Kays Translations

Chapter 83: Fun Experiment

"Now, let's try the Wind attribute next,"

 Isamu said. He then envisioned the magic of Wind Cutter, converting his magic power into the Wind attribute. Slowly, he began to flow the converted magic power into Metal Leech.

"How... how is it?" 

Eto asked anxiously, with a mixed expression of curiosity and concern, swallowing nervously.

Continuing to infuse magic power for a few more seconds, changes began to occur.

"Hmm? ...Hmmm?"

Twisting his neck slightly, Isamu continued to infuse magic power for a while, and finally, as if satisfied, he nodded and stopped the supply of magic power.

"Wind is the opposite of Earth. I think it has become lighter."

"It became lighter this time!!"

"Yes. Just to be sure, Eto-san, please try it too."

Saying this, Isamu placed Metal Leech in Eto's hands, and once again, he flowed Wind attribute magic power into it.

"Wow!?! It definitely got lighter!"

Eto rejoiced while looking at Metal Leech in his hands.

"Now, let's keep going!"

Saying that, they proceeded to try the remaining attributes one by one.

After flowing magic power through all the attributes and taking about an hour to recover magic power, Isamu and Eto rested and discussed the results in front of a summary paper.

"Wow, there were various changes."

"That's right... This is truly an unbelievable discovery, isn't it?"

The results of the experiment showed the following changes for each attribute:

- Earth: Becomes heavier

- Wind: Becomes lighter

- Water: Becomes elastic

- Ice: Loses luster and smoothness

- Light: Changes color

- Fire: Unclear (No visible changes)

- Lightning: Not conducted (Isamu has not yet learned the attribute, so the experiment was not conducted)

In the Water attribute, unlike when flowing non-attributed magic power, it had a rubbery feel. Increasing the amount of magic power turned it into a sensation similar to low-rebound gel.

For Ice and Light attributes, the visual changes were dramatic.

For Ice, as magic power flowed in, the gradually beautiful gloss disappeared, and along with it, the metal's characteristic smoothness was lost. In the end, it transformed into a gray, rough object resembling a lump of concrete. It was difficult to believe that it had originally been a Metal Leech.

The Light attribute was a bit different, as the color changed gradually when magic power flowed. What was initially silver turned progressively reddish with added magic power, then changed through yellow, green, cyan, and blue, finally stopping at purple. Isamu speculated that this order might be related to the wavelength of light.

Regarding the Fire attribute, at the current stage, it was unclear what changes had occurred. There were no visible changes in appearance, weight, or texture. Considering that all other attributes had undergone some kind of transformation, Isamu hypothesized that internal characteristics, such as thermal conductivity, might have changed.

As for the Lightning attribute, since Isamu had not yet learned a spell for it, the experiment would be conducted after he acquired it.

In addition to changes due to attributes, they discovered another important fact: the amount of change was proportional to the total amount of magic power, not the duration of flowing magic power, and there was an upper limit.

For example, in the case of the Light attribute, if one flowed one magic power (※) per second continuously, it would turn yellow in 10 seconds. However, if one flowed ten magic power per second, it would turn yellow immediately. Flowing up to 100 turned it purple, but further increases beyond that showed no additional changes. (※ Magic power units are hypothetical)

During the initial Earth attribute experiment, Isamu secretly felt relieved that he had followed Eto's advice and started with a small amount of magic power. If he had flowed a large amount right away, he might have gotten injured.

"However, since you can't keep flowing magic power without touching it, we need to carefully consider its practical use," 

Isamu said, leaning back on his chair.

"That's right. Something you can hold in your hands might be a candidate. A weapon comes to mind first... But without a certain level of concentration, you can't perform attribute conversion of magic power, right?" 

Eto asked, being unable to use magic.

"That's right. Ironically, the most concentration is required for magic power conversion up to that point," 

Isamu replied with a wry smile.

"Well, without the need for spells, there's room for conversation to some extent, so it depends on how it's used."

"I see..."

Although it was an interesting material, its characteristics changed only while magic power was flowing, making it unexpectedly challenging to find a practical use. Having grown tired of the experiment, Isamu absentmindedly watched Orihime playing with fragments of Metal Leech and magic stones, rolling them around.

"Hey, Orihime. I told you not to play with magic stones... Wait a minute, magic stones..."

Muttering to himself.

“Hmm…”

Orihime, who felt her name being called, tilted her head curiously, but immediately started playing again.

"By the way, Eto-san, if I remember correctly, the activation array works with any magic stone, right?"

"Yeah. Since non-attributed ones are cheap, I'm just using those."

While teasing Orihime with a toy made by tying a tuft of yarn to the end of a wire, Eto answered.

"That's right. ...Alright, let me try something."

Saying this, Isamu started drawing a simple activation array on a small board. It was just something to continuously extract magic power from the magic stone at the lowest output.

Once finished, he placed Metal Leech on the board where the magic power was released and connected it to the functional array as usual.

Then he set the "Earth magic stone" on the board.

"!!! Oh, I see, are you planning to use the magic power from attribute magic stones!"

"Yes. By continuously extracting and flowing magic power like this, I think it will work. I was able to forcibly flow magic power to a different board in the ruins, so it shouldn't be strange to flow it to Metal Leech, right?"

"Hmm, certainly..."

Crossing his arms, Eto groaned.

"Now then, let's activate it right away."

Saying that, Isamu placed the board and Metal Leech on his left hand and touched the Earth magic stone with his right hand to activate it.

"..."

"..."

Silently, Isamu and Eto observed. To prepare for any increase in weight, Isamu steadied the board with both hands.

And...

"It's coming!!!"

After about ten seconds, Isamu shouted.

"What!? What's happening?"

Eto asked, startled.

"Ohhh! It's getting heavier, Eto-san! Look!"

With a beaming smile, Isamu tried to forcefully hand the magic array to Eto.

"W-Wait a minute!... Ohhh! It's definitely getting heavier!!"

Feeling the steadily increasing weight from the magic array and Metal Leech that was forcefully placed on him, Eto also excitedly exclaimed.

"Hey, Isamu! Stop it soon! It's heavy, really heavy!"

Panicking, Isamu hurriedly stopped the magic array.

"Fuu, that was heavy... But to think you could directly flow magic power from the activation array. The range of applications has expanded at once," 

Eto said, swaying his arms while his eyes sparkled.

"Yes. Moreover, I've recently obtained a method to adjust magic power from the outside. It feels like we can do a lot of things now," 

Isamu said, also wearing an expression of eager anticipation.

"Well, since the quantity of Metal Leech is limited, we can't do everything. We need to think about how to use it,"

 Isamuu added with a wry smile.

"That's unavoidable... Thanks to Orihime, we were able to obtain one almost in perfect condition. Normally, people try to defeat or crush it with magic, resulting in poor yields. We can't be too extravagant," 

As Eto mentioned, it seemed that parts that detached from the body while alive became unusable as a material.

When crushed with something like a hammer, about half of it would scatter, reducing the usable amount of material. This time, thanks to Orihime, they were able to obtain almost 100% usable material by instantly tearing it into four pieces.

With an amount about one size larger than a volleyball, considering its use carefully, they could make several things.

"That's right! I don't have much time until I leave for Viscount Innocenti territory, but I want to make at least one useful thing!"

"Yes! If we have about five more days, we should be able to make one or two things,"

 Eto said, nodding.

"Fufufufu, it's another thing to look forward to, Eto-san."

"Kukuku, indeed, Isamu."

The two continued to exchange mysterious smiles while facing each other in the laboratory.

"Nyaffu."

Observing this, Orihime let out a big yawn, as if to say, "Oh well," and curled up at Isamu’s feet.

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