I left the room.
I am looking out the window, and it is raining, unfortunately.
I am not sure about the time, but if it is breastfeeding time, it should be noon right now.
I am just a little concerned about Lucy, and it has been a long day.
But, I did not feel it is a waste of time.
To me, this is a precious time.
I go into another room.
It's where I've prepared my research, a small room on the first floor.
Recently the number of rooms had decreased as the number of family members increased; I had to make effective use of the remaining ones.
But, for guest rooms, let’s just leave one.
I walk towards the desk that was tailored to the room.
Placed on the desk, there were my research reports and the magic stone.
During this half of the year, I did not just play around with my sisters and daughter.
I was also investigating things about the magic stone.
From a hard fought battle with the Hydra, a magic stone that absorbs mana.
This magic stone seems to look like a pale green scale.
If it had no transparency, it would look like a piece of stone.
When I studied the magic stone at the library, I found out a few things.
Firstly, the name of the magic stone,
It seems to be known as a [Mana Absorbing Stone]. [2]
The stone was made from a Manatite Hydra's[3] body, and has the ability to absorb mana from the surroundings.
It seems to have gone extinct together with Manatite Hydra, it is now considered a phantasmal magic stone.
Most dragon-type creatures seem to be able to generate magic stones inside their bodies.
It would be like pearls, or maybe something like gallstones.
The one that is on my magic staff, it was also generated from the body of a dragon-type serpent creature.
There are various different types of effects, but basically they often involve affecting mana.
It could amplify the mana or reduce the magic consumption cost, with the same mana you could demonstrate double the power.
In other words, there is nothing strange about a magic stone that absorbs mana instead.
The problem is the theory behind how it absorbs mana.
This magic stone, if left alone, would not absorb mana.
So then how could you make it absorb mana?
I thought of some experiments and tried them.
Then, surprisingly early in, I obtained some results:
A "front and back" were present in this magic stone.
They were difficult to see in appearance, but they were certainly there.
If I placed my hand on the back and applied mana, the front would start absorbing mana.
When that happened, a high-pitched sound would ring out.
It was not automatically active, and could be manually turned on or off.
If I was to try saying it, it'd be something like the suckers on an octopus tentacle.
Apparently, that Hydra seems to activate the magic stone the moment it sees magic; any magic that flies toward it would then be rendered useless.
Those are wonderful reflexes.
But, that would be obvious, of course.
For wild animals, their reflexes and vision are overwhelmingly better than humans are.
Thinking of which, Ruijerd's stone—the thing on Supardia Tribe's heads, it should be the same kind of magic stone.
After experimenting further, I found that apparently the magic stone seems to be [not necessarily absorbing mana].
I released magic on myself: while raising the magic stone and shouting "Now!" I activated the effect. The mana I used was also not recovered.
Rather, I feel like the same amount of mana I used to cast the released magic was drained from me again.
Although there is much to investigate regarding this point, I tried to make a single hypothesis:
Could it be that mana generated into the back of the stone transforms into [a canceling wave] through the front, effectively negating magic?
I think, though it has an effect similar to Disturb Magic, its breakdown power is at a higher level.
Of course, some things cannot be explained.
For example, even though I tried hitting a doll I had created with the wave, it did not break.
The doll is okay, yet the [Rock Bullets] are useless.
I wonder what the difference is.
After existing for such a long time, did the magic doll become unbreakable after the mana stabilized?
…Hmmmm,
It can't be helped, even if I try.
I am not clear about what mana actually is in the first place.
Yet more than the finer details, I want to prioritize thinking about how to use it or how to deal with it.
While I was thinking, I carried out another experiment.
I feel that by using this magic stone, it is something that can destroy things that Disturb Magic could not.
So, for example, a [Magic Circle].