Chapter 102 - Magic-Powered Engine (2/2)

“That’s true…” Heidi frowned in response. “When the piston is moving away, it naturally needs the force from the Repulsion magic circle. But when the piston is resetting, the Repulsion magic circle will counteract with those useful forces…”

“Useful forces would be called ‘work’.” Gawain made use of this opportunity to impart them with the terms he was familiar with. At the same time, he had already thought of a solution about the machine ‘competing against itself’. For the Earth’s four-stroke engines and other classic engines, the piston reset process required ventilation to relieve the pressure in the cylinder. But for this machine, the Repulsion magic circle had to stop working the moment the piston was resetting. “Rune triggers. We can use rune triggers to control the Repulsion magic circle. When the piston is close to the magic circle, the rune trigger will be connected. When the piston is being reset by the sprocket wheel and approaching the underlay, the rune trigger’s connection will be severed…”

Heidi’s mind emerged with various magic runes before she asked, “But how are we going to control it? The sprocket wheel is moving very quickly and so is the piston. Magic circles with such quick reactions that had to instantly change based on the position of the rune trigger… This would require high-grade runes…”

Before Heidi had finished her thinking, Rebecca casually said, “Put the rune triggers on the piston then. When the piston is near the underlay, it will be connected and will push the piston away. It will be pushed away once it is close… pushed away once it is close — Wow, so bouncy and vivacious.”

What kind of image had appeared in this lass’s mind for the words ‘bouncy and vivacious’ to emerge?

Heidi and Gawain glanced at Rebecca. The former was astonished at the delicate solution, while the latter was surprised that this foolish girl was truly an engineering genius. How was she able to switch between the magical knowledge and the mechanical knowledge so seamlessly? She was able to instantly jump ahead of his thoughts and obtain a result from the new train of thoughts. Didn’t her brain require any cooldown time? Or were the two kinds of knowledge actually synchronized in her brain? Whichever side was able to provide a solution, she would be able to take hold of that solution?

Rebecca’s neck withdrew when she was stared at as she asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no, no, this is a very good idea.” Heidi quickly shook her hand. “I have even thought of more things. Why are we carving only one Repulsion magic circle? The piston is going to operate back and forth, so we can simply carve the Repulsion magic circle on the other side of the mechanism too. This way, the piston will be able to receive twice the power in a single repetition…”

Gawain looked at the sketches seriously while his mind was thinking about the problem of the rune trigger’s position. He suddenly had an idea too, “Also, fixing the rune trigger on the piston isn’t the best method either. This means that it will only be connected for an instant during the operation. We can connect it with the sprocket wheel’s axis and allow two magic circles on both ends of the piston to be controlled by this rune trigger. We can then use a kind of ‘prod’ system to switch the rune triggers’ magic circuit. It also means that when the sprocket wheel is at the first half of the turning process, the runes will be within the first magic circle. When the sprocket wheel turns to the second half, the runes will be connected to the other magic circle. This way, when the piston is being pushed away for the first time, it will be under the force of the first Repulsion magic circle until the piston reaches the furthest point. At this moment, the first Repulsion magic circle will switch off, and the second magic circle will activate, allowing the piston to reverse in direction. What do you think?”

Rebecca’s mouth was agape. She took a look at Heidi before looking back at Gawain while pouting her lips and feeling dejected. “As expected, I am still the stupidest…”

“You are not stupid at all!” Gawain felt both funny and embarrassed by this lass who was habitually self-abased. “The theory of the Repulsion magic circle was started by you. Me and your aunt are merely following up on this basis.”

Rebecca continued to pout. “But this machine is still proposed by Lord Ancestor.”

“But without your enlightenment, my machine will probably remain a blueprint for eternity.” Gawain laughed. “Aren’t you incredible?”

“Really?”

Gawain smiled and nodded with Heidi. “Really.”

“Oh!”

“That’s right, Ancestor. What name are you giving to this equipment?” Heidi suddenly recalled something. “This is a completely new thing… You have the right to give it a name.”

“Name, huh…” Gawain pondered, and a name immediately came into his mind. “I shall name it Magic-Powered Engine.”

Heidi listened to the unfamiliar and strange combination of words. A smile slowly appeared. “Ancestor, that is indeed a great name.”

Rebecca nodded repeatedly. “Yea, yea, I might not understand the meaning, but it sounds very cool!”

Seeing his two ‘granddaughters’ excited, Gawain lowered his head and looked at his sketches while a new idea appeared in his mind.

This structure, could it be further improved?

Or should he say… Since the Repulsion magic circle and the rune triggers had already laid the foundation, why shouldn’t he simply make an even more advanced machine with an entirely different framework?

Like the use of electromagnetic force to actuate electric motors — eliminating the pistons and crankshafts. Directly carve the Repulsion magic circles in a certain angle on the annular shell to actuate the magic guided rotor inside?