D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2021: Chapter 2021 Explosive Information

— Kat —

Kat and Lily continued to listen to the conversation for a while longer, but nothing stood out as important. With Jared’s clear line of not speaking on his more recent jobs seemingly extending to past escapades now, just in case saying something about them tipped off Melody. The elf continued to flirt with him subtle, teasing a bit and pushing the boundaries, but remaining fairly innocent. *I wonder if there’s a real romance between the three of them and Melody is using this as an excuse? Or if she’s just having fun?*

[I don’t think we should be speculating on something like that. It’s liable to drive us mad trying to work out what is and isn’t real when the answer could well be something in the middle or off to the side.]

*I suppose you’re right. I’m just getting bored. Melody doesn’t seem too interested in the specifics of explosion enchantments but it feels to me like we should be doing something else. Of course, the fact Melody just wants to here Jared talk means she’ll keep asking… but is it really getting us anywhere?*

[Perhaps not in the investigation but I’ve learnt a lot about enchanted explosives! Perhaps not how to make them myself, because I lack the… ’building blocks’ I suppose? Like, I’m clearly missing a bunch of the foundational stuff… but I know a fair bit about enchanted explosives now and it’s fascinating.]

*Alright? How so.*

[Well there seems to be two main schools of thought in regards to how your best making them maybe three… or four. There are more ways then I thought but I think ’two main’ ways is about accurate. The first way is to just have an enchantment designed to cause an explosion. Pretty normal, if not all that easy to get a good amount of ’energy’ out of it. Basically the same as casting an explosion spell, if perhaps more directed.]

[The second way is how you cause as much damage as possible. You create another kind of enchantment, usually defensive because they can ’store’ mana better. Even if technically it’s the materials storing it. Anyway, the idea is that you intentionally ’fail’ the enchantment so that the mana builds up inside it past the point of safety then allow it to go off. You can generate far greater explosions this way, way more than you should be able to based on the materials used.]

*I take it the second method is super risky?*

[Yup. Massively so. Not only do you need to make sure it doesn’t simply explode when you’re putting it together, but ensuring that it goes off when you want it is the main issue. Plus, there are a lot of optimisations you can make for influencing the explosion. Then again, sometimes it’s not even a proper ’explosion’. Instead it will be a bunch of warped space, or fire or what have you.]

[Still, explosion isn’t entirely wrong. A catastrophic failure that leads to a violent projection of magical force. The other types are more like, subtypes of the first two. Though there ARE also explosives you can make with alchemy. Jared seems to think they’re nowhere near as potent but I’m not sure if that’s because he doesn’t understand them as well, doesn’t like alchemy that much, or if it’s factually true.]

*Question. Do you think he’s likely to take a job from Appoline if he doesn’t respect alchemy?*

[Um… no. Or at least, I don’t think so? Jared thinks that enchantments are the only way to make TRUE explosions but that it’s still better to have some interest in them. Like… like say you think pizza is the best food, but you think people who put pineapple on pizza are crazy. EXCEPT. As crazy as they might be for liking that, in this example anyway, they still think pizza is the best food. Which makes them more likeable then someone who… thinks say, hamburgers are the best.]

*I think they’re both respectable favourite foods to have. Even if one of them is objectively wrong.*

[Kat. Stop trying to start a fight because your bored. Why are you bored? I’ve seen you sit and do nothing for hours.]

*I only get bored when I feel like I should be doing something else. So maybe it’s not QUITE boredom? There’s also the fact that I have to at least half listen to Jared and Melody. I’m not really engaged in the conversation, I think it left me behind a while ago. I don’t care enough to really catch back up either… but I can’t just let my mind wander in case he says something important. Even if you’re listening.

Then there’s the mist form I’m using. This is annoying to keep up. It’s mentally draining, far more then I thought it was. It didn’t seem so bad the other night when I was using it to guard the warehouse but I’m thinking I just didn’t notice because of the tension. I just don’t know how long I can keep this up. Oh hours still, but not forever you know? So that’s another thing that pokes at my brain in an annoying way that may or may not be boredom.*

[Hmm… I suppose I get that. It’s just that this is honestly pretty fascinating for me. The idea that I could make like… space grenades do to LOTS of damage is really appealing to me. Enchanting isn’t quite as affinity limited as other types of magic, but it’s pretty hard and usually you want an affinity because you can sort of… feel out how the enchantment is going to react?]

*Well, I guess the question is, what makes it so different from casting spells?*

[Time and energy I suppose? It’s some of the same runes but you need a much bigger library to make things. You have to be EVEN MORE specific about things. You have to make sure the materials are going to… allow? Yeah allow or ’work with’ the enchantment in some way. Then there’s actually finding space for all of the runes. Plus you have to treat it with some alchemical stuff. Or I think you do? There’s also the making of the runes.]

[You can either use special materials and special carving implements that magically charge the runes as you go. Or you can use like, a special brush and ink to impart the magic, or you can carve first and then poor the ink in later. They all have different uses, strengths, weaknesses.]

*Wouldn’t the inks run out first?*

[You’d think so, but not always. See, the issue with the carvings is that your forcing the mana to flow throw them and depending on the enchantment it can eat away at the carving you’ve made. Sure the same happens with the inks, but they’re usually designed to deal with that whereas the carving is just made in whatever material you’re using at the time.]

*So… what, despite the fact the ink is a liquid that isn’t as solid it’s inherently more aligned with enchanting and thus more likely to last a long time?*

[Yeah pretty much. Especially if your making special ink for specific purpose. If you make ink out of say… a lightbulb plant that glows and then you use the sap from it and a few other ingredients to make a lamp, then it’ll last longer then just carving into the metal of the lamp or ink made from say… a bear’s blood.]

*Ok, I think I’ve got that. What about the explosion that happened at the guard station? The guards seem to believe it was an old enchantment that exploded? How does that square?*

[Well, they weren’t sure on the specifics and neither am I. From what I can guess, especially after listening to Jared, there’s two possibilities. The first is that the enchantment started to degrade, but certain parts weren’t as good as others, so it degraded unevenly and eventually exploded. The second possibility is that it was always meant to explode, and Jared wanted to examine it. Assuming he’s the culprit of course.]

*It is looking like that, but sure, assuming.*

[Right, so assuming he’s responsible, it’s possible that he needed to open up something to see the runes and that set it off. Or perhaps the ink had turned into a powder after so long and he accidentally blew some out of place causing the reaction.]

*Right… but if it was something like that wouldn’t he have gotten caught up in it as well? And he doesn’t have purple hair… I think. I don’t exactly have colour at the moment.*

[No he doesn’t. His girlfriend MIGHT though. As for how he avoided exploding? He clearly knows a lot about enchantments like that. He could’ve either made a quick and dirty change to it that slowed down or sped up the explosion so that it was properly timed for him to leave. Alternatively, he could simply have a good enough idea of how long it takes for something like that to fail for him to have ran. It’s not something Melody has asked about so I can’t be sure…]

*Right. So it’s worth sticking around for a bit longer then?*