After leaving the river behind, Erik led the others through the jungle, returning to the place where they had killed the tiger. But since they couldn't find it, the group went straight back to the camp. There they found Elara sitting calmly on one of the logs around an extinguished campfire. The girl was weaving a bamboo basket with slow, measured movements—undeniably practiced. That sight brought a small smile to Erik's face, and as he approached, he greeted her in a warm tone.
"Hello again, Elara."
"Welcome back, guys. How did it go?" Elara replied with a smile as she stood up and set the half-woven basket aside.
"We weren't much help, but Erik managed to record the data." Zoe replied with a sigh of self-reproach. Erik commented as he took the notebook from behind his pants.
"It was only the first time, and you didn't know what you were doing. Now you can focus on reviewing what I wrote down, and I'll answer your questions while I work on creating true copper."
Zoe quickly took the improvised notebook and began reading it carefully along with Frank. Meanwhile, Erik retrieved the chalk and the copper and iron ingots he had prepared earlier, along with the falamite slag and an unused clay crucible. Once he was in front of the furnace, Erik checked it to make sure there was no damage.
"Elara, I'm going to need you to heat the furnace to about 1100 degrees." After confirming that the furnace was in perfect condition, Erik looked at Elara, who was nearby, and asked in a calm tone.
"You got it." Elara replied with a smile, then went to get the charcoal.
Meanwhile, Erik approached a nearby stone table where he had left the ingots and began doing some calculations on a separate sheet of paper. By the time the sheet was filled with densely written mathematical formulas, Erik nodded in satisfaction and quickly started drawing a magic circle with the magic chalk, following the calculations he had made.
"What are you doing?" Ebonique asked curiously as she watched Erik draw the magic circle. The star-haired young man explained in a calm tone.
"A transmutation circle for working iron. I need it to have a very specific composition and structure, and the 'easiest' way to do that is through transmutation."
"How does that work?" Elara, who had just finished lighting the furnace, asked as she looked at the magic circle.
"Well, transmutation is essentially about controlling matter at the atomic level. But it's complex, limited, and energetically expensive, so it's more of an academic curiosity than something truly practical. It's just that, in our current situation, without equipment or tools, it turns out to be the most precise and 'easy' method to use."
Curious, Elara glanced at the formulas Erik had written on the paper, but just by looking at them, she felt a slight dizziness. Although she was a rather talented mathematician—since math was an essential part of Sacred Geometry—what Erik had written on that sheet were formulas that were too abstract, almost esoteric.
"I feel like I've gone back in time…" Elara muttered quietly, massaging her head a little uncomfortably. "I haven't felt like this since I once looked at the formulas my master was working on when I was little, just out of curiosity…"
"Haha, it's not that bad." Erik replied, amused, as he made a small adjustment to the magic circle. Rolling her eyes, Elara commented as she turned to look at the furnace.
"The furnace is ready. Do you need me to do anything?"
"Could you put some copper ingots in the crucible and melt them?" Erik asked without looking up, fully focused on the magic circle. Elara nodded and took the ingots from the table before heading to the furnace.
"Leave it to me."
"Do you need me to help you with this 'transmutation'?" After Elara left, Ebonique asked, still watching the magic circle with curiosity.
"Yes, but your turn comes later." Erik replied without looking up. "The transmutation circle needs to be adjusted very precisely, so we have to run several tests."
"That's fine." Ebonique replied as she landed on the table to get a better look at how Erik worked, one of the activities she had enjoyed the most in recent years.
…
Once the runic-geometric circle was finished, Erik cut an iron ingot into several pieces with magic edge. Ebonique took one of the pieces of iron and placed it in the magic circle, then activated it by sending it mana. But unfortunately, the magic circle only glowed faintly before going out without doing anything.
Seeing the failure, Erik could only sigh a little and quickly grabbed a large stack of papers, on which he began making all kinds of calculations that he then used to make small modifications to the circle.
Meanwhile, seeing how busy Erik was, Zoe and Frank decided not to bother him with questions and instead started discussing with each other what they didn't understand, trying to come up with a solution.
…
"Mmm, Erik, the copper has already melted." After about an hour, Elara approached Erik and asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable about interrupting him.
"Already?" Erik asked, a little surprised, since he didn't feel like that much time had passed. But the star-haired young man quickly recovered and spoke in a calm tone.
"Then slowly add the falamite slag. The ratio should be about 85% copper and 15% slag."
"Understood." Elara nodded and quickly took the falamite slag, which looked like a strange crystallized metal.
Doing some mental calculations about the timing, Erik made a note on one of the sheets, then went back to working on the transmutation circle. Some time after, Erik began making another adjustment to the circle, and when he finished, he looked at Ebonique beside him and commented calmly.
"Try it again."
"On it." Ebonique replied casually, and after placing the piece of iron back in the center of the magic circle, she activated it.
Unlike the previous times, this time the iron underwent a change. The piece of iron ingot began to melt, then took the shape of a puck with a bluish-gray color. Additionally, the puck reflected subtle, ghostly geometric patterns in the sunlight, as if it were made from a perfectly crystalline network.
"Did we do it?" Ebonique looked at Erik and asked, barely containing her excitement. Erik nodded as a satisfied smile formed on his face.
"We did it."
"You're the best, hahaha." Ebonique said cheerfully as she wrapped herself around Erik's neck. The star-haired boy replied in a casual, though clearly happy, tone.
"It's not a big deal, just a bit of luck, really. The complexity of transmutation mainly comes from the fact that the magic circle needs the composition of the ingot and the relative distribution of its particles as variables. Getting them right through pure trial and error takes luck—otherwise, we could be at this for days."
"What's this called?" At that moment, Elara asked from the side, full of curiosity. Erik replied with a smile.
"Its real name is 'ultrapure iron with face-centered cubic structure,' but it's usually called 'stabilized austenitic iron.' It's the second ingredient for the alloy needed for the cauldron."
"Do we need more ingredients?" Elara asked, her eyes shining. Erik shook his head and explained with a smile.
"No, just two. True copper and austenitic iron in a 60-40 ratio."
"What do we have to do?!" Elara asked, full of excitement, almost like a little kid. Erik smiled, amused, and explained.
"Not much, we just have to refine the true copper, then add it to the austenitic iron, and the refining circle will do the rest for us."
"What should I do?" Elara asked eagerly, clenching her fists tightly. Erik looked at the transmutation circle and replied in a calm tone.
"Now I'm going to draw another runic-geometric refining circle, which you'll use to refine the true copper a few times, always keeping the temperature steady. But you can't use mana, so you'll have to make several trips between the furnace and the table."
"Let us help you, Elara." At that moment, Zoe's voice sounded from behind, causing Elara to turn to look at her. Next to Zoe was Frank, who was carefully holding the notebook Erik had given them.
"Do you have any questions about the data?" Erik asked as he looked at Frank and Zoe. Zoe replied with a small smile.
"A few. But let's finish this first—questions can come later."
"Okay." Erik nodded calmly, then looked at Frank. "Frank, put the notebook in the 'storage room.' It's very important data, and we're playing with fire here."
"Understood, boss."
Frank responded quickly, then ran off to the storage room. Meanwhile, Erik looked at Ebonique and commented calmly as he took another piece of chalk, since the one he was using was almost finished.
"Ebonique, bring another stone."
"On it." Ebonique replied calmly as she grew in size and flew off toward a rock.
Once Ebonique brought the stone/table, Erik drew two runic-geometric refining circles on it while explaining the refining process to the others, then went back to working with Ebonique on the iron. But although they managed to successfully transmute several ingots, with a good number of them nothing happened. Their composition differed just enough that the circle wasn't effective.
Meanwhile, Elara, Zoe, and Frank focused on refining the True Copper. Elara was in charge of the fire and collecting the slag that floated up after each refinement, while Zoe was responsible for carrying the crucible to the table where Frank would activate one of the refining circles. After repeating the process about six times, the group noticed that no more slag was floating to the top, so Elara looked at Erik and said.
"Erik, there's no more slag coming up."
"Perfect, now put it in the second circle and refine it three times." Erik said as he drew a new circle on his table. "But be careful, it might bubble and splash a little."
"Understood." Frank, who was in charge of activating the circles, quickly nodded with a serious tone.
While Elara, Zoe, and Frank's group moved on to the second phase of refining, Erik focused on the second circle he was drawing until he finally finished. At that moment, Erik turned to look at Ebonique, who was watching the circle with curiosity.
"Could you bring the large crucible we made last night, Ebonique?"
"Are we going to make the alloy?" Ebonique asked, full of curiosity. Erik nodded and replied with a small smile.
"Yes, and it's a pretty interesting process."
"I'll be right back!" Ebonique said, visibly excited, and flew at full speed to the storage room to get the crucible, returning a moment later holding a crucible twice the size of the one Elara's group was using.
"Thanks." Erik thanked her as he placed the variously sized iron pucks into the crucible. Ebonique quickly started helping and asked with curiosity.
"Are we going to use the other furnace?"
"No, we won't need a furnace—just a lot of mana." Erik replied calmly as he placed the crucible with the iron pucks in the center of the magic circle he had drawn on the table. Ebonique quickly declared, full of confidence.
"Leave the mana part to me!"
"Of course." Erik replied with a smile, pointing to the magic circle beneath the crucible. Ebonique quickly placed one of her claws on the circle and sent mana into it, activating it.
As the circle glowed softly, Ebonique focused her gaze on the iron, wanting to see what was so interesting about the process. Meanwhile, Erik walked over to Frank's table, where they had just started the third refinement. Watching the molten metal gently bubble as Frank smartly activated the magic circle from a distance, Erik nodded in satisfaction.
"This is looking pretty good. It seems like we can keep going and finish the 'Ferrux' today."
"That's the name of the alloy for the cauldron?" Elara asked with curiosity. Erik nodded and explained,
"Yes, it's an excellent alloy for making magical cauldrons. My first cauldron was made from it."
"You're really impressive for being able to do something like this under these circumstances…" Zoe commented, full of respect for a true genius.
"Although what surprises me more is that you need such 'common' things to create something used for the first cauldron of the first disciple of the greatest alchemist of the Arcane Order…" Frank commented, still a little shocked. Erik couldn't help but laugh and replied.
"You're good at giving compliments. I'm sure my master would like you, hahaha." After laughing for a moment while Frank looked embarrassed, Erik explained cheerfully.
"And it's not that big a deal. My first cauldron was really basic and nothing special." After another small laugh, Erik looked at the crucible one last time, then turned to Elara and spoke in a calmer voice.
"Now that the true copper is ready, I need you to raise its temperature to about 1150 degrees, Elara."
"Leave it to me."
Elara nodded, then looked at Zoe, who, after nodding back, quickly took the cauldron with bamboo tongs and brought it to the furnace. At that moment, Ebonique announced with a voice full of interest.
"Erik, this has started to melt."
"Perfect." Erik quickly approached the large crucible, and after seeing that the iron pucks were starting to melt as if they were ice, he nodded in satisfaction.
While Ebonique watched curiously as the iron melted, Erik began to draw a new runic-geometric circle on the table. Just as Erik finished drawing the circle, Elara announced in a sing-song voice.
"The copper is ready, Erik."
Erik quickly looked at the large crucible, and seeing that it was almost completely melted, he looked at Elara and ordered calmly.
"Bring it."
Hearing Erik, Zoe quickly took the bamboo tongs and brought the crucible over. When Zoe arrived with the crucible, Erik gave a calm order as he looked at the beautiful knight.
"Pour it in slowly."
After nodding, Zoe began to pour the true copper into the new crucible, while Frank, Elara, and Ebonique watched from the sides, full of excitement and curiosity. Soon, the true copper was completely poured into the crucible, forming a strange mixture that looked like a lava lamp, with the red-hot copper and the liquid iron swirling together in a strange way.
"Increase the mana output, Ebonique." At that moment, Erik ordered calmly as he watched the liquid closely.
Ebonique quickly followed his instructions, causing the movement of the liquid to intensify. After a few seconds, Erik stood in front of the second circle and activated it, making it emit a subtle glow, and then he gave another order.
"Zoe, now move the large crucible to this circle."
Zoe quickly nodded, took the new crucible with the bamboo tongs, and placed it in the center of the second circle. The others quickly gathered around, watching with curiosity, which allowed them to see how the liquid began to lose its movement and somehow started to arrange and interlace itself. After about three minutes, Erik calmly ordered.
"Take it back to the fire. We need the molds."
"I'll get them!" Frank quickly announced before running off to the storage room. Meanwhile, Erik turned to Elara and spoke in a serious tone.
"Elara, I need you to heat the molds to about 600 degrees."
"Leave it to me." While controlling the temperature of the furnace, Elara announced confidently. Erik nodded and replied in a calm voice.
"Alright, we'll repeat the process three more times and pour the Ferrux into the cauldron mold, and whatever's left goes into the stone molds."
…
Following Erik's instructions, the group of young people refined the Ferrux and carefully poured it into the molds after Elara preheated them. Meanwhile, Erik drew a new runic-geometric refining circle, something Ebonique watched with great interest. Erik finished drawing the magic circle at about the same time the others poured the Ferrux into the concave mold he had prepared for the cauldron.
After covering the mold with a custom clay lid made with his phantom hands, Erik secured it using some heat-resistant vines. Immediately after, Erik placed a kind of wooden base with clay rollers in the center of the refining circle, and on top of that, he set the mold on its side. After rotating the mold a couple of times, Erik looked at Ebonique, who was on the table, and commented with a smile.
"Ebonique, your job now will be to keep the mold spinning steadily—we need the material to distribute and cool evenly. I'll take care of activating the refining circle."
"Leave it to me!"
The dragoness quickly replied, full of enthusiasm, as she grew in size and began using her claws to spin the mold on the rollers at a steady speed. Erik nodded in satisfaction, then activated the refining circle. Meanwhile, the others gathered to the side, watching the process with interest and anticipation, but in complete silence, not wanting to distract Erik.
For his part, Erik closed his eyes and focused completely on the refining circle, at the same time commanding the surrounding Myst to gather around the circle and the Ferrux inside the mold. After about twenty minutes, Erik opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, then wiped away the sweat that had gathered on his brow.
"You can stop now, Ebonique." Erik said in a somewhat tired and pained voice. The dragoness quickly let go of the mold, then wrapped herself protectively around Erik and asked, full of concern.
"Why didn't you tell me you had to use so much mana? Your meridians are really strained."
"It's not that bad; I just need a little rest." Erik replied calmly, which made Ebonique snort in annoyance. At that moment, the others approached Erik with worried expressions.
"Are you alright, Erik?" Elara asked, visibly concerned. Zoe immediately added in a somewhat guilty voice.
"Do you need us to bring you anything?"
"Boss, do you want me to go get some medicine from Lirio?" Frank also asked in a serious voice. Erik waved his hand dismissively and said.
"Ebonique's just exaggerating; it's not that bad. It just took more effort than I expected to create enough channels in the cauldron's internal structure to make it more 'manual.' But since if the cauldron is too complex the golden chains can appear, it was something necessary."
"I understand…" Zoe said in a quiet voice, full of complex emotions. "But for now, rest, Erik. You pushed yourself too hard."
"I'll rest later. First, let's break the mold." Erik said with a smile, sparking everyone's curiosity. Elara commented with contained excitement.
"I'll do it."
After taking a deep breath, Elara stepped up to the mold and lifted it off the base with rollers, then began to break it open with her right fist as if it were a hammer, soon revealing the half-finished cauldron.
***
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