Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 170: A Grim Relic of What Could Have Been

The existence of magically-mutated beasts in the world of Zenkon is as inevitable as the sunrise. Mana is a powerful force of nature on this world, capable of a great many things that are known to its inhabitants, and an even greater number of mysteries.

It is widely known that the number and power of monsters, as the mutated beasts are called, is directly proportional to the mana that seems to concentrate into seemingly invisible pools.

On the hunt for answers to the mystery of these apparent 'pools' of raw magic power, Daniel and his group, now with Ryuogriar having arrived due to an anomalous presence around Daniel, are investigating the fog-strangled marsh where the pol'vapporr was.

"So what do we know? There are no aggressive beasts in the marsh, and Sir Neith looks adorably foolish when he hops around like a child, yes?" Ryuogriar's jest has a serious, matronly tone, but quickly sums up what they've learned since entering the marsh; it's relatively safe.

Wenlianna clears her throat. "Y-Yes, and the mana's strength seems to settle right around... here." Wenlianna stands in a specific spot nearby, showing how the mana detector has reached the peak through fine adjustments of the iris and motions of the device itself.

"I thought... I guess... I hoped it would be something tangible..." remarks Veiranoei, a knight of Mattarglos and the granddaughter of its Grand Premier.

There's a moment of quiet as everyone collectively thinks for a moment.

Daniel is the first to speak. "It's above or below us."

"What?" asks Treia. Though she cares about the outcome, she is the least affected directly and less-invested in the mystery, making it easy to snap out of the disappointment.

The human from Earth clarifies, "Well, the detector only shows the strength of a signal, which is one dimensional by itself. Our ability to carry it on the ground we walk grants it two dimensions, generally speaking. If there is a physical core, we need to search all three dimensions."

This resonates with the most educated members the quickest; Wenlianna, Lyrtef, and Gwenesphia each twitching as it strikes a chord with them. It's basic geometry that Earth had defined long before the historical birth of Christ and the beginning of the modern annual count.

It's not that Daniel is the only one that would think of it, but he was ready for such a thing. A video game he played in high school had a mechanic for scanning solar systems that required placing scanners to create overlapping detection points to actually locate objects. This was one of the most elaborate scanning mechanisms he ever dealt with, and the player had to account for all three dimensions of space. Additionally, he had to practice radioactive spill and contamination drills using various radiacs to find as small as a single drop or two of radioactivity.

Radar and sonar work fine with or without accounting for height or depth in most cases because direction is the most important factor to get the eyes looking in the right direction. But, when searching for a small, non-visible target, every corner needs to be checked.

Daniel looks above them as he thinks out loud, "Unless it has been grown into one of these trees, it's most likely below us."

"What if it is merely a stagnation of the natural flow of mana?" asks Aoloan. "Like a whirlpool in the water, or eddies in a stream."

"If that's the case... We'll have to consider options. I don't know if we can steal the mana, rather than place anti-magic objects, but I want to avoid that if we can."

"Why not? I thought you said it was a good idea before," replies Ryuogriar, not understanding her emperor's change of mind.

"It seemed easy in theory, but our usage of anti-magic materials has made it obvious that the returns won't be worth it. For starters, it would likely take a large amount of material to neutralize this much mana, and it would need to be replaced regularly. Without the Citadel, it's completely impractical to neutralize more than a handful of locations like this, which I suspect there are many." He looks at Neith. "First, let's find out what we're dealing with. Sir Neith? Would you do the honors."