Making Progress

Kye was busy screwing parts of his new magical energy condenser together under the watchful eye of Alicia and Kyla. With this, he could finally start trying to make a system of runes that would allow a magical energy device to function. If Kye could create these runes, he could bring about a technological revolution to the Runewalker territory and prepare them for whatever might come their way. Right now, from what he could gather from his lessons with Layla, there were two prominent threats to the Runewalker territory. The first was the constant attacks of Orc raiders on the western border and the second was one of the more central Archdukes, Archduke Friedhand.

The Orcs were a constant problem for trade and many knights and soldiers patrolled the western roads to make sure the magical cartridges from the Free Cities of Glienmore arrived safely and could conduct their trade. If Kye could create new inventive weapons and armours to better safeguard the territories' soldiers, they could be safer when doing their patrols.

Archduke Friedhand was a bigger problem. He threatened the territory economically as they were the centre of manufacture for the entire Alioth Kingdom. Their latest advancements came from the Archduke's own son who utilized fire mana crystals to boil water flowing from water mana crystals to spin a device he called a 'steam engine'. This technology increased the productivity of their factories tenfold and they became the cheapest manufacturer of domestic goods in the kingdom.

Kye wanted to create more efficient factories in their territory to start competing against Archduke Friedhand's monopoly and bring a new source of wealth into the territory. But the first plans had to start somewhere and these came from something Kye deemed a worthless byproduct in his last life. During his last life, he had experimented with many different condensing runes for his devices however they were always failures in his eyes due to the lack of purity in the crystals he made. Depending on certain runes he used, the crystal would be infused partially with an element and would decrease the purity of the magical essence in the clearstone.

Now, however, they posed the perfect opportunity to capitalize on this new engine the Archduke Friedhand's son had made. If Kye could infuse more powerful crystals of these elements, they could profit off of the Archduke's monopoly on the industry with a new industry of their own. If the Archduke became reliant on them for these stones, when Kye had invented new machines that could be powered off of pure essence at greater efficiency than the steam engine, the entire monopoly would come crashing down around them.

The matter of better equipment for the soldiers and knights would have to wait for this new system of magical engineering to be invented. Until then, Kye had some plans to infuse certain metals with greater magical energy than they once held, making enchantments more effective. These would have to be done after this new condenser was completed but Kye was rapidly approaching that goal. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Kyla.

"When did you come up with these runes Kye?"

Kye wasn't yet sure if he should tell his new family about his new life so he came up with a partial truth.

"When I was crippled, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that I was still awake, just not in this plane of reality. My mind wandered an empty plane that followed the same laws that this world did yet in my dream I had access to all the resources I wanted and I experimented endlessly just to kill time. These runes are the fruit of my illness and it's about time they started to work for me."

Kyla didn't question further as it seemed to her that Kye's experience in this mind plane was more than he was letting on but was likely too traumatic to recall. Alicia hugged Kye from behind and gently brushed his hair as if to assure him he was awake and that he was now fine.

This was something that Kye had come to accept. This was the lie he would sell and attempt to trick himself into believing. Kye had made his mind up to completely become this Kye. This body was his body, this life his life, and this family his family. As far as he was concerned, his past life was just one big dream that happened in his head while he lay there crippled. But, to just say that was one thing, fully accepting it in his heart would take some time. Until then, he would attempt to give back all the love he received from the Runewalkers with his own efforts.

Kye tightened the final screw on his device and stood back to examine it. There were five prongs that stood straight up and then bent slightly inward at the top. On the base at the centre was a small inlet for cut clearstone. Along the sides of all the prongs were a set of intricate glowing runes that pulsed slightly with magic energy. This machine was only about as big as a platter but it could be scaled up for bigger clearstone pieces. He showed a smile to his mothers who were sitting behind him.

"It's done."

Struggling to contain her excitement, Kyla leapt out of her chair and examined the device from top to bottom. She ran her finger along the edge of one of the prongs. Her eyes wandered to three identical prongs that were not attached.

"What are they for Kye?"

"If this test proves successful, I'll have to tell you all for their purpose regardless so could you wait?"

Kyla nodded her head and smiled in satisfaction. She had little idea what this machine would do but the intricate rune carvings on the prongs made her proud. It was hard for anyone but an accomplished runesmith like herself to tell that this rune matrix was incredibly detailed and complex. If the machine even turned on, Kyla would be beaming that a crestless boy could make such a detailed contraption.

Kyla and Kye picked up the machine at both ends and brought it down from the third floor where Kye's room was and set it up in the courtyard training area. Frey saw them and walked over to inspect what Kye had made. Naturally, he knew about the project and was supportive because Kye said that it could help the territory. Although Kye's plan wasn't known to anyone but him, he had placed his trust in his son and believed him when he said he had a plan.

Kye and Kyla set the condenser down and Kye placed a small cut piece of clearstone into the receptacle in the centre of the base. He grabbed the remote that was attached by clearstone cables in an insulated tube connected to a small glass case with a plain mana crystal suspended by metal arms. The case was connected to both the remote and the base of the condenser. When the button was pressed, a small pulse of mana would spin up a rune matrix inside the glass case and send the mana down the cable into the condenser, starting the condensing process. Kye had created the cables and glass case from scratch as a form of safety. The farther away from the device when it was condensing magical energy the better as this was the first time Kye had tested this new design. In case of a catastrophic decomposition of the magical energy, this distance would give them time to maybe evacuate.

Kye looked back to the crowd that now surrounded them. All of Kye's mothers, his father, and sisters were there to watch his device work. He gave them a single nod and pressed the button. The mana crystal in the glass case started glowing and pulsing with energy as it built up and was discharged through the clearstone cables. Slowly, the prongs on the condenser started spinning and the runes on their side started glowing with great intensity. The spinning got faster and faster until the prongs started to bend backward bringing the curved point at their top into line with the clearstone crystal in the centre. Suddenly, white sparks began leaping out of the runes as an orb of magical essence gathered at the tips of all the prongs. The orbs began to spit while bolts of energy out, charring some of the ground around the machine. Frey tapped Kye on the shoulder and shouted over the noise of the condenser.

"Is this supposed to happen!?"

"Perfectly normal! The conversion from mana to magical energy is pretty violent but that's what most of the runes are for! They help contain the energy to an intangible shield around the condenser so that none of it escapes and fries us alive!" Frey's jaw hung open.

"That's a possibility?!?!" Kye shrugged.

"It's always a possibility when dealing with primal forces! How many mages have exploded from their spells over the years!"

Frey kept his eyes on his son's calm disposition and breathed an inward sigh. 'Maybe this is just how geniuses operate.' he thought to himself and went back to watching the condenser. Finally, after a few minutes of violent spinning and bolts of magical energy lessened over time until the condenser slowed down and the prongs began to rise again. Once the device had stopped, a small hissing sound rang out, and heat radiated from the metal as a consequence of the violent reaction that happened. Kye put on large blacksmith gloves and used a pair of forceps to pick up the now glowing clearstone.

"Mother Kyla, could you grab the containment box please?" Kyla pulled out the box that was in her blacksmith apron and opened it for Kye to deposit the clearstone in. Kye very gently walked over with the crystal in the forceps and placed it gently in the box before Kyla closed the lid and put the runic lock on it. The runic lock would stop energies from a sealed container from dissipating so the crystal could wait for Kye to run tests on it over the next few weeks. Kye used his forearm to wipe the sweat off his brow and took the gloves off.

"Okay, so it works but there are several improvements that can be made. Firstly, I have to do something about the bolts of magical essence so that we can theoretically stand right next to it and be fine. Second, the metal gets way too hot, maybe we can build a chamber and pump in some cold air with ice mana crystals to negate the heat but if any ice mana gets into the chamber it might negatively impact the purity of the energy so I'll have to run some tests first."

Kyla listened to Kye list off the things that could be improved with a notepad in her hand and started jotting down Kye's points before Frey interrupted.

"Okay, so I'm glad you're getting out and doing things you're interested in but what was that insane reaction all about? I mean you say that we had a chance of being fired by that energy? Why are you doing this Kye?"

Seeing that his father wasn't about to let this point go, he explained his plot to capitalize on Archduke Friedhand's new industry engine and gain a complete dependency on these high-powered crystals. Layla and Frey grew larger and larger smiles as they became aware of what this would mean for the territory, while Rose didn't really understand much of anything that was being spoken about. Alicia and Kyla, who had been part of this project from the start, felt like they had a eureka moment.

"So that's what those other prongs are for! The infusion of elemental charge alongside magical essence!"

"Yes Mother Kyla, that's what they're for. Surprisingly, creating pure magical essence is harder than an elemental mix, which happens to be the complete inverse of mana."

The group continued to discuss Kye's plan and eventually, Frey decided to set aside a budget for Kye's plans and to give him priority on all orders from Kyla. This plan of his was brilliant and Layla was now further convinced that Kye would grow up to be a master diplomat if she continued to guide him. They ended the talk and went in for dinner as it had grown quite late. Frey placed a hand on Kye's back as they walked and gave him a warm smile.

Kye, for the first time in his lives, gave a big toothy grin in return.