Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2836

Chapter 2836 Wayfinder’s Core (Part 2)

"How is that even possible?" Solus asked. "Isn't the energy stored in the power core supposed to be focused?"

"It is focused." Orion shrugged. "Do you realize how long the Wayfinder is? For the power core to control and protect every car, it must hold lots of energy and it also needs to be big enough to contain it.

"You can't expect every power core to be of the same size. Do you really think that something as big as an academy can be fueled by a core the size of a fist?"

"Point taken." Solus nodded while rethinking a few things like the structure of the enchantments of Double Edge and Lith's Voidwalker armor.

"What do you mean, point taken? This thing is massive." Friya said in amazement.

"Still nothing compared to the power core of an academy." Lith shrugged. "If the White Griffon is anything like the Golden Griffon, then the entire Headmaster's Office is part of the power core.

"A part?" Friya was flabbergasted.

"Yeah." Solus nodded. "Hystar's room was just the access point and first line of defense of the power core. Its walls hid an even bigger room that contained a white mana crystal bigger than a person.

"And that was just the main focus point of the power core."

"Good gods!" Friya turned to her father in disbelief.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that." He said while nodding vigorously. "Now enough chit-chat and explain to me what's going on."

A few touches of Orion's finger broke down the power core into the single pseudo cores of which it was comprised. The dull areas belonged to enchantments whose output had dropped to a dangerous level or whose runes had suffered significant damage.

"This isn't supposed to happen." Orion explained after noticing the dumb look on the faces of his fellow Forgemasters. "A power core should be able to distribute its energy evenly to prevent such things from happening.

"It's better to have the whole structure lose a bit of power and compensate for the sudden energy expenditure than keep the various spells compartmentalized and risk a partial failure of the system."

He moved his hand near the luminous sphere, pointing at the structural choke points that separated the still-high output enchantments from the weakened ones. Orion's first instinct was to re-route the energy where needed, but he trusted Lith enough to wait for an explanation before doing something potentially dangerous.

"What you say is correct for something with a straightforward purpose like an amulet or a sword, but not for something as complex as the Wayfinder." Lith shook his head. "As you can see the Light Mastery and elemental sealing enchantments are almost depleted from the fight, but that had to be expected."

In the absence of solid ground to conjure sturdy barriers, Light Mastery was the only possible defense against physical attacks like the magical beasts charging at the Train or the tidal waves unleashed by the Throndar.

Without it, the wagons would have been heavily damaged, deforming the rune patterns necessary to keep the Wayfinder running.

The same applied to the elemental sealing arrays. A Train was a means of transportation, not a battle tank. Spells could easily pierce through the layers of iron and Orichalcum, potentially flooding the wagons.

"I see." Orion nodded. "If I knew about these issues, I would have sacrificed a bit of space in every wagon for auxiliary mana crystals that would fuel solely the defensive systems.

"As it is, your power core can still work at sea but it can't withstand consecutive attacks."

"True, but it wasn't supposed to withstand one to start with." Solus grunted, her professional pride stung by those words. "The safety measures are intended to weather storms or a small group of enemies until safe landing.

"Not to repel the attack of an enemy army led by a creature the size of a Divine Beast. Again, this isn't an armored tank nor a weapon. It's a farming Train!"

"I know how it's called." Orion couldn't understand Solus' annoyance since to him the word had no meaning outside what Lith gave to it. "Still, this is the reason the Royals insisted you guys came with us.

"We wouldn't have gotten past the ambush so easily without Lith and thanks to your explanation, I've learned a lot. Once I report my findings to the Royal Forgemasters, we will be able to improve the design of the future Trains significantly."

He could now appreciate how Lith's chocking points in the power core let the non-necessary energy to the Warp Core slowly flow into the pseudo cores of the defensive systems without compromising the speed or stability of the Wayfinder.

Once they reached the nearest island, Orion took another look at the power core. The moment the Wayfinder landed and the Warp Core was disengaged, the choke points disappeared.

The remaining energy was evenly distributed between the different pseudo cores, restoring the Train's full defensive capabilities. In the process, the mana crystals were drained according to their current residual energy so that they would complete their respective recharge cycles at the same time.