Chapter 14
Leo knew the walls would be large when he saw them from afar, but he did not expect the walls to be at tall as they were. The towers above the gate allowed the guards to spot potential caravans and monsters from kilometers away on a good day. It helped that the city was situated on a hill with a massive cliff face on one side
While the two walked closer to the gate Leo saw most of the roads gradually converging into one road, one that led directly into the city. Not only did they all converge but they gradually thinned as well, almost ensuring that all parts of the road had their own section of travel.
Leo could only guess that this made entering and exiting the city simpler for caravans and merchant carts. After all, this made travel more efficient, and more efficiency meant more money moving in and out of the city.
Walking under the gate Leo saw the massive wooden doors locked in place against the inside of the wall. Able to swing in at a moment's notice and block all traffic in and out of the city.
"Wow," Maya said while scanning the city streets, "There's a lot more people here than I thought."
"Everything is much more tightly packed than I thought," Leo said while looking at the numerous buildings.
Each building was at least two stories tall with a narrow alleyway between each one. Meanwhile, the few buildings that were one-story had massive smokestacks towering above the room. He was fairly sure there would be sections of open space but that was a question for later.
The road had transitioned from a dirt path outside the city to a cobblestone path, one that made travel easier and less damaging on the wooden wheels of the carts. There were a few broken patches here and there but it did not seem like something impossible to fix.
Leo looked toward his sister, "Find food first?"
She nodded her head while staying focused on whatever was in front of her, "and water."
Leo could feel the tension coming from his sister, she did not trust anyone here. Rightfully so, everyone they had met up until now either wanted them dead or gone.
He felt similar to Maya, the people had to show they could be trusted. They may be away from monsters at this point but Leo still knew the dangers of humans. While they were less physical threats, they were just as dangerous.
The crowd of people mostly ignored the twins but here and there Leo heard a little comment, a side whisper. Mostly about the dirt covering them so it was partially warranted. Filth tends to draw attention.
Leo shook his head to clear his thoughts, he needed to stop justifying their actions. That's giving them a form of trust, making them seem less dangerous than they likely are. Maya had the right idea of being observant of each and every person. However, it was still a struggle to focus on so many people at once.
Before long the two had wandered into a massive square void of buildings. There were many stalls that held goods along with trade carts behind said stalls. Leo perked up once he saw the carts knowing immediately what it should have been.
The merchants' square. Where traders from across the continent sold their goods, likely even where they could find some delicacies from Sentora. However, more importantly, that meant they could get food.
It helped that the square was flooded with people. As they walked closer and closer the dull roar of everyone's voice grew louder. So many people walking around, so many carts with various goods. If this was back on earth then Leo would have no problem browsing every stall, however, things were different in this world.
"There has to be at least something here, something small we could take without someone noticing," Leo said quickly.
Maya raised her eyebrow at Leo before speaking out in confusion, "I never thought you would mention stealing. You really have changed."
Leo kept scanning the stalls as they walked, looking for anything edible, "It's not like we have another option, we don't have gold. Or do you really think someone's just going to give us food if we ask?"
"Oh I'm with you, I just didn't see you suggesting it." Maya said, "I know we have to fend for ourselves because I'm not selling this sword for money. I'm not letting someone get the jump on me."
Leo pulled some of the fabric on his dress and glanced down at the knife he tightly wrapped around his waist. While they were traveling he decided to find a way to hide his knife. It made for some hidden protection and prevented anyone from trying to steal it off him.
He had a way to protect himself, even if he did not properly know how to use it. There was no chance Leo would give it up, he refused to be defenseless, especially around this many people.
Maya nudged Leo's shoulder, "Up on the left, I think that stall has something."
Leo glanced at the said stall and saw a young man selling what he could only describe as dried meat to a few customers. A jerky of sorts made sense, preserved meat could sell for a good amount of money, especially considering that they ate mostly vegetables with Mother.
Most of the meat was behind the stall hanging from hooks on a wooden board. It was harder to see past the board considering how much space it took up, but Leo could not imagine much was behind it. The question now was how could they get to it.
"If we can actually get there it'll last us a while." Leo slowed his pace and tried to look around the edges of the stall.
The tarp overhead dangled more behind than in front, giving shade to the merchant but not the potential customer. Following the tarp, it dangled off the sides and created almost a curtain between the stalls next to it.
The other stalls nearby had the same general idea, a tarp hanging down forming essentially a curtain between them. When Leo walked closer he saw there was a small gap between the stalls that led out towards the merchant's wagon and another street.
He could only guess it was symmetrical on both sides. That way they could fit as many merchants in as possible and bring in as many goods as they could. Illiasburg as a whole would profit from it more that way. It made sense and the square being compact made everything easier for Leo.
"Alright this is doable," Leo said to Maya, "See the tarp falling down between the stalls?"
Maya nodded her head.
"You say on one side of the merchant and talk with him, ask him about the city or something, just draw his attention. Then I'll slide into the curtain and grab a few on the lower hooks and quickly get out."
Maya turned her head to look at the merchant before looking back at Leo and motioning for him to keep walking, "We don't know if anyone else is there. If it's more than him behind that stand then you'll get caught."
"Then we walk around to the other side and see if we can see more," Leo said.
Maya nodded her head and continued down the street, keeping an eye out for anything they might be able to eat.
While they walked Leo noticed that the number of people in the street kept increasing. He was still able to walk and stay close to Maya, but the people were starting to get uncomfortably close to him. Not only that but it was getting significantly harder to see the stalls as people kept blocking his view.
There were a few instances where he fell behind and Maya continued walking. He was surprised she was able to navigate the crowd that well. Almost like she had lived in a crowded city her whole life rather than a simple farming village.
After a few minutes, they reached the end of the row of stalls. He had noticed how large the square was from afar but standing within the square gave an entirely new perspective. It felt small, potentially only one-hundred meters wide.
When he looked back to get another view of the street, the bustling crowd that covered the whole street was now more stagnate than Leo had remembered. While they walked through he swore everyone was moving around constantly rushing, but now that he looked back. Everything about the street changed.
There was an opening in the middle of the street while the rest of the citizens stood at the stalls speaking with merchants. While there still was a fair number of people it was at the point where Leo doubted they could hide among the crowd.
"Are there less people here than before?" Leo asked his sister.
She gave him a confused look, "No? Nothing has changed. Still, the same as it was ten minutes ago."
"I could have sworn the whole street was flooded with people."
"No, we just walked through like normal. Are you okay Leo?" She finished with concern evident in her voice.
"Yea, I'm fine, just not remembering things right," Leo said.
"We'll you better snap out of it because we can't mess around," Maya said.
"You don't need to tell me, we haven't had room for mistakes why would that start now?"
The twins continued to the other side of the jerky stand. There was a side without stalls that gave way to larger buildings. He could only guess that they were either homes or permanent stores considering the district of the city.
After only a few minutes of walking the crowd seemed to grow again, only this time he was constantly getting bumped into by anyone who passed him. Throwing Leo off his footing and almost making him lose sight of Maya. Who once again maneuvered through the crowd with ease.
It eventually got to the point where she walked back to him and grabbed his hand to pull her brother along.
"Leo what is wrong with you!" She hissed quietly. "Are you trying to draw attention to yourself?"
"What do you mean!" Leo forced back, "I don't have the same training as you. I can't flow through the crowd like you can."
She grabbed him by the shoulders before slapping him across the face, "There. Is. No. Crowd. You just keep walking slower and slower before almost falling."
Leo shook his sister off him before lifting a hand up to feel his face.
Her slap did not sting and he hardly felt it, but it was enough to break his trance. The crowd around him disappeared in an instant. One moment there was a crowd trying to force the two apart, the next, an empty street. The few citizens who passed by gave them an odd look before continuing on their path.
"What," Leo said astonished, "Where did everyone go?"
Maya sighed, "I had to clear your head somehow because I know you aren't able to do it yourself."
"No no no, you don't understand Maya," Leo said, "Everyone vanished in the blink of an eye. That doesn't just happen, something's not right."
"Now you're just thinking too much, if we're fast and careful we can pull it off. Hell, it was your idea to begin with, why are you backing out now? We need to go through with this unless you have another idea that will get us food."
Leo felt a chill travel down his spine. He knew it was not from Maya because she had a point, this must have been something else entirely.
"We're being watched," Leo said slowly, "We have to be. I'm not going crazy I swear."
"If you think that someone is watching two teens walk around the market, then you are going crazy Leo.
He felt another chill go down his spine before his instincts screamed for him to move. Following them he sprinted to the right for a second before turning back and seeing the clearly concerned look on Maya's face.
However, that was not what he focused on. Rather he focused on the giant of a man standing behind him. His hair held light strands of grey that flowed down to his neck and his short beard was almost blackened in clear contrast to his hair.
"You know lad," He spoke with a deep chuckle before putting a hand on Maya's shoulder. One she promptly brushed away.
"It's not often you see two people walking around in ruined dresses. Even less often when one's a boy."
Maya dashed next to Leo before she pulled the sword out and brandished it toward the strange man.
Leo drew his dagger and pointed it at the man, he held it so tight his hands began to tremble. The rest of his body remained tight and motionless while his eyes were fixated on the towering figure.
"Now now let's draw conclusions," The man said, "You'll make a scene and we won't have any privacy."
"You're the one who's drawing conclusions," Leo said.
Leo watched the man's lips move and a faint brown glow appear in his hands. A glow that disappeared just as quickly as he noticed it. The man waved his hands in a dismissive gesture before taking a few steps toward them.
"I'm simply a concerned citizen," he said, "someone concerned with the well-being of two clearly malnourished children. Two children who were about to be in way over their heads."
He took another step toward the twins and Leo watched Maya twitch. Not half a second later she dashed toward the man ready to strike.
Following her lead, Leo dashed to the other side in an attempt to confuse the man. Maybe if he was able to draw his attention they could find somewhere to hide in the city and avoid the attention of the guards.
The man sighed before loosely planting his feet on the ground, "And now you make a scene of it."
Maya ran toward the man before cutting in closer and taking a swing at his leg while she passed by.
Leo who was a step behind her mirrored the attack and reached toward his hip. Hoping to strike somewhere that could deal some damage.
The man took a step back faster than Leo had ever seen a human move. Green sparks shone at his feet in the process. A detail that vanished faster than he could blink.
He managed to dodge Leo's slash effortlessly while hardly looking in the teen's direction. In the same instant, he reached his hands down and grasped Maya's sword by the blade. Pulling up he lifted the sword out of her hands in an action that she almost certainly did not expect.
Leo stumbled to regain his balance, still confused by the strange lights that break his concentration. Once he turned around he saw Maya swinging her empty fists at the stranger's legs.
He raised his dagger again and charged at the man.
Only for the man to take a slower step and pluck the dagger from his hand as well.
Leo heard the man wince after picking up his dagger, carefully moving it so his other hand could grab the handle rather than the blade itself.
Maya continued to slam her fists into his legs and lower abdomen to no reaction from the giant.
"Seems I haven't lost my eye for enchanted items," The man looked down at the twins, "If you're done making a scene and wish to use these again. I suggest you come with me for a meal."
Maya slowed down her strikes, Leo could not tell if her exhaustion was creeping up on her or the promise of food made her think for a second. Soon enough she stopped moving and looked up at the man.
"How do we know you won't just kill us there so you don't have witnesses," Leo said.
"You don't," he replied casually "or would you rather talk to the guards about this little predicament."
Leo turned around and saw the small crowd that had gathered. There were at least twenty people watching the ordeal. Some were chuckling and others were indifferent and he was fairly sure one of the guards would be there in about a minute or two.
He turned to Maya and nodded his head. They did not have any other options. Getting kicked out of the city now would be a death sentence. Granted he could not confirm that this was not one either, but he would rather take his chances with the known threat than an unknown one.
The home they entered was significantly more spacious than Leo had expected. The windows were small and had a few potted plants on each of the ledges. There was a large table with small cracks on the edges that was surrounded on all sides by chairs.
Leo saw three doors that he assumed led to bedrooms. All the doors were closed yet one door was severely worn down. It was littered with black marks as if someone held a torch to it in an attempt to see if it would catch fire.
With each step he took inside another wooden board creaked below him, some louder than others. When they all were inside the door closed on its own without making a sound. One thing Leo noticed was that the door did not just close silently, it did not make any noise whatsoever, as if the door simply vanished.
The man placed the weapons on his table before turning toward a counter with several racks of meat. He grabbed two strips and handed one to each of the twins.
"Dried pork," He said before sitting in one of the chairs, "If you don't eat it's your loss, but it is similar to what you were about to steal if that eases your mind at all."
Leo held the pork in his hands before looking at Maya. He could tell she had a similar fear, what did this man want from them? Why were they not dead or in jail?
She looked down at the pork before taking a small bite. Leo followed the action, they were not dead yet so the man clearly had something to gain. At this point, they might as well take the chance and find out. Maybe he or Maya could think of a plan to get out of here before then.
"Seeing as neither of you will ask the obvious question I'll just tell you," The man said, "My name is Galen, Happiness Village is the only place in the world that still abides by the cross-dressing fallacy."
He leaned forward resting his hand on his chin, "You two are clearly on the run from something and I have a sneaking suspicion it comes from the wildfire. So answer me this, what accident set Happiness Village ablaze and why aren't there more of you?"
Leo finished his bite before speaking, "The harpies destroyed the village."
"I'm going to need more detail than that lad," He said, "You're leaving something out."
Leo scowled before speaking again, "The harpies sent their soldiers to kill us and we fought back as best we could. When buildings get destroyed fire tends to spread, especially when it's built next to a forest, which caught fire."
"You're not answering the question lad."
"The harpies wanted us dead. We tried to escape the swarm, but it got chaotic and something caught fire in the chaos. I don't know anything else!"
Galen sighed and shook his head, "You should know better than to say a blatant lie to a mage. That's beside the fact you still haven't answered the full question."
Leo clenched his fists, "What more do you want? I answered the question!"
"Maybe I wasn't clear lad," Galen said, "I want to know the accident, and where the rest of your village is."
"I don't know the full 'accident' aside from a flaming harpy landing in front of me," Leo hissed, "and the rest of the village is probably dead, either burned in the flames or massacred by the swarm of harpies. We were the only two this far ahead of the flames."
Galen raised his hands in the air, "Finally! Was that so hard? You just had to answer the question asked."
Maya spoke up this time, "It's hard to live through that once. It's not easy to live through it again."
"And the lass speaks!" Galen cheered, "I thought the fire of rage inside you had left you mute."
He grabbed Maya's sword by the blade and held it out to her, "Perhaps holding your sword would calm you down?"
Not wasting a second she snatched it from his hands and immediately placed it by her side. Leo swore she was holding onto the sword harder now than when they were fighting for their lives. He doubted anything short of severing her hand would make her let go of the sword.
"How di- How are you not bleeding?" Leo stammered, "That sword was razor sharp and you just picked it up from the blade again."
He did not put much thought into the first time it happened. Leo thought he had missed the blood falling from Galen's hand but he had not missed it because there was no blood to begin with.
Maya quickly inspected her sword in what Leo assumed was to make sure her sword was still sharp. When she quickly put the sword back at her side he knew it was perfectly fine, Galen had not done anything to the sword. Even if they watched him the whole time they could have missed something.
"That's earth magic," Galen said, "Specifically personal enhancement, it's more advanced than the simple movement of sand and fortification of objects. But with enough practice, both of you should be able to do it."
"We could make our skin resistant to swords and claws," Maya said widening her eyes, "That's our chance to get back at the harpies."
"That is if there are many of the harpies left after this fire dissipates," Galen said.
"Something as simple as a fire won't be enough to wipe the harpies off the map," Leo said.
"I never said wipe them out," Galen said, "Wiping them out would take a significantly larger force than human incompetence. Even with how dangerous that is."
"But it is possible with that earth magic," Maya said, "they rely on sharpened claws to fight. We deal with that and we can deal with any harpy that comes our way."
Galen leaned back in his chair and hummed before responding, "Your brother could, but your mentality does not suit earth magic. It's the same reason why many warriors can't. They let their emotions guide them."
"I don't let my emotions tell me what to do!" Maya said.
Leo scratched his head and looked over at Maya while Galen laughed.
"Case and point lass," Galen said recovering himself, "You would be more suited to fire magic, potentially even water if you manage to gain some control of your emotions."
Leo nodded his head in understanding but when he looked over to Maya she seemed lost. The topic must have gone over her head or she simply did not care about the other forms of magic. Almost tunnel visioning on earth magic and its potential.
"Why are you telling us this," Leo said.
"Lad, you two have the same magical potential that I saw in my brother before he went off to kill the Monster Lord," Galen said, "and last I heard the Monster Lord was Alipheese the sixteenth, not Alipheese the fifteenth that I grew up fearing."
Leo widened his eyes slightly before a smile appeared on his face. There was a way he could get stronger. This was his chance to actually fight for what he wanted, rather than having the will of others forced on him.
"What will it take for you to teach us," Leo said quickly.
"Why should we trust you?" Maya said immediately after.
"Enthusiasm and skepticism," Galen said, "It's good you both have it. You need that to survive outside of city walls, especially on Sentora. As for why you should trust me, I hope that the food was enough to start, and passing down my knowledge will be enough in the future."
Maya leaned over and whispered to Leo, "He's hiding something."
Leo whispered back, "I don't know, but I have to take this chance to get stronger. So I can fight with you."
"Another thing about magic," Galen said, "If you are adept enough at wind magic you can hear even the quietest sounds if you try. But for your information, I am not hiding anything from you."
Galen gestured toward two of the chairs across from him.
"Make yourselves comfortable, you'll grow stiff if you keep standing there. I hope I have shown that I at least don't mean you any harm."
The twins walked over and took their seats. Upon sitting down Leo reached for his dagger for the chance at some protection in case everything went south.
"Where did you get that dagger lad," Galen asked.
"It was something my mom gave me," Leo said, "Something to keep me safe."
"Well lad, she gave one fine piece of weaponry. Both in craftsmanship and enchantment," Galen said.
"You said that before," Leo said, "Can you tell the enchantment on it?"
"Not directly, but the power coming from it tells me it has been reinforced and magically sharpened hundreds of times over. I would not be surprised if Salamander herself blessed this weapon."
"Salamander?" Maya asked.
"Sometimes I forget most people do not know about the spirits," Galen said, "There is Sylph the wind spirit, Gnome the earth spirit, Undine the water spirit, and Salamander the fire spirit. They are the basis for all magic in the world that humans can control."
"Meanwhile the monsters only have their element," Leo said.
"Oh," Galen said, a smile forming on his lips, "So you do know something about magic. That may explain the interest then."
"Our father was a mage," Leo said, "I was told magical ability could be genetic so I'm not wasting this opportunity. If you're willing to teach us then I'm willing to learn.
Leo was willing to give some information to make himself believable. But under no circumstance was he going to tell this man he was held captive in Harpy village. Especially not that Queen Sybil herself tried to tutor him. The last thing Leo needed was him having a reason to not teach him.
"It's no wonder that earth is your strongest element," Galen said, "You speak with resolve rather than passion, that will take you far lad. So long as you don't lose yourself like Merlin did."
Leo could only hope that Maya was willing to learn alongside him. If anything he knew from fantasy novels and games was true, then magic would be a game changer. He could do what Adrian did, protect and guide his family.
Maybe he could even find a way to save humanity while he was at it.
The twins stayed the next few nights at Galen's home. From what Leo understood he would be living there for the foreseeable future. He just had to keep Maya under control to ensure they still had a roof over their head.
Galen seemed nice enough and he had yet to give Leo a reason to not trust him. Maybe, just maybe he was one of the good humans.
Meanwhile, Maya wanted to go out and fight the harpies with every new piece of knowledge. She had a goal and he could not blame her, but they were not ready. Not even remotely close.
They were still kids physically and that would not help them in a fight. Both the lack of height and the lack of strength would be their downfall. Any human would typically be able to overpower them, forcing the twins to rely on their skills. That's not even including the monsters who were in an entire other league.
They needed time to train and grow. As much as Maya wanted to say she was an expert swordswoman, she was not. Although she was significantly more skilled than a standard human, she was not good enough to take on expert monsters alone.
Leo had the suspicion that her prowess in Happiness Village was due to Lydia and mother taking the brunt of the attacks. Maya had to watch several angles but not every possible one. She was good, but not as good as she thinks.
Regardless of how good she actually was she could still improve. Especially by adding some magic into her arsenal. It would only make her more dangerous to monsters.
The twins walked around the town the next morning to get more of an understanding of what was in Iliasburg. Not only this but Leo had a feeling there was more to Mother's dagger than Galen was letting on. Any more information he could get on it the better. The last thing he needs is his mother's adventures coming back to haunt him.
Leo could believe it was enchanted, that made sense to him. What still confused him was the lack of explanation on the engravings. Either they were the markings that made the enchantment or it was something historical. He simply had to know and it would drive him crazy only knowing part of it.
"Let's check that massive building past the merchant square," Maya said.
From where Leo was standing he could only see the top of it. However, considering that he had to look over two-story buildings to see the top it was certainly the largest building in the city.
"It's probably the mayor's building but let's see," Leo said.
When the building came into view Leo's mouth dropped. It was at least three times the size of a standard two-story building. While it was still made of wood, there were detailed designs on the doors and around the windows. It was all covered in glistening white paint that reflected the sun onto the streets.
On top of the main entrance, there was a sign that read "Sutherland Inn." Even around the sign, there were intricate designs carved into the building. The building curved slightly in an attempt to funnel every possible visitor into the entrance.
"I was not expecting an Inn," Leo said.
"That's not an Inn," Maya said slowly, "I refuse to believe that's an Inn. Someone has to have this place all to themselves."
Everyone who walked past the Inn always took time to look at the building. Certainly admiring the architecture that Leo had yet to see since coming to this world.
This was the wealth that was at the heart of Illiasburg, it was a lot more than he thought. The capital of human settlements on the Illias continent, there was no other location that could hold this safely away from the monsters.
Leo would understand if some stronger monsters came to this continent with the purpose of attempting to live in this building. The travel, the hardship, it would all be worth it. That was the impression he got from this building.
"I can't stay around here for long because I'll watch the building all day," Leo said, "let's keep looking around."
Maya nodded her head while walking to follow her brother. Every other step she took Maya glanced back toward the building to steal another look. As if the building would vanish the second she walked away.
Further down the street, Leo saw a low-lying building made of stone bricks. A massive chimney released smoke into the air and a glow of red came into Leo's view with each step.
Next to it was an absolutely massive building with a stone tower that reached high into the sky. There were several lines dug into the ground and what Leo could only assume was a faucet coming from the massive tower. He could be wrong, but that was probably a smelter of sorts.
When they were closer Leo could hear the distinct sound of a hammer crashing against metal. There was a lack of chatter and several citizens walked on the opposite side of the street, as if avoid the blacksmith entirely.
Leo nudged Maya and pointed toward the store. Taking the hint she started to walk toward the smith, following next to her brother.
When they got closer the blacksmith did not even notice them until they were right outside the store. His blond hair was kept short, likely to prevent it from catching fire in the forge. The blacksmith's muscles were clearly evident, even with the difference in muscle tone between his arms and legs. It was clear that he was not a man you wanted to get physical with.
The man called out without looking up at them, "What can I do for you?"
"I wasn't sure who to go to, but had a feeling a blacksmith might know," Leo said before pulling out the dagger, "any idea what this engraving means?"
The blacksmith slowly got up from his chair before stretching his back and arms. When he was done he reached out for the dagger.
"It's the engraving on the handle and pommel," Leo said.
The man ran his fingers across the handle before turning it on its side and looking at the blade itself. Hesitating for a second, he ran his finger across the blade before immediately lifting his hand away. Blood slowly dripped from his hand.
The smith stuck his non-bleeding hand toward Leo, "What's your name kid, not many people are able to come across a dagger made by dragonkin."
Leo accepted the gesture and shook his man, "I'm Leo and she's Maya, but this was our mother's dagger. I just want to know if there's any history behind it."
"Torfi," The man said before letting go and handing the dagger back, "The design doesn't have much behind it. Aside from the fact it was made by a dragonkin, for a dragonkin."
Leo remembered what they were, for the most part, his lessons from Queen Sybil on the major races kept paying off. But that still leaves more questions about Mother, who did she kill for this dagger? What destruction was caused by this fight?
"The blade on the other hand does have some history," Torfi said, "This is refined dragon steel, only made in gold volcano home to the strongest dragons. This isn't just high quality, this is the highest quality you could possibly find."
Made only in gold volcano, something about that stuck out to Leo. He could understand if the dragons had their own sacred way of making weapons but only getting this material from gold volcano. There must have been something magical about that place. Maybe even Salamander's influence.
"Have you tried to make something like this before?" Leo asked.
"Have I?" Torfi said, "Kid, every smith worth their salt has tried to recreate dragon steel. The closest anyone's got was a smith in Grand Noah, and she could only make steel that was slightly harder than standard."
"I'm just debating if magic has a role in making that," Leo said, "If it's really as good as you say then I'm surprised people haven't reforged it into other things."
"I've reforged it before," Torfi said, "But each time it only comes out as steel, the material changes at some point in the middle of heating it up."
It must have been magic then, something about how the dragonkin made it. They might infuse it with some magical entity that Leo could not think of or potentially it's something in their breath that changes it.
"While you're here you might as well take a look at this," Torfi said before walking back to a pile of metal bars behind the forge itself. There was a separate stack from what Leo assumed was iron, it was significantly smaller and looked similar to silver. He came back with one bar and handed it to Leo.
"Silver?" Leo asked before reaching to accept the bar in his hands.
"That's what I thought at first when this lady gave it to me," Torfi said, "But she insisted it was something called manganese. She was really creepy overall, dressed weirdly, and talked ever weirder. Just asked me to show it to people who come by. I said why not, I'm not losing anything for it."
Leo stumbled at the mention of manganese before dropping the ingot and reaching for his head. Pain radiated through his body as images flashed before his eyes.
One image of pink dust slowly transformed into another image of metal machines and white liquid flowing from them. The liquid had a clear haze floating above it and the sound of sizzling was constant. There was a rhythmic crashing that he could only assume was metal colliding with metal.
Another image flashed showing him a metal drum that was held up by metal bars on the side. There was an extension on the top which bent down at an angle, not a second later the same white liquid from before came flowing out of the extension.
The instant the metal dropped Torfi moved forward and kicked the metal away from Leo. It collided with the edge of the forge sending dust particles into the air where it hit.
"Son of a bitch, I'll kill that lady," Torfi swore.
"Leo!" Maya yelled before grabbing her brother and pulling him back away from the forge. His legs dragged below him as no matter how hard he tried he could not break away from the vision.
Another vision flashed into his eyes. The same metal bar that he just touched was placed into a separate metal drum. Time accelerated and the metal melted in front of him before mixing with a different liquid, this one was a bright red rather than a piercing white.
Not wasting a second Torfi ran well past the smithing area and returned with a bucket. Water splashed from side to side as he failed to keep the bucket steady in his haste. Torfi continued rushing forward until he was within a meter of Leo. He tilted the bucket down and launched the water at Leo before Maya could move out of the way.
The water was freezing on his skin as if the water had been nothing but ice only moments ago. The sudden splash forced Leo out of his vision and he looked forward to see a clearly concerned Torfi.
Maya leaned down and came into Leo's vision, "Are you okay Leo?"
He needed to write that down, that information was world-changing. Those visions were memories of his time on earth when he visited a steel mill so many years ago. Back when he was learning how they manufactured steel itself and cast it into the shapes and sizes desired.
The general process of making high-quality steel is something this world has never seen before. Something that would change humanity's fate. This vision if he could get it down fast enough would allow humanity to skyrocket into an industrial revolution and out of this medieval age.
"Paper," Leo said jittery. His hands were shaking either from the sense of urgency the vision gave him or the freezing cold water. Leo did not know and frankly, it did not matter, this needed to be written down now.
"I need paper and ink, right fucking now."
Torfi waved his hand signaling Leo to follow him and started jogging inside the main shop.
Not wasting a second Leo followed quickly behind. Maya took a second to shake some of the water off her arms before following as well.
Torfi pulled a large sheet from a cabinet in the wall and then reached for a small vial and quill. Placing it down on a large table in the center of the shop.
Snatching the quill Leo started drawing before he could comprehend what he was doing. The basis of the metal drum and the two pipes running into it were the first things on the page. He sketched arrows into these pipes marking a small 'air' next to them.
The next arrow drawn was marking the side of the metal drum labeled 'lime'. Small blocks were drawn at the bottom of the drum and another arrow designated these as 'mang.'
Torfi walked to the other side of the table and pulled the paper out more. Likely so he could get a better view of what Leo was drawing. Maya looked from another angle which would give her a different view of the paper compared to Torfi.
The next image drawn was a small box with a faucet. Several quick lines were drawn in Leo's attempt at explaining a fluid, before marking that with another arrow labeled 'M-iron.'
He shifted over to another section of the paper before drawing the same design on its side without the labels. Giving Leo more space to mark what he needed to put down on the page.
Leo drew two small boxes below the faucet part of the machine and labeled one as 'slag' and another as 'Mang-steel.' The next lines he drew were inside the drum, one horizontal line separated the two labels. The top one was labeled 'slag' and the bottom one was labeled 'mang-steel.'
He hovered the quill over the 'mang' marking and drew a percentage symbol. Leo place the quill on the paper before stopping, his hand slowly pressing harder and harder onto the paper before he dropped the quill and screamed out in anguish.
The vision stopped but he could not remember any of the numbers. The one thing he truly needed he did not get. Without those numbers and percentages then it would be constant trial and error, years of it even.
Torfi slapped the pen away from Leo before picking him up and placing him in a chair.
He turned his head toward Maya, "Your brother just had a holy revelation, I've seen it once before and it's a sign of bad things to come, especially when it lasts too long. Ilias knows something and this was her way of telling us."
No, that was not right. Leo knew that was not right. There was no possible way that Ilias could have known about this steel process, it's too advanced for anyone in this world. Hell, even when he was at the steel mill researching the Bessemer process for his degree it hardly made sense to him.
But these visions, they were straight out of his memory. These were things he experienced and forgot he had until now. Until Torfi brought up the manganese. The solid metal Leo saw was manganese. They mixed it in with the molten iron to make a steel alloy stronger than normal steel.
Was it more expensive, probably, but Leo had no idea how common it was in this world. He doubted anyone knew what it actually was, and if they did they might mistake it for a discolored silver.
However, on the off chance that they could find a source of this metal. Then they could produce enough of this steel to make better farm equipment for everyone, produce more food, spike the population, and start a full-scale industrial revolution
That was how they could take out the monsters. That was how they could get back at the harpies en masse, technology. Not to mention, combining this with the knowledge of magic, who knows what they could make to fight back the monsters.
Maya placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him, "Leo what did you see? What did you draw? What did Illias show you!"
She did not show him anything. That's what he wanted to say. But he knew the second that came out his credibility would drop. Now was his time to use the human faith for his own benefit.
"It's how we win the war," Leo said slowly.
Torfi looked back toward the paper Leo had drawn on, "Explain while it's still fresh."
"How much steel can you make at once, the most you've tried to make in one batch," Leo said.
Torfi continued studying the sketch, "Enough to make a full set of armor, I've tried to never use more than I need."
Leo sighed, this was going to be a harder start than he thought, "If we make this correctly, we can make literal tons of steel in one batch. Plus if we add the right amount of manganese it'll be stronger than the steel you can make."
"That's ridiculous," Torfi said softly, "I don't even know where we would store that much steel."
He slowly stood up and walked back over to the paper ignoring Torfi's comment, "We coat the edge of the drum in limestone, fill it with molten iron, then mix in the right amount of manganese."
Leo pointed to the tilted drawing, "When it burns for long enough the fire changes color. That's when we pour out the slag and separate it from the steel."
"If this is what Illias showed you then I'll believe you," Torfi said, "I don't have another choice."
Leo looked up at him and gripped the table in an attempt to control some of his shaking, "I don't know any of the proportions, but that's what we have to figure out. We start small and scale it up."
Maya smiled at her brother, it was a genuine one that he had not seen in a long, long time. Not since they were kids. She was not even this happy when he returned to them in Happiness Village.
"Did she show you where we could find more of the manganese metal?" Maya asked.
Leo shook his head, "No, but with the network of merchants in this city we can absolutely find more. Around gold volcano might be an option, it might even be around the Irina mountains."
"We need to work out some finer details of this machine while you still remember the visions," Torfi said.
Leo grabbed the quill off the ground and started hovering over the design, hoping to make it as legible and understandable as possible. "Let's get started then."
A few months passed before they managed to assemble a small prototype. Small being not even a meter tall. It was minuscule in comparison to his forge, let alone the blast furnace they used to smelt iron from ore.
Galen had helped Leo with designing a magical bellows. They used wind magic to pull air from outside the pipe and force it into burning coals that heated the air. The pipes had to be significantly longer than Leo would have liked but Magitech as he understood it did not really exist at the scale he wanted.
It did not help his case that they were essentially trying to jump forward several eras of human history. They did not even have electricity to help tilt the steel converter so that severely limited the size of the final machine.
They were able to heat the device to high enough temperatures to ensure the molten iron stayed molten. Not only this but the fact that the manganese melted at a lower temperature than the iron saved a lot of potential headaches. It meant more effort could be put into ensuring that the iron stayed molten.
Galen had joined in on the adventure of developing this new technology. Leo had a feeling it was to sate his curiosity but he continued to claim it was because he needed to watch over his new apprentices. Regardless of the reason his help was invaluable.
Torfi sat down at a small desk he brought outside marking down as much as he possibly could.
"So let me get this straight," Torfi said, "we're putting in ten bars of iron and only one bar of manganese."
"That's what Leo said," Maya said, "We've been over this about forty times."
"I'm still worried we might have too much, every time I've mixed iron this much it comes out brittle," He said.
"Have faith in the lad," Galen said, "We have the design and we're trying something entirely different to what you know. It's a whole world of new possibilities."
Torfi reached his hands up to his head and started to pull on his hair. He quickly wrote down a few numbers before placing the quill on the desk and standing up.
"Fuck it, we still have people looking for manganese." Torfi said, "We'll find more eventually."
Leo walked out from behind the towering blast furnace. His hands were coated black and he held a small black lump that only a keen eye could tell was there. The substance had completely covered his hand to the point they were indistinguishable.
"Loaded the furnace up with charcoal," Leo called out, "waiting on Torfi to put the ore in."
The man in question walked over and began to pull chunks of beaten rock off the ground and walked them over to the furnace door. Soon enough most of the pile was gone and all that remained were a few stragglers and tiny chunks of stone.
Torfi closed the hatch and walked up a flight of stairs to the top of the machine. He poured several baskets of charcoal through the roof until he was satisfied with the amount. Leo had a feeling they could always put more in if needed.
"Now we wait for it to melt, that ore will get us the ten bars we need," Torfi said after wiping his forehead.
A couple of hours passed and before long they were ready to start pouring the molten metal into the converter. The manganese bar was already in the converter and Torfi and Maya had moved the device closer to the blast furnace. All the while Leo moved the faucet to the top of the furnace.
"I'm telling you it's going to come out brittle as hell," Torfi said.
Maya glanced at Torfi, "Will you shut up about it being brittle already."
Torfi raised his hands and rolled his eyes, "Sure you're the expert. I must have missed you explaining your thirty years of experience."
Leo looked at Galen and saw the old man chuckling up a storm. Those two were ridiculous. Torfi's concerns were justified and Maya just did not want to admit it.
He shook his head and walked over to one of the bellows. Placing his hand on the edge of the pipe he sighed and began to brace himself.
"Remember what I told you, Leo," Galen called out from the other bellow, "Focus and call for Sylph. Ignore the constraints reality puts on you and let your mind be free. When the wind asks you to play, that's when you push the air."
He nodded his head. Wind magic relied a lot more on his emotions than he would have expected. Yet at the same time, it did not take as much energy as he thought. It was much more mental but he should have expected that. Part of him wondered what it would be like using the other elements.
Leo looked toward Torfi before nodding his head again, "Ready."
Torfi moved a latch and the metal quickly poured out. He jumped back likely from the heat of the furnace escaping toward him. Even from further away, he continued to watch the iron flow intently. Almost watching and waiting for something to go wrong.
The iron flowed into the steel converter and the machine slowly began to fill. Galen had already started to force air through the machine and a bright yellow glow formed at the top of the converter.
Leo followed suit and reached within the depth of his mind for the wind spirit.
"Sylph," He whispered, "Heed my call and let the wind fly free."
He felt a gust of wind slowly pick up underneath his hands. The feeling of the wind moving past his fingers reminded him of the days he would drive with his windows down. Feeling the free air flow against his arm as it rested outside his car.
Leo let the image of home soothe him. Remove the worries around him and relish in the present moment. It was a feeling of happiness that he rarely felt but one that reminded him of his childhood. The wanderlust and sense of adventure that filled him while growing up.
Before long he looked up and saw the flame had changed color. From a bright yellow to a more constant red, this was a sign something in the metal had changed.
"Galen stop!" Leo called out.
He felt the world around him come crashing back and he stumbled with his first few steps after breaking out of the trance. That pleasure could become addicting, he needed to stay more focused or Leo might lose himself to the wind.
Torfi did not wait for a signal as he pulled one of the metal chains that hung off the machine. It was far enough away so that he would not burn himself and it was close enough so that he had enough leverage to slowly pour the slag out.
The first pour was intended to go into an ingot cast. Torfi wanted to see how this slag was different from what he normally worked with. So rather than dumping it away in a waste bucket, he tried to collect it as best he could.
The black liquid slowly seeped out of the converter. The pour was slow yet consistent, ensuring that the flow did not stop and that no steel was mixed in with the slag. Soon enough a hint of white metal was spotted and Torfi pushed the converter back into its upright position.
Maya, who had been standing back from the machine, slowly pulled a chain that was connected to the slag cast. Removing the waste material from the pouring range.
"Leo switch them out!" Torfi called urgently. Leo knew time was of the essence, every second wasted was a second the metal was cooling.
Running over to where Maya was at he grabbed a chain that was connected to another, much larger, ingot mold. He placed it in the same spot the slag mold was at before following the chain to a safe distance.
"Go ahead Torfi!" Leo called out.
Already ahead of Leo, Torfi began to pull the chain and drop the converter. A glowing white liquid poured from the converter. Dropping into the cast faster than the slag had. There were a few drops that spattered out of the mold but for the most part, the metal was contained.
The group switched out the large ingot mold four more times before they ran out of metal in the converter. It had cooled slower than Leo initially thought but at the same time, he expected it to cool in an instant. Mainly due to the temperature differences.
After another hour of waiting Torfi grabbed his hammer and broke apart the casts surrounding the metal.
"First up, the slag." He said before swinging the hammer down on the edges of the cast. Breaking the blackened ingot free from the mold.
He picked it up and tossed it around in his hands. Small pieces of it chipped off with each touch, even from far away Leo could tell this was brittle.
"Yea, that's what I expected," Torfi said, "Complete trash. The slag is unusable, or at the very least I can't use it."
He dropped the slag on the ground without a care in the world before picking up one of the other ingot casts. Torfi slammed his hammer down on the edges several times before the metal broke free from the cast.
The bottom of the metal showed a grey color while the top that was exposed to air had a black tint to it. He brought the metal over to his anvil and hit the top a few times with his hammer. After each hit the black pieces on top of the ingot fell off, leaving the grey material behind.
"It's good," Torfi said with genuine surprise in his voice, "It's really good metal."
He continued to inspect it before bringing it up to his face for a closer look. Constantly turning the metal in his hands to likely get a different perspective.
Torfi slowly set the metal down before staring at Leo. His expression was unreadable but after a few seconds, Leo swore he saw a smile start to form.
"You, my friend, are blessed," Torfi said.
Leo paused, trying to understand what the blacksmith meant.
"This ain't dragon steel. But it sure as hell does look like it."
AN: Thought I should mention the unofficial MGQ discord that several authors are in, it's chaos but it's fun. Hope y'all enjoyed it.
The code is: pBp5cDTWK