I narrow my eyes at Yona skeptically.
"How do you know it won't work? I'm not aware of anyone else who could do that." (Mizuki)
I know that sounds more than a little conceited, but…come on! I was proud of that deduction, so I'd like to know why she's so sure it's wrong.
"You're correct, no one person could do as you've offered. However, several centuries ago, all the Greater Spirits on Azura worked together to achieve something similar. We each accumulated as much sufficiently intense magic as we could, then combined it all before focusing our will on it." (Yona)
That's a clever idea. I raise my eyebrows at Yona.
"And? What happened?" (Mizuki)
Yona grimaces.
"It worked…in a way. An intelligent spirit was born that had as much magic power as me. However, he was unstable, like the minor spirits, and he died relatively quickly. His death was…unsettling…and the method we used to create him has been forbidden by our people ever since." (Yona)
So, I'm missing something. It's not just the amount of magic…what else, though? What could be fundamentally different between that synthetic spirit and Yona? She said he was 'unstable', but that's not exactly informative.
My thoughts are interrupted by a pained thought message from Nina, who is staring at me with dead eyes.
[Mizuki, this is sooo boring…when can we go back home? This is very sad for the spirits, but it doesn't seem like we can do anything. Wouldn't our time be better spent playing air hockey?] (Nina)
I…surely that dragon doesn't need me to explain to her why that's rude, right? Still, I guess she's not really helping here. Might as well let her spend her time some other way.
I sigh deeply.
[I'd like to stay and get more information about this. I'll send you home without me, though, and you can go back to what you were doing. When I send you back, tell Zara and Alara that everything is fine. Also, if you run into Alto, let me know so that I can bring her here. She may be more interested in what we've learned.] (Mizuki)
Nina shrugs at me and nods, then I teleport her back to the mansion without me. Seeing Nina suddenly disappear, Yona yelps in surprise and looks at me fearfully.
"Tchar'jee, what happened to Goddess Nedonera!?" (Yona)
I make a placating gesture at her and smile reassuringly. Then, I sit down on the ground – I'm going to be here a while.
"Relax, Yona, Nina is fine. She had other matters she needs to attend to, so I sent her back to where she came from. I have more questions for you, so I'm going to stay." (Mizuki)
Yona just stares at me with a dumbfounded expression for several seconds, then shakes her head in exasperation.
"You just s-sent her away…instantly? You're truly a Tchar'jee." (Yona)
Why is she surprised by that? I brought Nina here just as suddenly. Also, I have really been avoiding derailing this conversation, but...I can't take it anymore.
"Yona, why do you keep calling me that? What the hell does that word mean?" (Mizuki)
She gives me a confused look.
"Tchar'jee? That is what you are. A being who makes a mockery of reason – an Absurd One. I can't even properly compare your magic power to other beings on this planet, so Tchar'jee is the only appropriate description for you." (Yona)
Nina is strong, and she gets called 'Goddess', but I have a little too much magic and suddenly I'm an 'Absurd One'!? I, for one, am offended.
On the other hand, I don't want to be called 'God Mizuki' either. Why can't she just use my name? It's so unfair.
I shake my head in exasperation and sigh deeply. It's probably best to move on…this would just be a waste of time to address with Yona. I can feel it.
"Never mind that, I guess. A moment ago, you said that the minor spirits and the intelligent spirit you created were all 'unstable'…what did you mean by that? How exactly did they differ from you?" (Mizuki)
"Well, they could not maintain their form, of course. Greater Spirits cast spells with the magic we're made of, and even if it drains most of our power, we can recover fully. However, the spirits we made lost magic power over time, and they couldn't replenish themselves after casting spells." (Yona)
Hmm…it sounds like their composition was fundamentally different. Maybe there was something else included in the Origin Shards' creation process, like the magic being organized a certain way or imbued with trace amounts of non-magic particles.
Yona seems to constantly reorganize the magic within herself and change its properties for spells and movement, so I doubt that the first hypothesis is valid. In that case, Yona could be made of trace amounts of something that allows magic to stably accumulate…like a scaffold. I wonder…
"Yona, you're made of pure magic, right?" (Mizuki)
"Of course, as I said." (Yona)
"If that's the case, why can't you just grow more powerful by taking more magic into yourself? When you use magic for spells, you're replacing it from the environment over time. What happens if you try to pull in more magic when you're already at full power?" (Mizuki)
Yona looks at me like I'm insane, then becomes confused.
"I'm…not sure. If I were to pull in more magic the way you describe…it feels out of control, like the magic is not a part of me. It would slip away over time. My being cannot contain more magic than it has." (Yona)
Bingo…I think we have a winner. If there is some other particle acting as a scaffold for Yona's magic, and its absence is the cause of the instability in the synthetic spirits, her description makes sense. There would be no room for extra magic on her existing scaffold, and it would behave like the magic in those synthetic beings – unstable, dissipating over time.
What would this invisible scaffold particle be, though? Yona isn't even aware of it herself, so asking is pointless. Either it's a known particle from Earth physics, or yet another exotic particle like magic. Starting with non-exotic particles sounds easier…they have known properties, so I can narrow down the list and try to test for them.
The biggest hint about the particle is her gliding right through my forcefield earlier. That should have repelled any actual matter – particles with rest mass. So, any particles Yona is made of must be massless. Of the ones in the Standard Model, that leaves photons, gluons, and the still theoretical gravitons.
Photons are out – I also imbued that forcefield with the property of reflecting radiation. If it's gravitons, I'm screwed…I don't know how I'd accumulate or even test for those since they're not even proven to exist yet. Hmm…can I create a barrier that specifically repels gluons? Having Yona try to move through that would be a good test.
It's worth trying.
I've been looking away, silent and deep in thought, and Yona is just staring at me nervously. I guess I should fill her in.
"Sorry, Yona, I was lost in thought. I'm going to do a little test, so just stay there while I get things set up." (Mizuki)
Yona immediately becomes fearful again.
"T-Tchar'jee, you're not going to try and kill me, are you!? I swear, I'll never bother your friends again!" (Yona)
I stare at her blankly for a moment…where the hell did that come from?
Oh…right…she still thinks I'm deciding whether to execute her for attacking Zara and Alara, and the last time I mentioned experimenting was a threat about learning how to kill her.
Truthfully, I got totally derailed by my curiosity and forgot that I'm supposed to be deciding her punishment. I guess I need to address her initial actions before I do anything else.
There's a good chance I'd just kill her if she were human, or even if she were just a regular elf – she tried to kill my friends without real provocation. However, knowing the Greater Spirits' predicament changes things a bit.
As of right now, with no way to reproduce, they're on the slow path to extinction in this universe. I can't quite bring myself to cold-bloodedly execute one of the few ones left.
Plus, I'm not even certain that I can kill her – I'm just assuming that a complete magic drain would do the trick. If I try and fail, the wrath of the Greater Spirits might be a serious pain. It's probably best to let her slide with a stern warning for now.
I make another placating gesture towards Yona and shake my head.
"No, I'm going to let it slide this time…you were just protecting your forest. However, I'm overlooking it only this once. If any other Greater Spirits, including you, ever turn hostile towards me or my friends again, I will be killing them. So, I suggest you spread the word. Understood?" (Mizuki)
Relief washes over Yona's face and she nods furiously.
"Thank you! You have my word, Tchar'jee, I will make sure that none of my people do something so foolish again! But…uhm…if your testing is not to kill me, what did you mean?" (Yona)
I give Yona a smug smile.
"Ah, yes, I have an idea about why the spirits you made were unstable. The testing is to see if I'm correct. If I am, we should be able to make proper Greater Spirits. Just sit there for now, and I'll get started." (Mizuki)
Yona's eyes go wide in shock at my claim, but she nods her acknowledgement and remains silent. Then, she starts watching me closely. Oh well, nothing I can do about that. I turn my attention to making the gluon barrier.
I will my magic to form a square 'shield' in the space in front of me, then I imagine it starting to repel gluons. I take special care to think about the properties of gluons as I envision them – they're holding together other elementary particles that make up the protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, and they have no rest mass.
After the spell feels 'settled', I inspect it…it's invisible. Good, that's step one – the barrier isn't interacting with visible spectrum photons.
I grab a pebble off the ground and toss it towards the invisible barrier…it bounces off as though hitting a wall. That's reassuring – there are gluons in the nuclei of the atoms that make up that rock. This barrier passes check two with flying colors. However, a regular forcefield would pass these tests so far as well…I have one last test.
Electrons – they're elementary particles themselves, devoid of gluons, but they have rest mass. While a forcefield will reflect them, they should pass right through a gluon-shield.
I collect some air inside a magic sphere and will my magic to strip all the electrons off the atoms inside, then propel them in front of me in a stream. I aim the electron beam away from the gluon-shield first, to confirm how far it will visibly go, and I see an arc of lightning extend out several meters in front of me. That'll do!
I repeat the procedure, now aimed at the gluon-shield, and the lightning...passes right through the barrier.
"Success!" (Mizuki)
I can't be certain it's a perfect gluon-shield, but passing those tests is compelling enough evidence. Time to see how it affects Yona.