bookbashuk Chapter 93 New Experimental Phenomena
Chapter 93 New Experimental Phenomena
Chapter 93 New Experimental Phenomena
After leaving the office, Karen returned to the Eagle's Nest.
Standing at the door, Karen could hear her companions talking inside the Eagle's Nest. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
"Karen! You're back pretty early today. I thought you were going to go straight back to your dorm at night like usual." Wesley was playing Wizard Chess with Fabian, and on the chessboard, his knight was being chased by Fabian's bishop, who was running away like a wolf and a fox.
"Today was alright, finished early." Karen walked to his alchemy table, put down his backpack, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the thick notebook containing mithril data, next to which was the "Complete Guide to the Properties of Magical Creature Materials." His fingers brushed the spine of the book, but Professor Castor's words just came to mind.
"Has the professor given you a new research direction?" Fabian keenly sensed something different about Karen and asked gently.
"Hmm." Karen nodded, not mentioning the curse or the snake eyes, but only talking about the expansion of her research direction, "I discussed it with the professor."
Perhaps we could try some more "active" materials. For example, dragon skin.
"Dragon skin?!" Wesley whirled around, knocking over a bunch of wizard chess pieces. "Merlin's stinky socks! Aren't those supposed to be used to make dragon skin gloves?"
Ernesto put down his telescope maintenance tools and looked at Karen: "Dragon hide? Its physical defense is indeed top-notch, but its magical conductivity is a well-known disaster. It's usually used to directly avoid magic, but to add magic to it, that's probably a bit crazy?" He used the word "crazy," but his tone didn't deny it, only inquired.
“The professor said so too,” Karen readily admitted, “its magical conductivity is extremely poor, and residual activity causes significant interference. But the key is,” he paused, recalling Castor’s words, “to understand its ‘rage,’ rather than just seeing the obstacles. Perhaps—”
"Could rage itself become a force? Like—" He hesitated for a moment, then chose a relatively safe analogy, "like certain powerful magic spells, which are incredibly destructive, but if we can understand their essence, we might be able to find ways to control or transform them."
“That makes sense.” Fabian adjusted his glasses. “The appendix to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them mentions that some ancient magical armor uses dragon heart tendons or dragon nerves as amplification cores, utilizing their powerful active magic. While using pure dragon skin as a conductive layer is still somewhat unimaginable, perhaps it serves as some kind of buffer or energy absorption layer?”
The discussion among his companions sparked a flame, igniting the vague ideas in Karen's mind. Without further hesitation, he immediately spread out a new sheet of parchment, picked up a quill pen, and began to sketch out the framework of a new experimental plan, with the title prominently displayed: ["Active" Material (Dragon Skin) Basic Magic Tolerance Test Plan (Draft)] .
"Wesley, do me a favor," Karen said without looking up. "I remember that copy of 'The Magic of Jokes' you bought from Zonko last time."
"I think there's a prank spell called 'Itchy Bee Swarm'? It's supposed to be a scattered, low-intensity, continuous burst of magical energy, right?"
"Huh? That's right!" Wesley's eyes lit up. "The effect is that it makes the target feel like they're being stung by a swarm of invisible bees, itching like crazy! It's not very powerful, but it's very annoying! You're going to use it to—test dragon skin?" He had a "Are you serious?" look on his face.
"Yes!" Karen quickly wrote in the plan, "I need a safe, controllable testing method that can simulate continuous multi-point magical impact. The low intensity, dispersion, and persistence of the 'Itchy Bee Swarm' perfectly meet the preliminary testing requirements! Use it to bombard the dragon skin sample..."
"Observe the magical reactions, structural changes, and residual activity in the dragon skin under impacts of varying intensity and duration!" His eyes gleamed with the light of an experimenter. "We can't just use the 'Shattering Bone' spell to blow it up, can we?"
"Pfft, great idea!" Fabian couldn't help but laugh. "Using a prank spell for alchemy research, Karen, you're something else."
Ernesto couldn't help but chuckle, but then added, "However, we must be careful to control the intensity. Even at low intensity, if the residual activity of the dragon skin is over-activated, it could be dangerous. It's best to have a powerful freezing spell or sedative on hand just in case."
"Of course!" Karen nodded and quickly added to the risk control section of the plan, "The test environment must be conducted within a strong protective barrier, and freezing agents must be prepared in advance. Test subjects must wear protective equipment throughout the entire process."
Over the next few days, Karen entered an unprecedented state of high efficiency. He did not stop his research on mithril, and Professor Flitwick's high-speed spellcasting practice continued uninterrupted. After numerous failed attempts and adjustments, the magic field pretreatment scheme for mithril etching finally made initial progress—by pre-"softening" local areas of mithril with a magic field of a specific frequency before etching, microscopic damage was significantly reduced. He recorded and archived the detailed data.
Meanwhile, every detail of the dragon skin testing plan was repeatedly scrutinized and perfected. He used his spare time to search for scattered records about residual magical activity on dragon skin in the edge of the restricted area of the library, and cautiously inquired about the properties of several powerful tranquilizers from Professor Snape under the pretext of "studying the potential effects of magical biological materials on potions." He endured the old bat's sarcasm and finally got the answer he wanted.
On Friday's dueling practice, Karen set the goal for his high-speed spellcasting practice as rapidly switching between "Obstacles" and "Armor." Under Professor Flitwick's approving gaze, he rapidly thrust his wand, and an invisible wall of obstacles instantly rose in front of the dummy. Almost simultaneously, a semi-transparent Ironclad shield was superimposed on top of it! Although the shield's light still flickered somewhat, and the magical connection during the switch was slightly sluggish, the beginnings of a smooth transition had already appeared.
"Excellent, Karen!" Professor Flitwick clapped his hands from his high mat. "Remember this rhythm of transition! Offense and defense, like breathing! Next week we'll try to execute it while on high speed!"
"Yes, Professor!" Karen gasped, sweat soaking her bangs, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. Her control over high-speed spellcasting had improved.
This gave him even more confidence in precisely controlling the magical impact on the dragon skin sample.
On Saturday evening, after his astronomy class observations, Karen didn't immediately return to the Eagle's Nest. He went alone to the eighth floor of the castle. He knew the Eagle's Nest's facilities were still somewhat inadequate; he needed more professional equipment. Before the tapestry depicting the giant beating Barnabas, he focused his mind...
He paced back and forth three times, silently repeating in his mind, "I need a safe, soundproof alchemy laboratory that can withstand the impact of magic."
A smooth door quietly appeared on the wall. The Room of Requirement responded to his need.
Pushing open the door, one enters a spacious, circular stone chamber. The walls and floor shimmer with a faint glow from reinforcing magic, and in the center stands a solitary stone platform. Karen takes out the prepared items one by one: an iron stand enchanted with multiple protective spells, a small sample of a Welsh green dragon's belly scale, about the size of two palms and with jagged edges, provided by Professor Victor, along with a small vial of spare freezing potion and a vial of powerful sedative potion.
He took a deep breath, slipped on the dragonskin gloves, and pointed his wand at the dragonskin sample. For the first time, he cautiously used only ten percent of his magic.
"Itchy bee swarm!"
A small, sparse, almost invisible speck of magical light, like disturbed dust, drifted and landed on the dragon skin.
Karen's "Eye of Truth" instantly detected the change! The previously dormant, raging dark red residual active magic deep within the dragon skin, like oil in a pot with a stone thrown in, instantly "boiled"! It wasn't activated by the weak magic of the "Itchy Bee Swarm," but rather seemed to be enraged by this external stimulus! The dark red active magic suddenly retaliated, like countless tiny fiery serpents...
With a soft, ferocious bite, the magical light spots of the "Itchy Bee Swarm" were almost completely annihilated the moment they made contact! As for the dragon skin itself, apart from the small scales around the point of impact being slightly raised, the overall structure remained completely intact!
Karen's heart pounded. Annihilation! Not resistance, but active annihilation! This reaction far exceeded expectations! He immediately scribbled in his lab notebook: "Test 1: Extremely low intensity (10% magic power) 'Itchy Bee Swarm' impact. Result: The foreign magic power was instantly annihilated by the residual activity of the dragon skin! Annihilation efficiency close to 100%! No visible damage to the physical structure of the sample; at the microscopic level: slight stress-induced curling of the scale edges (reversible?)."
He steadied himself and raised his wand again. This time, the magic power increased to thirty percent.
"Itchy bee swarm!"
The magical light spots became noticeably denser, and the impact intensified. The dark red magic beneath the dragon's skin launched another violent counterattack! The annihilation process remained swift, but Karen keenly observed that, at the moment of annihilation, the dark red active magic flow seemed to be briefly "attracted" to the vicinity of the impact point? And after the annihilation was completed, this attracted active magic did not completely subside, but instead formed a small, temporary, and more active area below the impact point.
Record: Test 2, medium intensity (30% magic power).
Results: The foreign magic was still efficiently annihilated (approximately 90%). A phenomenon of residual active magic directionally accumulating towards the impact point was observed! A localized, temporary area of enhanced activity existed after annihilation! Sample physical structure: The scales at the impact point exhibited increased lifting, but the substrate remained stable.
Karen's heart pounded. Targeted focusing? Localized enhancement? What did this mean? Was it a source of interference? Or an exploitable feature?
A resolute glint flashed in his eyes as he steadily raised his wand, this time increasing his magical output to seventy percent! This was close to the normal power limit of the "Itchy Swarm" spell!
"Itchy bee swarm!"
Buzz! A much denser cluster of magical light burst forth, like a real swarm of miniature bees, and slammed into the dragon skin sample!
Boom! A muffled sound! It wasn't an explosion, but the sound of violent energy colliding and annihilating!
In Karen's view, the scene was truly spectacular! The dark red, active magic deep within the dragon's hide surged violently towards the point of impact, like a raging sea of lava! This time, the annihilation was not so complete! Only about 70% of the "Itchy Bee Swarm" magic was instantly devoured and annihilated.
The remaining 30% of the relatively strong magical energy impacted the dragon skin's structure solidly!
A piercing tearing sound rang out!
On the dragon skin sample, in the small area that was primarily impacted, several tough, dark green scales were suddenly torn apart by the combined effects of the chaotic internal flow of active magic and the impact of external magic! A tiny crack appeared! At the edge of the crack, dark red active magic flickered and leaped like sparks!
"Sample damaged!" Karen's heart tightened, and she reacted extremely quickly! Her wand flashed towards the prepared freezing potion bottle beside her!
A chilling current precisely struck the torn part of the dragon skin sample! With a sizzling sound, white frost instantly covered the crack and the surrounding area, forcibly freezing and suppressing the surging dark red active magic!
The temperature inside the stone chamber plummeted. Karen, panting, looked at the dragon skin sample covered in frost and cracked with a small gap, and felt a surge of excitement.
He quickly jotted it down on a piece of paper.
Test 3: High-intensity (70% magic power) impact!
Results: 1. Annihilation efficiency decreased to approximately 70%! 2. A strong backlash and overflow tendency was observed after the directional aggregation of residual active magic!
3. Sample physical structure: Localized scale tearing damage (due to the combined effects of direct physical impact and active magic backlash)!
Key finding: Under high-intensity impact, the dragon skin's "absorption/annihilation" process of impact energy has a limit threshold! Exceeding this threshold results in physical damage, but more importantly—its deep-seated active magic, while annihilating external energy, is also significantly attracted and temporarily "concentrated" at the impact point! If the backlash can be controlled, does this "concentration" state mean a temporary increase in the area's ability to "channel" magic?
The thought flashed through his mind like lightning! Annihilation is a violent resistance, but does enrichment mean a forcibly opened, highly active "channel"? Although dangerous and unstable, if he could find a way to guide and control it, like his mentor transformed the curse, he stared at the frozen crack and the active magic enrichment zone below the crack, which was forcibly frozen but still faintly glowed with a dark red light under the ice. A somewhat bold idea, like a seed, quietly sprouted in his mind.