Chapter Four: The First Taste of Progress

The scent of roasting fish filled the cave, mingling with the lingering dampness from the storm as the fire flickered, casting warm shadows against the rough stone walls, its gentle crackle breaking the heavy silence of the aftermath of the storm. There I sat on a makeshift stone bench, holding a skewer of freshly cooked fish, juices sizzling as they dripped into the embers below. It's been so long since I've eaten anything, ever since I changed myself into a synth. Ever since I removed the need for food from my body, I would avoid eating any thing from the wasteland since the food often looked and tasted disgusting. But I still keep the ability to taste, hopeful that one day I would be able to eat regular food from regular animals and or plants, which ended up coming true ever since I came to this world.

As I took a bite letting the rich, flaky meat settle on my tongue. The texture was firm, the flavor slightly sweet with a faint saltiness from the minerals in the river. And with a single bite, I could tell the freshness from fish. A stark contrast to the synthetic food substitutes that once filled my diet back in the wasteland when I was human. I leaned back against the cool stone wall, enjoying my meal slowly as I let my mind drift. The storm had finally passed by, leaving behind a world covered in mud, but my thoughts were already moving forward. I had no intention of living a primitive life forever. I had taken the first steps forward by first building a fire, then a shelter, and then came tools. But now it was time to advance forward. I was on the edge of advancement, going from simple survival to thriving.

The days that followed blurred together into a rhythm of labor and refinement. With the resources I had gathered, I constructed a rudimentary forge, shaping a pit in the earth and reinforcing it with stone to withstand high temperatures. Charcoal from dried wood served as fuel, burning hotter and longer than ordinary firewood. My first attempts at smelting were crude, but affective, melting copper and tin together in primitive clay molds, watching as the molten metal cooled into rough, uneven ingots. It was far from perfect, but it would do for now. As I began making Bronze tools. My old tools that I've carved from rock were now obsolete, replaced by sharper, sturdier metal. With a bronze axe, I could fell trees in a fraction of the time. With a bronze chisel, I could carve more precise shapes, refine my construction methods, and reinforce my shelter. Every step forward made progressing easier then the last.

With my newfound efficiency, I expanded my territory. I dug irrigation channels from the river, experimenting with simple water redirection to keep a controlled supply nearby. I set traps for small creatures, not for food but to study, testing what could be domesticated, what could be useful. I cataloged every plant I encountered, identifying which ones could be woven into rope, which could be used for dyes, which might hold medicinal properties. The more I learned about this world, the better I could shape it to suit my needs. But there was one thing I couldn't ignore and that was finding iron.

Stone and bronze was just the beginning, but iron would be my ticket to true advancement. Stronger tools, better weapons, more efficient structures, everything I had planned for hinged on finding iron. I then began scouted deeper into the land, marking potential locations, using my knowledge of geology to read the land's formations. And then, after weeks of searching, I found it. A rich deposit embedded within a mountain's base, veins of dull reddish-brown ore streaking through the rock like veins of blood. I reached out, running my fingers over the surface. This was it, this was exactly what I was looking for. But mining iron was no easy task. Unlike copper and tin, which could be melted at relatively low temperatures, iron required an extreme amount of heat. Heat my forge wasn't capable of handling or producing just yet. I would need a bloomery—a high-heat furnace capable of extracting usable metal from raw ore. That meant more charcoal, more precise control over airflow, better insulation to retain heat. It was another challenge, but I had already come too far to stop now.

The construction of the bloomery took time. I gathered clay and sand, forming bricks to build a structure that could withstand repeated heating and cooling. I experimented with different designs, testing how airflow affected temperature, how different fuel sources burned at different rates. It took weeks before I had my first taste of success, a small chunk of raw iron, pulled from the glowing embers of the furnace. It wasn't much, just a rough bloom of metal that needed further refining, but it was proof that I could do it. Proof that I had crossed into the Iron Age.

With iron tools, my rate of expansion increased exponentially. What had once taken hours with bronze now took minutes with iron. I carved deeper into the mountainside, extracting more ore, refining my techniques. I reinforced my shelter even further, replacing wooden supports with stone and metal braces. I crafted stronger weapons with sharper blades and more durable armor. My first true iron sword rested at my side, its weight familiar, its edge gleaming in the firelight. I had seen plenty of blades in my time, but this one was different. This one was mine.

Progress didn't stop there. With more refined tools, I turned my focus to building infrastructure. I constructed a water-powered hammer, using the river's current to aid in shaping metal, reducing the strain on my body. I experimented with pulley systems, testing early mechanics that would eventually lead to more complex machinery. I began working with glass, melting sand into crude sheets, refining the process to create something more transparent, more usable. With glass, I could create lenses. With lenses, I could create magnification. And with magnification, I could take the first steps toward optics, a step toward true scientific advancement.

I took a moment to reflect, standing at the edge of the river, watching as the sun dipped below the horizon. A year ago, I had arrived here with nothing. No tools, no knowledge of this world, no certainty that I would even survive. Now, I had built a home, established a forge, laid the foundation for industry. I wasn't just surviving but thriving. But this was still only just the beginning. There were still greater challenges ahead, more things to create, and most importantly more discoveries to make. But I would face them the same way I had faced everything else, with one step at a time, one invention at a time, until I had turned this world into something entirely my own.

Deciding to return back to my cave as the firelight flickers in the distance, i can't help stop myself from thinking, what will tomorrow bring, as I plan on refining the iron I have into steel, testing stronger alloys, and pushing the limits of what this world's resources could offer. The Stone Age was long behind me, and the Bronze Age had served its purpose. But now, with iron in my hands and the future within reach, I was ready for the next step. The age of true industry was about to begin.

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End of Chapter Four