Chapter 24: The Floating Magic Array

"Damn it, this is so annoying!"

Arnel irritably crumpled the parchment in front of him into a ball.

Leaving a magic imprint on an envelope was easy, but trying to draw an entirely new magic array with magic was an extremely exhausting task.

"A magic imprint can persist... because certain patterns make it harder for the magic to dissipate... My god, what kind of nonsense is this?!"

Knock, knock, knock!

There was a knock at the door, and Arnel impatiently shouted, "Just come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bruno pushed the door open and entered.

"How's it going?"

"There's some progress, but I'm still far from success... I tried breaking down the magic imprint into different parts. I can now roughly draw the part that allows magic to persist, but I still have no clue how to design the floating magic array..."

"Starting by breaking down the magic imprint—I think that's the right approach."

"What do you think I should do?" Arnel suddenly asked.

"Me? I'm not a mage..." Bruno rolled his eyes. "...When it comes to magic, I'm a complete outsider. I just have a feeling that a floating magic array should be possible, but whether it can actually be drawn is not for me to say..."

"To be honest... When you first proposed the idea, I was skeptical. But since you're paying me, I figured I'd give it a try. However..." Arnel hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Yesterday, when I carefully analyzed the structure of a magic imprint, I found it hard to believe, but I started thinking that your idea might actually be correct."

"Look..." Arnel picked up a drawing from his messy desk. "I broke the magic imprint down into these parts..."

Pointing at different sections of the diagram, Arnel explained, "This... I call it the 'magic stabilizing array.' I don't know why exactly, but this pattern can store magic for a long time. I tested it yesterday, and this is the only part that can exist independently without being attached to the full magic imprint..."

"And this... is the switch mechanism you mentioned yesterday."

"And then there's this structure... I don't understand why, but it constantly and slowly consumes magic, releasing it back into the air. The thing I don't get is—since mages want magic imprints to last as long as possible, why would there be a part specifically designed to consume magic?"

"So yesterday, I tried removing this part, but as soon as I did, the entire magic imprint immediately vanished..."

At that moment, Bruno wanted to shout at Arnel: That's a giant resistor! If you remove it, won't the magic imprint short-circuit immediately?!

But he couldn't just say that. Forget electricity—this world hadn't even reached the early stages of the Industrial Revolution.

"Ahem, maybe..." Bruno tried to organize his thoughts. "This structure... might be for... uh..."

Crap, even he wasn't entirely sure how to explain it!

"Anyway... forget it. I just feel like this structure isn't the key point! When designing the floating magic array, just throw in a few of these structures and see what happens..." Bruno brushed it off casually.

"If you've already broken down the magic imprint, then you shouldn't be far from figuring out the floating magic array, right?"

"But I have no clue where to start... The magic stabilizing array is definitely necessary, but beyond that... The magic imprint only needs to gather magic from the air, allowing even ordinary people to sense magical fluctuations when they touch it. But a floating magic array needs to replace the mage entirely, using the stored magic in the stabilizing array to continuously cast a floating spell... Tell me, how can a magic array wave a wand and chant a spell?"

"Well... I actually have an idea. Let me explain, and you can tell me if it makes sense." Bruno hesitated.

"Go ahead." Arnel immediately perked up.

Bruno could see that Arnel had hit a dead end.

After all, in this world, people firmly believed that casting magic required chanting and wand movements. But Bruno, as an outsider from another world, was used to thinking differently. Even for something as supernatural as magic, he felt he could approach it with an alternative perspective.

"For example, what if mages don't actually cast spells because of the words they chant?"

"That's impossible!" Arnel blurted out in shock.

"Can you let me finish first?" Bruno said, exasperated.

"Oh... okay."

Seeing that Arnel had quieted down, Bruno continued, "Let's say just as a hypothesis that spells don't work because of the incantations themselves, but because chanting them creates specific magical vibrations in the air, forming something like a 'magic flow'..."

"I can kind of understand the concept of specific magic types, since different spells require different kinds of magic, but... what do you mean by 'magic flow'?"

"If you interrupt me one more time, I'm docking your pay!" Bruno shot Arnel a glare.

"Oh..."

Satisfied that Arnel would stay quiet, Bruno continued, "This magic flow, once generated, gradually transmits to your wand, and when it accumulates enough, the spell is released. If this hypothesis is correct, then it means that even without chanting or wand movements, as long as the magic flow reaches a certain level, the spell can still take effect."

"So you're saying... if this 'magic flow' really exists, then I can think of the magic stabilizing array as... essentially acting as the wand?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Bruno nodded. "Now, about the magic flow—how do you usually draw magic imprints?"

"As I told you before, mages have a strong affinity for magic in the air. Our wands are made from special materials, making them naturally good at absorbing magic. So we just use our wands to inscribe the magic imprint."

"So... my general idea is this. I don't know if it's correct, but you can test it. After all... I'm an outsider to all of this!" Bruno said.

"For some reason... I have a strange feeling that what you're describing the magic flow might actually exist..." Arnel stared at Bruno with a complex expression.