First day of a new week came peacefully. Exams were taken at the end of the week, so I didn’t have much to worry about. Still, instead of boredly waiting for the classes to pass I paid more attention to what the professor was saying during history lessons and re-read the epic from the language class.

  As for math… That was the one subject where I’d scoff at the teacher, no issue. Nothing I could do for past classes since I didn’t take any notes, but I wasn’t concerned with it anyway. Most of the stuff was useless to me anyway.

  Once classes were done and I dusted my hands off them, Magnar and I rushed back to the tower. Luckily, I wouldn’t need as much iron as yesterday since the wound rotor used pieces that weren’t too wide.

  So, I got to work. First things first, I sharpened my blade, then I poured aether in the ingots within rust dust box again. The heat was getting less and less of a problem. As I was getting used to the process and to the temperature, I managed to start reinforcing myself with aether to ward off the heat as well.

  A small improvement to my condition. With smaller ingots, the process went faster. The sheets gathered by my side slightly faster and I spent more time sharpening the shaving blade, the iron pilings already glittering noticeably on the ground.

  As the end of the day settled in darkness I finished my work. I set aside the scraping blade. I was soaked, my shirt sticking to my back with a salty, smoky scent of sweat and hard forging work. I went in the back to shower and drink some water. I washed my hands, then cupped them to take some drinking water.

  My fingers shook, ghost reminders of the grinding process. I forced them together through sheer will, yet the trembling didn’t stop. My hands set waves on the small pool of cold liquid as I brought them to my mouth to drink.

  I assembled four wounds on a wooden rotor. All I was missing was copper wire to make the windings which would turn the iron cores into electromagnets. This was the last day of baking, meaning tomorrow we could draw the wire.

  The sun was setting, casting long shadows over the ground, contours of unmoving watchers of these places. I continued my work dutifully after Magnar left, sharpening the blade one last time. I did my best to hold my shaky hands steady as I pressed the blade on the grindstone again.

  A flicker of pain made itself known as the vibrations went up my arms. By now it was a torture that I knew I had to endure to be done and dusted with this for some time. By the time I was done the blade had shed the slightly blackened, dull surface and was gleaming once again.

  I went to wash my hands that were still shaking from all the grinding. With exhausted steps I made my way inside. I got down in the basement and brought up some salt. I still didn’t have meat nor cooking oil, but the food wouldn’t be as bland this way. I boiled up cut vegetables with salt. ‘I’m treating myself tonight!’ I exclaimed internally while snickering.

  ‘No, no, a treat is salt water for the main dish and sugar water for dessert’ I snickered more, then sighed, my shoulders slumping. ‘I need to seriously make my purchases with more purpose when it comes to edibles too…’

  The plopping of boiling water intensified slowly, sign that my food for tonight would soon be ready. The steam lazily wafting from the pot changed, no longer the flat earthy aroma from before. The salt sharpened it, drawing more, a savory richness from the vegetables. The smell hit my nostrils and gut, drawing out a hunger and craving I did not know I had.

  I checked the vegetables with a fork. As soon as they were done, I filled myself a bowl. I started eating greedily and burnt my tongue a bit. I blew over the fork with just learnt patience and ate slowly. The difference was enormous.

  My taste buds, used to bland or horrible food, screamed with joy. ‘Indeed, only through hardship does one find happiness.’ I ate with gusto, relishing in the aroma. As soon as I finished eating, I went on with my evening routine, I found my bed and drifted into sleep.

  Second day, as soon as I woke up, I got to work. First, using sandpaper, I polished a little the hinges required for the doors. Cast hinges, not the best as they could shatter, but better than a gaping hole in the tower to let all the warmth out.

  By the time they were ready, the sun was well up high on its way to the top of the skies. I needed to finish taking the tiles out of the kiln too. All before going to the training class, so that once Magnar got out, he could get started on finishing the second chimney and get started on the third.

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  As long as the doors and the chimneys were finished, I’d be worry free for the winter. I carried out each tile carefully. They were thick, heavy and rigid, weighing down in my hands as I took out more than one at a time. They were pulling me to the earth. Each step, each footfall caused a small cloud of dust to rise.

  I arranged everything in order, taking away some more cutlery, and picking out the dies. I had a die for continuous casting and one for wire drawing. Out of the two, the wire drawing die was reinforced with strips of iron, ensuring it would better resist the stress. After I finished emptying the kiln I took a short shower and left for class.

  I returned after sun set with a bruised side and an aching pain in my hands. ‘This training is definitely not good for the body… But I guess it’s the only way to truly learn how to fight. Only pain drives real improvement in reflexes and combat.’

  I showered, wincing a little from stretching the bruised flesh. The water was getting colder along with the weather. It was getting more and more painful to wash myself, something I grew used to since arriving in this world.

  I used aether to warm myself, yet the coldness of the water was still easy to sense as it fell on me. Another night, another day. I spent the class time going through all the information the teachers presented along the first month of courses.

  Magnar and I were the only ones getting worried about these tests. All the other nobles probably studied in advance with home tutors. Doing bad in the academy was a way to show status, and I doubted they’d stop themselves from pushing their kids to start learning early.

  I wrote down as much as I could and took the papers with me as we headed back to the tower. We had wires to draw. We started the forge and mounted the drawing die on the edge. I made a mix of coke dust and oil, a viscous black paste that would help us draw the wire.

  To get things started however I needed to turn he ingots into rods, or at the very least get a thin, cold hardened section of the ingot, from which we can hook a pull the ingot through the progressive dies. Luckily the largest hole I had planned was actually bigger than the copper ingots I had, so no additional waiting or work was needed.

  I hammered the ingot, making a thinner longer section and adjusting the edges of the copper brick, turning its smallest face into an octagon.

  “Magnar, for now you’ll be pulling the ingot through the dies. Once it gets thinner, we’ll use the same setup as for the silk drawing.”

  “Are you sure? You’re using a hammer to beat that into shape… How am I supposed to draw it through those holes?”

  “We’ll heat it up until it glows a dull red. Copper is softer than iron, don’t worry. Just reinforce yourself. Oh and, before we get started on the copper I need to modify the tongs a bit.”

  With the forge warmed up I took a pair of tongs and placed their grip in the fire. As soon as it reddened I took them out and started beating them. Under my hammer strikes the grips of the tongs curled outwards, one clang at a time.

  Then I made a ring that would fit over the tongs and tighten them completely shut as it reached the curled part.

  “These are slip tongs. You don’t use the grip, you pull on the ring and the jaws tighten shut around the copper. You won’t have to worry about squeezing them shut this way, only about pulling.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “That would make things easier.”

  “Then let’s get started.” I threw in the fire the adjusted copper ingot, then pulled out the worked part, keeping it so it would get the least amount of heat.

  Once the copper was at a soft reddish glow, I handed the modified tongs to Magnar and used my own tongs to lift the ingot. Once the thin part was through the die, Magnar started pulling on the ring of the tongs. His muscles bulged, his veins popped as he raised his foot and found support in the side of the forge.

  Slowly the ingot got through, squeezed together by the slope of the circular die. Magnar’s back slowly straightened, his trembling figure pulling steadily on the ingot as sweat started to form on his body. I held the die in place, aetheric light shining from my body as I opposed Magnar’s pull.

  Then the ingot finally got through, turned into a more circular bar, sign that the next draw would be even more painfully difficult as the volume of coper that needs to be dragged and that would oppose the motion grew.

  As the tension was suddenly released, Magnar flew out, dragging the ingot with him as the drag of the die disappeared. A meter further he landed, his back rubbing against the rough floor as his speed dropped due to friction.

  “Are you alright?” I jumped towards him, ready to help. He was still holding the ingot above himself, as if stunned, his muscles taut.

  “I’m fine. This much is not enough to even put a scratch on me.” His shoulders, that were dragged back, holding his upper body away from the ground relaxed, his spine finally connecting with the ground.

  He sat up holding the glowing ingot before I could offer my hand to pull him up. He dragged his legs underneath himself deftly and stood up like a spring, his feet leaving the ground slightly. He fell back and stopped the impact, landing on his toes and lowering his heels.

  “That was refreshing!” He grinned at me.

  “I’m sure glad you see it that way, cause this is only going to get harder… We have another thirty draws ahead of us…”

  “That many?” His lively, proud attitude vanished, his shoulders slumping. “That’s a bit much…”

  “You only have to directly do another seven. After that we’ll hook it to the grindstones and use the drawing setup. Your uneven, trembling drawing would damage thinner wires.”

  “I can manage then.” His confident smile returned.

  “Then you’ll be a proud contributor to new technology! Now let’s continue, the less we let that ingot cool, the faster we can proceed.”

  Wires underway, soon the hum of an electric motor would set the tone of a new age.

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  ?? Author's Question:

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