Is it wasteful to use your magical powers to create a controlled cooling rune system specifically to chill an entire barrel of beer? Because I did just that last night, and it seemed to be a smash hit with the family. Even mom and Mibata enjoyed it, and neither of them are fond of alcohol. Looks like building a refrigerator just went up on my list of things to build, because I was technically just draining the heat from the beer, and almost gave myself a heat stroke.

Luckily beer here isn’t very potent when it comes to the buzz you can get from it, meaning that nobody was hungover on their way to work. I let everybody else go ahead of me so I could rummage through the things I had purchased on our shopping trip. I found what I was after at the bottom of the crate: A set of magnifying lenses stored in a brass case. I tucked the case in my bag, careful not to skewer it on the throwing knives that Mibata had left in there, and set out to the workshop.

Nothing of interest happened on the way, though I did catch a glimpse of one of those eyes following after a cloaked figure that was obviously not a kobold in size. Guess they are keeping an eye on suspicious individuals, myself included. The inside of the workshop was the same noisy cacophony of hammers, drills, and hissing steam valves as it always was. I knew where my lab was going to be, but I thought I might check in on the repair crew to see how they were doing.

That’s odd, there’s three red kobolds here, and they’re all full sized. I was just outside of the area when Stecks the riveter pointed at me, prompting all three of the reds to look at me with those matching green eyes. The tallest of the three locked eyes, then broke into a sprint towards me. I barely had time to brace myself as the recognition and bodily impact hit me. Damn girl, how’d you grow so fast?

“Kayroo, You’re back! I miss you so much, big sister Roo! “

Her arms were like a vice on my ribs, forcing the air out of my lungs. What the hell, why are you so strong? I barely managed to pry her arms away after returning the hug, but I was still reeling from the force applied to my insides, organic and mental. She’s so large now that she almost reaches my chin, and now I’m her big sister too? I shot Dobo a confused look as he approached laughing.

“Karyux getting what she deserved. Vimna been asking for you every day, then when told you not here she ask everyone about words. Smart girl probably scare her mother when she return. Growing so big as well, bigger than I thought.”

No kidding, she doubled in height in just a week. I can imagine how much she must have been shedding, eating, and sleeping during that time. I wrote a message for her, and was surprised at how quickly she read it.

“It’s great to see you again Vimna. How are you? ”

She smiled and hopped up and down a few times.

“Good! Very good! You’re back, and you have your own area! Rash told us your inventor place over here, you be here close to us. Look it!”

She gave Vynrashu a nickname as well, so she settled on Rash? I can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic or not by calling him a rash, but I’ll assume that she doesn’t know any better. I couldn’t give her a reply before my hands were locked with hers as she pulled me towards a cleared area nearby.

The space was more than I had anticipated being both larger and more isolated than I assumed, perhaps around the size of a large garage. Half of the area was carved into the wall, allowing the rock to transition and above to work together to make a roof over the space. The left side of the area was all storage shelves, on which were the things I had asked to be delivered there from the market. The right side of the area was a set of three tables: one wooden, two copper, and each accompanied by a stool. A sort of privacy cage had been made around the space with struts and panels, leaving only a single entrance to the space that was about ten feet wide.

A note sat on the wooden table, pinned in place by a single black rock.

“Kayrux. I might have been a little misleading about your workshop. These tables were in storage and weren’t being used, so I went ahead and moved them for you. Your place doesn’t have a boiler or steam valve yet, but that Zokkos should be able to hook either up for you if you’re nice and have the parts. I’m expecting you to shake things up around here in a big way. Don’t worry about thanking me, just get to business for me. You're welcome.”

I noticed that there was something else written on the back of the note as well.

“The rock is special. Your job is to find out why. Experiment and figure out how it works. Bet you can’t. HAHA.”

I can’t get a read on this guy. One minute he’s cocky, the next he’s sleazy, then he’s nice for some reason, and now he’s just irritating. I folded the note up and tucked it into my bag right as a very hyper kobold preteen jumped onto the table and spun around excitedly.

"This place huge! What you make here? Oh, dad buy me book and I read it all! Said I was smartest hatchling in world! That not true, Roo smartest ever, I know it. Whoah, a hole over there. Maybe has bug in it."

I couldn't even reply to her excitement babble before she was poking her fingers into a crack in the far wall. Everything she had said made my smile wider, and now I could feel that dopey grin on my face straining in the muscles in my cheeks. She was a handful alright, and I'm sure that she must have been doing everything in her power to impress me. Congrats kid, you've shattered my expectations three times over in the span of ten minutes. We'll see what you can manage in a week.

…

Things in the workshop were hectic for a number of reasons. The first problem came from acquiring the aid of our resident plumber. Zokkos spent a short time every day getting the network of pipes to reach every corner and midpoint of the room, and during that time would avoid being in my proximity or speak directly to me. I had assumed that it was just because they were shy, but every time I looked at them I saw some kind of sadness and worry on them, and some degree of shame. Had I insulted Zokkos somehow?

The second issue was establishing a measurement system for my tools and mathematics. In the absence of the metric and imperial system, I had to make a new and entirely unique valuing device. The crude wrenches and screws here had only one size, which was obviously just the size of a coin, but were not all the same size.

This was a huge hazard, and I would not stand it. Therefore, I created my own system based on the one thing I had a way of quantifying to the smallest possible size: mana. It was an arduous process, but through repeated trials to assess if it were possible, I was finally able to stabilize a single speck of mana that I forced to remain motionless midair. By reconfiguring the sensor rune to act as a counter for the length held, and by making the collector rune operate through a series of incredibly narrow limiters, I could create a wire of mana that was exactly one speck thick and one million bits long. I was basically counting molecules in a straight line, but the satisfaction of creating the perfect measurement system that had a finite smallest point was sheer and utter bliss. I shall call this system "Omes", for one-million-energy-string. From there it went to “Obes” and “Otes” for the billions and trillions. My best guesstimate is that five Otes is close to a centimeter.

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Now that I had a finite system that could be recreated with just a handful of runes, I set about using the wooden block to make numbered squares that each showed a cubic values of Otes. I couldn't manage anything smaller than four, but I had them in a line going up to twenty. Using the parchment and ink I was able to make a note explaining what the cubes were and how the system worked, in case I passed this system along to anyone else. Next I need to cast these in something sturdier than wood so I can make some wrenches for each size.

The third challenge that presented itself was my lack of raw materials. My carloads of ore weren't delivered until the end of the week, so I couldn't make use of them. Perhaps this was a good thing, since it took me that long to get a proper crucible built. I didn't need the whole forge setup, since I had already gotten Humey to offer* his inferno powers to be my furnace. All I did was make some molds of the different sized cubes and a few measured ingots. With those at my disposal, I would have an accurate system of weight and volume in addition to length.

I was starting to feel like a scientist for a while as I set the foundation of the Omes measurement system. Sure, I was just copying what my predecessors from Earth had done, but in this world I might be the first to make a system that was so precisely measured. I could take pride in this fact.

Finally there was the fourth problem that was the black stone. In a physic sense it was unremarkable, just a rough ball of black rock that seemed like it was made from lava. On the magic side, this thing was a puzzle unlike anything I had encountered. The stone would draw in mana from the air, hold it for a moment, then the mana would vanish. It took me a while to understand what I was seeing, but there really was no trace of that drifting energy once it had entered the stone for enough time.

My first test was to compare the weight of the stone before and after taking in mana. The lead weights that came with my scale had no markings to say what they were valued at, so I just made up that there was a one, a five, and a ten size, and I had plenty of each. The stone was about a nine on the lead scale before taking in any more mana. I made a droplet of a million mana, an Omed, if you will, and let it drift into the stone. Three seconds passed, and the mana had all vanished. I tested it on the scale and found that the weight had gone up by one.

Next I tested to see what would happen if I put mana in directly from my body. I used a system of limiters, a sensor, and a collector to create another Omed in my mana line that would be released directly into the object. Once again, the rock absorbed it, and the weight went up by one.

My next test was to see if I could draw any mana out. The sensor rune told me that there wasn't any mana in the stone, but I knew that it had to have gone somewhere. My new system would work in the opposite fashion, and would pull an Omed from the object and store it in a collector. The array came to life, but nothing came from the target.

Interestingly, the stone never changed size. I had made myself a set of calipers using a scale of deca-Obes, which was my system's parallel to micrometers, and measured that the object was not changing in size at all. Somehow this thing was gaining weight without changing size, which only angered me when it reached twenty on the lead scale.

I spent almost the entire second half of the week trying to understand what this thing was and what it was doing. Nobody I asked about it had any information, and I wasn't going to back down from a challenge set forth by my boss. It was the last day of the week, and I was studying the rock with my magnifying lenses in an attempt to witness the changes that might be occurring on a visual level. I was hunched over my worktable when I felt a hand tap at my shoulder. It was Zokkos, and they had just finished putting in the last pipe. A look of genuine fear crossed their face as they saw that they had interrupted my rock studying.

"Many apologies, not meant to bother. Just needed to say that pipes are all done. Won't bother again, promise."

Why was Zokkos so worried about offending me? I reached out a hand in a friendly gesture, only to have them back away fearfully. I was so confused, because as far as I could remember I hadn't done anything against them, at least not willingly.

Right when he was needed most, Dobo came into view and noticed the situation. He rushed over and got between the two of us.

"Is okay Zokkos, Kayrux not bad. Look, she just trying shake hand. Friendly gesture. Right Karux?"

I shook my head to confirm his words. Zokkos blinked slowly a few times before shakily reaching out and taking my hand. They were shaking slightly, and I couldn't help but cock my head to Dobo in hopes of an explanation. He looked at me with an equally confused look.

"One moment, Kayrux not know of half-scales?"

I shook my head, completely unaware of the term or its meaning.

"Sometimes egg laid on moon-fall is cursed. Zokkos hatch from moon-fall egg. People not tell if Zokkos male or female, sometimes confuses them. Zokkos treated badly before, person that hated half-scales. Dobo been friend of Zokkos long time, sad for Zokkos, protect Zokkos. Should have protect before, too late to help then. Zokkos not want be hurt again."

I was appalled by the idea of wounding someone over something so trivial. No matter what world, there always has to be some bastard that hurt others to justify their narrow minded world view. I was midway through drafting a reply when I remembered that neither would be able to read it. Damn it, there has to be some way to convey my thoughts.

"Go ahead Kayrux, I speak for you."

I had to do a double take at what Dobo said. He gave me a reassuring smile and nodded for me to write.

"You teach my sweetest to write, would be dumb of Dobo not try and keep up. She teach me, same as you teach her."

Vimna, you really are the best little sister. I finished writing and turned the slate for both of them to see, and Dobo took a moment to read it over before relaying it as best as his vocabulary could.

"Kayrux say she also been hurt by someone because of being cursed. She lose her voice and nearly die, but still living. Your pain understood, shared, and she wants you know that she would never hurt any friends. She not know before, and sorry she scare you."

Zokkos no longer stood behind Dobo, and was now holding their breath within arms reach.

"You lose your voice…that is such awfulness, but you keep strong somehow. We are same, both hurt by bad people, but you not afraid like me. I misjudge you. You not need be sorry, I make mistake."

Dobo translated my reply again, though this time he was hoarse as he tried to hold back tears.

"She…she say she forgive you. Want thank you. Be friends. Dobo sorry, just happy for Zokkos."

It's alright buddy, there weren't any more words I needed said anyways. Zokkos had already wrapped their arms around me, and I was more than willing to hold them back. This would have been a much more emotional moment for me if Dobo wasn't bawling his eyes out a few feet away, and if Vimna didn't rush over to ask what was going on. Still, I was glad I hadn't done anything to Zokkos, and this was just a misunderstanding.

Click. There it goes again, the feeling that something has changed. Something I did just changed fate again, and the only confirmation that I got was the subtle dopamine high it gave me. A pattern was emerging with these changes in destiny, as each one happened when I made the effort to reach out to them, then afterwards I would feel a strong connection with them. It may be a shot in the dark, but maybe I am somehow tying them to my fate. Like Death said, I was given the power to guide others to the path, but what did they mean, really?

Regardless, it still felt right to help others when they were in need. It was something nobody else had ever done for me on Earth, but here it was a daily occurrence both for myself and for others. Compared to the looming threat of conspiracies and war, showing compassion was by far more manageable and infinitely greater in rewards.

Our embrace was cut off by the screech of the end of week whistle. Zokkos' fear and apprehension towards me had vanished completely, now there was an admiration flickering behind those eyes.

I grabbed the black stone from the table before we joined the line, and on the way I had an epiphany: I was creating a found family scenario. This was entirely bizarre because I knew for a fact that three of the four members already had a family. Yikes, holiday dinners are going to become my worst nightmare.