Time paradoxes and machines don't go well together (Rackie and Arc)

Minerva stared at Michi, analyzing every single one he said. Him saying that he was 231 years old, was one information that broke her data regarding both average and maximum possible human lifespan. Obviously, in her database, the witches were a separate category not to mess up anything related to regular humans. While figuring out a way to deal with this discrepancy she started cataloging the timepieces he'd mentioned and looking for any mentions of similar devices in actual history. It was a difficult task, considering the fact that for most people time-manipulating devices were basically a concept taken from some sci-fi story.

Meanwhile, Mark's eyes widened at the revelation. He needed a long moment to wrap his head around that information. It was normal for witches to live so long, but humans weren't known for their longevity. It was incredible what Michi managed to achieve with his timepieces. Also, that revelation had confirmed his suspicions. "Woah... That's... Incredible!" Was all he managed to say after a moment of silence. "So, you were born in the 18th century... You have basically witnessed the end of the great monarchies and the beginnings of the very first democracies... Well, also many wars, the adventures of Napoleon Bonaparte and so on. That's fascinating!" Mark commented, getting more and more accustomed with the fact that his guest is as old as many witches. "Yes, Age is a wonderful name for your timepiece indeed... It is quite fitting. Also, what it does, is absolutely brilliant." He said as he looked at Michi with deep respect present in his eyes. In his opinion, the watchmaker enchanter was a true genius and a walking master of his craft. A truly inspiring person.

"I can't say I've been paying attention to all of that for the first century, in lieu of focusing on my craft. Each of my immediate family declined an Age of their own, so I went travelling following the last of them passing away. I also tend to avoid conflict, so I also cannot say that I met many of a similar calibre as Napoleon. It would have been simple enough to place myself in the centre of history, but I prefer to be an observer and a distant one at that. My experience is that of an ordinary traveller in those times, in short," Michi could see how Mark might be excited, especially since it seemed that the man was not disinterested when it came to history.

"Oh yes, I understand that perfectly. I think I would do the same if I were you." Mark said, realizing that being in the center of history while also being sort of a time traveler wouldn't be the best idea. Still, being able to see how the world's been changing throughout the centuries seemed like a wonderful experience. "Have you met many other enchanters during your travels? Oh, maybe the question should be: how many enchanters have you met during your travels?" He asked.

"I don't tend to keep count, but it happens every so often. A few times a year, at most, though usually less, but also depending on where I happen to go and whether I seek them out, of course," Michi said, finishing off the cup of tea just after, placing the empty cup on the table. "It tends to be a positive experience each time, though there are always exceptions."

"Exceptions..?" Mark repeated after him. He was lucky that he had yet to meet enchanters who would give him a bad time. It's not like he'd met many enchanters overall in his life anyway. Suddenly remembering about his tea, he'd emptied his cup a few sips. "Hm, when it comes to... troublesome enchanters, the only ones I've heard of, were the ones from the Loew Village in Czech Republic. An enchanter from that village was responsible for the return of a certain dangerous witch." Mark said, trying to remember any other important events the enchanters were involved in. "To be honest, I have not met many enchanters in my short career. Actually, I only know members of an enchanting group which taught me everything I know about enchanting. It is embarrassing to say, but I am the only enchanter in my family." Mark said.

"You needn't be embarrassed about that at all. Now, let's see... I don't do well with schools of enchanting that are good for nothing but causing harm. The individuals practising such, in my limited experience, were not the most savoury," Michi said, holding his chin in thought as he came up with an example. "Making weapons is one thing, but making nothing but weapons... I just cannot understand it."

Mark scratched the back of his head, feeling a little bit guilty about his third best creation, which was his first wavelength firearm. "To be absolutely honest with you, weapon making is one of my... specialties, actually." He said, standing up from his seat and walked over to a nearby shelf. There, he picked up his personal self-defense pistol, then returned to Michi and placed it on the table. "As a DWMA student and a meister, I was absolutely fascinated by how Demon Weapons use their meisters' wavelength. This led me to make weapons such as this pistol. Similarly to how Demon Weapons work, it uses the wielder's wavelength to create projectile. However, it's not nearly as strong as real Demon Weapons, thus, getting shot by it once is hardly ever lethal. I must point out, that I'm not the original inventor of this particular technology. I have only reverse engineered a wavelength rifle provided to me." Mark said after sitting down on his chair. "Later on, the technology used by these weapons helped me invent magic tools which actually helped people. For example, a dear friend of mine lost an arm in a terrible incident. Using my skills and knowledge, I managed to make a prosthetic arm for her. Because she is a witch, she has started assisting me in creating more inventions. One of such inventions were magic-infused robes for a witch who had troubles controlling her magic. The robes prevent her from losing her mind to the infamous pull of magic all witches suffer from. Finally, because I made the prosthetic arm for my friend, I was able to create a body for Minerva... So, in the end, I suppose that these wavelength weapons led to many positive inventions. I believe it is something I have a right to be at least somewhat proud of." Mark said, trying to explain himself to the older enchanter. He didn't want to be seen by him as one of the bad enchanters.

"As I said, making weapons is one thing. Making solely weapons is another. Many enchanters, similarly to yourself, after all, rely on their craft to make a living, and where there is demand, there is profit; as long as two human beings survive, so will the demand for weapons. I am not naive enough to outright condemn the creation of tools of war, even if I will never do so. It would even be hypocritical of me, as if I were honest, the Stopwatch I demonstrated is a powerful enough tool that if someone with the will to do evil got a hold of it, it would be catastrophic. A single individual could conceivably rout an army all by themselves. They would not even need a weapon, just patience. All those in my family before me that learned this craft swore an oath to never use it to harm another intelligent being, nor to use it for foul deeds. This, of course, extends to making sure that the craft nor these items ever fall into the wrong hands; for this, I and most before me also possess an eye for seeing the character of people like no other. I would not be talking to you here at all if I believed for a moment you were an unsavoury character like some others I have met," Michi gave his own explanation, then reaching for the pistol, inspecting it with interest. "Then, although I walk a path of staunch pacifism, I am not disinterested with items such as this. So this is where the wavelength conversion of the crystals you employ comes to use, yes?"

Mark was clearly relieved to hear that his worries were unnecessary. Though he had to admit that listening to Michi's explanation, especially to the part about his oath and the Stopwatch, made him respect the fellow enchanter even more. He was the sort of person younger him would want as a mentor. Once Michi started inspecting the weapon, Mark leaned in a bit as if ready to assist him with whatever he required or just answer all of his questions. "Yes, that is correct. Inside this pistol's handle, there is a crystal which has been carefully infused with minimal doses of magic. Its main purpose is serving as a catalyst and convertor in the process of wavelength amplification, which is required to form a projectile. I have found out that depending on how strongly a crystal has been infused with magic, it can serve as different things - So, minimal doses are perfect for making catalysts and convertors, however, strongly infused ones can be used as a very efficient and long-lasting power source." Mark explained.

"You have a very flexible material here in the form of these crystals," Michi said, looking impressed with the explanation. It was no small wonder that he could take a gun and turn that into prosthetics or a whole artificial body. "Hmmm... Do you happen to have such a crystal as in this weapon, spare? I have a little idea and would quite like to tinker with something, all of a sudden. I can't promise that I won't break the crystal and the best I could pay with would be, say, a spare pocket-watch with a lack of any enchantments."

Mark listened to his request and smiled slightly, feeling a wave of excitement rush to his brain. What could Michi possibly want to do with one of those crystals? He was more than eager to find out. "Yes, I do, naturally.`" Mark said as he stood up and approached the other part of his workshop. There was a small safe under one of the tables. Mark crouched in front of it and then opened it. After taking a metal box out of it, he closed the safe and returned to his seat. "Let me know if a stronger crystal is needed." He said as he took a small violet weakly glowing crystal out of the box and placed in on the table.

Michi first of all opened one of the many drawers from his box and pulled from within his enchanter's gloves, which he of course put on before picking up the crystal. He turned it over a few times before shrugging and going for it. When it changed colour to a soft yellow rather than visually breaking, he was pleasantly surprised. "Not that I have any idea what it will do exactly, but it is certain to mess with time in some way. Er... Likely, at least," he said as he placed in back on the table. "I never enchant anything but clockwork, so I retract that and give no guarantees."

One last thing Mark did before the enchanting began was grabbing his own gloves, just in case. When Michi started experimenting on the provided crystal, the younger enchanter was carefully observing the changes in colour. His curiosity was getting higher with each passing second. "Without experimenting, we wouldn't get too far in our craft, I believe." He told him and smiled.

"As far as experimentation is concerned, that is also something you will have to provide tools for, as I cannot make use of your crystals. Perhaps a... Less costly model of a gun such as this?" Michi asked, gesturing to the pistol that Mark had brought out earlier.

"Hm... Oh! I should have an older prototype model somewhere. Give me a moment." Mark said as he went on to search through many drawers and desks, trying to find the gun as fast as he could. Suddenly, Minerva joined in the search to help Mark out. Finally, after a minute or two Minerva finally found what they were looking for and placed it on the table, right in front of Michi. Meanwhile, Mark brought a box of tools in case the older enchanter needed some. "Do you require my help in disassembling this pistol?" Mark asked.

"I'll ask should I happen to get stuck," Michi said, brushing the fringe from his other jade-coloured eye. He turned the prototype in his hands before looking through the toolset that Mark brought out. His own were much finer, so it was a welcome consideration. After a moment, he started to slowly take the weapon apart, clearly well versed in disassembly and reassembly of complex objects, as there was a system to where he placed parts once they came off. He continued to do so until he found where the crystal was in the prototype, swapping it out for his own. The reassembly went in a similar fashion. "So, I believe it is about ready to test. Ah, but if it turns out to be dangerous in that it may directly cause harm, I'd quite like for this crystal to be destroyed, reason for that being clear."

Mark carefully watched the disassembly and reassembly process, making sure that every part was in a decent condition as well as making sure that Michi was doing everything correctly. After all, a gun wasn't a clock and his guns were still different from regular guns. As it turned out, his intervention wasn't necessary, which was pleasing for Mark, because it meant that when designing his weapon, he succeeded at making all mechanisms simple enough so other enchanters could actually manage to fix them if necessary. "Of course. I have tested a few safe and reliable methods of destroying these, so that should not be a problem." Mark said in response to Michi's request.

"Wonderful," Michi said, inspecting the gun one more time while making sure he left no pieces out before he was fully satisfied. "And do you happen to possess or know of a space where a device such as this might be safely test-fired?"

Mark rubbed his chin, thinking of an answer. He looked at a wall that was right next to them. There were multiple burned spots and small holes in it. It almost looked as if someone kept using it as a shooting range. "This wall should do." He finally said pointing at it. Perhaps it was a careless choice, but he looked like he knew what he was doing.

"I haven't the slightest idea what this weapon will when it is fired. It very well may cause whatever is hit to age at an astounding rate, same as Age is able to do. In such a case, the wall may crumble. As a backstop it will do, but a target, if you please?" Michi didn't want to take any chances, but tried his best not to make it obvious how bad of an idea he thought it was.

Mark rubbed his chin, reconsidering his idea to use the wall. Then he snapped his fingers and walked off towards one of the corners of the room. A few minutes later he returned to Michi with a tailor's mannequin in his hands. He placed it at the wall, he'd previously suggested as a shooting target. "This should do, I guess. I'm not planning to use this mannequin again. Making clothes isn't my thing, really." He said

"I see. As a target, it will do nicely," Michi said with a nod. He placed a hand behind his back and held the gun away from him in a side stance, similarly to how one might fire a flintlock in some sort of duel; apparently that was about as far back you had to go to find him learning to use a gun and he seldom used modern weapons to unlearn it. And then he fired. One. Two. Three. Four shots that seemed to do absolutely nothing but harmlessly splash against the chest of the mannequin. He left his stance and looked down at the gun, examining it again, before turning to Mark. "It appears that I have turned the crystal into a defe-..."

Michi had to pause to look at the sudden outburst of noise as the mannequin was suddenly pushed against the wall before falling to the ground with some four burn marks with thin wisps of smoke rising slowly into the air. "Ah. So, I believe that was about thirty seconds between the last shot and the cumulative effect. Most interesting..."

Mark watched Michi fully focused on what was happening to the gun itself. While the clockmaker's shooting stance was quite interesting considering the modern way of holding firearms, Mark knew that a pacifist wouldn't be too proficient in using any weapons. Besides, he needed to be ready to intervene in case the crystal damaged the weapon itself, which could be quite dangerous for the person holding it. When Michi finally fired the gun though, Mark allowed himself to observe the effects the shot had on the mannequin. The results were a bit surprising. "Hm... A delayed reaction. Most interesting indeed." Mark said, frowning. "Perhaps the impact caused the projectile to move in time forwards..? I can't believe I've even suggested that..." Mark said the first thing that came to his head.

"Thanks for causing even more data discrepancies then~!" Minerva chimed in. "For your information, I have recorded the whole thing. If you'd like, I can share the footage with you. My eye-cameras are surprisingly good at recording slow-motion videos." She told them.

"I do not believe so, but do let me try something," Michi said, examining the gun again. He stood the mannequin back up and put a few more shots into it's chest from point blank range, aiming towards the wall which was designated as backstop. He then kicked the dummy over and moved away from it. The effect was just the same. The effect of each shot simultaneously left charred holes in the mannequin at the same time, about half a minute after the last shot landed. "It would seem as if a delay to bring about a combined and simultaneous effect is there is as to the result of the enchantment, however, what mechanism such happens by might be a number of things. If it were simply sending the shots into the future, I believe they would have missed the mannequin after moving it away." Michi said after sitting himself down while looking over the gun, still.

Mark at that point, was basically staring at the mannequin during the whole process, not to miss any single detail that would lead him to figure out how the crystal affects his gun. Time travel into the future wasn't the case, at least that was Mark realized from what Michi'd stated. What was it then? "That's true I suppose. While delayed explosions aren't something new when it comes to technology, I've never seen one of my creations do something remotely similar." Mark said scratching his head.

Meanwhile, Minerva walked off to grab something, figuring her offer was ignored by both enchanters. Soon she returned to them with a laptop in her hand. Silently she set it down on a table and switched it on. Then, she removed a plastic cover from her left pinky, revealing a USB cable hidden underneath. Minerva plugged herself into the laptop and immediately took control over it. Soon, the screen was displaying two things: On one half of the screen, there was footage of Michi shooting the mannequin in slow motion on the other half of the screen there was the same footage, but instead in thermal mode.