“Hmm,” Graste said. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to give it a try. This’ll take about one hour, so go wait outside until then.”
“No, I’d actually like to observe the process myself.”
“If Shion’s staying, then I am too!” Marie immediately chimed in. She had been clinging to my arm this entire time.
I didn’t mind it, per se, but she did make it hard to move around. Not to mention Graste’s strained expression was putting a strain on my mood, too.
“Emma and I have to take care of a few errands,” Dad said. “Mind looking after them, Graste?”
“No trouble at all.”
“See you later, kids,” Mom said with a wave. We waved back and our parents left the forgery.
I watched Graste from behind as he stood in front of the furnace. Grown-ups sure did seem large from a kid’s perspective. Since I was technically an adult mentally, I often forgot my actual age in this life. It was a strange feeling progressing through my second life like this.
The fire blazed brilliantly. The room grew warmer and I started to sweat. Marie still clung to me, despite my clamminess.
“Oh, I meant to tell you,” Graste spoke to us while working at the forge, “that when this is all over, I want to do something for you as thanks. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
“A few things come to mind,” I said.
“A few things, eh? Just gimme a break on anything too expensive.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t cost anything.”
“That so? All right, good enough for me. What’re you thinkin’?”
“Allow me to ask you a question first. You used to travel with Dad back in the day, yeah? I know that Dad fights with a sword; do you fight too?”
“Sure can. Most smiths know how to wield the weapons they make. I’m up with the best of ’em. ’Course, I’m no match against Gawain.”
“That’s good to hear. In that case, I will make the request later after we see if the experiment is successful. It can wait until then.”
“No need to hold back, kiddo. What’s with this grown-up restraint? Makes me feel kinda pathetic to be treated like a kid by an actual kid.”
“It’s not restraint,” I said. “Maybe I’m just an idealist? I just get the sense that you would try to make me accept the gift even if we fail.”
Graste stopped working and turned around to look at me. “Who knew kids thought so deeply, eh?”
“This is just what I’m like. There’s nothing deep about it.”
“If you say so. Gawain did tell me about all this.”
Marie and I turned to each other.
“Tell you about what?” I asked.
“Oh, just how well put together you are, Shion. He wishes you would be a little more selfish. He wants to spoil you a little. Although, he doesn’t complain like he used to.”
There was an obvious explanation for that. I felt a twinge in my cheek.
“Well, he’s been helping you with magic research all the time now,” Marie said. “But that seems to make him happy. So, it’s fine, right?”
“Huh? Maybe so.” I continued to watch Graste work while I reflected. I wasn’t the type who liked asking a lot of other people. I supposed most parents would be happy to help their kids with something. Thinking back, Dad was always pumped whenever we worked on research together.
At last, Marie seemed to have overheated. She pulled away from me and sat down in a chair, resting her face in her hands. After an hour passed, Mom and Dad returned. Then we all waited a while longer.
“All done!” Graste plunked down two thundercite ingots on the table. He had just finished taking them out of the sand and clay molds, and cooled them down.
They appeared different from the previous one. The metal looked slightly reddish. I could tell right away that something had changed. Did simply the color or heat of the flame affect the results?
I looked up at Graste with anticipation. Graste nodded, took the mica cloth into his hand, and touched the two pieces together. There was a sharp zap and the whole room flashed white with blinding light. During the brief length of that flash, I saw a pathway stretch out before me.
“Whoa!” Graste staggered back.
The actual result wasn’t particularly impressive, compared to the raw thundercite ore. Still, the small pieces Graste held had the comparable force of much larger pieces. For the small size of the ingots, it was more than enough electricity.
“Electricity! It happened!” Dad shouted. He, Mom, and Marie burst into applause.
What was all that about? Graste and I looked at the floor, scratching our heads at the appellation.
“Well, what now?” Graste asked me. “What’s the point?”
We made all this progress and that’s what you ask me? Oh, Graste. I gave a half-smile and approached the table. “Can I use that cloth?”
Graste gave me the mica cloth, which I used to touch the ingot. Examining it up close, I couldn’t see any signs of electricity, as there was only a reciprocal discharge when touched by another piece of thundercite. One ingot wasn’t dangerous on its own.
I got rid of the cloth and put my bare hand on the shard. Everyone scrambled to stop me, but I already held the ingot in my hand. As I expected, there was no shock. One lone piece lacked any electrical current.
Or so I thought. I felt my hair frizz up like it did with static electricity. There was, in fact, an electric current, but it was a charge similar to static. That meant that the ingot was like a battery, and it continuously carried an electric charge.
I took the mica cloth back in my hand and held the ingot. I pressed it to a piece of normal iron where nothing happened. The discharge only occurred with other pieces of forged thundercite. This was quite the discovery. The experiment was more successful than I could’ve imagined.
“Oi, Shion.” It was Graste. “What’re you doing?”
“Just some experiments,” I said. “But I think I got it now.”
“Got what, Shion?” Dad asked.
“How to sell this forged thundercite at market,” I said. “We’re not done yet, but I think you could make good money selling this.”
Dad and Graste tilted their heads and made eye contact. Those two really were peas in a pod.
“But there’s not much time,” I continued. “So we might have to grind pretty hard to get everything done.”
“That’s fine with me,” Graste said. “I can work three days without sleeping. What should I do?”
I scratched my head. “It may be too late, but are you sure you want to do this? You believe a kid like me?”
“Part of me does, part of me doesn’t. I had done plenty of trial and error myself, and only hit dead ends. Based on what you’ve shown me so far, it doesn’t matter that you’re just a kid.” Graste grinned and ruffled my hair.
Despite his lack of articulation, he had a generous heart. People with personalities like his probably succeeded in any field.
I nodded.
“For now, let’s call this metal…let’s call it ‘Elecsteel.’” I explained. “So, you make this Elecsteel for me. It’ll take a long time since you need to forge all of the thundercite that you have. I want you to make two different types of Elecsteel. The first I want molded into small marbles. The second will be made into bars about the size of this ingot.”
They all listened to my explanation carefully.
“Can you do all that, Graste?” I concluded.
“I think so. I’m unsure whether I’ll get all hundred done in three days, though. I’ll get you some trial pieces as soon as I can.”
“That sounds good. Let’s do our best.”
I gripped my fist, and Graste followed my lead. We bumped our fists together and nodded.
“I’ll go break up the thundercite and carry it over for you,” I said.
“Wha? You’re gonna help?”
I looked back, confused. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
“You just gave me your ideas, Shion. That’s more than enough.” Graste looked exasperated.
“But it’ll be difficult for you to finish this all by yourself. Besides, what if you run into some problem along the way? You might need more ideas at that point. It’s only right for me to work alongside you, together, until we succeed.”
Marie nodded in agreement. She had become worked up and was breathing faster. From behind, I heard my parents sigh. I felt a flash of uncertainty.
“Once Shion gets started, you can’t stop him,” Dad said. “But I think he’s right. Let’s all work together for the next three days. I already told the villagers I might be gone for a bit. I had a feeling this trip might become an adventure.”
Mom chuckled. “It’s certainly been quite some time since we stayed in Istria. It’s kind of exciting!”
“I’ll do everything I can to help!” Marie exclaimed. “Whatever you need, Mr. Graste!”
Graste nodded. “Thanks, gang, but I don’t want you over doing it. Any help’s much appreciated.”
“I can take it easy,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
Graste’s smile stretched halfway between exasperation and happiness. On that day, a new battle had begun.