“Damn.” Cartalis sighed and swept the lump of softened steel off the table. “It’s too impure, still.”
Arenya arose from her position hunched over the lab equipment. As she did, one of her wings twitched. “Ow. My back aches from staring at this so long.”
“We have been at this for some time now, indeed… that was our sixth attempt, I believe.” Cartalis cracked her knuckles to try and restore some feeling to her stiff fingers. It didn’t work. “Let us return to the lounge and analyze the plans. Perhaps there is another method we may use.”
Next door to the graduate labs was a nice, small study area. It featured a small fireplace (magical and carefully sealed off to ensure the heat never reached the sensitive lab equipment, of course), and tall, dark wooden chairs with red plush backing. The chairs were far more comfortable than the hard wooden ones most of the students were forced to deal with. More advanced equipment wasn’t the only perk of being admitted into the graduate labs, Cartalis mused. Even Arenya admitted she didn’t lament the lack of a tail-hole, since the seats were so soft. The table was of fine, scratch-resistant and magically sealed wood, with ornate designs carved into the table legs. Several sheets of paper were arrayed upon it, each describing some aspect of the design of this new, as-yet-unnamed sword.
The lab and the lounge were both empty aside from them. They were generally quieter in the late afternoon when most students were eating dinner, but even so, Cartalis found it curious that she hadn’t seen anyone in the last while. The lab had been empty except for them for the past hour, at least.
Cartalis watched as Arenya chose the nearest chair and gingerly lowered herself onto it, wincing. Did her back truly hurt that much?
“Let us consider our options,” said Cartalis, looking at one sheet of paper. “We could-”
“Mind filling me in later?” asked Arenya. “I just need a moment to let my mind clear.” She shifted a bit, leaving a clear dusty imprint.
Cartalis blinked as she realized Arenya was covered in crystal dust. Upon running a hand through her hair, a veritable cloud drifted around Cartalis. She barely managed to avoid coughing.
Maybe they’d been trying this too long after all…
She glanced out a window. The sun was… No longer up. Oh dear. Too long indeed. No wonder there weren’t any others nearby at this hour.
Well, no matter. Cartalis would continue to think on it. She leaned back into the seat and stared at the ceiling, thinking.
Sixteen channels. Sixteen channels in steel. Sixteen overfilled channels in steel.
And they had to overfill each one, one at a time, post-forging, carefully enough to ensure that the steel didn’t rupture in the process. Thankfully, the labs here had powerful wards, easily capable of containing such an explosion. Cartalis hoped, anyway.
But even if the explosion didn’t kill them, it would still ruin the sword and force them to start over. The steel had to be nothing less than perfect. With the perfect amount of structure, hard enough that straightening one channel wouldn’t bend another, but not so hard that they couldn’t be straightened at all. Pliable enough that even after being set it would bend, but without rupturing when being overfilled.
Martial focuses were generally treated with crystal dust for this purpose. When melted into steel, it would act as a counter to the magically resistant metal, allowing mana to flow through it and fill channels more easily.
The issue, then, was that a very, very precise amount of crystal dust was needed. The steel the school had on was treated, to be sure, but not thoroughly. It was slightly brittle and thus easily broken. Even slightly oversaturating the steel would render it too hard to straighten the channels and missing the mark in the other direction would cause the steel to crack, or worse. Further, the crystal dust they had was rough. Even in the graduate labs, they allowed rough crystal dust?
The Fiery One flared up. Cartalis shoved her back down. These were the materials she had. They would do.
So, Cartalis found that they had to grind the impure crystal dust themselves. She’d done that before, but not to a precision like this. They’d ground the dust, then weighed it, using the weight and average impurity as a heuristic for the mana dust. Then they warmed the steel and folded the crystal dust in.
For most focuses, especially ones made by students as training exercises, that was fine. The variance in impurity was quite small, and so within an acceptable margin of error.
This wasn’t most focuses. The amount of crystal dust they needed was extremely specific. Overshoot even slightly, the sword blade would not hold. Undershoot even slightly, the sword blade Would. Not. Hold.
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Deep breaths. In. Ou -
An uncontrollable coughing fit ensued as Cartalis breathed in a mouthful of dust. At that moment, she realized - this wasn’t going to work. Ever. They could keep trying over and over, but it would take dozens of attempts to succeed. They’d both choke to death on crystal dust before they’d get it right at this rate.
The impurity wasn’t even. Sometimes a randomly selected kilogram of impure crystal dust was almost completely pure. Other times, it was nothing but waste and filler. Sometimes it was in between. Thus, the problem. If each time, Cartalis could be assured of obtaining a precise ratio of pure to impure materials, she could simply factor that into her calculations and proceed.
Could she ask Professor Kazurist for completely pure crystal dust? It was horribly expensive, but surely a professor would be able to obtain some…
Cartalis shook her head. No, Kazurist was concerned enough about this project already. If she started requesting such expensive materials, he’d shut it down.
What would be truly lovely was a way to measure the purity of a given sample, and determine exactly how much crystal dust was in it. If she could measure the ambient mana, and then measure the mana in the sample, the differential could be used to figure out exactly how much crystal dust was in the sample. But such finely ground crystal dust was going to give off only a very, very small amount, so the differential would be minuscule indeed. No machine could sense such a minute difference.
So that wasn’t going to work either. Damn. Cartalis closed her eyes. She’d just lie there for a couple minutes, and no longer. Perhaps an idea would come to her…
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“My demands are three.”
Benya laughed. “Is that so? And your three requests are so personal that you sent Arenya out of the room to ask them?”
Cartalis sipped at her mug of steaming tea, surreptitiously brought into the practice room despite the rules against food and beverages. “I believe you will find my demands reasonable.” She sat at a bench and crossed her legs, hoping she looked proper enough to this eccentric man.
“My first demand is a transfer of reward. You promised both Arenya and myself one year of school expenses, all paid, in return for a sword to your specifications. I have no need for this reward. I wish for Arenya to receive my year as well.”
Benya steepled his fingers. For the briefest of moments, he looked just like Professor Kazurist. “Agreed.”
Strange… this man before her seemed not the same as Arenya had described him, nor how he was when Arenya was in the room but a moment ago. He seemed more… calculating, she would say.
“My second demand is to request assistance from others. Arenya and I created Shamir ourselves, with no outside assistance, but your requests are far more challenging. It may be necessary to request help from additional students, or possibly a professor. I demand the right to request that help at our discretion.”
Benya’s lips curled in a frown. “I believe I have made the need for secrecy clear.”
The Fiery One waited beneath the surface, but she knew that now was not the right time to let her loose. “You have made the need for doing this right clear as well. This will, of course, be kept to a minimum. I simply wish to acknowledge that the design may pose unexpected challenges, and may require extra pair of hands.”
“Provided it is kept to a minimum, I suppose that is acceptable. Agreed.”
Cartalis closed her eyes for a moment, controlling her breathing. She let the silence settle for a time.
“And your third demand?”
Cartalis directed her gaze as directly to Benya’s pupils as she could manage. “Answers.”
Benya cocked his head to the side. “Pardon?”
“You heard me,” said Cartalis as she stood. The man towered over her still, but she did her best to look severe and imposing regardless. “First we receive a mysterious letter with obvious tampering from Daniel’s benefactors - oh, excuse me, parents.” The Fiery One was let out just enough to give that last word a hint of spice. It felt good. “This letter hints at blackmail in return for information about Shamir, and then not long after, you show up, asking more about him and wanting one of your own in return for some exorbitant reward. Arenya may be willing to take you at face value, but I’m not. Don’t even try telling me these have nothing to do with each other. Who are you really, and why do you want this sword?”
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Cartalis blinked awake. Arenya still lay in her chair, snoring softly. The sky through the window was just beginning to change from black to dark blue. They’d been asleep most of the night.
Why she’d dreamed of the deal with Benya, she wasn’t sure. He’d denied any involvement with the letters, Drav, and Daniel, all without even the slightest hint of lying. Cartalis knew it to be false, but he was good at keeping a straight face. When Benya pointed out that if she walked, Arenya would be heartbroken… He’d had the advantage and he knew it. And they had Kazurist’s approval as well. He’d cornered her. Damn.
Whatever. She’d made her demands, and he’d accepted them. At least outside help was still an option. She wondered idly if there was someone else, someone who could help with fine mana sensing. One who can easily measure the amount of crystal dust in a sample to a high degree of accuracy. Was there anyone else working on a project like that…
Oh.
Oh, no.
No no no.
Her mind flashed back to the case in front of the student council.
What had Zander said?
No…
Sigh. Yes.
He had something that could sense, without any doubt, the amount of mana in a tripwire. And that was just an early prototype. Whatever he’d made… it would work. And it was their only hope. She’d have to ask Zander.
“Arenya? I have poor news..”
Silence greeted her.
Right. She was asleep.
Perhaps Cartalis should wake her and escort her back to her dorm, so they could sleep the last few hours before classes in their rooms… but the chairs here were comfortable, and nobody would bother them here.
And, well… sleeping by a lab had always been a goal of hers. There was something exciting about being so busy she couldn’t even stand to head home.
Cartalis adopted a position much like Arenya’s and snuggled into the chair.
It took her a long time to fall asleep again, the concern of having to ask Zander running through her mind all the while.