Chapter 57 - Armaments and Corned Powder (Patreon)

Elania strode into the workshop, her wings tucked tight against her back. The familiar scent of metal and oil filled her nostrils. That was a comforting contrast to the smoke and blood that had clung to the air on the battlefield.

Yolani looked up from her workbench, a smile brightening her soot-streaked face. “Elania! You’re back.”

“Yep, but not for long,” Elania said, her eyes softening as they met Yolani’s.

The other girl’s expression turned serious, and she nodded before reaching under the bench and pulling out a sleek silver and black rifle. “I finished it.”

Elania’s eyes widened. The weapon was a work of art, the metal gleaming with a deadly sheen. Intricate runes etched along the barrel pulsed with a faint blue light.

She took the rifle reverently, marveling at the craftsmanship. “Yolani, this is... incredible.”

Pride shone in Yolani’s eyes. “I think it’s my best work yet. And look.” She pointed to the barrel. “I’ve reinforced the entire thing, but the barrel especially. It should be able to handle your [Power] pressure much better so the velocity and rate of fire will be jumping up correspondingly.”

Elania’s fingers traced the side of the weapon. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

Yolani’s hand found hers, squeezing gently. “Just make sure you come back to me.”

Elania’s breath hitched. Those words were almost like a punch to the stomach.

Elania nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Yolani was just being nice. She was her friend, and they were roommates. That’s all it was.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Yolani turned back to her workbench, gesturing to a series of small piles of powder. “The saltpeter arrived. I’ve been working on finding the right ratio for the gunpowder.”

Elania leaned in, studying the piles. She wracked her brain, trying to remember the formula.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally, frustration coloring her tone. “I still can’t remember the exact proportions.”

Yolani waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out. Trial and error, right?”

“There are some other things I remembered, but… I’m not exactly an expert. I just remember a bit from history class. I did a report on it, but it was years ago in high school,” Elania said hesitantly. The truth was, she was afraid of giving bad information.

Yolani nodded encouragingly. “Yes?”

Elania took a deep breath. “Okay, so from what I remember, there was this process called corning powder. It involved mixing the ingredients wet instead of dry.”

Yolani’s eyes widened. “Wet? Wouldn’t that make it not work?”

“Not exactly. See, mixing it dry caused a lot of problems. The dust could ignite spontaneously, and the ingredients would separate if vibrated.” Elania picked up a pinch of the saltpeter, letting it fall through her fingers. “Mixing it wet made it safer and more consistent.”

Yolani leaned forward, her elbows on the workbench. “Huh. So how did they do it?”

“They would grind the charcoal and sulfur together in one mortar, and the saltpeter in another. Then they’d combine them and grind them together again.” Elania’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall the details. “This made sure the particle sizes were similar, which helped with mixing.”

Yolani nodded, her eyes bright with understanding. “And then?”

“They pressed the mixture into sheets or cakes and dried it. After that, they used stamp mills with big wooden hammers to break the sheets into grains.” Elania held up her thumb and forefinger, about an inch apart. “The biggest grains were about the size of a corn kernel. That’s why they called it corned powder.”

“Clever.” Yolani grinned. “What did they do with the grains that were too big or too small?”

“They just recycled them back into the wet mix to make more powder.” Elania shrugged, a wry smile tugging at her lips. “Waste not, want not, right?”

Yolani chuckled. “Right.”

Elania’s smile faded. “But, Yolani, this is all probably way beyond what we can do right now. I mean, we don’t have stamp mills or mortars or any of that stuff.”

Yolani reached out, her hand resting on Elania’s arm. “Hey, it’s okay. This is still really helpful. Even if we can’t do it exactly the same way, it gives me a pretty good idea of the problems we might have. We can work those considerations into whatever we plan.”

Elania met Yolani’s gaze, the warmth in those green eyes easing the knot of worry in her chest. “You’re right. We’ll figure it out.”

Yolani grinned. “Of course we will. We make a pretty good team, don’t you think?”

The mirth slowly died as Elania realized she needed to detail everything she had seen while scouting.

Elania’s mood turned grim as she recounted everything. The Lightbringers’ relentless assault, the monks’ attacks in the rear, the city’s crumbling defenses - each detail painted a bleaker picture.

Yolani listened intently, her brows furrowed. “What about Henri? Any news?”

Elania shook her head. “I didn’t see him. But my next mission is to secure the route to the City Watch and meet with Magister Bannon. I’ll do my best to find out.”

Yolani nodded solemnly, then her jaw set, determination hardening her gaze. “Alright. I’ll keep working on the weapons. We need every advantage we can get.”

Elania unclasped her bracer, the full mana shards glinting in the workshop’s light. She held them out.

Yolani raised an eyebrow. “Elania, what...?”

“Take them. I know you all can use the full shards. You’ve probably been using a lot of [Power]making things?” Elania said.

Yolani hesitated, then reached out, her fingers brushing Elania’s palm as she took the shards. “But what will you use?”

“I was hoping you could give me the low-power ones from the workshop. I’ll have plenty of opportunities to recharge them during the fighting after all,” Elania replied.

Yolani nodded slowly, understanding dawning on her face.

She moved to a shelf, rummaging through the various crystals and shards until she found what she was looking for. Then she carefully extracted the mana shards from Elania’s bracer and replaced them with the empty ones.

“These aren’t as potent as the ones you had before, but they are close enough. I really should have thought of this and made them more easily swappable. Maybe for the next version,” Yolani said.

Elania slid the now [Power]empty bracer onto her forearm. The half dozen empty shards called out to her slightly, desiring to be filled. Elania grunted. “Do you have more drained shards? Let’s replace five on the other one as well. I only really need one charged one before I go out.”

Yolani nodded, and the swap only took another five minutes. When Elania slid that bracer back on, she nodded. “Perfect.”

Yolani nodded. “Just be careful, you won’t have as much [Power] to use right away…”

“One more thing.” Elania’s gaze drifted to a crate in the corner. “Could I get a bag of the rifle shock crystals?”

Yolani raised an eyebrow, then went and fetched a small pouch. “What are you going to do with them?” she asked while handing them over.

Elania’s eyes glinted with mischief as she hefted the pouch. “I can overload these crystals with my [Power], make them detonate on impact. Like miniature bombs.”

Yolani’s brows shot up. “Won’t that consume the crystals? Seems wasteful.”

“True, but I have a hunch.” Elania’s fingers danced over the pouch. “The Lightbringers and monks, they’ve been using [Divinity] barriers against me.”

Understanding dawned on Yolani’s face. “But the shock crystals are essence neutral. They might slip right through those defenses.”

Elania grinned, the expression almost feral. “Exactly. They seem to have to be specific with what they block. [Divinity], cannonball, or musket… doing all three at the same time doesn’t seem to be easy for them. Adding yet another to the mix… something might get through.”

Yolani chuckled, shaking her head. “You’re mad, you know that?”

“All the best people are,” Elania quipped, slipping the pouch into her pocket.

A comfortable silence settled between them, the weight of the impending battle pressing down. Elania could see the worry in Yolani’s eyes.

She reached out to squeeze Yolani’s hand. “Hey, I’ll be back before you know it. Can’t leave you to have all the fun here without me.”

Yolani squeezed back, a shaky laugh escaping her. “You better. I don’t want to have to come out there and drag you back myself.”

She pulled her friend into a tight hug.

“I’ll come back to you,” she whispered, remembering what Yolani had said earlier. “I promise.”

Yolani’s arms tightened around her, a silent acknowledgment.

They pulled apart reluctantly; the moment stretching between them. Then Elania squared her shoulders, the mantle of the warrior settling over her once more.

“Time to go blow some things up,” she said, a fierce grin spreading across her face.

Yolani matched her smile, the fire of determination burning in her eyes. “Give ‘em hell.”

With a final nod, Elania turned and strode out of the workshop, the rifle slung across her back and the pouch of crystals a reassuring weight at her side.

She had a job to do.