.”

Gawain’s bitter tears welled up in response. The ball had truly spoken what he felt in his heart. He was also deeply moved in his heart too.

Foreigners meeting on a foreign planet. This was truly the destiny of the ball!

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