The sun dawns once more on a new day. Well, I think it has – it’s currently hiding behind thick clouds which have spent most of the night dumping rain on us. Thank goodness for the ceiling above our heads!
I spent quite a long time experimenting with my new Skill yesterday afternoon, learning different ways of using it. I didn’t end up going into the forest, but I feel more confident that when I do, I’ll be able to moderate the amount of information I received.
The Skill is as flexible as the vagueness of its description promised it would be, and I'm more and more glad that I chose to merge the three Inspects together. It does use more mana than each of those Skills did individually, but the amount of mana varies depending on the range and the complexity of the task I want to achieve.
Trying to spot all enemies and allies within about ten metres around me is possible, but it requires almost a hundred units of mana, and a whole lot of concentration. Doing the same thing with only a metre’s radius requires a fraction of the cost.
Equally, finding detailed information about a single being or plant doesn’t cost too much, but trying to discover that about a group both requires way too much mana and also gives me a splitting headache as I receive the information. It’s possible to still have the information appear in a box in front of my eyes – when focussing on a single plant or animal – but it doesn’t happen automatically. Instead, the default is that I absorb the information directly. I think I’m going to have to dedicate some points to Intelligence as the Skill increases in rank or I’ll probably find that I become incapable of absorbing or processing all the information it offers.
With what was left of the afternoon yesterday, I started preparing my work area for my task this morning. I’m hoping that tomorrow we’ll be able to head up to visit Kalanthia – I’m itching to find out how everyone I left back there is doing. No doubt she feels the same way about Lathani, if not worse. After all, I know that they weren’t intending on getting into any sort of dangerous situation; Kalanthia has no such confidence.
Stepping past the number of Bound who are still sleeping – lazy things, I think fondly – I hoist myself out of the hut. Pulling some water out of my Inventory, I take a moment to eye the sky carefully as I refresh myself – I don’t think it’s about to pour again, but it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong in predicting the weather.
I haven’t done anything particularly interesting with food recently – I’ve had other projects – but at least I have a tasty stew which includes a few herbs and vegetables recommended to me by Tarra. I did Inspect them first to make sure that they are edible for humans as well as samurans, and all but one turned out to be fine for me. Trusting in my ability to heal myself if they react badly together, I bravely tried my own cooking last night.
Since I’m still feeling fine, and Flesh-Shaping indicates that there’s been no damage, I figure I can eat it this morning too. And probably tonight as well – I made more than enough for that.
After satisfying my needs and going just into the edge of the forest to relieve myself, I return to the work area I built yesterday. Without Earth-Shaping, I’d have needed far more time to create the structure, but with it, I was able to accomplish my task in less than half a day.
Now that I’ve powdered my iron oxide and created enough charcoal to be getting on with, I need to do the actual smelting. To this end, I’ve formed a furnace out of thick clay.
Several samurans helped me out yesterday by gathering lots of the substance from the local river, and Earth-Shaping helped me speed up the process of transforming it into the furnace faster than I would have thought possible. Magic helped me remove the stones, shape it into a large structure with even walls all around, get rid of air bubbles, and then remove the water content. It’s a squat, ugly structure, wider at the base than it is at the top, with a small hole at the bottom and a larger hole at the top. Fortunately, I also built a shelter around it so it’s not completely sodden now, undoing my good work.
It’s now ready for the next step: lighting the fire.
Taking a few handfuls of charcoal – which was fortunately also under shelter – I drop them through the top of the furnace and into its belly. Igniting the fire is as simple as dragging mana to my fingertips and transforming it into fire magic, then letting it drip down onto the charcoal beneath.
With careful control, I encourage the flames to catch on the charcoal. Without magic, I’d have had to use kindling and branches to get the fire established enough to start burning the charcoal, but with Fire-Shaping, it’s far simpler.
Reaching down, I grab another double handful of charcoal and drop it down. Once the coals are glowing, I start pouring in the iron oxide powder on top of the charcoal. Bit by bit, I add more of the powdered metallic substance, focussing on keeping the fire burning hot in the furnace below.
My brow furrows as I observe the changes happening to the fire. It’s being starved of oxygen. Although there’s a small hole down at the base of the furnace, it’s not enough to keep the fire going. Not with the powdered iron oxide filling the flue and smothering it. I could give it more mana instead, but I’ve got another idea.
Pulling a piece of hide out of my Inventory and two bones, I focus on pouring mana into the items. It’s not a thick hide or special in any sort of way, and Light Meditation helps me fill my mana pool almost as quickly as the hide absorbs it. I’m able to keep an eye on the fire too, keeping it going despite my distraction.
Once the hide and bones are fully saturated with my magic, I get going into shaping them. Fortunately, thanks to the knowledge I absorbed months ago when I first arrived here, I have an idea as to how to construct a basic pair of bellows.
The key points are to have a sealed construction except for two holes, and to have valves on these two holes to make sure that the air only moves one way. The bones form the handles of my bellows and I thicken the hide around one of the holes to lengthen it into a nozzle.
Doing a couple of test pumps, I pull the bone handles apart, then push them together. I’m a little too enthusiastic the first time I yank the bone handles apart and have to put a bit of mana into repairing the rips I accidentally cause. After that, though, I only have to make a few small adjustments before air is rushing into the hole in the side of the bellows, and exiting through the nozzle.
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Sticking the hide nozzle into the hole at the base of the furnace, I pump the bellows with enthusiasm.
The fire immediately responds, consuming the oxygen hungrily, increasing in temperature. I pump harder, encouraging the fire to burn even brighter, sending its tendrils into the powder piled on top of it.
Though I can’t see the magic within the metal itself, I’m fascinated as I watch the interaction between it and the fire. The fire isn’t just melting it; it’s transforming it.
Good. Though the knowledge I gained from Nicholas’ supplies doesn’t go into the chemical changes iron undergoes when it’s smelted, my secondary school knowledge of chemistry is enough to indicate that iron oxide needs to lose the oxide bit of it somehow – the oxygen. And then, ideally, it will be replaced with a bit of carbon from the charcoal.
I have no idea what the ideal ratio of iron to carbon is to make good steel, though; I might have to do some experimentation when I can find the time. For now, if I can smelt some spearheads to leave with the samurans when I go up-valley to visit Kalanthia, that will be enough.
Dumping more iron oxide powder into the furnace as I see the previous handfuls being melted within the heat of the fire, I continue pumping the bellows and controlling the fire.
By the time I have a good chunk of metal in there, I’m sweating buckets. The furnace is sending out heat even through the thick clay walls, and the surrounding area is sweltering. The samurans have even started giving me a wide berth, clearly uncomfortable. All but one. An Unevolved.
He’s been watching me for the last while. He’s actually one of my Tames, one of those who came with the hunting party. I’m embarrassed to realise that I’ve forgotten his name. A quick Inspect rectifies that. Since he’s Tier one, I doubt he’ll notice it. He certainly doesn’t react.
My Inspect tells me several things – his health, which isn’t full, his mana, which is, his name, Hurts-his-foot, and that he’s injured his shoulder recently. A new benefit to my Inspect appears to be highlighting injuries with wisps of red. The wisps are more obvious on my Bound, but they appear even on non-bound. I’m curious to see whether they will indicate injuries on enemies too – that could be invaluable. But for now
“Hey, come here,” I tell him, standing up straight and beckoning him over.
He moves close to me cautiously, looking more concerned at approaching me than the furnace. In fact, he seems fascinated with the furnace itself.
“You’re injured?” I ask.
It is nothing, Honoured Pathwalker Tamer, he answers deferentially.
“Call me Markus,” I tell him with a hint of exasperation. “What happened? And would you like me to heal it?” My fingers are itching to do it but I probably shouldn’t just go ahead without his consent.
I was hunting in the forest and my prey struck me before I could kill it, he answers indifferently. I would not ask you to waste your time on one such as me, he continues.
“Well, you’re not asking,” I point out. “I am. Unless you are against it, I’d rather heal you.”
The Unevolved looks rather startled at the question, then thoughtful, blue flickering through his spikes.
Honoured Pathwalker Reducer said that you were unusually concerned for the health of the Unevolved, he comments. Catches-leaves said the same.
I shrug.
“It’s to everyone’s benefit that the people collecting the resources are in good health,” I point out. “For my part, though, when I have the ability to heal others, I’d rather not leave them in unnecessary pain. Not my allies, anyway.” If only I’d had this power back on Earth. I could have been spared a lot of heart-break. My father…my mother.
The feelings twinge inside me, though not as badly as they used to. I suddenly realise that I haven’t thought about my parents for a while. Or Lucy. Not sure how I feel about that – or how I should feel – I push the thoughts to the side.
Then if you are willing to spare the time, I would gladly accept, Hurts-his-foot answers, unaware of my sudden internal turmoil.
I quickly heal the damage – not much more than deeply bruised muscles, to be fair.
“Is there a reason you’ve been watching me?” I ask curiously. The samuran, flickers of yellow fear going through his spikes, raises his chin towards the sky.
If I have offended the Honoured Pathwalker, I apologise deeply.
“You haven’t offended me,” I tell him, trying to keep my exasperation hidden. “I was just wondering.”
It's…I was wondering what the Honoured Pathwalker was doing? he asked tentatively.
“I’m trying to smelt iron,” I answer honestly, though the confusion that flickers through his spikes and in our Bond makes it clear that he has no idea what that means. “Tell you what, you can watch what I’m doing, if you like. If you have better things to do, you don’t have to stay, but I don’t have a problem with you observing as long as you don’t get in my way.”
I…I would appreciate that, Honoured Pathwalker Tamer, Hurts-his-foot answers tentatively, but with an undercurrent of eagerness that intrigues me.
“Right, well, I’m about to retrieve the hot metal from inside the furnace. Without magic, it would be much harder, but with magic, we save a lot of effort.”
So saying, I reach out to the magic suffusing the clay furnace and connect with it again. Shaping a hole in the side of the furnace is difficult: the clay is hard and dry, as much from the intense heat it’s been subjected to as my own efforts. In the end, I make do with creating a crack around a large chunk of the furnace’s belly, and then using my control over the ground to make it move to the side. Moving the ground is easier: I treat it like a conveyor belt, the surface shifting towards me as the space it used to occupy is replaced by new soil.
The red hot chunk of metal shifts with the section of the furnace, the charcoal which had been used to heat it almost burned away completely. I have to reinforce my hide armour to stop it cracking or bursting into flame from the heat; the bare skin revealed to the dimly glowing chunk of metal burns and I need to keep healing it. It’s fortunate I’ve had so much practice at multitasking with magic recently or I’d be struggling now.
I was hoping to have made the iron molten, but apparently I haven’t managed to get the fire hot enough, despite my best efforts. Maybe next time. For now, I need a hammer – any forging I do will need one, so I might as well attempt to make one now.
Using Earth-shaping, I manipulate the earth to cut a chunk off the hunk of glowing metal and move it closer to me. Withdrawing a reinforced wooden mallet I got Sticks to make for me yesterday, I hope that this will work. Raising the mallet above my head, I bring it thumping down onto the glowing lump of metal.
The first strike of many, and it feels good.