Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 860: Familiar Magic – A.R.I.A Drones II

CH0860 Familiar Magic – A.R.I.A Drones II

***

With the idea in mind, Alex began writing an AVA protocol for the ARIA project.

But midway through, he paused.

‘If I were to design individual drone units for each possible combination, then I would need to individually design 15 different drone models. That’s still a lot of work,’ Alex mused to himself.

‘Is there a way to get around this…?’ he thought.

He looked at the list again. Then, he noticed something.

‘The biggest differences between the models affecting each material factor are localised at the beak. Essentially, the size, thickness, and material of the beak change depending on the inscription surface.

‘Meanwhile, the biggest change I need to account for on the inscription method side is the drone’s capacity to carry Rune Ink or a Mana/Energy source.’ Alex mused.

Physical Inscription relatively didn’t require anything other than the drone’s beak, while Ink-based and Mana Inscriptions required Ink and mana/energy respectively.

‘Is it possible for me to modularise?’ Alex pondered. ‘Each drone unit can change the nature of its beak depending on the material it is working on. And at the same time, choose to carry Ink, Mana, or nothing at all, depending on the inscription method it will be using…’

‘Yes, that could work.’ He nodded to himself.

This way, he didn’t need to individually design each drone geared towards a particular solution. He could give them a common chassis, with swappable components depending on the job at hand.

The more Alex thought about it, the more convinced he became by the idea.

He immediately got to work.

Thanks to Orion simulating his instruction code in real time and projecting what the drone would look like once produced by Ava, Alex got a nostalgic feeling reminiscent of when he used to build and rebuild his PC in his previous life.

While he had unlimited leeway to stuff whatever parts he wanted into the drone, he was constrained by the previously decided small form of the woodpecker-sized drone, similar to how he had usually been constrained by the dimensions of his PC case when arranging the computer’s components.

For instance, in order to free up and manage space as much as possible, Alex made design choices that differed from the norm of the species his drone was based upon.

Rather than having a single, relatively large brain, Alex went for a system of multiple, significantly smaller biological processors distributed throughout the free space within the drone’s form.

He also did away with redundant internal organs that the base species possessed but the drone had no need for.

For example, lungs. The drone’s energy model had no need for respiration, as it used a bio-gel-based metabolism, so the free space occupied by the lungs was replaced with a much-needed component like a reservoir for Ink or Mana.

Fortunately, while Runic Ink-based and Mana-based Inscriptions could be combined with Physical Inscriptions, these two inscription methods were mutually exclusive. One had to use either one or the other, or neither at all.

Runic Ink was essentially an external mana source provider for runic inscriptions, usually used for inscriptions that didn’t require strict or reactive mana management. It allowed Runesmiths to inscribe without using their own mana.

Runic Ink also lowered the inscription’s Spiritual Force requirement, as Spiritual Force wasn’t needed to guide the mana; the other components of the Runic Ink were already doing that for the Runesmith.

Mana Inscriptions, on the other hand, required the Runesmith or Array Master to draw the Runes with their own Mana. This was considered a higher technique in most regards and was a requirement for many powerful formations, especially Grand Formations.

As the drone wasn’t exactly a living being, it didn’t really have its own Mana, per se. Instead, Alex planned to have it use the Hive’s bio-gel as its Mana.

Aside from the bio-gel in the drone’s heart that powered the drone, it could choose to carry more bio-gel instead of Runic Ink in its reservoir, with which to facilitate Mana-based Inscriptions.

For the flight system, Alex didn’t do much aside from connecting the natural winged flight with the added vent system.

Alex finished up the drone’s design by putting in place the pieces that would enable modularisation—a detachable beak system, as well as specific bio-gel and Ink secretion glands to account for the special nature of each.

To allow for easy switching of the required modules within the drone’s body, Alex made the drone’s front torso a hard, rigid, metal-like detachable shell that could be removed to access the necessary modular internal organs.

The final thing he did was design different beak types that would correspond to the different material surfaces.

After putting in the last design pieces, Alex left the rest to Orion to refine the design and ensure the ARIA drone design would actually hold up and work as intended when produced.

—

A few days later, Alex’s Mana Carriage arrived back in Ashwell City. It immediately drew the attention of the citizens.

People excitedly waved to the man who had defended their home and brought major developments to their domain, filling them with hope for the future once again.

Unlike when he had initially headed to the BRD manor with a mind lost in thought, Alex was in a good mood this time, and he waved back to the people, especially the children.

Alex arrived at Ashwell’s industrial district. His carriage stopped before a newly completed warehouse intended to be used to temporarily store materials delivered to the border fort by the Vulture Bee drones.

While the building itself was finished, it was recommended that Runes be inscribed onto the structure to strengthen its intended preservative function.

Unfortunately, it had been near the bottom of Alex’s to-do list due to his pressing priorities.

Alex stood in front of the structure, made some fake hand seals—in line with his fake Sorcerer identity—then a simple spell circle appeared before him, releasing a cloud of smoke.

“[Familiar Magic]!” Alex uttered aloud.

Then, from within the smoke and spell circle, hundreds of strange, phantasmal-looking ARIA drones rushed out.

The drones flew theatrically around and above him, putting on a show as their luminous trails sparkled behind them.

“Go!” Alex ordered, pointing towards the warehouse structure.

The ARIA drones rushed towards the structure and began working.

Many people came to watch the display of the new magic their domain lord was using. They watched as the drones seemingly divided the building into sectors, with each drone focusing on drawing the Runes within its assigned sector.

Some time later, a project that had initially looked like a collection of scattered glyphs had gradually come together into a cohesive whole.

Soon, the Rune formation lit up, signifying its completion and marking the first public display of Alex’s ARIA drones—

Or, as the public knew it, his Familiars.

***