In my hand was a lit match.

My month of careful effort had resulted in a small wooden stick. One with a darkish powder at the end which gave me the ability to start fires with ease.

A small flame appeared when I struck the match with a coarse stone.

I noticed that compared to regular matches that I had used in my old world, this one was exceedingly small.

However when I tried to put it closer to my face to better inspect the ember, it extinguished leaving behind quite a lot of smoke in its wake.

Despite the amount of work that I had put into it, its flame had stopped as quickly as it had started, releasing a cloud of noxious fumes while doing so.

My brief excitement had morphed into a disappointed sigh.

As I scrutinized the burned out match, I noticed that most of its fuel was left unused.

This signified that the chemicals that were supposed to make it light up were too weak, the formula needed some adjustments.

It needs to be improved.

The match in question was composed of three main ingredients: charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate.

The charcoal in the match paste was added for fuel, the sulfur for ignition and the potassium nitrate for oxidization.

To diagnose the issue, I started mentally listing the problems that I had with my matchstick.

First, it was hard to start.

To light up the makeshift match that I had crafted, I needed to use a coarse stone to create enough friction for the match to ignite.

I doubted that it was the rock’s fault, so it must have been the fault of the potassium nitrate failing to add enough oxygen to the flame.

Second, it created way too much smoke.

This is probably also the result of the potassium nitrate as well; an incomplete flame would lead to incomplete combustion, resulting in more smoke.

Finally, it was too weak.

Once again, it was the same culprit, the potassium nitrate. Like what was said earlier, it failed to add enough oxygen to the combustion process which led to a weak match.

Based on my observations and my analysis of the course of events, the reason why the match was faulty was obviously the potassium nitrate. The charcoal and sulfur was too much compared to the nitrate and as a result the flame wasn’t able to burn as it should have.

To remedy this I could either lessen the amount of sulfur and charcoal in the mixture or add more potassium nitrate.

After taking a glance at the mixture that I made previously, I decided it would be a waste of resources to throw the match paste out and make a new one. Therefore, I decided to just add one more part of potassium nitrate to the mix and hoped it would work.

I used the stirring rod once again to incorporate the new addition of more potassium nitrate into the paste. At first it looked like it didn’t mix together well, but after stirring the paste more, it eventually looked like it was ready.

After I redid the process by adding the paste to the sticks, drying them— the whole nine yards, I was left with five new matchsticks which would hopefully ignite better and produce less smoke.

The moment had finally come.

I grabbed the new and improved matchstick with my right hand and the stone to light it with my left.

In one swift motion I dragged the match head across the rock’s rough surface and lit the match.

Its flame was robust and vibrant, in contrast to the previous match I tested with.

I waited for a few moments and it was still shining as bright as ever, lasting longer than the old prototype ever did.

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This is actually viable.

After waiting a while and being satisfied with its longevity, I put it out with my breath and disposed of the used match.

I couldn’t hold back a brief smile on my face after it had finally worked.

It was obviously worse than most-store bought matches back on earth.

But in this world, I thought its convenience and speed was unrivaled.

I bundled the other matches and stones into a small pouch with the cloth I had previously used to filter the potassium nitrate.

It’s time to return home.

When I returned back to the compound, the sun had already started setting. I located Qaton in the common room and using simple terms, asked him to come with Darat to the warehouse.

I wanted to show them a little magic trick that I had cooked up.

Qaton

Ten minutes later in the storeroom…

Hamet is a very strange boy.

Me, Darat and everyone who knew of the boy thought the same as I did.

Hamet’s height, clothing and appearance would indicate to most people that he was a normal, albeit foreign, teenager.

Though, most people would be wrong.

From what I’ve observed, every action of his is dictated by a mindset that he alone possesses.

How he acquired this demeanor is something that can only be guessed at and something he seems unable and unwilling to share for now.

But what I do know is that no one— not even myself —can know what is going on inside that head of his.

This makes him both a boon of potentially infinite potential and a menace of potentially infinite dangers.

He has seemingly unknown latent knowledge, showcased by his uncommon grasp of mathematics. In addition he seems to have a resourcefulness and adaptability that allows him to quickly understand anything we teach him and retain it going forward.

However I can also tell that he doesn’t trust me.

Every action that I do to help him is always met with a grateful smile, but underneath the facade I can see a deep-rooted suspicion that he has towards my actions.

He probably suspects some ulterior motive behind my benevolent actions.

Well, he isn’t wrong but it’s strange that a teenager as young as him acts in such a way.

“What kind of upbringing would make him like that?” I wondered.

I had a few hints.

When we first saw him, he was wearing unfamiliar clothing that seemed very well-made in comparison to what the average commoner would wear. This would imply having a somewhat high status wherever he was from.

When you add that to him having facial features that were reminiscent of people from the lands further north than the Yavan, one reasonable guess that could be made is that he is related to some kind of foreign nobility or burgher household.

But why would he be here?

This question couldn’t be answered for now.

Putting it aside, I finished thinking and found Darat and told him to come to the warehouse.

The boy in question, Hamet, managed to communicate to me that he wanted to show something to us.

It was probably related to the firestarter project that he had spent the last few days working on.

Hamet had come up with an idea about some sort of new way to start fires. Darat, imagining that I trusted the boy completely, humored him by giving Hamet a substantial amount of funds that came directly from our treasury.

Even if I know that Hamet is somewhat intelligent, I wouldn’t trust him enough to give him that much. Nevertheless it happened and now we were being beckoned to the storeroom where he frequented to probably be shown his prototype.

Honestly, I can’t lie and say I wasn’t interested but I can’t expect a teenager to be able to create something that other people haven’t already thought of.

I still hoped it was at least interesting enough to amuse me for a bit.

I walked with Darat to the warehouse and we saw four sticks around the width of a palm on the desk with a few coarse rocks placed next to them.

I noticed the sticks had a sort of mixture on their ends — an unknown black powder which smelled faintly of rotten eggs.

Hamet noticed us and had us sit on two stools which he probably found lying around somewhere in storage.

He took one of the wooden rods and gave it the name of “Match”.

I found the name a bit strange since it means nothing to me, but it probably has some significance to him.

He held the wood stick with his right hand and with his left he took out one of the rough rocks.

Using his wrists, he briefly dragged the stick on the rock until it the tip of the wooden rod magically burst into flame.

How did he do that?

I wondered if it was a trick, but I saw no way the fire could have come from anywhere but his so-called “match”.

After gesturing for Hamet to give me one, I noticed the mixture at the end of it had a faint sulfur smell alongside having the color of charcoal.

So it’s just charcoal and sulfur?

No, it couldn’t be. If they had an effect like this, it would have been discovered and popularized a long time ago.

I inspected the match more closely and discovered small white specks in the mixture.

So, this is the difference?

I guessed this combined with sulfur and charcoal is probably what gives his match its power.

So the stick and charcoal acts as fuel, which gives the sulfur and white specks the ability to make fire?

To be honest, I had no clue how it worked.

Even though the mechanics of how it worked was beyond me, what mattered was that it worked.

“If this goes public, the arson cases will go way up.” Darat quipped with a smile.

Darat, being who he was, was probably thinking more about its uses than how it worked.

If it was sold as a product, it could be revolutionary.

The most common ways to start fires is the flint and steel. The drawback of this method is that it needs a decent supply of wood to start a fire in addition to it needing to be dry enough to use.

This match seemed to me that it acted like both a flint and steel and the kindling that it needed.

It’s relatively simple to use.

It’s quick.

Who knew he would come up with something like this?

Hamet truly was full of mysteries.

Though the real question is, “How many mysteries does he have?”.

It seems that my decision to take him into our employ was a good idea after all, and Darat’s decision to fund him seemed like it was a stroke of genius.

He truly is an interesting boy.

Maybe I should try to help him start a business with these matches. I can only imagine the amount of profit there is to be gained from selling something like this.

I picked up one of the coarse rocks that were lying on the table and used it to light my own match in the same way that he did.

A glowing fire appeared on the tip of my match.

A fire which represented a masterstroke in innovation, and all the opportunity that came with it.