Chapter 165: Artificing III (Ideas and First steps)
🕑 Added 2024-06-30 19:41:43 +0000 UTC...
Place: Leonandra Estate, Entrance Hall
Time: After Alexander went to the entrance hall, frightening his maids
Alexander stood in the middle of the entrance hall, in his slippers and a colorful pajama, waving his arms as if he stood before an orchestra. However, instead of musicians playing a beautiful ballad, wooden and metallic pieces flew around him, bent, flattened, and assembled into what he envisioned.
Multiple light spheres, like moons, orbited him, creating a cozy atmosphere that contrasted with the breaking and banging of wood and metal. After minutes of violence and throwing dirt around the whole place, Alexander stood before his creation with a broad smile.
"I still suck at those."
It was a simple wooden box through which he rammed two sticks, representing the axes, putting a wheel each on the end. Little to say, Alexander was embarrassed, as he was never good at creating something like a technical model. All he was able to do was to make them look artistically beautiful.
However, having something detailed and looking like a train was optional. For now, Alexander only wanted to work out the overall concept, and the model supported his imagination, even though poorly. Whatever he would design later would be the problem of the blacksmiths.
As such, when Alexander looked at the train(?) model he successfully created, he wondered how to make it move without first building a complicated physical engine.
'A rocket.'
The first idea was the stupidest and easiest: He would engrave a piece of metal with the propulsion spell and glue it to the back of the cart, creating basically a jet engine.
'Axis rotation.'
The next idea was something more standardized with trains than strapping a jet engine to a trolley, which was also more commonly used on Earth.
By cleverly positioning the propulsion enchantment, Alexander could make the axes spin, bringing the wheels in motion and moving the vehicle forward.
Alexander made the train(?) model float before him, looking at it more closely and frowning. He did not like the axis engine. For one, he didn't even know if trains commonly used them. His ignorance on this subject was surprising, and he only now realized that he knew nothing.
As such, he needed to decide on something: try something very new or take the safe route and improve on the schematics he received.
Not even five seconds later, he knew what he wanted to do, 'It's time to gamble, baby!'
Alexander had a gut feeling that there was something far greater and more straightforward than whatever was written down in the schematics.
Was this mindset a mixture of the arrogance of being somewhat competent when it comes to a subject that had the word engineering in it and ignorance about mechanical engineering, thinking it wasn't that hard?
To both, yes, but there was another, much more important reason he had: It was another world with far more possibilities, so limiting his thoughts to proven research standardized by Earthlings over hundreds of years, which worked perfectly, seemed dumb, he thought so sarcastically.
Of course, if he had a decent supply chain for mana stones and enough blacksmiths with the skills of dwarves and gnomes, he would just take the schematics, give it to them, and call it a day, but he didn't, and there was a possibility that many other Guard Households neither.
Ultimately, he didn't need a functioning transit system only in his fief. Alexander's explicit goal was that everyone should work together to make this project come true. Anything too complicated would prolong it unnecessarily.
As such, why not think outside the box first? It was another world with magic. The last thing he needed was something crude. Ultimately, should he fail, he could always just simplify and correct the schematics and work with them.
'Are there more possibilities... are there more useful spells? Let's do it from behind!'
Before envisioning a train design, which he couldn't do either way and then looking for fitting spells for its enchantments, why not do it the other way around?
The train in the schematics had reduced air resistance as an enchantment, but this was an add-on. What if Alexander first chose the spells and had the train, the physical object, become the add-on?
'What spells are there, though?'
First and foremost, he would need to find some great spells with the potential to increase effectiveness as much as possible.
'Propulsion is an obvious one.'
One spell was mandatory, which was the air propulsion spell. It would suck in the air and blow it out, creating a reaction engine effect. By changing the construct, Alexander could regulate the strength and make it continuous instead of using the momentaneous thrust.
At least for him, making an enchantment was far more manageable than a whole steam engine. Alexander was ultimately far more knowledgeable about constructs, contraptions, and mana than any physical machinery. As such, changing them accordingly when something went wrong or wouldn't function would also be much more straightforward.
Besides that, the propulsion spell was a jet engine, and he already had many great ideas about making it more usable and efficient than a physical steam engine.
'Also, having a train with a jet engine is just cool.'
Besides his puppyish thoughts, he continued trying to find more spells, going through a list of every spell he had. He tried to imagine every spell's usefulness and mumbled them under his breath.
"Fireball, no. Ice lance, no. Animal talk, maybe forcing them to run on wheels? Sharpening, no. Tornado, just a too-violent propulsion spell. Breeze, not violent enough propulsion spell. Hard at all times, when I am 18... fuck, what could I use?!"
As Alexander strolled around the entrance hall, he tried to find anything new but couldn't. Every time he tried, his experiences from Earth influenced him, making him always think of the functioning and reliable train, something he clearly didn't want.
Suddenly, he stepped on a wooden board, slipping slightly. Out of anger, he kicked it away, observing how it slid on the floor, remembering a spell he never used.
"Grease? Grease!"
It was a low-level spell used to show how to create a three-dimensional spell. One would need a chicken and a lot of patience, trying to use the spell on the whole of it so it couldn't stay straight anymore and only slide around when it tried to move.
It was cruel to the bird, but enveloping it in a spell initially was a real headache and a great way to learn 3D constructs that way. Sadly, it wasn't really great for combat since every bit of energy would break it immediately, which meant that the enemy wouldn't be affected, except if one had to fight against a horde of chickens.
However, what did grease do? It created a layer that removed friction. Depending on the strength, this could be up to 90%, with Alexander suddenly realizing that he not only could but should use it.
"Wheels are overrated! What did they ever do for me?"
With a handwave, he conjured four air contraptions, which ripped the wheels away, making the box on wheels an ordinary box. However, he let it float toward him, immediately using the grease spell, the 2D version on the bottom, and allowing the box to fall.
With a kick, the box glided on the floor like it was on ice, barely having any friction. Looking at the gliding, Alexander felt he had accomplished something but had no idea what. He felt like a monkey using a gun to beat someone to death.
'It's probably not even that new.'
Alexander was 100% sure that someone on Earth somehow invented something similar.
However, on Orbis, he would give it a 50/50 chance. Why? Did Alexander think that the people on Orbis were dumber? No, it was actually just a pure numbers game.
People with mana skills and the ability to engineer things were rare. People who had both skill sets were even rarer. Furthermore, those people needed creativity and the spirit to try something new, another rare ability.
What you had now was a person with too many prerequisites. If one added that they could ignore everything and just enchant spatial pouches, making a tremendous amount of gold, it made more sense why nobody was too keen to invent anything outside the given parameters.
These unfortunate circumstances created two problems for Alexander. Engineering was a trial-and-error profession, and many things developed by continually failing, only to find afterward the correct answer.
Yet, he didn't have anyone to whom he could compare his ideas, see what they did, and maybe change his methods to avoid fatal and time-wasting mistakes. It was a pioneering exercise, with him being on his own.
The second problem was that he wasn't a traditional engineer, and seeing issues and solutions in those fields was a new experience. Even though he could imagine some things, he was slightly overwhelmed.
'This is quite the problem...'
Seeing the box slide through the hall, he thought it was a great idea, but how would he implement it with the propulsion engine?
The first thing that came to his mind was to dent the underside of the box so it could stay on the tracks and make two grooves. The second was to put the propulsion engine on top of the box so a good amount of airflow could go through.
'That's all I found, but there should be more... hm...'
With those thoughts, he looked at the box before him, deliberating every possibility he could. It was like a genius was trying to win against himself in chess. However, after minutes of deliberation, he finally understood.
'I have no fucking idea what I am doing.'
If there were someone who could find problems, it would not be him. It would most likely be the first puppy who ran in front of the train, but definitely not him.
Alexander wished he was a genius, but at the moment, his mind felt as if two pigeons were mating on the chessboard, which, in truth, was backgammon. Not enough, one of these pigeons ate a piece, suffocating on it.
'Yep, this is about right.'
He could not predict what problems might appear. However, he knew for sure that he needed to test it first in Wolfsteeth and the cities around the sea Howl before building a rail system to the North.
In Alexander's humble opinion, it was only courteous that if one had a crazy and novel idea, one should first kill their own subjects before doing it in other fiefs, he thought so sarcastically.
'I will need cement... I guess?'
When reading the schematics of miniature Gandalf, he described how they used old-school cement, which was much harder to make, for the blocks under the rails. Alexander would simply buy out the one Bartholomew made with his recipe since it would be very cheap.
'Okay... so... I guess it's time for my specialization... I think?'
Alexander was cautious now since it was far from his expertise and that trains could seriously endanger someone innocent. Before testing his versions of the enchantment, he wanted to ensure that he had thought of everything. Nevertheless, the second pigeon also suffocated, with him seeing absolutely no problems.
With that out of the way, Alexander walked to the thin metal plates lying on the floor, which he needed to assemble and engrave. It was a much easier process, in a theoretical sense, than most thought.
The construct, derived from the same spell, would be engraved into the material. It didn't need to be a deep engraving since the mana would flow through it either way, being drawn by the material. However, the deeper the engraving, the longer it would be durable, but one-time-use items usually had a very superficial one, not needing anything fancy.
Furthermore, the energy source was in a socket, usually just a mana gem or stone. The construct was usually connected to the socket, and one only needed to push the mana inside the energy source slightly for it to move. Afterward, everything would happen almost automatically.
Mana in itself was an exciting subject. Individuals and objects' mana particles had firm inner bonds as if every mana source was unique. While interesting, what was important in a practical sense was that they had a bizarre state of aggregation by being gaseous while moving like a fluid and having the mentioned firm inner bonds of a solid.
Last but not least, around it would be a circle connected to the construct, representing the chant, simply called a chant circle. It was a literal engraved circle with differently deep imprints to imitate the chant.
From spell theory, it was described that the chants weren't ways to talk to Orbis or Mana to activate a spell, but to use sounds to make the mana move in a certain way inside a construct to activate it as a whole and with that, the required effect.
Even though chants were made of words and made some sense when spoken, they were only written like that to be remembered by the magician more easily. If one wanted to try, one could activate the construct with the specific sounds either by mouth or through contraptions that created those sounds.
However, Alexander barely did it. Since no one else could, he did not want to stand out, making it seem overly complicated. To make it look more appealing, he also specifically spoke much slower when chanting on a day-to-day basis, so everyone who would see him use magic would see it as simply a tool and forget the mysticism surrounding it.
Alexander wanted to do the same with the little engine he was imagining. He wished to improve everyone's ability to move from place to place and build those much more easily. For this, he had his modified propulsion spell.
Standing before the metal plates, he was curious since he was about to test something. Knowing Manullium's traits in being the mana-repellent metal, he was curious if he could develop a novel kind of enchantment.
'Hm, I guess... worth a try.'
With another handwave, all those thin pieces of silvery Manullium with a blue hue floated toward him, bending and stretching as he conjured multiple fireballs and waterballs. Metallic tools floated around, sparks flying as he welded the metallic plates.
If Alexander was honest, it was easy. Manullium, as a metal, had little heat resistance and was very malleable, something he found perfect for his little test but a terrible choice for anti-magic weapons or armor.
After over an hour, he finished and proudly watched as his creation floated before him, in all its glory, looking like the T1000 after being pulled out of the lava.
'Junk.'
Alexander attempted to create something that would allow him to avoid engravings, as otherwise, if he and all those other Guard Households also needed to buy expensive metals, the project would become less appealing immediately.
His solution looked terrible, but theoretically, it should work. Nothing spoke against inventions, and his way was to make them as easy as possible for no-mana users. Engravings were usually meticulous work, with them needing to look precisely at every single curve and line, replicating the construct exactly, as otherwise, they would lose efficiency.
The mana needed to go through the engravings, and Alexander didn't understand why. Because of this, his attempt was floating before him, the jerry-rigged and modified propulsion spell made out of Manullium. A daring effort, indeed.
The two-by-two-meter (6.6 ft) physical representation of the construct was many pipes welded together. Alexander theoretically replicated every prerequisite for the spell to work, which he started to inspect in detail, wanting first to know if there were any faults besides its ugliness.
First and foremost, he changed the construct of the propulsion spell. Usually, the spell construct was far more complicated than what the giant trash of welded metal showed.
Its function would be to thrust in a single and precise attempt, perfect for using the earth bullet combination spell. To have such an instantaneous thrust, one must pressure the air and let it explode by command.
However, such a thing wasn't needed anymore, as it would run continuously at one speed, making it far more straightforward and efficient, with fewer nodes and bridges. It would constantly suck in air and blow it out to create a thrust, which would then push the train.
Funnily enough, he could even recreate the chant ring around the construct. It was a continuous pipe connected at two places with the spell construct. He used indents instead of grooves for the sounds, replicating the chant, which he needed to calculate as it would sound very different inside a pipe.
Second, he checked all the supplemental elements he added, fearing it wouldn't work otherwise. The socket for the mana stone became a bin for many of those, further away from the central construct. Since it was a much bigger construct, he theorized that it needed more mana, which he would supplement with the bucket.
Third and last, he had two smaller constructs. One was beside where the construct began, and one on the other side, where it would theoretically end. Mana absorption and emission would regulate the mana flow inside the pipes.
Were such add-ons in typical constructs common? No, but he thought they were needed because of the metal he used.
While others looked for a perfect material not to absorb mana, he thought repelling it would work similarly. All he had to do was, instead of having the mana run over the engraving, he could construct the engraving around the mana, making it run inside. Since it wouldn't be absorbed in any way, he had no worries about destroying any material.
However, it came with other drawbacks. Alexander used the small constructs, which absorbed and emitted mana, to create a cycle for a good reason. If he tried to push his mana into the pipes, the Manullium would repel it.
Worse, when it was halfway through, the repulse would suddenly force it to the outside, which meant it would probably activate faster when looking at a construct. Afterward, his other mana followed since it had those solid inner bonds.
In the worst case, the cycle would become a mess, with Alexander needing to fine-tune so much that it wouldn't be worth it or wouldn't work at all since he could easily forget something important.
Even though Alexander continuously heard his skills leveling up, he still was very much clueless. After presumably ten levels, he could now see mistakes and ascertain the functionality and flaws much easier, but it was in his mind not enough, not even close to what he needed.
'All or nothing...'
With a couple of air contraptions, he let it hover sideways before him while trying to observe it meticulously to catch every flaw so he could change it later—that mess every steampunk enthusiast would love was now ready, with Alexander becoming slightly nervous.
With his mana, he activated the enchantment, with the mana being slowly sucked into the entrance pipe, but it immediately jammed at the entrance.
Alexander frowned, seeing his mistake immediately, 'Maybe wider pipes? But too big isn't good either, I think. Hm...'
Whatever made Manullium repel mana didn't have an infinite reach. If the pipes were wide enough, the mana could flow right through the middle, with the construct having a perfect mana flow without any push-and-pull factors from the absorption or repelling.
Alexander sighed. He had been feeling down since his first test failed, but he could already remedy what had caused him the most headache, 'Well, let's try... huh?!'
As the jammed mana became a glowing ball of dense, dangerous energy, it suddenly pushed through the entrance, sucking out all the other mana from the bucket, too, looking cartoonishly.
Alexander couldn't fathom why it accelerated the absorption and emission, but it finally worked. The air was sucked in and out at absurd speeds, with him needing to strain his mind to hold it in place.
With a broad smile, he looked at his creation, hearing a constant pinging, which he adored, as he possibly invented something great. He felt his ego swell to unimaginable sizes.
'The pigeons are alive and won against Deep Blue!'
However, this moment didn't last long, as he noticed something when the enchantment engine rattled and shook violently.
'Oh, Uh... I forgot the thermodynamics...'
The construct acted literally like a jet engine, which also meant that it heated up to a ridiculous degree. The usually silverish metal with a blue hue started to glow red, threatening to melt down, and the airflow and mana began to condense into a single ball of something very dangerous, getting stuck as the metal bent from the heat.
Alexander immediately flashed away multiple times as the construct heated up to a massive degree, with the mana reacting quite violently.
"Lili! Come on!"
His loyal part-time guard wasn't there, and he panicked, conjuring dozens of spells, like mana barrier, fire shield, and many contraptions around him, while looking around, hoping no one else was there.
BOOM!
After what seemed like seconds but felt like an eternity, the enchantment exploded, with parts of the metal flying around, getting stuck in walls, or breaking windows and furniture. Some parts also hit Alexander, but his multilayer barriers could easily block them.
After the smoke was gone, Alexander walked to where it exploded, looking at the mess and contemplating.
'Okay, wider pipes, no mana absorption and emission, and find a solution for getting too hot and exploding, killing others...' He nodded, satisfied with himself, '...a great first try!'
Like that, the night slowly ended, with the dawn kissing the young boy, and Melina, along with many other guards and servants who heard the explosion, quickly ran toward him. Little to say, he expected congratulations but got something else he should've expected.
...
Author's Note: Whoever is an engineer, I know that Alex did everything wrong he could. That's the joke. Also, the next chapter is the system window because I just couldn't force it into this chapter anymore. Sry^^
Also, don't forget! The next chapter is Thursday! :) Thanks for the continuous support, and trust me, you will not regret it as I have something really cool in the makings :)
