NOVEL NEXT Chapter 83: "The Sun in the Palm—No, That’s Not It"
Before many start complaining, this chapter is more of an introduction to two types of special chapters.
Multiverse specials: where the protagonists travel to other Harry Potter universes or even different ones if they wish.
Video game specials: where the protagonists enter games so realistic that they feel like another world.
This way, I can explore some fun stories for everyone.
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"The Sun in the Palm—No, That's Not It"
The next day, after we had all gotten along, the official vacation period began, so I had plenty of time to waste.
The company? That's why I hired good employees. I'm just waiting for Tony to get distracted so I can dump everything on him and finally be free.
As an Auror instructor, I'm not technically an Auror, so I can skip work as long as I send the training programs. Besides, the raids on dark wizards have significantly decreased, since everyone is now afraid of being caught by the restructured elite Aurors.
"So, Tony, yesterday I couldn't ask for your help, but today I can," I said as I kicked his door open.
"It's bad manners to enter someone's room like that. Sigh," he said, looking at me seriously. "So, what do you need?"
"Seriously? Wanda does that to everyone," I said, pointing at the room across the hall just as Wanda kicked open Harry's door.
"Harry, let's play video games!" she shouted, knocking the door off its hinges.
"Wh-what?! Wanda?!" Harry exclaimed, still half-asleep.
"Sigh. She's nothing like the Wanda I know," Tony said, watching the brash Wanda of this world.
"Try being locked up, watching the destruction of multiple worlds for who knows how long, and finally getting out to live a normal life," I replied, slightly defending Wanda's personality. "Don't tell her I defended her," I quickly added.
"Whatever. Just tell me what you need. I have things to do," Tony said, rolling his eyes.
"A magical power source," I said seriously, staring at him.
Tony was instantly interested.
"As you know, we created a magical technology company, but the problem is energy consumption. The more complex the machines, the more energy they consume, obviously. They can't run solely on ambient magic anymore. And above all, I don't want to create some kind of magical pollution," I quickly explained.
"It's for the virtual reality machines, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's to play video games all day," I admitted without hesitation.
"Magic can be converted into electricity. Have you tried converting electricity into magic?" he asked while jotting something down in a notebook.
"Yes, but magic acts like an electromagnetic pulse. It destroys anything that contains electricity," I explained, recounting the experiments and failures we had encountered.
I even told him how the twins and I had almost caused a nuclear plant to explode and had to escape before the Aurors guarding strategic locations discovered us. Tony looked at me in disbelief.
"I'm good at things related to magic," I defended myself, feeling a little guilty under his stare.
"How do the devices you have work?" he asked.
"One rune stores energy, and another absorbs magic from the environment. Grandpa helped me create them," I said, drawing the runes in the air to show him.
"Does that work on a person?" Tony asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, but it doesn't make you better at magic, and it depletes quickly because it's pure magic. In our bodies, it has to transform," I clarified.
"Is there a limit to how many runes can be together?"
"Yes. The normal limit is ten, but my limit per object is fifty-three," I said proudly. "Though Grandpa can handle 127."
"Alright, let's go see old Flamel. I have an idea," he said, standing up with his notebook.
I had to admit that leaving things to the expert was the wisest choice, so I didn't mind following him for a while.
On the way, Tony explained part of the plan, but he wanted to discuss the final details with Grandpa. When I passed Wanda, I asked her to bring Loki to Grandpa's office, though I still didn't know why.
......
When we arrived, Grandpa was already waiting for us with a smile.
"Hoho, that's quite a strange plan you have there, young one," he said after hearing Tony's proposal.
"So that's your power. I have to admit, it suits you. Though Loki's surprises me a bit," I said to Tony while glancing at his notes.
At that moment, the door burst open with a kick.
"Captain, I brought Loki!" Wanda announced, saluting me like a soldier.
"Sigh. I don't know how you convinced Amelia to make you a vice-instructor," I said as I looked at my sister, dressed in the Auror instructor uniform.
A few hours earlier, Amelia had sent me a message saying she had accepted Wanda as a substitute instructor. I wasn't surprised, but I wondered when Wanda had spoken to Amelia to get the job. Obviously, she did it just to annoy me, but since I outranked her, I'd dump all the tasks on her so she could learn.
"I just went to all the squads and kicked their asses, sir," Wanda replied, keeping her hand in salute.
"Tsk, cut that out, idiot," I said, annoyed by her attitude.
"Being an Auror instructor sounds interesting. Too bad I already got a job," Natasha commented as she entered the room. "By the way, aren't you going to untie Loki?" she added, pointing to the floor.
Loki was tied up with tape over his mouth, writhing as he glared at us furiously.
"Sigh. I told you to call him, not to kidnap him," I said, untying him with magic.
"Damn mortal! I will reclaim my honor with your death!" Loki exclaimed, taking a fighting stance with a pair of daggers.
"First sibling fight?" Wanda asked, eagerly getting into a stance.
"Haha, it's good that you're getting along," Grandpa said, watching the scene with a smile.
"Yes!" Wanda replied cheerfully, while Loki looked disgusted.
"Why would I get along with a lunatic?" Loki muttered venomously.
"Finally, someone who gets me. Please, stab her," I said to Loki, giving him a thumbs-up.
After a brief moment of chaos, Natasha stopped Wanda before she lost control, while I asked Loki for help with what Tony wanted to explain.
"Do you know any Asgardian runes or magic that can create or store energy?" I asked quickly.
"Tsk, there are several, but they don't work with mortal electricity," Loki replied, irritated but cooperative. He knew that any technology we created would help his return to Asgard, so he wasn't entirely opposed to collaborating.
After all, technological advancements happen step by step, even if they start with something as simple as a hairdryer before reaching a turbine.
"So, what's the plan?" Natasha asked as Loki and I inscribed runes with the same purpose of storing energy.
"To create a magical Arc Reactor using my technomancy ability and Loki's capacity to create things," Tony explained, surprising several of us.
"What's technomancy?" Wanda asked. "And Loki can create things?"
"Surprised, mortal? This god can turn illusions into reality," Loki answered proudly.
"Bah, Misty does that effortlessly with teacups," Wanda said, unimpressed.
"Tsk, it's different," Loki retorted, deciding to drop the argument.
"Technomancy is basically creating technological objects with telekinesis," I explained.
"Grandpa put collars on us so we wouldn't use those abilities since they consume too much energy," Tony added, showing his collar. "But it's deactivated now."
"In short, I'm going to create a particle accelerator that will use runes to convert energy into magic before it becomes electricity. The prism should only fill with something similar to mana," Tony detailed as he sketched.
"It's like making an Arc Reactor but adapted to the laws of this world," Natasha commented, grasping the concept.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just create a regular Arc Reactor?" Wanda asked, confused.
"No, because of energy conversion," Tony replied condescendingly. "Magical energy is way cooler, and electricity is for losers."
"Don't treat me like an idiot!" Wanda shouted, attempting to hit him, but Natasha stopped her.
Ignoring the scene, I asked Tony, "Why did you ask if runes could be used on a person?"
"Because I can create technological objects, but without materials, it's impossible," he replied, looking at Loki with a dark smile.
Loki, feeling cornered, tried to play dumb. It didn't work.
And so, we trapped Loki, inscribed runes all over his body, and turned him into a human magic battery.
For three days, Loki worked non-stop, creating components under Tony's detailed instructions. Each piece had to be perfect, and although Loki didn't fully understand mortal technology, his magic allowed him to generate the necessary basic materials. Meanwhile, Tony assembled the parts, first creating simple machines to facilitate the assembly of more complex components.
When the two finally collapsed from exhaustion, the magical engravings on their bodies faded due to overuse.
"Good thing we have strong bodies," I commented while watching the two lying on the floor, foam at their mouths.
"Should we throw water on them to wake them up?" Wanda asked, poking Loki's stomach with a stick.
"Are you a monster?" I replied, looking at her seriously. "Just slap them." I approached Tony and gave him a light slap on the cheek.
"I don't know who's worse!" Natasha exclaimed, watching us smack the unconscious duo.
Eventually, both woke up, and although they looked like hell, Tony had a satisfied smile on his face. "It's time to test it," he said determinedly.
Grandpa, Loki, Tony, and I finished filling the room with runes everywhere, including the walls, to protect us in case something went wrong.
"Turn it on," Tony ordered Wanda, who eagerly nodded and pulled a lever in front of her.
Woosh.
The particle accelerator started up, the runes glowed, and the particles moved at an impressive speed. Tony watched his laptop screen intently.
"Just a little more... Now!"
At that moment, Grandpa activated a magical tool that made the runes glow an intense red. They looked like they were about to explode.
The shaking started to rattle the room, and we all braced for an explosion. But suddenly, a beam of energy shot toward the one-meter-tall prism in the center of the room, also covered in runes. It began to shine intensely as small cracks appeared on its surface.
"Tony, it's going to explode!" Natasha shouted, looking for cover.
"No! The runes are stabilizing it," Tony assured, never taking his eyes off the prism.
The cracks began connecting, forming a strange pattern as if the runes were weaving something. Finally, the machine shut down, and everything fell into silence. The room was pitch dark.
"Did it fail?" Wanda asked in the gloom.
Before I could answer, the prism began shedding pieces of its surface. But they weren't just any pieces—rather, a carbonized layer revealing a brilliant core underneath. Slowly, the object transformed into an orb that floated in the air, illuminating the room with a magical glow.
"Wow, it's beautiful!" Wanda exclaimed, watching the orb in fascination.
"Did you notice?" Grandpa asked in a serious tone.
"Notice what?" we all responded in unison.
"It shines just like your eyes," he pointed out, leaving everyone stunned. We looked at each other, disabling any illusion or magic hiding our true gaze.
"It's true," Wanda murmured, inspecting our eyes.
"Then it worked," I said with a smile. "We created a magic core."
"And now... we can play as much as we want!" I added triumphantly, looking at Tony, who raised a tired thumbs-up with a grin.
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