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Condemned To Death
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After the small feast, Elise's mother departed with a gentle reminder to call her if they needed anything. The duo returned to their labor, the grinding wheel's protests filling the air once more.
*3 hours later
They finally finished with the mountain of Potassium Nitrate, reducing it all to fine dust.
"What's next?" Seren asked, his voice hoarse as he mopped his brow with a towel.
Elise, her movements sluggish with fatigue, shuffled to a corner of the shed. She rummaged through a pile of miscellaneous items, muttering under her breath.
"Aha!"
Finally, with a triumphant cheer, she emerged clutching a long roll of cloth. She carried it to where the sunlight was the brightest.
Seren watched curiously as Elise unrolled the cloth, laid it in a straight line before cutting it at the end. She returned to him, her eyes bright with excitement.
"To skip the drying process, we'll heat up the potassium nitrate," she explained, her voice taking on a teacher's cadence. "Potassium nitrate is hygroscopic which means it pulls in water from the air and absorbs it into itself. This is not good for the gunpowder so we need to get rid of it." She gestured to the cloth line. "We'll make ten of these, then sew them into one big blanket to hold the potassium nitrate."
Seren nodded, his brow furrowed in thought. "Will sunlight be enough to dry it?"
Elise's smile turned mischievous. "Not even close, BUT," she pointed at him dramatically, "We'll use your Luminar crystal to concentrate the light. That'll do the trick."
A slight grin spread across Seren’s face. He took the roll of cloth from her, their fingers brushing momentarily. "Alright, I'll lay out the lines while you sew. I will likely be done before you so I'll start on the charcoal and sulphur after."
With renewed purpose, Seren and Elise set about their respective tasks. True to his word, Seren finished laying out the cloth lines first. Without pause, he returned to the grinding machine, filling it up with charcoal and sulphur as he grinded away. The shed filled with the rhythmic sounds of Seren's grinding and Elise's careful stitching.
…
Nearly an hour passed before Elise finally straightened up from her sewing, her back hurting from the prolonged hunched position. As she turned to check on Seren, her eyes widened in surprise. He had managed to grind almost all of the coal and sulphur single-handedly.
Sensing her gaze, Seren paused and walked over to inspect Elise's handiwork. Before them lay a giant blanket, meticulously sewn together without a single gap. Their eyes met, a silent understanding passing between them about the next step.
Both of them then went over to the bowl that was filled with fine white powdered dust. They both stared at the bowl, none of them moving as they stood in silence.
“How do we move this giant thing?” Elise asked.
"I got this," Seren said confidently, reaching into a hidden pocket. He pulled out the storage artifact. With one hand on the artifact and the other touching the bowl, he used just a bit of his soul power and caused the massive container to vanish into thin air.
Elise's eyes widened, and she clapped appreciatively, as she had just forgotten that the artifact could be used as a transportation device.
Seren then moved to the blanket to bring the bowl back. He then brought the bowl back from the storage artifact and placed beside the cloth.
Then together, they carefully tilted it, creating a miniature avalanche of white powder onto the cloth. The Potassium Nitrate settled into a large, pristine pile, almost glowing in the shaft of sunlight piercing through the shed's window.
Following Elise's instructions, Seren began to spread the powder evenly across the blanket before using his relic to increase the heat. Meanwhile, Elise returned to the grinding contraption to finish the remaining charcoal and sulphur.
As the sun began its descent, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink, Elise completed her grinding. She turned to find Seren sitting cross-legged beside the blanket, his face a mask of intense concentration. His hands were raised, palms out, towards the powder.
The time was now 6 pm, and Seren's brow furrowed deeper as he struggled to maintain the heat at a stable temperature with the diminishing daylight. Elise watched him for a moment before speaking.
"That should be good enough. Let it cool down for a bit now and then we will mix the potassium nitrate and the charcoal and sulfer together," she said, her voice cutting through the tense silence.
At her words, Seren immediately stopped using his relic. Before Elise could say anything, he fell back onto the ground with a heavy thud, taking a deep, ragged breath.
"I was almost out of soul energy by the end," he commented, his voice weary but tinged with satisfaction as he lay sprawled on the floor.
Elise smiled lightly as she asked, "Do you want me to get some water for you?"
"Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it," Seren replied, his arm draped over his eyes, the picture of exhaustion. Elise nodded and left the shed, her footsteps fading into the distance.
Seren listened quietly as Elise’s footsteps faded into the distance. Once he could was certain she was gone, his demeanor changed instantly. He sprang up, all traces of fatigue vanishing as if they had never existed. His eyes, now cold and calculating, scanned the shed with a chilling glint.
He then spotted an empty area in the corner of the shed beneath a burning candle, a smile played across his lips.
'Perfect,' he thought.
He walked over and activated his Luminar crystal, creating a transparent laser, aiming it at the candle's base. The heat was less intense than before as it slowly melted the wax. Seren worked carefully around the candle while constantly keeping an eye out for Elise. Once the candle was more than halfway melted but still standing, he deactivated the relic, a faint smirk spreading across his face.
...
Elise walked into the kitchen and reached for a glass, the cabinet door creaking slightly as she opened it. Then she used the tap in the sink as cool water from the filled the glass with a gentle gurgle.
As she turned to leave, the floorboards beneath her feet groaned, breaking the silence. Suddenly, a voice cut through the air, making her stop in her tracks. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she felt a chill run down her spine.
She turned around slowly, her face a mask of shock and confusion. The glass trembled slightly in her hand.
"...What? You want me to cast Seren out of my life?"
Dylan stood in the doorway, his small frame blocking the exit. "Yes, he's a bad influence in your life. Stop hanging out with him." He declared coldly.
Elise felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room. Her mind raced, trying to process this unexpected confrontation.
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After a few seconds of stunned silence, irritation bubbled up inside her. She felt disrespected, her cheeks growing hot with anger as she asked in a low, bitter voice, "Why are you being like this? He's been nice to me all along and hasn't done me any harm. So why?"
Dylan's frown deepened, almost imperceptibly. His voice remained calm, but there was an undercurrent of tension as he said, "I can't tell you the reason why, but I'm saying it for your own good."
The siblings stood facing each other, the air between them thick with emotions. Elise's cyan eyes bore into Dylan's brown ones, neither willing to back down. The ticking of the kitchen clock seemed to grow louder in the tense silence. After what felt like an eternity but was only half a minute, Elise let out a resigned sigh. Without a word, she turned and left, the glass of water still clutched tightly in her hand.
As she walked away, Dylan's voice rang out behind her, filled with desperation and a hint of fear, "Listen to me, I’m saying it for your own good. You will get hurt if you get any closer to him!... JUST LIKE MOM!"
Elise's steps faltered for a moment, but she didn't turn back. Her brother's words cut deep, reopening old wounds she thought had long since healed. A whirlwind of emotions swirled inside her. She felt hurt, irritated, and resentful. How could her own brother try to push her away from the one person who made her feel less alone in this strange world?
She thought back to when she first arrived in the world of Lexarchs, feeling like an alien among its unfamiliar customs and people. The loneliness had been overwhelming, she wanted to talk with someone, she wanted to feel close to someone. But then she met Seren, and for the first time, she felt like she could breathe again.
'...Seren isn't like that accursed man,' she thought fiercely, pushing away the painful memories of her past.
As she entered the shed, she saw Seren lying on the floor in the same spot, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. The sound of her footsteps made him turn his head, and he sat up as she approached with the glass of water and handed it to him
When Elise saw Seren happily gulping down the glass of water, her mood slightly improved as her gaze softened a little and a subtle smile subconsciously appeared on her face.
Seren paused mid-drink, noticing her expression. With a raised eyebrow, he asked skeptically, "Why are you looking at me like that? You didn't put something funny in this water, did you?"
Elise couldn't help but chuckle, the sound breaking through the heaviness that had settled over her. "No, you dumbass," she replied, her voice warm with affection. "I was just thinking about something good."
Though Seren looked doubtful, his thirst won out and he finished the water. As he stood up, stretching his lean frame, he said with renewed energy, "Alright, the day's almost over. Let's finish the mixing quickly and then we can move on to the last phase."
Seren then used the same trick with the storage artifact to move all the large amounts of potassium nitrate into the bowl that had the already mixed up charcoal and sulphur.
After that, both of them used two long sticks to mix up the three ingredients. The wooden sticks scraped against the sides of the bowl, creating a soft, rhythmic sound.
"The proportions for the materials are right but the explosivity of the gunpowder will also depend on how well we mix them together," Elise explained, her brow furrowed in concentration.
Seren nodded, his arms moving in sync with Elise's as they worked diligently to get an even distribution of the materials. The mixture gradually became more uniform, changing from distinct layers to a consistent dark powder. By 7 pm, they were finally done mixing and now as they looked into the bowl, they saw a black powder ominously sitting there, seeming to absorb all light that fell upon it.
Both of them looked at each other and nodded with firm determination etched into their face.
It was now time to see if the gunpowder worked as it should.
Elise took a spoonful of the powder and went far away from the bowl. She placed it on the ground and stepped away as Seren then activated his relic. He concentrated as much of the light around him as possible to heat up the gunpowder.
A concentrated ray of light hit the gunpowder, creating a small, intensely bright spot. The light stayed steady but the gunpowder had no reaction. 10 seconds later nothing happened to the brightly lit gunpowder. At the 30-second mark Seren was starting to get worried that they had messed up one of the steps. When one minute had passed Seren frowned deeply as nothing happened to the gunpowder. He was about to stop his relic when suddenly the gunpowder lit on fire and produced an extremely bright flash of light.
Seren had to stop using his relic as he shielded his eyes, the sudden brightness leaving spots dancing in his vision. But through his finger cracks and the bright light that lit up the whole shed, he could see the powder slowly being disintegrated into large amounts of smoke as it let off a heat that could be felt even from where Seren was standing.
"AHAHAHA! WE DID IT!" Elise yelled happily as she looked towards Seren, her face flushed with excitement. "We just created gunpowder! The thing that laid the foundation for advanced military warfare in the 9th Century CE!"
Elise felt ecstatic as she punched Seren in the shoulder out of excitement, her eyes shining with triumph.
"Ow," Seren said in a low voice but there was clear delight in his eyes, a smile spreading across his face despite the ache in his arm.
"Hehe my bad, I got too excited," Elise apologized with a smile on her face.
After the gunpowder on the ground finished burning, the whole shed was now filled with smoke that made it hard to breathe. The acrid smell burned their nostrils and throats. Both Seren and Elise started coughing intensly from inhaling smoke as they quickly left the shed to get some fresh air, their eyes watering up.
Outside the sun had already set, and it was turning dark. The stars were starting to appear as small insects around the area could be heard making small noises. It was a peaceful scene as both Seren and Elise quietly waited together for the smoke to leave the building, their breathing slowly returning to normal in the cool night air.
After five minutes, they went back inside and quickly got to work, using the crates Seren had brought the materials in to store the gunpowder. The shed was still faintly smoky, but the air was clearing, and the cool night breeze coming through the open door helped.
"We'll take half the total gunpowder and store the rest here for safekeeping to be used during an emergency. The other half we can split between us," Elise suggested.
The deal between Seren and Elise was that both would get a 50/50 split for their personal use. Seren agreed to her suggestion and started putting the crates in the open areas around the shed. During the moving process, Seren secretly activated his relic and started burning the remaining part of the candle while Elise wasn’t looking. The candle glowed faintly at the base as it melted even more slowly than before.
It took them 30 minutes, but they finally sorted out everything and were done.
"Haaa, finally over," Elise said as she stretched her body, her muscles aching from the long day of work.
"Thanks for letting me see the process," Seren said genuinely, his voice filled with gratitude.
Elise smiled lightly and said, "Don’t worry. I wouldn’t have finished it this early if it weren’t for you, and besides, you were the one who brought all the materials."
Seren didn’t reply, but his face said it all, indicating he was thankful to her while he looked down towards the ground, deep in thought. The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows on the walls, as both stood in silence.
"Seren, there’s something I have been meaning to ask you," Elise said, breaking the silence. Her voice was softer now, almost hesitant.
When he lifted his head up, he saw Elise glancing to the side, a nervous expression on her face. The light from the nearby candles cast a soft golden glow on her face, highlighting her twinkling cyan eyes. She then looked back at Seren, a different emotion in her eyes.
"You have been letting Susie stay with you for a while now," Her voice sounded vulnerable, and there was some hesitation in it.
"So I have been meaning to ask…" Her voice turned into a low murmur by the end, her body fidgeting a bit as her anxiety grew further and further.
Seren didn’t say anything as he looked at her, trying to find the right words to address her thoughts. He could see the worry in her eyes, the way her fingers nervously twisted together.
Elise took a slight breath and looked Seren in the eye, her heart pounding as she asked, "Are you perhaps in a—"
As she was speaking, she noticed Seren's expression change. At first, he looked at her with confusion and curiosity, waiting for her question, but then his eyes suddenly moved away from her, focusing on something over her shoulder. His face transformed from curiosity to shock in an instant, and then contorted to pure terror the next second.
"NO RUN!"
Seren yelled in panic.
Elise stopped mid-sentence, her heart skipping a beat at his reaction. She turned around and saw a candle in mid-air, falling from the ceiling while burning ever brightly. Below the candle lay an open crate filled with gunpowder.
Fear instantly gripped Elise’s heart as she realized what was about to happen. Time seemed to slow down in her eyes, her own breathing stopped as she watched the candle silently falling. Seren’s scream still reverberated in her ears, but she couldn’t move a single muscle. Dread and despair gnawed at her heart as she stood frozen.
The candle fell into the crate full of gunpowder, creating light sparks before the impending doom. The last thought on Elise’s mind was, ‘This is it. This is how it’s going to end. This is how I’m going to die in a magical world such as this’.
In that final moment, a strange calmness washed over her, a warm but accepting feeling filled her heart as she felt her body become relaxed knowing it was finally over. But then, suddenly, she felt two hands wrap around her waist. Seren’s chest pressed tightly against her back, and she felt her entire being lifted and twisted at a terrifying speed.
Before she could even process what was happening, she was facing away from the crate with the gunpowder, Seren standing behind her, hugging her tightly, covering every inch of her body with his body.
In the last seconds, the world seemed to blur around her, and then—
BOOM!
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Condemned To Death
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