Chapter 75 — Unexpected Results and an Unexpected...

"This structure... it really is a kind of artificial crystal, and highly regular," Hedy said, carefully distinguishing the forms of those lines as she cautiously fed the lowest possible level of mana into the pedestal. As the mana flowed in, the lines on the projection gradually brightened and took on a rainbow-like halo. "It can absorb external mana and convert it into a form that exists stably within the crystal..."

Hedy withdrew her mana and observed the subsequent changes in the projections.

Several minutes passed, and the projection on the boards showed not the slightest change; nor did the resonator's precision mana-sensing mechanisms stir in the least.

"Mana stored stably?!" Only now did Hedy's face show greater astonishment. "The dissipation rate... so low?!"

Gao Yang stared fixedly at the pedestal at the center of the crystal resonator, where the rice-grain-sized "artificial crystal" was giving off a white light visible to the naked eye: it seemed that as mana filled it, its brightness rose accordingly.

He immediately realized why he hadn't noticed these things mixed in with the slag earlier, when the tent had been so dark: these "artificial crystals" were empty when freshly refined. With no mana, naturally they gave off no light. But as they sat there over time, they began spontaneously absorbing the free magical energy in the atmosphere—a slow self-charging process. Only after charging for two full days could they finally glow faintly at night, and only then did Gao Yang discover them.

Hedy, too, was captivated by the crystal's extraordinary properties. With barely containable excitement, she continued pouring energy into it—but a crystal only the size of a grain of rice could hardly hold much mana, so she soon discovered that the thing had entered a state of "saturation."

The tiny crystal began emitting a steady, milky-white glow, with no sign of self-collapse from saturation.

"So this is an artificial crystal that can store mana?!" Gao Yang looked at Hedy with delighted astonishment, feeling as though he had stumbled upon a treasure. "How does its maximum capacity compare to natural crystal? And its stability? I see it's been glowing all this time—what's its self-dissipation rate?"

"Wait, wait—I need to... I need to test this properly," Hetty said. Her excitement was no weaker than Gao Yang's, but she kept the composure befitting a mage. She picked up the tiny crystal with tweezers and carried it toward the analysis magic circle nearby as she went on, "Self-depletion shouldn't be a serious problem. Yes, it is glowing, but that is mainly because the free mana in the air is resonating under the crystal's influence; the mana stored inside the crystal itself has barely diminished, so it ought to be able to retain mana for a very long time..."

As she spoke, she placed the crystal into a grooved "dish" made of ruby and set the vessel at the center of the magic circle, preparing to try drawing the mana stored within the crystal back out.

The magic circle activated.

With a soft crack, the crystal grain inside the ruby vessel crumbled into a heap of fragments.