Steel and Mana

Chapter 13 – First Building Blocks

When we opened up the mines again and carved out the first blocks, I taught the people here how to use the pulleys we set up in the previous days. I decided to go with the safe route and lift out the smaller blocks like that, as the first job would be to start building a road. It would give a basic understanding of how it works, what to look out for, and a good training regime. Pump up their experience a little before we start building something more extensive.

What surprised me was how quickly they learned and adapted, and after a month or so, we had a stone road leading out from the mine to the main dirt road that was frequently used. Of course, it was not a perfect, modern road… but it was a start! While they were working on it, I also perfected the magic formations, worked on it tirelessly, and figured out what to add to it to turn it on and off without damaging it.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sasha asked as I was finishing up my modifications on the actual magic circles.

"I am. It is simple mathematics! Even if it is about magic, it follows laws, which I could infer by studying them! I just need a witch to start operating it, as I am useless when it comes to mana!"

"I wouldn't call you useless if you managed to decode something that nobody else could…"

"You just don't know people who could. I can't be the only one… anyway! Enough of rubbing my ego!" I laughed while grinning at her, "I would be much happier if you started rubbing something else!"

"Mhm? What?" She asked innocently, which in turn made me shrug. I don't know if she was serious or simply learned that I can't joke around if I feel I am abusing her innocence.

"Nothing! Instead, start focusing! Like how we trained!"

This time, I wasn't groping her buttocks... It made me a bit sad, but oh well! While working, I recalled all the old rumors of 'meditation' and 'gathering ki' from my old life. A bunch of nonsense gathered from books and shows… but as magic was real here, I thought it might work. And it did! Sasha quickly exclaimed while following my retelling of fantasy concepts; she felt weird, as if little bubbles were running through her body. She did not manage to cast a spell, but she did manage to summon her mana. Her body became a bit more glossy, like being oiled up, and her eyes were glowing in the color of fire. I don't know what it really meant, but it did work, and when standing close to the formation, it reacted at once, activating.

Now, with my modifications, the moment Sasha started to think about calmness and imagining a serene scenery, the magic circles picked up on it and followed suit, slowly powering down until they were dormant once more. I was already figuring out that mana had to work like some kind of wave or frequency or something similar along those lines. They can be tuned and attuned to a base frequency, from where they can be excited or calmed down. I still needed more information to get something concrete, but this was an excellent start!

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With it on, I ordered men at the bottom to place the first giant block of stone on it, pulling along with ropes tied to its side. It was too big to lift with any primitive pulley system we had set up here, but we didn't need that. The moment it touched the first formation at the bottom, it floated up like a balloon, no longer weighing anything. Our men just had to hold the ropes, lead it up, and follow the road and the active nodes until they arrived before us.

"Hah! This is pure awesomeness!" I laughed, clapping while many others were looking on with mouths wide open in pure wonder at what was happening.

"Magic is something else…" Sasha murmured, looking down at her hands, finally realizing that her talent was not a curse and not something terrible but instead a gift with great potential.

"It is!" I agreed, patting and rubbing her back, "People! Look out because it will leave the anti-gravity field in a few moments!" I shouted at the others, and soon enough, when it got an arm's reach from the central circle, the stone block fell to the ground with a loud thud. By my estimations, it had to be at least around a ton in weight, if not more… And it was floating like a piece of cloud a moment ago. Wonderful!

"What are we going to do with it?" Sasha asked me as I was rubbing my chin, wearing a big smile.

"I have multiple ideas about how to transport it… The first is very simple." I started explaining it, not minding that everyone else was listening in on it too, "I can etch the formation onto the block itself, and we can transport it that way! Or we can create tools for transporting, like a carriage that has the formation and generates the field itself, designed for ferrying stones back and forth!"

"The second one sounds more practical." She said only after a brief thinking.

"I also think so! For now, we are going to cut out similar blocks, expand the mine, and just keep bringing them up here! I want everyone to get used to how mining works, and we will continue to build the roads!" I clapped, and with that, everyone was getting back to work, including me, trying to design this world's first heavy-duty truck. And hopefully, this one won't roll over and kill me… again.

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My first prototype was ready in a month. Of course, it was not a real 'truck,' far from it. I took the platform of one without the many confusing elements, as it would be dragged by horses anyway. But I did improve the wheels, the suspension, how it turns, and all the little, important details so it would be more sturdy and more easily controlled. It was made out of wood, as we had that resource in abundance, and it made it easy for me to grab my tools and etch the magic formation onto it.

Aaaand… this was when I ran into the first big problem. Sasha could activate it, and my new glorified cart had achieved the desired result of producing an anti-gravity field. We could even load up four giant blocks of rock onto it, tie it down, and start dragging it around. All was good… right until it got far away from Sasha, and it simply turned off. The weight of the stones immediately crushed the whole thing, breaking it apart, scaring the horses, and causing minor chaos.

"Shit…" was the only thing I could say.

I had to realize there was more to the official magic circles than I first thought. Then I remembered how my basic book told about the crystals that mages use, helping them cast powerful magic. I wanted to investigate and see if our found formations had something to do with that… see if they have something like that in them. Maybe they were made with a tool or with a conduit of such properties, but I couldn't risk ruining them. My modifications alone were a significant risk, and now I felt lucky that I didn't screw it up. So… for now? I was stuck.

"Well, Sasha, I think it will be up to you to transfer the stones back and forth!" I shrugged while waiting for a new cart to be made so I could etch my magic circle onto it.

"It will help me train and improve my magic!" She answered, sounding fired up. I was happy to hear it and glad to see she was changing her mind. Maybe she was right! If she supplies the formation with mana, perhaps something will be triggered within her and… evolve? Who knows! Magic could be unpredictable, and I was hoping for some good results.

The first trip with the mined stones to the area where the majority of my people were clearing away the forest happened not long after my second prototype was completed. It took two days to get there, and it also showed me that building a road was instrumental. The moment we were off from the hastily built stone road, back on the dirt one… it was so uneven and filled with bumps that I was afraid that the stone blocks rocking back and forth would destroy my magic circle! Then we would have been stranded… Luckily, that didn't happen.

After arriving at our destination, I called for Oleg and explained to him that they would have to break the stones down and start building a road as soon as possible. I outlined it to him on the map, and if everything would go smoothly, we should have the first primary road towards the mine. While the others were amazed by the cart and by Sasha's gift, I took a walk around the now flat and empty space. I was honestly surprised at how quick they worked and managed to clear away the landscape. I had nothing but praising words leaving my mouth.

"Good… good! Very good!" I slapped Oleg's back, looking around with a grin, "While working on the road, I also want you to select people who show talent, who are functioning hard and doing their tasks precisely!"

"What are you planning, Young Lord?"

"Here!" I gave him multiple parchments with my drawings of the city's basic blueprints. "We will have to dig these trenches to the exact same parameters as I detailed them! They have to be the same in position and match my calculations! This is really important! For now, don't worry about it… but keep an eye out for those people while building the roads! I need to start selecting people who can then lead others and break them up into working groups. Start motivating them with food. The talented ones can get a bit more every time, okay? A bit more meat and whatnot!"

"Really…?" He asked, finding it weird, but he wouldn't go against me. I knew that meat was a bit rare in peasants' diets, but I was going to slowly switch that up.

"We still have some beast meat in the castle. Even you bulky bunch can't eat that much, so yes! Instead of letting it rot away, I already made a deal with Father. Some will be transferred here, and those who work hard and put in the extra effort will get to eat more of it! Simple! I will trust this to you, Oleg! So use it and motivate them! I want a selection of skilled workers so I can teach them easily!"

"You can trust me, Young Lord! I will not fail you! Um… can I ask what the purpose of this?" He asked, watching my plans. "Why will these holes be under the city?"

"This, my friends, is what will make it possible that water gets to every home and also brings the waste away! No more shitstains, no more stench! This will be a clean city, you will see!"