A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 559 Accelerate, Accelerate Again

Byrne Lanster Space Center

From an abstract perspective, the structure here is very similar to that of a church.

A magnificent vaulted ceiling supports a complete and spacious interior space, covered with polymer material to insulate against heavy snow and cold winds, while a high-hanging magic lamp replaces the sun, emitting a cold light that makes it impossible to distinguish day from night.

Here, countless parts are designed, manufactured, and assembled, the sounds of mechanical collisions echoing and reflecting. When one steps inside, one is awestruck by the developing behemoth, its metallic "bones," "flesh," and "nerves" still exposed.

This is a temple, a church without religion but with its alternatives.

Rorschach and Andrei hiked through it.

Workers kept greeting them, and the two men nodded in response each time. At each work section, Andrei would quicken his pace, find the person in charge, and bring them before Rorschach. Then he would pause for a moment to listen to their reports.

The people working here include not only Baines, but also Valuans, Istanians, ordinary people, mages, and apprentices.

However, all of the above identities have been erased; here, there are only technicians and engineers.

The starship was now lying down. The two walked from one end to the other. The engine compartment was empty, revealing only the fuel tanks.

Today is the day of engine testing, and they have decided to go all out and at least double the thrust compared to the prototype.

Upon arriving at the outdoor site, the test bench was nestled in a mountain valley, with a concrete platform on both the top and bottom, reinforced with steel structures to prevent accidents.

Then, unsurprisingly, an accident occurred.

After ignition, blue flames surged forth, cooling water turned into massive amounts of steam, and the surging power caused not only man-made structures to tremble, but even the mountains themselves.

A tooth-grinding sound rang out, and countless cracks burst open in the concrete of the test stand, while the steel frame structure visibly deformed.

The apprentices of the Arcane Tower, the dwarven technicians, and the engineers from Valuwa all exclaimed: It's over!

Fortunately, the engine did not shoot into the sky while pushing against the storage tank. A force field enveloped the entire power system, causing it to freeze first, then the flames went out. The entire test stand seemed to rewind, returning to the moment before ignition.

"Master." "Uncle Rorschach." "Chief Engineer." Different people have different titles for him.

"What happened?"

"The thrust seems to be exceeding expectations." The person in charge frantically wiped the sweat from his forehead: "The engine we designed now has 34% more thrust than the Alpha engine on the first ship, but the system became unstable at 39 seconds. The specific cause needs to be investigated."

"Will it affect the progress?" Rorschach asked, concerned.

"The test drive will be postponed for at least another ten days." In fact, the person in charge was still being optimistic.

Rorschach couldn't accept this: "Then let's start investigating the problem now."

Instead of refilling the cooling water, he provided shields to the three spellcasters present, allowing them to cast freezing spells under the blazing tail to control the temperature of the entire test stand and prevent the steam from obscuring everyone's vision.

It wasn't that Rorschach wanted to force the three of them into a "lecture," especially since his beloved apprentice Andre was among them; it was that he had more important work to do:

Rorschach himself provided power to the engine in place of the transmutation dust. He reached out to the engine surface, and all the circuits lit up instantly. The energy release, no less than that of the transmutation dust, started the entire unit, making it roar once again.

The test bench was damaged, it was restarted, then damaged again.

After repeated experiments, the power unit finally identified the problem.

For the test stand, due to the increased thrust, the high-temperature zone also increases after the exhaust flame expands. The steel frame structure, which was already nearing its limit under load, is further subjected to even higher temperatures, causing its rigidity to decrease rapidly.

"No, it's not just a problem with the test bench. Every time, the pillar in the upper left corner cracks first, which means the engine's thrust itself is uneven," the Valois engineer pointed out, indicating a problem with the engine itself.

The person in charge was sweating even more. Luo Xia, however, didn't seem to blame him. He knew that any industrial "scale-up" wasn't simply a matter of proportional expansion, and patiently said, "Then let's try again and adjust it again."

However, the three spellcasters responsible for temperature control were already nearing their limits. These three unfortunate souls were enduring scorching heat while simultaneously casting freezing magic to counteract it, experiencing a double whammy of fire and ice. Even with the archmage's blessing, the sheer energy drained by the spellcasting itself was unbearable.

Two spellcasters belonging to the power group cast hopeful glances at Andrei: You know the boss well, quickly tell him we can't hold on any longer!

Rorschach originally wanted to buff them and continue, but fortunately the engine designer stepped in and demanded that the problem be checked again from beginning to end, which meant that it had to be removed from the nightmarish test stand.

These days, there is no computer-aided finite element analysis. Even the data loaded into the Tower Spirits is about magic, not simulation software. Therefore, even if there is an analysis machine to save calculation time, designers and experts who used to study force field configurations and geometry still need to constantly consume their brain cells.

Fortunately, there are monks here, so we can verify things more quickly and luxuriously with physical objects.

The engine's ductwork is irregular; if it were to be molded as a single piece, it would far exceed current casting technology. Floating in front of Rorschach are the pipes from the pressurization chamber to the combustion chamber; a single component is almost as big as him.

He began to cast a spell, and the metal began to flow and deform. The designer stared in disbelief as his envisioned casting took shape in the sorcerer's hands, speechless for a long time, only able to admire the cold light of the flowing metal.

"Is this alright?" Rorschach reminded the other person that his work was finished.

"Huh?" The designer snapped out of his daze. "Okay, thank you for your hard work. I'll measure the tolerances now."

After several fine-tunings, the sixth improved design of the day was completed.

"Your deformation error is getting smaller and smaller; perhaps the next nozzle can be molded as a single piece," the designer complimented.

Rorschach remained expressionless: "I'm just getting more and more skilled." But in his mind, he was planning when to compile a list of spells so that he could award "Level 8 Magic Fitter/Welder Certificates" to those who learned them.

The revisions that would normally take anywhere from ten days to a month were expedited by Luo Xia to a single day. Everyone else was exhausted, and they all worked incredibly hard, but thankfully, they produced results.

The design of the new engine set has now been finalized, with the single-unit power increased by another 20% on the original basis.

Rorschach was also satisfied. He blinked his tired eyes. The spellcasting process required him to concentrate fully. Shaping those special alloys was not only difficult, but also required great precision.

Andrei had been missing since the engine was removed from the test stand for testing, but now (presumably after slacking off) he has finally returned to the space center with incredible news.

"Two special guests wish to see you, one from the Dwarven Confederation of the North, and the other an elf messenger."

Andrei scratched his face restlessly: "She's a beautiful older sister, and she said she knows you. I didn't tell Principal Caroline."

Wait, what did you mean by your last sentence?

(End of this chapter)