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The magical engineering class began with the topic of familiar magical devices and aether as energy, led by a young male teacher.

The teacher, who introduced himself as Lionel, appeared to be a researcher in magical engineering, wearing a lab coat even in the classroom. Classmates with older siblings in other grades had shared beforehand that he was generally regarded as the bright, amiable young man as the rumors suggested.

“Do you all know that the steel compressed containers in this shape are attached outside your homes?”

While drawing a diagram on the blackboard, Lionel looked around at the students.

“Aether tank!”

One of the classmates eagerly answered, and Lionel smiled and nodded.

“That’s right. The liquid aether produced by processing and refining magic stones is consolidated in the city’s aether stand and then refilled into this kind of aether tank. From there, it is transported to your homes and used as the energy for the magical devices in your homes¹.”

Lionel explained while projecting diagrams from the textbook into space using magic, delivering the information in a slow and steady tone. Up to this point, it was an explanation of something found in every household.

The sight of vehicles carrying aether tanks from the aether stand and circulating through the town to deliver them to each household was a familiar one for us. However, with the explanation reiterated, it became evident that life had become considerably more convenient compared to three hundred years ago. Older illustrations were presented, showing people carrying even smaller aether tanks to their homes.

I imagined that this background might explain why fireplaces were used in the early days of my life. Nowadays, air conditioning magical devices automatically maintain a comfortable room temperature. However, to keep an entire room at a consistent temperature, a considerable heat source is needed, and the energy consumption for that purpose is immense. The fact that this is covered by aether tanks involves remarkable technology. It seemed unlikely for such explanations to be included in a first-year class.

“Now, the magical devices in your homes are connected to the aether supply port with a cable. Do you know why?”
“Isn’t it for supplying aether?”
“Didn’t Teacher say that earlier?”

In response to Lionel’s question, classmates responded with puzzled expressions. Lionel, who had been carefully observing the students’ reactions, locked eyes with me and Alfe, encouraging us to share our opinions.

“What do you think?”
“…May I ask a question?”

Since Alfe seemed hesitant to answer, I raised my hand to inquire about Lionel’s question.

“Please do, Leafa.”

It seemed that both Alfe and I were already understood. Lionel, with interest in his eyes behind the silver-framed glasses, gave a nod.

“If I channel aether through the supply cable, can I operate the magical device?”
“That’s an excellent question. It seems you understand the essence of magical devices.”

Lionel nodded repeatedly in response to my question. After surveying the classroom again, he replaced the projected diagram with another.

On the projection, a small aether lamp used on tabletops was displayed.

“To light this aether lamp, there are two methods. One is to connect the cable to the port and press the button, as you all usually do. The other is for you yourselves to channel aether into this aether lamp².”

As Lionel explained, the projected diagram unfolded.

“Do we not need to press the button?”
“That’s right. The buttons attached to magical devices are strictly for supplying liquid aether to the simplified magic formulas within the devices. When you consciously supply aether directly, the simplified formulas related to these buttons are not necessarily required.”

With that explanation, Lionel cleared the projected image and opened a box placed near the teacher’s desk.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Lionel distributed small rune-based platforms with glass-covered aether lamps. These lamps were miniature, and even though households typically used magic stone lamps illuminated by the runic character of Luminas, powered by lightning magic stones, aether lamps themselves were rare. The prospect of lighting them with one’s own power excited my classmates.

Alfe and I received the aether lamps and followed the steps to channel aether. Alfe, who seemed quite enthusiastic after Lionel’s explanation, took the initiative and tried it first.

The aether lamp responded to Alfe’s aether and brightly lit up.

“Leafa, you try too.”

Prompted by Alfe, I focused my consciousness on the aether lamp. My aether reacted with the formula board of the aether lamp, and it successfully lit up. However, it wasn’t as bright as Alfe’s. I wasn’t even cutting corners there.

Other classmates also managed to light up their lamps, but their results were not as impressive as Alfe’s. Some were not very bright, and others went out quickly.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with the aether lamps themselves. As evidence, when Lionel demonstrated, his lamp lit up brightly.

“Even without an aether tank, it lit up, right? That’s because the metal part of this aether lamp—called the socket—already has a simplified formula written on it. The small formula board inside contains instructions for the color and brightness of the light.”
“But Teacher, it didn’t get very bright.”
“Mine went out quickly.”

Classmates voiced their dissent to Lionel’s explanation.

If the formula board dictated the color and brightness of the light, they seemed to argue that the brightness should be constant. Their logic was truly childlike, and I listened with interest.

“That’s perfectly fine. Everyone, you managed to make it emit light to some extent, didn’t you? The principle here is that when aether is injected into the formula board through this cable, it emits light. However, it consumes a vastly larger amount of aether compared to what you use when pressing the button.”

Lionel started explaining while keeping the aether lamp lit. On the teacher’s desk, the aether lamp supplied with aether by Lionel was irregularly flickering.

“That’s not all. The aether flowing through our bodies has individual variations compared to the liquid aether, making it highly unstable. To maintain a constant light source, one must concentrate.”

With a slight pause, Lionel demonstrated a gesture as if focusing his consciousness on the aether lamp. The aether lamp, receiving a stable supply of aether, lit up brightly.

“Now, you see that even with the aether flowing through our bodies and with a simple formula, we can use magical devices, right? What I want you to pay attention to here is why liquid aether has become widespread.”
“…Because it’s tiring to do it yourself?”

Alfe, who had been listening to the teacher’s explanation, muttered softly. It was almost like talking to herself, but Lionel picked up on her words and nodded emphatically.

“Yes, exactly. You’re correct. Doing it too much can lead to magical exhaustion and fatigue, so be careful.”

Indeed, no matter how advanced the technology became and how convenient it was, using one’s own aether every time for magical devices could lead to magical exhaustion and fainting. The classmates seemed to understand that, and that’s why external aether energy for magical devices in homes was essential.

“With that, now that we understand the workings of magical devices, let’s try creating some basic simple formula that forms the foundation.”

1. Robinxen: Reminds me of that anime about the fantasy world that’s got modern magic powered tech and there’s a mana top up service for households with low magic residents.
2. Robinxen: In my fantasy world building project there’s a magic-tech submarine which passively absorbs energy from the occupants for basic operation, but requires one of two characters on board to be able to provide the proper energy needed for any decent performance. I went into a lot of detail researching historical submarines when working out its dimensions and capabilities back in the day. It was based on a conceptual futuristic submarine of the far future done by some engineering students I think.