‘How did you do this? Is this magic?’ Ruppert drew a square on the tablet with surprise on his face.

‘It is a bit complicated, but it was an idea I had after reading some books in the library: Nihilum by itself is a conduit and can be used to gather magic; Nihilum combined with iron is for enchantment; and Nihilum combined with copper is for storage, information, and power, or something along those lines.’ As he explained everything to the blacksmith, the boy had a smug expression.

Ruppert handed the boy the tablet and pen. ’Kid, don’t show this to anyone; they will try to steal it from you. Either wait until you can leave this place or present this to the king personally.’ The man was holding the boy's shoulder gently.

’Thank you, Ruppert; you are the best.’ Edmund hugged the blacksmith after nodding his head with determination.

‘I am not the norm; people will try to take advantage of you by claiming that they are the ones who created this. Look at your situation before making any moves, kid, if you create things like this.’ The man with the gray hair knelt down and fixed a grave expression in the boy's eyes.

‘Thanks,Ruppert.’ The boy gave Ruppert a nod while looking at him, and then he turned around and left the blacksmith shop.

‘Kid, do not do this again; if people start talking too much about how you talk to the blacksmith, he is going to get in a lot of trouble.’ A familiar voice was heard immediately after the door shut behind Edmund.

Edmund looked to his left and saw Sir Gustav sitting on the stairs, gazing out at the deserted street.

‘I am sorry.’ Edmund said as he passed Gustav.

‘I must start visiting the library; despite my best efforts, I can only vaguely recall certain details. Let us use this to start studying and taking notes.’ He walked to his house while thinking, his eyes fierce and focused.

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He smiled as he entered his house and sat down on the only table next to his bed. A lot of things were passing through his mind, but Lucia was fixed and made him feel sad.

Edmund decided to go to the library the next day. That much he could do, only to read, not take any books from the library itself. So he spent the next few months studying and taking notes on the tablet when he got home. The books ranged from arithmetic to magic. The librarian thought it odd that he would pick up a book like that to read because he could not use the spells provided by the books; he was just a kid and was not doing anything to trash the books. The boy was sitting as close to his desk as he could when reading magic books, as if he was afraid of being barred from the library if something happened to the books.

Ruppert was working when he heard a knock on his door and went to open it. Right there was Edmund, whom he had not seen in months, dressed in a robe. This caught him off guard. The boy entered the workshop and shut the door behind him.

‘Could you make some more parts for me?’ Edmund asked, taking off the rood and turning to face the gray-haired blacksmith. ’Do it when you have time; I am going to let the tablet with you for as long as you need; I have the parts drawn on it.’

‘It’s not like you have to pay me or anything, kid; this district only supports the king's castle, so no worries. It will take one month.’ Ruppert touched the boy's shoulders with his hand.

Edmund placed the tablet on the table next to him and showed and explained the parts to Ruppert to the best of his ability.

‘It is easy, but due to the amount of work I have to do, it will take a month." The blacksmith pointed to the numerous swords in a corner of his shop that needed repair.

‘No problem.' He opened the door and walked away.

At this moment, he couldn’t advance in his studies or try to build something, so the only thing he could do was. Have fun. In his state, fun was relative, so for this month he just killed time walking around, washing his clothes for longer, going to the library to read stories, and playing at home as he could not leave the district.

Edmund cautiously peered through the door of the blacksmith shop to see if Ruppert was alone before entering and finding the parts he had asked for on the table next to him.

‘You really are the best, old men; thank you.’ The boy suddenly gave the blacksmith a hug.

‘Not a problem, Kid.’ Ruppert smiled.

Edmund gathered everything up quickly, threw it in a bag he was carrying, and hurried out of the blacksmith shop to get home and start building his new device. For the following two weeks, he only left his house to wash clothes and eat in the dining hall. By the time he was finished, he had three things: two boxes and one pole with a grid made of iron on top of it.

The boy spoke in one of the boxes, and his voice could be heard in the other. Although the enchantment for this was somewhat difficult, he managed to do it and shouted in excitement.

‘Yes!!!’