The division of labor was clear. Dad hammered the thundercite ore into pieces. This required a lot of strength to do, so it would’ve taken Marie and I too long. Instead, we were to carry it from the warehouse to Graste’s store. Since there was a considerable distance between them, and the transport took more time than hammering, we waited for Dad to join us once he finished his task.
Meanwhile, Graste forged the thundercite nonstop. That process required the most tenacity and technique, and it took the longest, as well. The furnace was small, so he could only smelt a few pieces of thundercite at once. He also had to constantly prepare fresh charcoal and the other ingot materials. It was exhausting labor, as smelting also required standing close to the hot furnace. He kept at it, though, with his back to us, facing the furnace, continuing his work. It must’ve been rough.
As for Mom…well, you’re about to see what she’d been up to.
Three long days passed, and every last piece of thundercite was forged.
“Oof. We actually did it.”
Graste, Marie, and I all tumbled to the ground. Exhaustion had made Mom and Dad look undead. We were all wiped out, but Graste had gone three straight days without sleep.
Marie and I slept proper every night, but we were still wrecked since transporting the thundercite pieces had taken longer than expected. Dad worked the hardest out of our four family members. He assisted with the transport in an impressive rush, but even with his help, it took until the last minute.
“Boy, would I like to sleep,” Graste grumbled. “But I s’pose we gotta check our finished products first.” He heaved himself to his feet.
“Yes, you’re right. There shouldn’t be any problem, but let’s double check.”
Of course, we tested the ingots along the way, but you couldn’t be too careful.
The five of us left the forgery and walked over to Graste’s small storehouse in the back garden. Unlike the impressive warehouse he rented, it was a shed the size of a large kitchen. It did the job, and the fruits of our labors slumbered inside.
Graste opened up the doors of the storehouse, revealing a huge number of small wooden boxes. We opened and checked each box and took the contents out.
There were two finished products. The first I called the Electern. This portmanteau of “electric” and “lantern” referred to a device designed to produce a light source. It looked like a handheld oil lamp, but its structure was completely different. Inside, two thin, long rectangular bars of Elecsteel were placed face to face, with just enough space in between them to fit a few thin strips of mica. This blocked the electrical reaction between the Elecsteel pieces. The mica strips were affixed to the lantern’s lid, so when it closed, nothing happened, but then it lit up when you lifted the lid off. We insulated the bottom of the lantern so that the electrical current wouldn’t escape to the outside. Everything was enclosed in a glass case, so the Electern shone at a considerable brightness once you took off the lid.
Under normal circumstances, electrical discharge was too unstable and sporadic to act as a light force. However, when two pieces of Elecsteel are put together, they shine at a steady brightness, making the middle of the Electern a glowing shaft of electricity. Its electrical discharge functions similarly to an arc lighter or stun gun, although it was silent. It certainly let off more than enough electricity to power something. The only mystery was how long the power would last.
Our second product was the Sparker. It was basically a new type of flint. It resembled my portable flint, but at the end of what resembled a pair of metal tweezers, we affixed one-inch-diameter orbs of Elecsteel. Since Elecsteel lacked an electrical reaction with other types of metal, the construction was safe.
It wasn’t so easy to light fires with a spark discharge. This design solved that problem by producing a spark when the two orbs of Elecsteel touched. Then you could light a flame like the Flare spell without any magic at all. Flints broke easily, but using the Sparker didn’t put any strain on the device, so you’d probably be able to use it for some time.
Putting the products together was Mom’s handiwork. Her sewing skills were nearly at professional level, and she did an impressive job. She did seem exhausted after the three days of work, though.
A source of light and a source of fire—these were the two products I invented. People needed both, so convenient and easy-to-use sources like these would surely be useful to a large demographic. After trying both of them for myself, I was pleased with the results. The rest of my family members were over the moon too.
Everyone grinned at one another. We couldn’t find any problems after the final testing.
“And that finally does it!” exclaimed Graste. “Thank you, everyone! Great work!”
We all nodded in relief. The four of us were sitting outside together, a rare occurrence. Mom and Dad looked like they couldn’t even stand up from exhaustion.
“Shion, I gotta say…” Graste said. “How d’ya even come up with this stuff?”
“Pretty amazing, right?” Dad said. “My boy.”
“You’re the cleverest boy in the whole world, Shion,” Mom added. “I’m just so proud of you.”
I relished the praise, even if it did make me feel slightly awkward.
I worried that Marie might be jealous, but when I glanced at her, I saw her cheering me on too. That was certainly unexpected. Girls stumped me sometimes.
“We don’t know if it will sell or not,” I said.
“Oh, this’ll sell,” Graste replied. “Ain’t nothin’ out there this convenient. Even if it doesn’t, I don’t care because I think this is one of the coolest inventions I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t thank all of you enough. You all saved my butt, especially you, Shion. This is all thanks to you. I’m really grateful.” He bowed his head to me.
He was an honest man with a heart of gold. Sure, he had his selfish side, but we all do. I didn’t think there were many people out there who could give as good of a “thank you” as he did.
“Don’t mention it,” I said. “I had fun doing it, and it was also useful for me.”
“Yeah, don’t mention it!” chimed in Marie. “I had fun too!”
Mom giggled. “This feels like the old days when it was fun to achieve something with everyone working together!”
“Really, don’t worry about it, Graste,” Dad said. “Your gratitude’s more than enough.”
After hearing our responses, Graste raised his head. When he did, the four of us all flinched in surprise.
Graste was sobbing. “Th-thank you—sniff—you guys are the—snort—best. Nnngh—I’m juff so dang—shlorpf—happy! Thank you, Thank you—wahhh—thank youuuu—wahh!”
Wow, the man sure cried in a crazy way only he could. Not that I didn’t appreciate his appreciation, but the sobbing was so loud and intense that the rest of us practically had to pull away from him while exchanging uncomfortable glances with one another.
As we did, however, we broke into smiles. We weren’t laughing at him. From the bottom of our hearts, we were overcome with joy. Soon we were all laughing as Graste sobbed and wept all the while. I had never experienced such a crazy and yet truly happy moment.