Sawmill

"One of the pirate generals said that they work for a person named Lady Priscilla. Do you have any information about that?" Linus asked.

"There are only a few women I know named Priscilla and they do not live here. They come from the Blacksand islands, south. It had been rumored that the Blacksand Pirates were secretly a naval branch of the Federation of Blacksand Tribes." Blake replied.

"There must be some connection between the two. Perhaps, the Unionists of the Nozul islands were afraid it would force them to act against the Southern Federalists, causing another war. Thus, they never made the connection." Julius concluded.

For over a century, there had been a fierce competition between the Unionists of the North and the Federalists of the South. The Southerners accused the Northerners of illegally trafficking their peoples, while the latter accused the former of Piracy and Plunder.

Each time an issue between the two is raised, a war breaks out, and throws both of their economies in shambles, making life difficult for both sides. Their economic struggles gave both sides reasons to continue the practice of slave trafficking, piracy, and theft, further perpetuating the friction on both sides. Since the Union and Federation's inception, peace had been elusive for their citizenry.

"Uncle Blake, I hope you can continue helping us track Priscilla and her minions. I'll provide you with the same contract as Sean. Being an exclusive distributor means that I will only sell our wares to you, and you will be the only one who can sell our wares in Nexus. I'll refer the merchants coming from Nexus to find you." Linus told Blake.

"Deal!" Blake shook Linus' hand. At night, the conversations continue, sealing the deal under a contract etched on planks of wood. Blake was very content at the prospects of selling the Solusian wares to his people. He consumed the rest of the night, drinking crude liquor with Julius.

In the morning, Linus packed his things, preparing to meet Simon, but once again, his plans were interrupted. This time, it was Ray who came back to report his findings during his scouting trip. It was noticeable that he had less men with him this time.

"Oh, Chief! Welcome back!" Ray greeted Julius.

"Ray! Nice to see you again! It's been a while!" The men embraced each other.

"Young Master, there's something I wanted to tell you." Ray turned to Linus.

"What is it Uncle Ray?" Linus asked.

"We checked around Stoneaxe for pirate presence, there were none on ground, but there were three ships moored there. We were able to capture them with no casualties. The crew were submissive and did not fight back. I left some men to guard them." Ray reported. He added, "Perhaps we can put these ships into good use."

Linus was delighted of the news, saying "That's very timely. I was about to tell Simon to build ships. But we can start with these three. It would be so much faster to get the wares up to Nexus and Rockford if we could sail."

Ray responded, "But Young Master, the sea is prone to piracy. It must be easier to use ships, but there's a huge toll to pay whenever pirates strike. Our goods aren't cheap either, so it will attract their attention."

Julius and Blake both agreed, nodding in unison.

Ding! [You have a new notification. Press (OK) to continue.]

[Quest: Build a fleet]

[Ships can carry a lot of cargo, but the waters around Stoneaxe Bay are infested with pirates. Only with a fleet can you confront them, so that you can do business with ease.]

[Objective A: Build a sawmill]

[Objective B: Build a fleet]

[Reward A: (Skill) Ship Building]

[Reward B: (Skill) Navigation]

[Accept the quest?]

[Yes] [No]

Linus accepted the quest and smiled, telling Blake and others, "The more reason I have to visit Simon, Raymond, and the other qualified craftsmen. We'll have to get our own fleet to occupy our waters. The sooner, the better. Uncle Blake, I'll need more of those green rocks. Please supply us with more of them like Sean does." Linus told Blake.

"Alright nephew. I'll bring you those green rocks that you want." Blake replied.

Midday, Linus went to Simon's and showed him the new blueprint. Simon enthusiastically scanned the blueprint, and right away he understood its application. He couldn't be more excited knowing how much faster his carpenters can work on wood using the sawmill. He also understood that the same principle of harnessing water power through the waterwheel can be applied to the lathe, which will enable them to turn wood faster than the foot pedaled version of the tool.

"Can you build the facility by the river?" Linus asked Simon.

"Of course, my boy. Please enlighten me, so I can teach our men the principles." Simon replied.

[Skill <Art of Teaching Lv.3> was delegated to follower Simon.]

"But there will be more work for you to do once the sawmill is completed. I wanted you to build ships. We'll build a fleet to counter the piracy on our waters." Linus said.

"Young man, I may be a carpenter, but I do not know how to build ships." Simon warned him.

"But you will in due time. Lord Enqui will enlighten us." Linus assured Simon.

"I almost forgot that! Praise Lord Enqui!" Simon raised his hands in the air. And so, Simon took a group of men with him to survey the river for the perfect spot to build the new sawmill. He requested Linus to recruit Samir and his group of workers to log timber necessary for the project.

At the foundry, Linus found Samir, but he was less busy than usual, helping Raymond cast bronzewares. There weren't any prospecting works for him at the moment and the mining jobs were left to the enslaved pirates, so he didn't have much to do.

Samir greeted Linus, "Good day, Young Master. What can I do for you?"

"I need you and the men to log timber for the construction of Simon's sawmill. It's by the Aourus river. Since you did the dam the last battle, you should be familiar with the job." Linus told Samir.

"Yes Young Master. I am no stranger to jobs like these. My former masters taught me well." Samir pounded his chest, boasting. "Very well. I'll do my best to serve you." he assured Linus.

"Alright, I have a lot of trust in your workmanship, my friend." Linus patted Samir by the shoulder.

As the months passed, Simon, Samir and the workers completed their work by the river. With no compromises, it took longer than usual to build. Due to the environment around the river, mere earth would be eroded by the moisture, so the sawmill had to be built entirely of wood. The building's outer walls were made of logs, processed by Samir and his men, while the interiors were made by Simon and his experienced crew of carpenters.

What took longer was the construction of the waterwheel and the wooden cogs for the mechanism. Fitting the pieces together took a lot of trial and error. If a mistake was made, it could break some parts, causing them a lot of delay. Linus came in from time to time, helping them work on the machinery. He brought them the leather belts needed for the transmission of power from the wheel to the circular bronze saw.

After accomplishing the work, Simon had the opportunity to operate the mill for the first time. He didn't waste time and ordered Samir and his men to get logs for the mill to process. As the waterwheel turned to the flow of River Aourus, the cogs soon followed, spinning a solid wooden shaft, and transmitting power to a ginormous flywheel that transferred its rotation to a smaller wheel by belt drive. The circular saw came to life, whirring at a few thousand revs per minute.

Simon and his men towed the log and placed it in the sawmill bed. The bed operates on a rack and pinion setup that works in conjunction with the other mechanisms of the mill. As the cogs turned, the bed inched forward slowly, feeding the log straight to the spinning blade for the cut. Buzz! A buzzing noise was heard for the first time in history as the blade made its cut straight through the log.

Simon couldn't believe what he witnessed with his pair of eyes. It only took the saw mere minutes to make a clean cut through the log without effort. It was not only fast, but it was also straight and with very little flaw. If he wanted to, he needn't process the lumber further because it was clean enough to be used for construction and other woodwork. But he could still use a little elbow grease to refine the surface for smoothness.

Ding! [Achievement unlocked! You are hereby granted the skill <Ship Building Lv.1>!]

[Ship Building]

[Level: 1]

[Type: Passive]

[Level 1 allows for construction of a shipyard and light weight sail powered ships. Construction is limited to two masted vessels.]

"Won't this thing put a lot of us wood workers out of business?" Simon asked Linus.

"Nope, it won't. Rather, it will make you more productive. Machines don't rob you of jobs but only allow you to accept more. You saw it was easy, but the irony is that you'll have more orders to fulfil. Time to build those ships!" Linus told Simon, patting him on the shoulder.

[Skill <Ship Building Lv.1> was delegated to follower Simon]

"I want you to build a fleet of two masted caravels for the defense of our waters. This will allow us to rebuild Stoneaxe and turn it into a bustling port city." Linus commanded Simon.

Simon was still lost in thought, unable to comprehend what the young man told him. Awakening from his stupor, he soon understood the multitude of work waiting for him, but it didn't deter him and only made him more excited to try out his newly acquired ship building skill.