Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 576: Ladder to Heaven Ready
"What the hell!" some members of the Sky Knights blurted out, and only restrained their exclamations after receiving Tanya's death glare.

It is a very rare thing to witness with your own eyes the 20-meter iron ring that you have assembled explode in the air.

It’s pretty cool, as it saves me from having to fly out to dismantle it later.

Fortunately, there were enough spellcasters present to successfully control the situation, otherwise eight heavy-duty airships and one air knight would have been destroyed at once. The 20-meter-diameter ring-shaped device had turned into a shotgun and ended its existence.

"Test and control team, adjust the test vehicle's attitude and attempt recovery. The first segment of the ladder ring stage disintegrates. Repeat, the first segment disintegrates. The safety team activates the emergency plan."

"The control team received it."

"Security team received."

Failure is normal during the experimental stage. After all, this is completely Rorschach's fantasy. Every link must be 99% sure. Once there is any problem, the entire system may explode.

The "Ladder to Heaven" project team of the Space Center recovered the exploded test ring. Although it had undergone several modifications and optimizations, it unfortunately failed to stand the test when it came to the testing phase of the high-speed aircraft.

The next step was the sweaty part for the design team, where several mages and engineers discussed together:
"At the moment of charging, all lines and circuits will pass through extremely high energy density magic. Since the teleportation array is open for a very short time, it will work at full capacity before reaching a steady state.

"We may need to find a way to set up a pre-charging stage to blunt the instantaneous power 'peak'."

The above is the result of the Dwarf Engineer's investigation of the working conditions. The wizard from the Starry Tower proposed other possible factors that may cause the teleportation ring to disintegrate:
"Due to the high-speed passage of the aircraft, the impact of the spatial distortion effect may have exceeded our expectations. Although the details of the entire component under the potential field are still unclear, it is certain that there was a huge stress transmitted within the component for a moment, tearing the support member apart."

Their analysis was very logical, and they even produced samples of the fragments for analysis, which was quite convincing.

"Well said." Rorschach patiently listened to the design team's reflections and offered valuable advice: "Why weren't these considered before the test?"

"Uh"

"Um"

The Starry Tower mage faced the "excellent tower member" and argued, "We actually took that into consideration, but during the actual test, all indicators exceeded expectations, both good and bad."

The second valuable suggestion came again: "Why not do a real load test on the ground first? You can build a horizontal transmission array on the ground and then launch a simulated aircraft at it, right?"

".Yeah, why didn't you think of that?"

Together they call it "Heavenly Ladder". You guys are just obsessed with going to heaven, right? Rorschach wanted to say a few more words, but finally held back: "Forget it. I haven't followed up on the project during this period, and I'm pressed hard. Thank you for your hard work. Please try harder."

But he added: "The engine project team also knows how to do ground tests."

The dwarf engineer immediately responded, "Didn't they say that the ground test vehicle almost flew out?"

"You are the only one who can hear with your ears, and you are the only one who has a mouth that can speak!" The dwarf was beaten up by other colleagues in the design team.

After some testing and improvement, the project continued to move forward. The new design passed the ground test and then conducted an aerial exercise. This time it was a transmission ring group with two doors, one in and one out.

It's a pity that the doors cannot be stacked on top of each other. This is the consensus of all mages who have common sense about space magic: never go through two portals at the same time.

The maximum altitude of the airship is about 15 kilometers, which can only provide support for the first ring step. But this is enough, and the construction of the "ladder" is similar to stepping on the right foot with the left foot:
The load-carrying aircraft starts from the first ring and releases the second ring about 50 kilometers upwards, and then starts from the second ring and releases the third ring upwards.
In order to meet the needs, the Sky Knights received a new mission. The instructor told everyone: "You have passed the qualified training and successfully mastered the disassembly and assembly of the first ring. But there will be a greater test next.

"The good news is that the next mission only requires installation, and there is no need to practice dismantling. The bad news is that your working conditions will be even worse than they are now."

Starting from the second ring stage, they can barely be considered in low-Earth orbit, and neither need nor can they rely on airships for support.

They will float in the air for a long time with the support of the [levitation] components, and start the engines to adjust their attitude and pull up when the altitude decreases.

The air knights also changed their equipment to space knights and put on bulky protective suits.

Just say "Master, I want to be an astronaut", and the Master will give you your favorite [Resistance to Otherworldly Damage], [Elemental Resistance], [Protection from Energy Damage], and [Stoneskin].
They held a pile of scrolls and activated them one by one, and then put on the bulky uniforms with the help of others. [Stone Skin] made the ends of the limbs of the members of the Sky Knights slightly numb, and the bulky protective clothing made them very inflexible.

"With so much protection, why do we need this clothes?" someone complained.

The person in charge heard the complaint and looked at him blankly: "There are so many protective effects, and each effect lasts for a different period of time. I don't know if there is any conflict between the superimposed effects.

"And what Master Rorschach said, oxygen, which is something you need to breathe, is not available in the sky. You have to put it in your backpack, and the suit cannot leak. It's very expensive.

"If you think it's foolproof, you can just not wear anything after using the scroll."

"That's fine. I'll put it on right away."

Originally, all the magic arrays should have been integrated into the protective suit, but unfortunately time was tight and there was no time to design the circuits, so it was left like this for the time being. Anyway, the time spent on the operation would not exceed five minutes.

After creating a micro-weightless environment in the stasis field and water, they rushed into battle. The first ring lit up, and a small rocket rushed out, reaching the predetermined height in almost an instant.

The side nozzles began to spin, and the steel cables were stretched out by the weights, forming a supporting network structure with a diameter of 20 meters. After it was fully extended, the enchantment would harden and fix it.

Then the components and space knights were released and began to assemble at the edge of the support net.

Repeat this eight times in four sets, and finally the fifth-level teleportation ring is ready.

"Time's up, start recovery." The aircraft issued a notification, and the winch began to turn, pulling the knights back to the crew cabin.

At this time, they were hundreds of kilometers above the ground, with clouds under their feet and the gorgeous transmuted dust layer flow and the starry sky refracted by it above their heads.

Through the glass cover, Tanya opened her eyes wide, wanting to look at this unforgettable sight a little longer.

(End of this chapter)