The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Chapter 12 – Phantomline

“Ah, Frau Akagawa! It is so good to see you!”

I smiled at the man. He was Kaspar Oesau, the research chief of Phantomline’s R&D department. Headhunted from one of the universities that created the first experimental CADs after the Awakening, he was the brains behind the R&D department. Fortunately, he also had a reliable office manager, so his focus on research and prototyping did not negatively affect the division.

“Oesau-dono, I’m happy to meet you, as well. I’ve heard nothing but good things about your work.”

“Hah! Please, call me Doctor, or Chief, if you like.”

I smiled. “Then you must call me Akagawa, at least while we’re in the lab. I heard that you ran your lab with a focus on results, rather than strict social protocol.”

Oesau laughed, as he led the way to a work room, with one wall that doubled as a digital whiteboard and several computers. “If that’s a nice way of saying that I would rather cut to the chase, as the Americans would say, and get to work, rather than engage in pointless small-talk or waving honorifics around all day, then you’re absolutely correct! One of the few things I miss from the university in Berlin.

“So, let’s get down to business, shall we? I’m so excited for our work today. Your wealth of knowledge might allow us to advance our technology by decades, if we apply it properly.”

He walked over to the whiteboard, and picked up a stylus. “Now, from the data you gave me, it appears that this ‘focus’ method you use is more of a blunt object than the CADs we use. It is a club, while the CAD is a scalpel. Both are very good at what they do, but trying to hit a golf ball with a knife is as useless as trying to do surgery with a hammer.”

“Correct. It lacks the precision and efficiency of a CAD, but a focus can have a far quicker reaction time, and be more flexible in what it supports. With that in mind, my first thought was to create some simple foci, that could be mass-produced, or possibly even a hybrid product.”

“Hmm. Are you talking about a combination, like a CAD device attached to a focus device? Or a true hybrid, something that could get the benefits of each?”

I shook my head. “A true hybrid is probably out of reach anytime soon. Even I have no way to guess how well that would work. But a combination device should be possible. Perhaps starting with one of those specialized CADs that people produce?”

“Interesting. Any field you’d look at first?”

“Yes, I was thinking we start with something simple. A you already have gun-style CADs that can fire spell-enhanced rounds, yes? Well, why take that basic setup, and change it slightly? Add the functionality of a focus that allows you to project a shield spell, for instance.”

“The military would love something like that.”

“It gets better if you start considering different enchantments. Actually, real enchantments would probably work better for a lot of devices, but enchantments are impossible to mass produce. So, those would have to be special orders.”

“Hmm. I’ll want to know about that ‘enchanting’ stuff, but for now, let’s focus on the focus part. How do you make something a focus?”

“Well, there are a couple ways of doing it. The most effective is taking highly magical materials, infusing them with intent and will while they are used by a master craftsman, reshaping and reinforcing the finished piece’s mana circuits, which then turns the piece to a natural focus for mana. For mass production, the trick is to use engravings to form artificial circuits, not unlike a circuit board.

“Now, these artificial circuits can’t just be left open, since the mana would just disperse in the air, so it needs to be inlaid with some material, making it even more like a circuit board. Different materials channel mana better, just like different metals are more conductive to electricity. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes. And I assume that the less conductive, the more difficult it is to create a general focus?”

“Exactly. But with a more specialized focus, to create a shield, for instance, you restrict different variables. On the face of it, this is no different from a CAD, but that is without considering elements.”

“You mean like the basic magical elements, right, and not the periodic table?”

“Yes. Earth, Wind, all that. Because of my nature, if I channel mana into a spell, I am going to get the best results with Necrotic. I can use other elements, but it is like deliberately walking at different strides. Some, like Fire or Water, just need me to devote more thought and concentration to it. Others, like Holy, are like trying to take strides of 1.5 meters, which would be damn near impossible for me, under most circumstances.

“Now, I have better ability than most, due to my nature, and being a Hero, and years of practice. For most people, they can likely get one element well, and then a couple others with effort. Maybe.

“Now, any of these can be used without a focus, if you have the right affinities and raw ability. But there’s also ‘untyped’ mana, which takes a lot of training to unlock without a focus. Think of it like pure H20, where a person’s natural mana is going to have minerals, impurities, and all that stuff in it, which turns it into one element or another.”

Oesau nodded thoughtfully. “So, this ‘untyped’ mana, is there any advantage to using it?”

“The biggest pure advantage would be when conducting ritual magics. Stripping out elements makes it easier to meld your magic with another, who might have a different element. That can be very useful for any ritual leader, since not needing to manage the elements, and keeping them from clashing, makes the whole ritual easier.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about element interactions before, but I’ve never seen live combat magic outside a test facility, so I didn’t know how accurate the reports were.”

“Well, I can promise you that different elements most certainly clash or interact with each other. Wind and Water may interact, becoming Ice, while Earth and FIre might become Lava. On the other hand, Fire and Water try to cancel each other out, as would Lightning and Ground. Trying to make even the simplest spell out of canceling elements is incredibly difficult, and usually not worth the effort if you pull it off.”

“So, a Water shield is best against someone using Fire attacks.”

“Exactly. Except that when you have spells of the same element, they can either pass through each other, or they compound each other, in ways you might not expect. Naturally, this isn’t something you want to happen in a fight, so being able to change elements is critical for anyone who would take magic to the battlefield.

“Now, from what I’ve seen, CADs are great at countering specific effects, but their precision makes them bad for general defense. Most CAD users focus either on evasion, or on toughening their body to withstand attacks, rather than defense. If we were to create a shield focus, however, then the user could create simply create a shield of their element, once they know how, and then, if they come across an element that is bad for them, turn to untyped. This would take more mana, but it would be much more effective.”

“And being restricted to a single spell, the focus circuit work could be machine done?”

“Yes, just like how circuit boards for a Commodore 64 are infinitely less complex than one for the latest gaming PC would be. However, despite being simpler and having less processing capability, the Commodore still works just fine, if all you want to do is type text files. The Shield spell and the Missile spell are the two simplest, most basic spells any mage in the other world would learn, so anything could be made into a focus for them.”

“Would this circuit need to be on the outside of the weapon?”

“No. In fact, it is better if it is not. A damaged mana circuit is like a faulty electrical circuit. It might work, with less efficiency. It might go wild, and cause random effects. It might just stop working. Or it might decide to blow up in your hand. So, putting the circuit on the inside of the material would be best.”

“Ok, that’s a solid idea for the first hybrid down. But what about people who live in areas where firearms aren’t allowed? Despite the occasional magic beast, Japan and Germany, for instance, still have strict gun laws.”

I paused for a moment to consider that. “In that case, a bracer or bracelet of some kind. If we strip out the CAD part, we could actually make it so that it could channel both the Shield and Missile spells.”

I’d barely said the words when I realized the problem. “No, they would need a class, or more experience with foci to use that, and not accidentally shoot when they wanted a shield. So, matching bracelets, one on each arm? Dominant hand to shoot, off hand to defend?”

Oesau nodded, typing rapidly on his computer. “Yes, yes. And one of the basic CAD designs is a bracer, so the Shield spell could be incorporated into one of those.”

“You know, let’s start with that one, before the firearm. That has a wider audience, and it will start getting people used to the focus. And once I teach you the basic pathways, you’ll be able to make them in a variety of forms. Phantomline could start up a jewelry line, for instance.”

“Oh, the front office will love that. It would require some startup, but we could make a killing on defensive items. And specialty items could be done for more money.”

“Exactly. They’ll eat that up.” I stood, and went over to the whiteboard, and picked up the stylus to write on the digital wall. “Right, now let me show you the basic circuits you need to make foci.”

I spent the next two hours giving examples of the most basic magic circuits, and then started building them, showing Oesar how to create foci not just for Shield and Missile spells, but also the building blocks for creating other spells. He eagerly drank in everything I could pour out for him, and not only took constant notes, but asked several very good questions. The scientist was an excellent student.

In fact, he was so good that he started sketching up new designs right away, pulling the building blocks I’d given him together in ways that a more experienced person might not have ever considered. Of course, that is partly because a few of the ideas he created would end up being cursed items, or explosive failures, if they were made for real. It didn’t take much to make a circuit design dangerous. As the old computer programmers used to say, ‘GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out.’

Still, once I pointed out the most serious errors, he knew what to look for, and wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Which was good. Magic was like engineering. You do it right, everything’s good. Might not be pretty, but it is good. Do it wrong, and there’s the very real chance that people die.

Still, we didn’t have all day to play with the circuit diagrams. Oesar was a very busy man, and I may have filled out most of the positions at my studio, but I still wanted someone with more mechanical abilities, that I could try and turn into an artificer, and a chemist that I could teach alchemy to. I hadn’t had any luck at that, so far, since most people with the kind of temperament for the work weren’t exactly the type who liked working for others. Also, most people in the other world acknowledged that you had to be at least slightly insane to be an artificer or alchemist. Most were far more than ‘slightly’.

At any rate, there was still one thing I really needed to do before I called it a day here at Phantomline. I took a breath, and then said, “So, with business out of the way, my father told me you had a custom designed CAD that you wanted me to try out? Something about it being designed especially for magical creatures?”