Free Web NovelChapter 434: Chapter 431: A Gas Summoning Called [Qi Creation Skill]
The end of the civil war met the widespread desire of the Blue Elves for peace and stability, laying a firm foundation for the tribe’s future development... The flesh and blood flung about during the fighting, now gathered by the little people, would soon become the "delicacies" of a celebratory banquet.
The Elder invited the pair to attend the banquet, but Rorschach decisively refused.
"We still have some time before we have to head back. Would you mind coming with me to check out the upper layers?" he asked Caroline.
"Of course."
The two cast Floating Skill on themselves again. Rorschach used his Air Cannon to generate reverse thrust against the gas below, ascending toward the thinner atmosphere. After about fifteen minutes of high-speed ascent, Rorschach could feel the temperature dropping and the effects of the Underwater Breathing magic beginning to fail.
The thinner the oxygen in the atmosphere, the less of it the magic could concentrate for them to breathe. Since it didn’t allow other gases to pass through, breathing became increasingly difficult for Rorschach and Caroline.
When they had nearly reached their limit and the little people below looked like ants, Rorschach stopped their ascent. He stopped speaking aloud, instead using the Communication Skill to talk to Caroline. "Could you please seal off a section of space for me, and prevent any air from circulating?"
This wasn’t difficult for Caroline, especially in a wide-open area containing only gas, with no condensed matter to interfere. A small, transparent rectangular space soon appeared between them, sealing off the airflow between the inside and outside.
Rorschach took a compressed, gray, cylindrical object resembling a candle from his ring. He handed it to Caroline, asking her to place it inside the isolated space and light it. After Caroline did so, the "candle" gave off a bright light and spewed smoke that, upon closer inspection, had a yellowish-green tint.
"Careful, it might explode."
The candle burned for a moment. No sooner had Rorschach spoken than a fireball erupted. The Ethereal Membrane of the isolated space was struck with such force that Caroline almost lost control of it.
"What was that thing?" Caroline asked, mistakenly thinking Rorschach’s candle had exploded.
"A candle that generates... the necessary Flammable Element." In reality, it was an oxygen candle Rorschach had cobbled together. Though his visit to the Air Elemental Plane had been on a whim, he hadn’t rushed in completely unprepared, having made the oxygen candle just in case the Underwater Breathing magic failed.
When the raw materials of his hastily made oxygen candle burned, they produced the deadly byproduct chlorine gas in addition to oxygen, which was the source of the yellowish-green color. Although Rorschach didn’t have any barium oxide to mix in and absorb the chlorine, a Mage has the Air Filter Bubble to block harmful gases!
Of course, a Mage’s Underwater Breathing was also effective, so this time the oxygen candle was just being used to test one of Rorschach’s hypotheses. He had noticed that when the flock of Winged Dragons fled, they would fall after reaching a certain maximum altitude, leading him to guess that the oxygen in the upper atmosphere was thin.
This wasn’t exactly like on the Main Plane, where atmospheric density simply decreases with altitude. In the Air Elemental Plane, the stratification of different gases was far more pronounced. They were currently in an environment dominated by lighter gases.
He then placed a small bladder inside. The bladder expanded, indicating that the amount of gas within the Ethereal Membrane had decreased. From the short burn time and the rapid explosion, Rorschach deduced that part of the atmosphere was hydrogen, which has a low explosive limit. As for the rest... whether it was helium or a gas unique to this plane, it possessed superior properties regardless:
Non-flammable, and much, much lighter than the air on the Prime Material Plane.
Rorschach finally explained to Caroline what his series of "little alchemy experiments" had been for. Understanding dawned on her. "So the gas here can be used for Airships..."
"Yes. It would vastly improve the safety of Airships." Rorschach then recalled that Teacher Caroline was from Valois. Unsure if she knew how reliant the Empire was on Airships, he quickly added, "Of course, its primary use would be for industrial production."
There was a distinct boundary between the oxygen-poor upper layer and the lower layer inhabited by the Blue Elves. Here, the hydrogen from above mixed with the oxygen from below. When static charges built up from the friction between gas masses and ignited the mixture, vast amounts of water vapor were created. This was why, when looking down from above, one could see the boundary as a layer of white clouds, while the highest layer opened directly to the starry sky.
The lack of oxygen was unpleasant, so as soon as they had confirmed their theory, the two immediately descended back toward the waste-disposal outlet. Regarding transportation, Rorschach had an idea. "Teacher, you taught me the principles behind the Water Creation Skill, right?"
She immediately grasped Rorschach’s intention. "Summoning water from the Water Elemental Plane... You want to use a similar principle to extract the light gas from here?"
"Exactly." The pressure in the Air Elemental Plane was already lower than on the Main Plane, and the lighter gas was in a layer with even lower pressure. Using the disposal outlet in reverse to pull gas from the Air Elemental Plane would be an inefficient and strenuous process. The volume of gas needed for industry and to fill Airships would be far greater than the volume of waste being dumped, meaning the material and energy costs to maintain the Teleportation Gate would skyrocket.
The most economical method, which would also prevent creatures from the Air Elemental Plane from getting through, would be to design a new magic spell for extracting the gas, analogous to the Water Creation Skill.
"It’s a challenge, but it’s worth a try." This was directly related to Caroline’s Domain of expertise. With the construction of her Mage Tower finishing up, she was in need of a new research project, and Rorschach’s proposal perfectly suited her focus and interests.
By the time they returned to the tribe, the banquet had already started. The conditions weren’t suitable for a bonfire; it was simply a chance for everyone to eat a "good" meal. The Elder, however, had a "surprise" in store.
"My Lord, to express our gratitude, we present to you the most beautiful member of our tribe..."
"Stop right there!" ’What the hell, are you trying to tempt a Mage with this?’ Rorschach was so face-blind he could barely even tell the gender of the little person the Elder was offering. He could only make out that this one was indeed far more delicate-featured than the old geezer.
Caroline watched her student with a playful smirk. After Rorschach finished his stern lecture to the Elder, the time for his scheduled meeting with Hanna arrived. Caroline opened a temporary Teleportation Gate, and Rorschach beat a hasty retreat.
"Elder, you said Mages love beauty, didn’t you? Why did he refuse our gift? Is the great Mage angry?"
The Elder put on a stern face and repeated Rorschach’s words, scolding the patriarchs of the two great families—even though the terrible idea had been his in the first place. The two patriarchs nodded repeatedly in agreement, but the way they looked at the Elder had changed.
Many years later, after the "Devourer" clan had grown strong, ten wild, unofficial histories circulated in secret. The first and foremost among them was: "The Mage Lord doesn’t like beauties. The tribe’s first Leader, the Great Sage King, got his start by selling his own ass to two Mage Lords."
...
Rorschach had no idea that his refusal of the gift had unfairly tarnished the Elder’s reputation. Caroline, emerging from the Teleportation Gate, was still teasing him. "That little thing was pretty cute. Why didn’t you accept the gift? It would have made a decent servant."
’Why are you saying it like that?’ Rorschach explained earnestly, "Creatures from the Air Elemental Plane are quite fragile, especially those little blue people. They’d probably develop all sorts of health problems on the Main Plane. Besides, what do I need a servant for?"
With the initial exploration of the Air Elemental Plane concluded, Caroline went to rest. She wanted to start researching the Qi Creation Skill, which would likely require more trips back and forth. Hanna returned to her internship post.
Rorschach, however, couldn’t rest yet. He packed his things and prepared to go meet Prime Minister Otto, who had been waiting for some time.
’I wonder if Andre and Bart did a good job receiving him...’
