Deep in meditation, I can almost feel something in the distance. It didn’t take too long for the tug to start, I had too little mana when I started this exercise. It seems impossible to even get close to what I found last time I was here. Seen as it is still so far away, I leave my meditation and see I only have 6 points of mana.
I get up and continue helping on the smithy. The smith is holding a smaller metalwork than last time. I see him handling the head of a spear with +3 of "potential attack". The system for some reason only shows this potential attack while it isn't mounted on a shaft.
Soon after, I see the last of the weapons being bought. By now, if my math is correct, there are 60 weapons in circulation. I think and I should see if I can get one or two of the magical users to provide the mana the forge needs. There are a couple of options this could open up.
I consider the experience from the two other apprentices demonstrating they are interested in learning. We can probably make another 20 basic weapons per night. They will not be quite as good as the mass-produced goods from Blackwood. At least at first. The experience, however, would be invaluable. And we could get a few more weapons in the hands of everyone. If everyone also helped, we may be able to do about 40 a night.
The day goes on and as soon as a weapon or tool is manufactured somebody takes it. I ask Mr. Blackwood what we could do to increase the speed of weapon production. He answers simply.
“It’s not a matter of how much help, but the quality of help.” I take that to mean; our skill level and experience increase is the most important thing to focus on. As we progress, we will observe him increase the quality and speed of item manufacture.
As the day ends I quickly leave. Jack and Li Wei stay to forge tonight as well. I charge the wind blower to the maximum and leave the smithy with 12 less mana sitting in my pool. They can work for an hour with this. By the end of the hour, they will probably already be using the grinding stones.
I stop by the inn to eat. This time for the first time there is a different dish to order. Salted snake soup. I laugh but order one anyway. After that, I head over to the drying room. I check everything is on track and head to the guild.
"Is there anyone that can help me with magic? I read all you guys have, but I can't unlock the skill. I have the money. I can pay a dozen copper for someone to spend a day teaching me."
"As I said, I'm sorry, few people have unlocked the skill. We only have 4 people working for the guild with magical expertise. If we had the manpower, we would help you, but we simply don't. You can focus on other things if you don't have the attributes to more easily unlock the skill. When we have more people, they will be teaching classes. You can join those."
“My intelligence is just fine. I need this, no I demand this now. You guys take over control of the city, someone comes for help and you just shrug?”
“I understand your frustration, but there is nothing I can do. We are stretched thin enough as it is.”
I look over the interior of the guildhall and I see as they have slowly, but surely, started to fix up the place. There is nothing fancy. They wouldn’t want to pass the impression they were frivolous. But I can see most of the old and almost broken furniture has been replaced. It is impressive while still feeling functional.
The man huffs and doesn't say anything more. I step up and, wary of the trouble my words may cause, start speaking.
“I need to get in contact with one of the magic users.”
The man grins a little, looking over the interaction. Does he hope to see me getting rejected?
“Regarding what?” Says the scribe, with a scowl in his face wondering the problem this might cause.
“The smithy.”
“Ok.” Looking to the side in the direction of another guild employee he says: “Carlos, take Mr. Nash to see one of the people at the training hall. Introduce him to one of the magic users.”
“Ok.”
At that, I start to leave but the man grabs my arm. I move to avoid but he is quick and probably has skill levels in unarmed combat. He tries to pull me, but with my strength, I overpower him and leave his grasp.
"So you are a hotshot. You had that damn useless book and now you get whatever you want. Is that it?"
I leave following the young teenager the scribe addressed. Paying attention to what he had been doing, I guess at his occupation in the guild. I see papers being organized and neatly stacked. Perhaps he is a messenger or an assistant. This time the man does not try to stop me. I hear the scribe as I leave the building.
“No sir. He is not getting special treatment. But he has made more than a silver coin in contribution to the guild. But don’t think it is all about the money, he is the most advanced magic user we have by far. His contributions to our underest…”
In only a few paces, I can no longer hear him. I continue following the young boy. The younger people around seem all to be relegated to being messengers or helping older people. If they are not properly used, their talents might be wasted. The young mind is much more flexible, compared to mature people. I assume they only work some of the time, so it should not be a problem. If they pay attention and their suggestions don’t go ignored, it might be a good position to learn and help our development. That all anyone can hope for.
Getting to the training hall I see people sparring with wood weapons. It seems they have improved their carpentry skills. All of the weapons are at least decently made. They seem to be fairly green wood, but we can't hope for much better just yet.
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The skill level seems to be quite high compared to people who only spend a few days learning. That, however, is not too surprising. We are in a world that seems to increase our learning speed quite a bit. Our stats are rapidly increasing and we have a uniquely suited environment for everyone to give it their all.
I go behind the marked training field to a building. There, I’m introduced to Merlin. I don't find out his actual name, just the nickname he adopted.
“What you have provided us has been of immense help. We would have taken twice as long to figure things out without your insight.”
"No worries. I came because I need someone to help fuel the forge blower. It needs mana to work. I'm still working things out, but when I'm done we can expect at least 20 more items per night. For now, it will be only +1 items, but that is good enough."
“I didn’t know we had an equipment shortage. I thought we just needed enough coins. That is a big problem.”
"It really isn't just about the money. Time is a precious resource; we can't wait months for the Blacksmith to forge enough gear for everyone. We also need armor, tools, and even stuff like nails. If we add it all up you can just wonder at how long it would take for everyone to be equipped. "
“Yeah. How skilled does this person need to be?”
“They need to provide 12 mana for each hour of operation. They only need to be proficient enough to expel mana from their finger, the device takes care of the rest.”
“We can deal with that. There are a dozen people that might be willing to do the work for a few coppers. It’s not as if they are wasting the mana. Just observing a machine like that, they might learn something.”
“I agree. It has helped me to improve my mana manipulation. I also like to discuss the process to infuse wood with you. It is going to be a very important part of our economy very soon. The sooner we have a few people doing that, the sooner we can get more and better gear.”
“What is the limitation now?”
"I have too little mana, given the efficiency, I'm working with. I spend 4 to 5 mana at the start of the process. By the end, I'm sitting at 1 mana on the infused wood. Almost all of it is wasted on transforming the mana in a "fire" type of mana. The blacksmith uses about 200 logs a day. That is a 2 silver revenue stream. If we could not only supply him with wood but also use the wood at night, for forging, we would greatly reduce the coin we need to spend."
“Let’s sit down so we can go over the process.”
"I have a better idea."
----------------------------------------
We sat beside the fire a few feet from the pit I built. He fusses a bit at sitting on the ground but seeing as there are no chairs anywhere nearby, without further complaint he plops down.
“I was thinking this afternoon and I got the idea to use other people’s mana to make more wood. I’m not sure it will work but I don’t see why it wouldn’t. We would be using a more basic process so it won’t be quite as efficient. For now, however, it is good enough. “
“Ok. What to do first, I assume you brought me here to test this supposedly basic method.”
“Yes. Now start by sending mana out of your fingers and placing it in this log. Yes, that is just right, now hold the mana in position. Send about twenty units of mana. Now, try to will the mana to stay in place.”
After a minute he succeeds and I throw the log in the fire. At his protestation I say:
“Don’t worry, that is part of the process. Just wait a minute now.”
I start to draw the mana, as it leaves the log and analyze it. It has a different quality to it, just like every single mana type I saw before. After some examination, I notice the similarities to the mana types I drew from fires before.
“Can you see the mana I’m drawing?”
“I can see the mana near your hand.”
"No problem, you only need to be able to put mana in the log. I take this mana and put it on this green log here and … voila. From here, we only need to dry it." I say presenting the log. "The process you used is, like I said, a more basic one. It needs an input of 20 mana for each log, but with a bit practice anyone with mana manipulation should be able to do it."
“I agree.”
We talked for an hour and I ran through the experimentation process I had to get to this point. He gives me a few ideas and we part ways with the outline of a plan.
Seeing as the biggest hurdle is the amount of mana, he will provide lessons for anyone willing to give a tithe of mana. With that, we can kick start production. I suggest we pay a portion of the proceeds after they "pay for their education". For now, everyone is cooperating very well and there haven't been any wide-scale problems, but we can't count on that if we abuse people's generosity.
He also says he will attempt to come up with an easier process for the mana infusion. I suggest it may be better to seek a better method to improve mana conversion from "neutral" mana to "fire" mana. He says that he will pursue both, and much more.
I also discovered that most people in town seem to have adopted a similar method to magic as mine. They use runes or chants to give general direction to the magic and give specifics with their willpower.
I wonder if there is some criterion for our placement in this village together. Perhaps this is a human quirk?
I wonder if my book has any new information. It has been a while since I have looked at my book. I take it out and go to the end. There I find a new rune and nothing else significant. I wonder if the book is saving up for something I really want to know. Can my strength, as the book measures it, be saved up?
Focusing on the rune, I see it is another connecting rune. I still don’t have a very good idea as to how they are used. All I know, for now, is that they are extremely important in creating bigger and more complex magic.
I continue to convert and infuse mana until I run out. Putting all the freshly infused wood in the room, I check how close we are getting to fully dry wood. I see that only the closest pieces will be even close to done by morning. Arranging everything, I find someone checking out the fire as I'm about to leave.
"Hey, are you the person the guild has sent to take care of the fire?"
“Ooh, yes. I’m Dmitry.”
“I’m Nash.”
“I know, everyone knows. You made quite a splash that first day.”
“Yeah… So how are we doing things?”
“The guild pays me by the hour, so I can do everything if you want. Just tell me how you would like things organized and your schedule. That way I can get things done by the time you need them.”
“At the start we only have me infusing wood. So all the wood you bring will be pilling up. But after there are a few more people, we will have to set up a schedule.”
“Ok. What exactly do you need?”
"I need green wood so I can infuse and dry wood to burn. The wood we burn can be old trunks or anything that burns well. We will have three piles to start, the green wood, the dry wood, and the infused wood taken out of the hot room. After that…"
We discuss for a good hour and I leave. I get my staff in my room and head outside. It's time for a little run. I keep a fast pace seeing as I only have another three or four hours before I will be going to sleep.
I only run into one pack of wolves. Fighting them is easy like always. I try to make my track through new places, as much as I can, so I can get a good mental picture of everything around the village.
Returning, I swim in the river to get the sweat out. Before leaving I see one fish and I wonder why isn't anyone fishing. I try approaching the fish, but he swims away too fast to see. I feel a small shiver hit my back. To be that fast he might be a high-level mob. I wonder what possible trouble was doing so near what is supposed to be the starting zone. After the encounter, I returned straight to the village.
I ran a total of 60 miles. I feel my muscles getting loose and a bit tired. I ended up happy with my nighty training. I wind down by meditating and go to sleep like a log in my favorite place. It's such a wonderful place. There is soft earth, just a few feet from a tree and nobody bothers me. What more could I ask of life?