Dominic looked at the blueprint in front of him. Ninety percent of what they were doing with a magitech orb was magical circuitry, specifically layered to amplify and shape an effect, while the remaining part was a crystal, carefully shaped to create a resonant frequency that would begin the actual spell effect.
Some of that was runic writing shaping the energy flow across the surface, some of it was the shape of the gemstone. But for simple devices like the ones that Dominic was learning with, it was only the material of the stone that mattered, as well as the circuitry that fed it mana from specific points.
How and why that would trigger the magical effects desired was the topic of the Chapter they were working on, but as far as Dominic could tell, the answer was simply ’because it does’.
There were hundreds of pages on what and how, but the ’why’ portion was mostly glossed over, except during the explanation of what effects the various materials were likely to have.
For example, a ruby would generate physical effects. That was what they were working with today, a small ball of rough ruby, that should create a magitech core that enhanced physical strength.
In more complex applications, it would also generate physical type spells, such as armour enhancements, sharpness buffs for blades, magical bullets and so on.
The magical bullets would be a useful addition for the Ogre Hunting Rifles, as it could create a physical projectile. But creating that orb was beyond Dominic’s skills, and integrating it into an existing design would be even more difficult, if the operators weren’t willing to sacrifice the socket that was in the design.
Normally, that would be reserved for an attack magic type gem so that it was always ready when they were using the rifle. But for many of the soldiers and lower nobles, they didn’t have many extra gems, and so they would have already made the ones they used a permanent part of their combat gear.
Dominic carefully copied the design onto paper, proving to the tutor that he did know what he was doing, before they started working with the more delicate metal plates for the orb.
The materials were less important for an orb this simple. Even though it still contained hundreds of lines of magitech circuitry, you could make it out of almost any metal, and it would operate properly.
Harder metals were better for physical enhancement orbs, which was a benefit to Dominic, who already had large amounts of steel on hand for the forge.
"If all the circuitry determines what the effect is going to be, what determines the grade of a magitech orb? The materials?" Dominic asked as he prepared to begin working on the first construction project of his training.
"Partially the materials. But I am told that the quality of the craftsman makes much more difference. For example, your Master in the forges can reliably create Rare Grade Magitech Items, simply with his skill in crafting.
That is something that is beyond me, no matter how hard I try. I can create Rare Grade items, but it takes much more expensive and rare materials than the ones that he uses." The tutor explained.
"So, the final activation has something to do with it? I was wondering about that, as all Magitech Orbs naturally start at level 0 enhancement until they are bonded." Dominic replied.
"As with all things Magitech, the magical affinity of the creator has everything to do with the final product. The more powerful and skilled the creator, the finer the product. That’s why sorcerers and others who have elite crafting positions get so much more respect than those without.
When it comes down to pure ability, they have it. No matter how much certain Nobles would rather not see anything but noble born humans, they need the more magically adept commoners to keep creating the magical items that they rely upon.
Now, are you ready to finish that orb?
Just assemble the pieces, sprinkle them with a light dusting of mana core dust and imbue them with magic. You don’t have to source your cores from monsters if you don’t want to. As the orb is going to be levelled up anyhow, you can use the ones that the Wizards make.
They’re mostly level one cores, but that’s still good enough for the level of Magitech Orbs that we will be working on in the near future." She explained.
Dominic nodded and brought out one of his remaining level one Goblin Cores to crush. If they were just making the most basic of practice items, there was no need to go overboard and start using up valuable resources.
Dominic finished carving into the shaped metal pieces, and then assembled them around the ruby, which he had polished into a perfectly round marble, despite Tutor Lucy’s insistence that it would work perfectly well even in its rough form.
With the assistance of the microscope and a brace for his hand, Dominic carefully carved the circuitry into the metal, and then dusted them with mana core dust before fitting them together.
"Now, a pulse of mana, and it will activate for the first time and give you a description of the base bonus." She encouraged.
Dominic focused on pouring power into the simple metal orb, and watched as it turned dark red, with the lines of the circuitry that were carved on the inside of the piece becoming visible on the outside in a complex weave.
{Uncommon Grade Orb of Strength} 5 Percent Physical Strength per level.
Alone on an orb, that wasn’t much, and wouldn’t sell easily, or for a high price, despite being Uncommon Grade. Mostly, because those who could afford to put enough mana cores into a Magitech Orb to get it to level ten, where the bonus would be enough to give the user monstrous strength, could afford a better base orb.
But it had worked, and Dominic had proven to Tutor Lucy that he was fully capable of making at least the basics of the Arcane Engineer’s trade.