Just A Summer Project (Rashmi Terios)
| Just A Summer Project (Rashmi Terios) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 08 July 2024 |
| Location: | Hannah's Workshop |
| Synopsis: | Spurred by the need to find a new weight class to punch at, Rashmi comes up with a solution. Not, perhaps, an ideal one, but a solution all the same. |
| Cast of Characters: | Rashmi Terios |
With school out, and Rashmi living away from her parents' house now... there's a surprising amount of time that needs filling. Without classwork, and without volunteering her services at the Korma more than once a week, there's just... big yawning blocks of time that need filled.
It's not like she's been ignoring leisure time, either; going out with Chrono is always a good way to make her day better, and she has plenty of friends to hang out with. And her Meister lessons from Hannah. And her mahou work. But even still...
When she promised herself that she'd make figuring out an upgrade to her attacks a summer project, she'd meant it. And it was exciting, because it was the first time she put her apprentice-Meister skills to the test. Nicomachea may be helping with the design, but this would be something developed entirely by herself, without instruction from another. Without a hand to hold.
Setting aside the tools, Rashmi gently lifted the canister on the workbench in both hands, turning it over to look at from every angle. Green-and-gold metal capped both ends, and ran in a thin spine up the side. Inside, dizzyingly complicated technology emitted a thin, golden beam from one end to the other, with transparent crystal sheathing protecting the assembly from outside shock.
It looked good. It looked *very* good.
"Nico-kun," she said into the dimness of Hannah's cobbled-together workshop. "Start the integrity tests?"
<< COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE, >> the open book replied. << SIMULATING TEST ENVIRONMENT >>
And now, there was nothing for it but to wait. For this first test to finish, and the others to begin in their time. Luckily she had plenty of books.
-- SIX HOURS LATER --
<< INITIAL STRESS, EFFICIENCY, AND DISCHARGE CYCLE TESTS COMPLETE, >> Nicomachea reported, prompting Rashmi to look up from her book. << ACCUMULATOR WILL RESIST INITIAL DISCHARGE STRAIN. ITERATIVE PERIODICAL REFABRICATION RECOMMENDED AS REPEATED USE EXPOSES FLAWS IN DESIGN. >>
Setting aside the book, Rashmi smiled widely, glasses reflecting a passing gleam for a moment as she looked down at her creation. "So it'll work like I hoped?"
<< AFFIRMATIVE, >> the book replied with a cheery *BONG!* << GLOBAL MANA USAGE SCALED UPWARD BY A FACTOR OF THREE PERCENT, TO BE DIVERTED INTO THE ACCUMULATOR. ACCUMULATOR DISCHARGE LOCKED TO VERBAL COMMAND AND SPECIFICALLY REGISTERED SPELL MATRICES. >>
"We'll want to exclude the Boosts from the mana-scaling list," Rashmi murmurs, lifting her glasses to rub at the bridge of her nose. "Three percent's a *lot* with those these days, and I don't want to run dry sprinting for the finish." Still, there was a unique, wild joy surging up in her heart. She'd done it.
Her first successful project.
Her smile faded as a stray thought sent a chill up her spine.
Not only would she have to design a spell that *needed* all this energy...
It felt like they were approaching a time where such a devastating attack would be *necessary.*
While the thought didn't kill the glow of a job well done... It certainly was food for thought.
