area51novel Chapter 156 Letters and Decay
Chapter 156 Letters and Decay
Chapter 156 Letters and Decay
Late at night, the Eagle's Nest was silent, save for the soft, steady white light emanating from the magic lamp on Karen's desk. Wesley and the others had already returned to their dormitories; the day's training had clearly taken its toll, and they had gone home after dinner. Karen, however, was fine.
Although he used a lot of spells today, he didn't use his full strength and didn't need to worry much about defense, since his job was to attack them and put pressure on them.
So now he sits alone at his desk, with several sheets of parchment spread out in front of him, a quill pen dipped in ink, writing.
He needed to report to his mentor. Phoebus stood quietly on the perch by the window, his golden eyes half-open, seemingly waiting for instructions.
Karen picked up her pen, her handwriting clear and steady.
Dear Professor Castor:
Spread the letter good.
The new term at Hogwarts has begun. Classes are proceeding as planned, and everything is relatively peaceful. Wesley, Fabian, Ernesto, and I have started our defensive training at the Eagle's Nest, following my own specially designed training plan. Today was our first attempt at simulating a multi-person attack, focusing on environmental utilization and teamwork, and the results were acceptable. Each of us has our strengths: Wesley has sharp combat instincts and quick reflexes; Fabian's defense is solid...
Ernesto is calm and composed; he has a clear mind and is good at utilizing the environment and opportunities. As a team, our teamwork is improving, but we still need a lot of practical experience to practice together, and the four of us will need to practice together in the future.
The protective badges have been distributed to the three of them. The badges function stably, and although their passive charging effect is slow, it is sufficient to handle minor magical conflicts that may occur in daily life, providing basic warnings and instant protection. They are all aware of their purpose and wear them close to their bodies.
Karen's pen paused here. He raised an eyebrow, considering his words. He wasn't sure how to describe Quirrell, or rather, what was on the back of Quirrell's head.
The atmosphere within the castle remains normal, but certain "anomalies" persist. I have roughly identified the source of these anomalies and am maintaining necessary observation and vigilance. While their condition hasn't changed significantly, their very existence constitutes a potential destabilizing factor. Our small-scale special training and the widespread distribution of protective badges are also based on this proactive approach to addressing these "anomalies." Rest assured, I will remain vigilant, avoid unnecessary contact, and focus on improving my own capabilities and the team's preparations.
Karen breathed a sigh of relief. He was confident his mentor understood. He then proceeded to write down his progress in alchemy:
Regarding alchemy, combining the teachings of Professor Nico and the insights from Lucian Sinclair's journal, I have gained a deeper understanding of the energy constraint principles of protective items. In particular, regarding the issue of the continuous energy consumption of protective badges that you mentioned earlier, I understand it as the natural 'wear and tear' and energy loss of the protective magic runes over a long period of time, and I have already begun to deduce it.
He put down his pen and pulled out several sheets from a notebook beside him. They were filled with complex combinations of runes, magic flow diagrams, and densely packed calculation formulas.
My deduction mainly combines several observations, all of which are presented in the charts.
Based on these factors, I attempted to construct a model of how the energy consumption of the protective badge changes over time. This model considers three interrelated components: the magical runes that maintain the protection, the core that provides the energy, and the materials that support them.
I've observed several key phases in energy consumption: Maximum consumption occurs during startup; during stable maintenance, energy loss primarily stems from the energy consumed by the magic runes themselves to maintain their shape, additional consumption due to environmental magic fluctuations, decreased efficiency caused by materials gradually "fatiguing" under continuous energy flow, and insufficient or dissipated core energy. Energy consumption increases dramatically when attacked.
Used to absorb or deflect attack power, materials may be instantly overloaded and damaged, and magic patterns may also be temporarily "stuck".
Based on this understanding, I considered several possible ways to optimize energy consumption and make the protection last longer. The first is to try to simplify the structure of the magic runes and reduce unnecessary loops. Referring to the ideas mentioned in Lucian's Diary, I designed some secondary loops that can be turned off normally and only activated when needed, thereby reducing the consumption of daily maintenance.
The second approach is to improve the efficiency of absorbing energy from the environment, or to design better "capture" patterns by drawing on the natural resonance principle of moonshoe moss, but this requires solving the problem of how to convert energy efficiently.
The third approach is to enhance the fatigue resistance of the material. Utilizing the discovery that low-temperature activity can be extended, we can consider embedding some tiny particles with a gentle cooling effect into the dragon skin substrate, or materials similar to the previously produced dragon blood mithril, to slow down the material fatigue process.
The fourth approach involves more intelligent energy allocation, reducing output during stable periods to prioritize maintaining the texture and environmental absorption; and instantly injecting reserve energy into defense when an attack is anticipated or encountered. However, this requires an extremely high level of precision in predicting attacks.
The fifth approach is to study how to quickly repair material damage and restore the overloaded state of magic patterns after an impact, thereby reducing the continuous performance loss caused by the impact.
These ideas are still in their early stages and require extensive experimentation for verification and refinement. I have already begun designing a simplified version of the first approach, preparing to test its energy efficiency on a small model.
The above are my recent thoughts on the energy consumption of protective badges. I sincerely request your criticism and correction. If there are any directional errors or omissions of key factors, please be sure to point them out.
The student is doing well, please don't worry. Professor, please take care of your health.
Student: Karen Hawthorne Karen carefully examined the letter, confirming that no important information had been omitted and that the wording met the teacher's requirement of precision. He rolled the letter up and tied it securely with specially made magical thread. Phoebus seemed to sense the mission, opened his eyes, and let out a low gurgle.
"Phobos," Karen whispered, tying the letter to Snowraven's strong leg, "deliver it to Professor Castor. Be careful."
Phobos gently nuzzled Cullen's fingers with its beak, spread its broad, snow-white wings, and silently glided out of the high window, disappearing into the night at Hogwarts.
Karen leaned back in his chair, rubbing his slightly sore temples. The deductions had taken a toll on his mind, but the process of organizing his thoughts into words had given him a more systematic understanding of the core problem of "decay." His mentor's notes were right: "Understanding decay is key to optimizing durability." This wasn't just an alchemical topic; it perhaps implied something much deeper.
He tidied his notes and blew out the magic lamp. In the darkness, only the faint starlight filtering in from the window illuminated the darkness. He awaited his mentor's reply, which would surely be the guiding light for his next step of exploration.