Point Of View: Magnus Bridge
Seven seemed a bit frightened by what had happened. Roosevelt was inspecting the small clay pot where they had placed pyrite and sand. Perucia, on the other hand, was taking a nap under a tree. The environment around us was quiet.
‘So, do we have everything we need?’ I started a conversation with Roosevelt to break the silence.
‘Almost everything. See how the sand is yellowish? Well, after heating the pyrite to a temperature above 600ºC, we need to separate the sulfur from the sand,’ he pointed out. I didn’t know anything about temperature measurement, but I could verify this information within Roosevelt’s mind.
‘If you need to separate the sulfur from the sand, why did you use it in the first place?’ I questioned. There must have been a reason for that.
‘You see, when sulfur is released, it’s unstable and needs to bind with oxygen inside the pot, forming a gas. But that’s not what we wanted, so we filled the space inside the pot with sand, creating a low-oxygen environment.’ I partially understood what he was explaining.
‘And how are you going to separate the sand from the sulfur?’ Roosevelt’s face twisted into a smile.
‘Heat, dear Magnus. The most useful tool in chemistry. We will heat it to 120ºC so the sulfur liquefies, and then we can separate it from the sand.’ He paused and looked at Seven. “Seven, come with me. I’ll take this sand to Thrain. I need you to stay inside the warehouse and cut the firewood into tiny pieces. We’re going to make paper.”
“Y-yes, boss,” the boy responded hesitantly, still seeming shaken by previous events. I believe he had never seen someone get stabbed before.
‘Look, I understand your need not to ask questions about the kid, but he seems scared,’ I commented to our dear foolish hero.
‘He’ll be fine. No one died. If someone had died, I would be the one freaking out.’ His response worried me. Roosevelt didn’t seem willing to kill, which put our safety at risk.
We distanced ourselves from the warehouse and returned to the city. The isolated location made sense; if knowledge from another world started leaking out uncontrollably, everything would become chaotic. I noticed that movement in the streets had increased. Shops were opening, and the sailors had probably started unloading their goods. The city moved as they did.
When we arrived at Thrain Forgebeard’s shop, I noticed through one of the windows that the dwarf was sleeping with his head on the counter. I imagined he had stayed up all night. Roosevelt entered, pushing the door, carrying a sack of sand on his back. He was sweating and panting.
“Thrain, my old friend, I need your help and your furnace.”
The dwarf remained slumped over the counter.
“Hey, hey, hey, come on, I’m in a bit of a hurry here,” said Roosevelt, shaking the dwarf, who slowly raised his head. His eyes had dark circles, his hair looked completely disheveled, and his clothes were stained with what appeared to be soot.
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“Mo-mother...” Roosevelt started laughing. With the semi-awake dwarf, he really did look like a mother. He had even adopted a few kids.
“Look, I’m not your mother, and I need your furnace and your expertise here,” Roosevelt interrupted his laughter.
“Su-supreme mage, how can I help you?” The dwarf adjusted himself in his chair as his tired eyes widened.
“See this sack of sand? I need to heat this sand to a controlled temperature, enough to boil the water. A liquid will form, and then I want to separate it from the sand. But if we heat it too much, it will turn into gas, and we’ll lose the product. Do you have something like a plate?” Roosevelt spoke quickly, and the dwarf seemed lost in his thoughts. Then, he got up and walked to the door leading to what I believed to be his workshop.
Roosevelt followed him with our yellow sand. The room was illuminated by the light of a small forge, tinged with orange and blue, with a leather bellows beside it. Around us, various tools and weapons were scattered chaotically. The smell of oil, charcoal, metal, and sweat filled the air.
‘There’s a rune system on that forge. I don’t like classifying runes that way, but they would be fire-element runes,’ Roosevelt put his hand on his chin. I noticed he was trying to remember the book he had read. ‘The runes serve to generate and control heat. Look over there on the left, there’s a small space for inserting a magic crystal. I imagine this forge works both by magic and normal flames.’
“Your forge is quite interesting, Thrain. Is that why you paid so well for the crystals I sold you?” Roosevelt asked, feeling less guilty for having robbed the dwarf before.
“The Great Mage has keen eyes. This forge works with both magic and without it. Additionally, there are small pieces of Ignium mixed with the charcoal, reducing the need for constant refueling,” the dwarf proudly explained. “I spent all my savings building this thing.”
The dwarf took the sack of sand, a crucible used for melting metal, and poured the sand inside. He scratched his thin beard, tossed his black hair back, and, rummaging through his organized chaos, grabbed a fine mesh and something resembling a metal channel. He positioned the mesh over the crucible, connected the channel to the furnace, and placed another container beneath it.
“Will this do?” he asked Roosevelt, who was internally jumping with joy.
“It will definitely do! I knew I could count on you. Just be careful not to overheat it, or we’ll lose a lot of sulfur,” said Roosevelt, smiling. “I’ll head back to my warehouse to fetch the rest of the ingredients while you separate the sulfur.”
The dwarf nodded as he filled the crucible with sand and placed it in the furnace. It would take an hour or two to finish.
‘By the way, Roosevelt, considering how that forge works with magic crystals, I believe we could produce something similar,’ I commented mentally as he walked out.
‘Why would I need a forge?’ Roosevelt responded. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was playing dumb.
‘I’m talking about producing magical items that could be activated using magic crystals as batteries.’ He stopped walking when I finished speaking, but there was no response.
‘Of course, this world has magic, after all. I had almost forgotten that. But what exactly do we need?’ What I was about to explain would be complicated.
‘Well, I can place the designs in your mind, but either way, you won’t be able to produce anything without magic. It may be difficult to find someone capable. My rune system is simpler than that of humans and gods, but these primates can’t understand it. Every time they try to copy or use it, everything goes wrong.’
“This sounds like it’s going to be very expensive. Let me guess: we need a lot of materials, manpower, endless journeys, and many other things?” Roosevelt spoke aloud. I allowed myself to smell the sea breeze before responding.
‘There’s another problem. The reason you don’t have access to my memories and knowledge is that making anything available to you will hurt. You will agonize in pain.’ He took a deep breath as we crossed the city limits.
‘First, make a list of all the materials we need, and let’s gather them during our journey,’ he pointed out decisively.