chapter 179

While it would have been nice to start arming our forces with magic tech weapons, we simply didn’t have the infrastructure to build enough of them. I would also need to do a lot of design work for drones to use better weapons. There was also the problem of not having enough high-end materials.

We were covered in three categories on that front. We had enough high-end basic structural material, material that would allow us to interact with the fabric of space, and a lot of natural crystals that are perfect for making gravity-influencing shields. Those crystals could also be used in other applications, but they would not be as good.

Bob has been diligently working on refining these materials. He will finish before Lola finishes with her task of building the new shield generators we will be installing.

Magic tech requires some very specifically built parts that are really hard to make. Most of the current supply Bob managed to buy before they came to pick me up from the battle moon is starting to dwindle. Our manufacturing capabilities aren’t yet at a level to make more.

Our biggest hurdle is that some things just can’t be made with the 3D printer, and even that is already struggling, as the current nozzles aren’t strong enough to handle the next step of material I want to get into.

Seems like we’re heading towards some roadblocks. Unfortunately, those couldn’t be solved immediately; we would need time and opportunity to get past them. There was one mana tech project that I could finish, so while Lola was working on those shield generators, it was time for me to finish my sword.

I had been so close to finishing it properly, but now the current blueprints I had were just going to be the basis of what’s to come. This sword of mine was going to have a spirit, as this was going to be my personal weapon, and I wanted nothing else but the best I could do.

It didn’t take long to run into trouble. The current design, which mostly came from the elves, was elegant, and it was hard to find places to add the needed flair so a spirit could take root.

My routine changed almost overnight. I dedicated close to 12 hours a day to this project; the rest was split into meditation and skill training, and every few days, it was time to install a new shield generator.

“Son of a… you have enough room, I know you do, so why are you not going in?” I angrily whispered to this particular shield generator.

FH and I found locations for all of the shield generators. They needed to be close by to the old ones, as the AI cores would be directly tied to these new ones.

Controlling these ones would be a lot easier, as you could only vary their strength and switch between two locations. If I could get this damned thing to sink into the hole we cut into the ship’s structure.

We had to be very careful not to damage the ship, and each installation of a shield generator was a real mess.

“Captain, perhaps some more lubrication?” FH said, which reminded me of an old saying.

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A generous application of lube later, and the shield generator easily slipped past. “You were right.”

Each time I continued to work on my sword, I could feel that state wanting to take over my mind. It was becoming easier and easier to control this, allowing me to make quick progress.

By the end of the month, the sword was finished. On the outside, it looked a bit longer and thicker than a normal hilt of a plasma laser weapon. The projected shape could be whatever you wanted it to be, but once it was finished, there was no changing it.

I stood in my workshop, sliding in the extremely energy-dense battery that could keep this weapon active for about 18 hours. They’re fairly easy to switch out, but this one I needed to make a bit special. I extended it more than normal to fit in a mana battery part as well.

The same thing happened as it did to the rifle. The spirit awoke.

“Hello?” I sent to it and got a pleasant feeling in return. Surprisingly, this one didn’t desire anything else but a proper bond. Fortunately, that was also what I wanted. Now, before that, I hit the button to extend the blade.

In an instant, it emerged. It was 110 centimetres long, with its shape incredibly well defined. It looks like a longsword without a crossguard. There was barely any light bleed that would make the shape harder to see.

Moving it around, it cut through the air with a wonderful noise as it defied the normal laws of physics. Each time I moved it, the red light it gave off made ominous shadows. There was also a bit of black in there, making a wonderful pattern.

It was easy to tell the quality of a plasma light weapon. The more light bleed, the more the weapon looked like a glow stick. The better the workmanship and the stronger the blade, the more defined the shape looked. This would most definitely intimidate any who knew that fact.

Instead of tossing a fruit into the air to cut it, I tossed a piece of armour metal. A fast swing later, two clacks sounded out, the piece of metal bisected, both of them having an edge that glowed bright red.

Hitting the inlaid button again made the blade disappear. Over the next few days, I practised with the blade constantly until I finally made a proper bond with it. The spirit inside was incredibly satisfied and now only wished to help me fight my enemies.

The testing also revealed that even this type of weapon, thanks to the mana battery, could be used by basically anyone, including our military forces. Images in my mind of the armies I could build became even scarier.

Lola still had a couple of shield generators she needed to finish, so I instead put my focus on the living drone parts we got from the black portal quite a while ago. It was time to learn what made them tick and how those parts could be used to make better space-faring drones.

It became obvious quite early on that this was going to be a long-term project. The complexity of this stuff was on a whole other level, and I couldn’t kill them to understand every part of them, as they were already dead. That was a bit unfortunate.

Surprisingly enough, the last shield generator went in the easiest. We had already left the station we were staying in and were close to entering FTL to leave this system.

We had gained tremendously from this system; the material we pulled from here was worth well into 10 billion. But even more critical than that was the fact that FH had ranked up, allowing me to discover my truth. That came with a lot of future baggage and implications that even now was something I wasn’t certain about.

The last shield generator went online, and finally, the full defensive ring was projected out around the ship. From the front, it was 178 metres away from the ship. This type of shield could be extended further than any other, and we could easily extend it out even further, but then it wouldn’t form a continuous circle with the other shield generators.

We had two such circles. The horizontal one was going to be used in most battles, but we also had a vertical one just in case some enemies were firing at us from above or below.

Anything fired at us should now curve away from the ship, passing underneath or over it. Of course, that depended on the speed and weight of the projectile, but only truly powerful ones would not be affected enough to actually hit us, at least in theory.

The problem was that these shields would also affect our projectiles, even the hard-light ones, although just a bit. If needed, the shield strength could be lowered to make that a moot point.

That was why we were leaving this system, but not heading straight to one of the portals FH had found. Instead, we would be stopping in dead space and allowing the AIs to practise and get comfortable with this new configuration.

We finally entered FTL, and almost immediately, I could feel FH being a bit disappointed. It took me a few moments to figure out why. It was because now she couldn’t access the quantum net. Over time, she really had gotten good at using it.

Our first jump wasn’t a long one, and soon we were once again in real space, firing at imaginary targets and overall doing combat drills for a number of different scenarios.

A week later, I called a stop to all of that. “FH, set course to the space portal designated as FA 1100.”

“Acknowledged, Captain. Jump into FTL in 28 minutes.”