The culture in this world can be said to be similar to when I was living on Earth, aka the US. Why? It seems that every single family in here has guns, if not guns, ranging from a pistol to a musket. My family is also included in this list, they have six muskets, two of which are carbines with shortened barrels and all were placed in a cabinet right next to the fireplace.
However, I am more intrigued by the gunpowder, sorry, magic powder used in this world. My father always shoots at a target at the back of the house, alongside several friends of his in this world, and something that I noticed with their musket is that it isn’t that smokey.
A little bit of history lesson will teach anyone that black powder will often obstruct the battlefield, requiring an army to wear a bright uniform to avoid friendly fire against each other. However, it seems that this isn’t the case in this world.
Still, I figure out a thing or two about materialmancy. I can manipulate any object that I touch, that’s the most obvious thing. If I don’t even touch it, I can’t even reshape or change its shape at all. So, in conclusion, it might have to do with contact with the metal. Or, is there any rule that I don’t know?
I sip the tea in my cup while enjoying the warm fireplace in front of me. The tea is rather warm, but tasteless, not the best drink that I’ve ever drunk. My sister is sitting down right next to me, sipping on an iced coffee that she made using her spell.
“Rachel, do you want to become a chef in the future?” I ask.
Rachel shrugged then she put her mug on the coffee table in front of the couch, “I don’t know. Perhaps, I’ll help the healer to craft medicines, or I’ll be a drink mixer in an inn somewhere very far from here, or even a cook.”
“What’s your status, can I see it, Rachel?” I ask.
“Sure.” Without saying a word, the same blue screen appears right in front of her eyes. Just like Albert said, voice activation is not necessary, just say it out loud without making any voice. I then peek at her status.
----------------------------------------
[Rachel]
Race: Wolf-kin
Level: 6
HP: 100%
MP: 85%
Class: [Apothecary]
Skill: [Apothecary Resistance I] [Chemical Manipulation I] [Flame Lance I]
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
General Health Status: [Healthy]
----------------------------------------
“What can chemical manipulation do?” I ask.
“Figuring out the ratio of chemical, heating chemical, cooling chemical, that’s the basic or the things that I am able to do,” she says as she sips her ice-cold coffee again. “For example, in this coffee, the ratio between milk, sugar, water, and coffee is around 4:0.5:1:0.25 and chilled to light blue color.”
Light blue color? That’s a funny way of describing cold. “Can you even see the temperature?” I ask.
“Yes, but to the object that I either touch or hold very close. Even then, doing that costs magical energy, based on the distance and the size of the object,” she says. “Basically, I can figure out this mug temperature is light blue, but I don’t see the aura surrounding your body.”
I nod. Practically, she is a walking chemist table. Could she make a smokeless powder for me, though? I mean, I know magical powder is not gunpowder, but still, I don’t think it will be the same as smokeless powder.
“So, you make things go boom?” I ask, dumbing down the question so it doesn’t sound suspicious.
“Boom? Like, explodes?” She asks me back.
“More or less,” I say.
“Hmm, Ostwald hasn’t taught me how to make high-grade explosives yet, sadly,” she sighs. “But, if you want to know, this is my newest invention on things that go boom. I call this, acidic cotton,” she put a piece of cotton ball on the table.
Hmm, it looks strange, but at first glance, it is just like an ordinary cotton ball. “What’s so special about this cotton ball?” I ask. I pick up the cotton ball, and it feels strange to hold. Like, why am I so excited about a cotton ball?
“It can combust spontaneously into nothing,” she said as she put the cotton into the fireplace. The cotton spontaneously combusts into the fire, and then, it just disappears, without leaving any carbon build-up or anything that resembled burned cotton on the fireplace.
The thought then crosses my mind. My sister just accidentally invented nitrocellulose, didn’t she? She just created the most rudimentary form of smokeless powder. Wow, that’s awesome, I wouldn’t be lying. Still, how strong it is compared to the magical powder that the regular musket uses?
“What happens if you mix this with liquid magical powder?” I ask.
“Well, I never try, but magical powder on itself isn’t dissolvable in water, isn’t it? I will ask Ostwald about that tomorrow, just for you,” she smiles and sips her coffee again. If I make a bullet cartridge, I’ll need something to fire it, preferably something simple.
So, what should I craft? I remember the small parts of the 1911 pistol, every nook, and cranny by millimeter. Or, should I just draw an M4? However, I need to draw the blueprint first. Even then, I need to make the bullets. Still, one step at a time.
I need more information from Albert, he is the only reliable person that I can ask, especially since he is a gunsmith. A gun should have small parts, right? A person like him would be more than willing to teach me his craft, especially if I show genuine interest in his subject. I think he is a great materialmancer.
The only problem is, is there any way how can I ask to be taught about gunsmithing when I am this small? I doubt my parents would let me go anywhere near a furnace used to melt steel, especially with the big bandage on my head. Well, even if my life is going to be peaceful, nothing can stop me from reaching my main goal. I want to see a fighter jet fly in this world.