I picked up Ely, and we raced toward where System had Carol marked on the map. As we ran, I started using the VMD to design new transportation. While using the gravity slide technique was fun, I didn't know if all new additions to my party would appreciate the stomach churning lurches and turns. Robin had issues even after levelling!
So I started with deciding what kind of vehicle I wanted to drive. I thought about RVs for a second, but their low slung carriages and small wheels did not make me think that even a magically enhanced version would be good at off road travel. The other end of the spectrum for big wheels would be monster trucks, but their interiors left much to be desired in the way of comfort. So why not combine the two?
I modeled the wheels, axles, and suspension of a monster truck in the VMD, then stuck a steel box house on top. I then simulated a fall down the mountain, and the truck landed top side down. So I made the house aluminum, and increased the density and sturdiness of the wheels and axles. The next test, the truck landed wheels down. Good, I didn't want anything top heavy if I was going to be high off the ground.
Then I thought about it again. I'd better rerun tests after refitting the seating area to be more comfortable than a box. Whoops.
I made the box a little sleeker by rounding the edges, then made narrow portions of the walls around three feet up into sliding shutters. That would give us somewhere to fire spells and guns from. I thought about adding windows versus magical cameras and holographic display so I could see where I was driving. I had no idea if there was a lag time compared to the windows, so I simulated both in the VMD. There was actually a higher lag in the windows, so it seemed magic was faster than light. Then again, that makes sense, since it is the power of thought, it would be the same speed. I decided to add the cameras and displays once I was doing the enchanting proper, as I would have to figure out where it fit in the schematic.
For seating, I set up three benches and two swivel driver chairs. The benches were latched to floor by a hook latch and on a swivel pole, and would rise, swivel, and relatch when the truck went the other way. Then I rethought the swivel idea, as the benches would hit anybody not on them. So I made the benches facing out along the walls so that my passengers could look out and fire my guns.
For guns, I was thinking gun turrets firing kinetic rounds. To power them, I would have shock absorbers actually do what their name is and absorb any vibration or bump. The kinetic energy would have to be stored in a central battery that would charge the individual gun batteries. Each charge would be enough to fire a supersonic round of whatever was chambered in the gun.
As for the motor, I was eschewing anything overly complicated like a combustion engine. Instead, I installed an enchantment that ran off a crystallized mana battery that pushed the wheels around. I looped the enchantment to the driver seat, and set up a throttle that varied the strength of the push. For reversing the direction of the push, I set up a ceiling switch marked with arrows that was connected to the areas above both driver seats.
I then turned to inscribing the mana absorption enchantment. I inscribed the same absorption that was on the Hero sword, and hooked it up straight to my core. Then I laid a path to recharge the battery from my reserves. However, I didnt like the idea of just relying on killing monsters and demons to fill the crystallized mana battery, so I added a mana absorption enchantment that would only suck in ambient mana that led directly to the battery. I also added a scrubber, so that any alignment shift the mana had would not adversely affect the enchantments.
Now for the rest of the enchantments. I added the camera and viewscreen enchantments and hooked them up to the battery. The redirection of kinetic energy to the gun batteries from the shock absorbers also required power to run, but I had an idea to cut that cost. I also decided to just store any excess kinetic energy in the absorbers instead of making a central battery. Then I covered everything with a durability enhancement enchantment.
I looked over the truck. It looked like a silver box on enormous wheels. There were guns poking out of the sides at the corners, and the wheels looked capable of crushing anything under their rubbery weight. Oops. I quickly added a steering wheel assembly with a small power steering enchantment and assembly at both driver seats. Then I realized that it might not be the most efficient idea to have two driver seats, not to mention the increased technical complications that came from independent steering wheels on each end.
I sighed and put Ely down. He/she was pounding my back, and the sound was distracting me. I glanced around quickly, but only saw a couple beastmen and a giant running toward us. I blasted the beastmen with my DS-9001 until they dissolved while Robin brought the giant to its knees. I then blasted its head until gore splattered everywhere. It all was dissolved into mana and absorbed along with the body, so no worries.
I turned my attention back to the truck. Now that I had something I didn't want, I wanted to start afresh with a new design. I started a new design next to the old one. First, the wheels. I made six of them, ten feet high and made of rubber ten inches thick and incredibly tough inflated around a solid steel rim and hub. They had inch long metal spikes running around on top of the treads in a crisscross pattern. That would make everything I drive on more holy, fitting for an aspiring deity.
Chuckling at my terrible joke, I focused on the axles. I remembered looking at a car magazine that showcased split axles, rather than a solid shaft. They were supposedly more flexible and could take weight on single wheels better. So I made L shaped tempered steel bars with a turning gear ring at one end that hooked into the wheel. That ring would be the only thing turning the wheel when I stepped on the throttle. The other end of the axles attached to flexible struts that would support the crew compartment and act as shock absorbers.
Now for the seating area. I created a compartment that was reminiscent of a futuristic tank body, thick armored shell included. It was thirty feet long, long enough to seat us all, but not long enough to be hit before the wheels were when we ran over and into things. I made comfortable padded benches, bolted to the floor, facing outwards along the walls with chest harnesses to strap in with for safety. I set up eight gunnery stations, two per corner, each of which consisted of a swivel leaning chair bolted to the floor with a targeting double handed joystick and screen.
I then set up the driver's seat and motor. The seat was modeled after my favorite gaming chair back in my own world, with comfortable padded seat and armrests and designed to snugly fit my rear end and back on to it with perfect ergonomic support. I set up a wrap around console in front of it with space to put my feet under to reach the pedals. Speaking of which, I set up motor and breaking enchantments on the inside of the console that led to all the wheels' drive gears. It fed off a three foot long crystallized mana battery inside the console that made the whole thing glow with an eerie inner light. I set up acceleration and braking pedals that tied into the enchantments' variable power flow that determined how hard to make the wheels go or stop. I also added a hand lever to the console that interacted with the enchantments to make the truck shift gears from
1) Parked, where the braking system was fully engaged and the motor system was fully disengaged, to
2) forward, to
3) neutral, where the braking system had to be manually engaged and the motor system was disengaged, to
4) reverse.
Next up, the steering wheel. I made it easy to grip, and added a power steering enchantment that also led to the massive crystalline mana battery. The hardest part was hooking it up to the forward axles and calibrating it so that it turned in sync with the wheels.
I wanted a big gun on top for anti aerial suppression fire that could rotate and depress to fire at targets in front of the truck. It would not need to fire down, as the truck could perforate and crush any enemies short enough not to be it by the gun. I made a simple half dome bubble on top that could rotate and had an empty slot for the gun, along with a comfortable gunner's chair that was placed on a platform over the driver's seat. Now I needed to think of a gun powerful enough to be called "the big gun."