Chapter 338: Act 106 – Duke Toniger and the Young Lord (6) (Second Update, Where is Everyone’s Support?)
Beside them, Berun nodded at Brendel’s words.
“So, my lord, what idea did you come up with just now?” The Elder pulled out a pipe from his pocket, but upon seeing Brendel, he hesitated and put it back, recalling that this lord did not like the smell of smoke.
“What about that matter?” Brendel asked, changing the topic.
Berun was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly responded, “Are you referring to that item? We have already made over two hundred sets; the workshop has recently started operating at full capacity on this.”
He glanced back, “But the manpower is still insufficient. If I could expand the workshop to over a hundred people, then I could fully meet your lordship’s requirements.”
Two hundred sets; Brendel calculated that this was slightly below his expectations. However, it was unavoidable. Expanding the workshop to over a hundred people meant, first of all, there were not enough skilled workers available.
Even if there were that many blacksmiths, there wouldn’t be enough magical tools. Brendel didn’t even consider the time and cost involved in handcrafted armor.
He shook his head, “Master Berun, excluding other difficulties, just the Cold Fir Territory alone can’t support such a large workshop. Even if you include the Mintai region, it’s not feasible; there’s no iron, no coal—”
Brendel paused, suddenly shaking his head, “If only we could manufacture an elemental furnace.”
“Elemental furnace?” Berun raised his head sharply. Being in this business, he dealt with various kinds of furnaces, and although he hadn’t heard of this one, he could guess what it might be.
Brendel nodded; the elemental furnace could directly absorb the elemental fire from the air for smelting, which would be a significant reform in forging technology.
However, in the young man’s impression, the elemental fire furnace was probably invented twenty years later, by someone from Erluin.
It was just that he couldn’t quite remember the inventor’s name at the moment, as during the following twenty years, due to the surge of magical tides, many strong individuals emerged, resulting in countless inventions based on magical conduits that were far too difficult to remember all at once.
Moreover, these inventions had little to do with players, and Brendel wasn’t a lifestyle player in the past. He couldn’t help but think that if only his senior were here; she was an expert in this area.
However, he shook his head, dismissing this unrealistic fantasy, and instead tried to recall that the inventor of the elemental fire furnace seemed to be an elementalist from a noble family—whether they were from Anlek or Vieiro, he couldn’t remember clearly.
As he thought, he roughly explained the structure of that thing to Berun.
The Elder’s eyes lit up as he listened, “My lord, does such a thing really exist that doesn’t need coal? Or other fuels?” Berun’s face was glowing; he could imagine how significant that would be; just from an economic standpoint, it would save an immeasurable amount of expenses.
Not to mention, the flame produced by elemental fire was pure, unlike the typical oxidation reaction. The significance of using this method to remove impurities from metals was tantamount to a legendary artifact for an old blacksmith like him.
“Yes, I saw this in an ancient manuscript—” Brendel hesitated, instinctively replying, “I think it must be a lost technique of the Bud wizards.”
“Bud wizards’ techniques? My lord, the Bud wizards complete their forging through magical forging methods—” Metisa, who was beside them, rarely frowned at Brendel’s words, voicing her disagreement, though her tone remained gentle as always, “They shouldn’t be using furnaces, or has something changed in modern times?”
Brendel was taken aback; he immediately realized this was a slip of the tongue. In the past, without Metisa, he could have said whatever he wanted, but now this silver-blooded elven girl was well aware of the history of the Bud craftsmen and wizards.
He thought for a moment and finally found an excuse, “I’m not certain about that; after all, I only inherited the knowledge of the tower wizards.”
Metisa nodded, “However, concerning the thing my lord mentioned, I thought of a possibility; it seems similar to the Minren’s methods.” As she spoke, she looked at Brendel with her bright silver eyes, “Elemental forging methods had already been lost before the War of Saints. I think the manuscript my lord saw should be a description of the techniques of Bud wizards regarding their enemies—”
Upon hearing this explanation, Brendel couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. He was fortunate that this massive lie was somehow connected by Metisa; he couldn’t help but feel that it was blessed by Martha. He silently prayed and nodded, indicating it might indeed be so.
However, at this moment, Berun seemed to have finally returned from that dreamlike vision. He sighed and said, “Does my lord understand the structure of this furnace?”
Structure?
Brendel paused, thought for a moment, and looked at the Elder, stating, “The structure is quite simple; it wouldn’t be difficult to draw out—”
“Then why don’t we try?” Berun immediately got excited. For this Elder, the appeal of such an elemental furnace was enormous. He excitedly patted his chest and vowed, “My lord, I may lack other skills, but in the art of forging, I dare say no one in Erluin can match me. You might as well speak out; perhaps we really can recreate this thing!”
But Brendel shook his head, “It’s not that simple, Master Berun. Although the structure of the elemental furnace is simple, there are still a few challenges; the first is the magical core providing power and the magical conduction device; the second is how to collect the free fire elements in the air.”
“The third is how to convert these fire elements into a continuous flame.”
“The first challenge requires magical technology, the second challenge is a topic for elementalist studies, and the third challenge must be solved through alchemy. As for the structure of the furnace itself, I believe you, Master, can easily overcome.”
Brendel shook his head, “But what about the other issues? Can you solve them, Master?”
Berun was left speechless.
“Collecting free elements,” but Metisa spoke up, “is actually not a very difficult problem.”
“Oh?”
“Little girl, you know?” Berun jumped up, unable to contain his excitement, raising his voice; his loud tone drew the attention of many surrounding craftsmen and apprentices. The Elder’s face flushed, but he couldn’t help but ask again, “Then tell me, little girl, this thing is too important for us—”
Brendel shook his head, feeling that this furnace was nothing extraordinary, merely a furnace. Although it solved the fuel shortage problem—perhaps it would also enhance the refining of silver ore in Schafflund—but Toniger did not produce iron, which also condemned Berun’s expansion plan to failure.
In his plan, the Cold Fir Territory’s workshop expansion had to wait until his journey to Ampere Seale was over.
However, Brendel clearly did not anticipate that even the slightest expression of his inner thoughts didn’t escape Berun’s notice. The Elder immediately shifted the focus back to him, sternly reprimanding, “My lord, don’t underestimate this thing; it can save you a significant amount of money—”
“With this money, you can buy more iron ore, and I can also produce more weapons and armor for you, allowing you to gather a larger army—”
He paused, “Aren’t you interested in Princess? Without an army, it will be a problem for you to protect yourself; how can you support the princess?”
“Now the situation in the north is tightening day by day. I think the princess cannot wait for you to slowly grow until your wings are fully developed.”
Brendel felt his head ache as the blacksmith master began to ramble on, hastily nodding in response. However, upon hearing the mention of money, a light suddenly flashed in his mind, and he changed his initial perspective.
If Berun could see the significance of the elemental furnace, others must see it too. Not to mention the profound implications for the forging and refining industry, even miniaturizing it and selling it to the nobility would be a lucrative business.
Brendel had decades of insight; he of course knew this was a guaranteed profitable trade. He had originally been troubled about what goods to bring on his journey to Ampere Seale, but now it seemed a broad road lay ahead.
Thinking of this, he quickly nodded to interrupt Berun’s words, saying to Metisa, “Then you can tell Master about it, Metisa.”
Metisa smiled slightly, quietly replying, “Actually, it’s very simple; just use a magic array.”
“Magic array?”
Brendel frowned, “But releasing fire elements also requires a magic array. The absorbing and releasing magic arrays cannot be stacked together. Moreover, the absorbing array cannot bear too harsh conditions, unlike the release array that can withstand high temperatures…”
“If a reinforced array is used, it might affect the absorption of free elements.”
At this moment, although Brendel only had a few levels in alchemy, his past experiences in the game still helped him, and this basic knowledge was not difficult for him.
“Separate them then.”
“If we separate them, how will the elements be conducted?” Brendel knew that magical conduction was no longer a problem in current Vaunte, but conducting elements was another issue.
At least to date, he had not heard of anyone who could transfer elements through any means—aside from having an elementalist on hand—yet if an elemental furnace required a position of an elementalist for twenty-four hours, at least six to seven formal elementalists might be necessary.
This investment seemed somewhat not worth the return.
“My lord, don’t forget I’m a Silver Elf,” Metisa whispered.
Brendel was taken aback, but what did that have to do with being a Silver Elf?
“Little guy,” but at this moment, he suddenly heard Otales’ voice in his mind, “I’ve always wanted to ask, is that Silver Elf girl you’re with a member of the Elf royal family?”
…
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