First Weapon

The sun cast its glow over the mountains creating shadows of giants watching over the edge of the sea. Dark blue clouds threatening to unleash a thunderstorm of epic proportions as they prowled across the sea. With the sunlight reflecting off the clouds gave way for serene and eerie atmosphere.

On the beach a developing boy of unknown age lay in a small wood and leaf teepee under the expanse of the looming mountain face where a small forest lay. Within the confines of a dark and moist room he slept peacefully.

Out on the beach a small stream of grey smoke rose out of bloom from the previous nights smelting. Different clay pot sizes lay strewn about piles of rock which are respectively coal, iron ore, and aether crystals.

The sound of waves crawling up the beach shore calmly and the constant wind breezing up into the mountains slowly wakes the boy up.

With a large yawn and a hand over his face, 'Ahhhh...fuck I'm tired. Processing metal is a chore.'

Drake gets up as his eyelids slowly open and his crimson hued eyes lazily gaze upon the sea. Caught in such a sight how could one not appreciate such a view? For Drake it was mesmerizing as he always was in his lab in his previous life and here its been non-stop moving. From waking up in a new world, to learning about magic, the expedition, and getting chased by beasts he hadn't time to rest.

Now that he could relax due to the collection of materials the day before and already having meat there was no rush. Even if he felt gratitude for Tina Tenebris for caring for him he was determined not to go farther in debt. At some point he would repay it but that's all he wanted. Drake was confident that once he completed his new gun with aether crystal technology he would be come unrivaled.

'Welp, time to work.' After enjoying the scenery for awhile Drake slowly stood up and moved to eat. Creating a fire and using his wooden make shift grill to lay his wolf meat on top.

'Hmmmm...tastes better than an ice cream on a sunny day.' Grease slowly dripped down the side of his chin as the rejuvenating feeling of eating the meat coursed through his body. After a couple days of eating meat non stop Drake could see his muscles becoming firmer, strength getting stronger, and energy being replenished.

Drake still had no idea if the effect was strictly the meat or the combination of meat and working out. Either way, the routine was already showing results. From a frail body from when his muscles were undeveloped and sunken in face from disease or lack of food and water, Drake has made considerable progress.

Finishing breakfast, Drake moved towards the forge where he will spend the rest of his day again. However, this time it will be different. The iron and coal were mixed together in the bloom forge and cooled through the night. With a wooden stick with a stone strapped to the top through thinned out branches to replicate rope, Drake smashes his bloom furnace.

'Thud~ Thud~ Thud~'

Over and over again until the bloom on the bottom caves in. When a hole has been created Drake goes around half the forge in a crescent until it is barely standing. With a strong push he destroys the bloom furnace and fishes out the rough steel.

Slag and left over coal billow out creating a small wave of blackened dust. After settling down Drake shifts through the left overs to the gold mine. In the middle, a lump of unrefined steel. Size wise it is larger then two heads which after tedious work he went through before calling it night was smelted. Creation required layers of coal, iron, coal, iron over and over till the entire bloom was full. Once the smelting started, hours later Drake would repeat the process until he felt it was enough.

Pulling out the somewhat still hot steel, Drake took his wooden 'bamboo' tongs and dips the product into a bucket of cold river water.

'Tssssssss~'

The sound of intense hissing as if a snake was intimidating prey or opponent the steel quickly evaporates the water. Drake repeated the process with other clay buckets until the 'tss' sound went away.

With the product cooled Drake put it back into the bucket and put it into another bloom furnace, here he would melt the steel for his molds of tools he would want to use. Understanding the clay might break, Drake reinforced it as much as possible. Smelting steel would require high temperatures and he was taking a leap of faith that the bucket would hold.

If successful Drake could create a steel-rock layered bucket for future uses along with other tools.

The day went by quickly as Drake would heat and blow air into the bloom furnace with billows of mud and pelt. Sitting by the fire as his crimson eyes were in perpetual concentration and brows furrowed to not miss pace he continued to provide air into the furnace through the billows.

The storm still lingered about over the sea as the sun shone from above. Streaks of light broke through the clouds at different points as if the sun was patrolling the surface for intruders. A hue of light blue to dark blue combined with the deep blue sea and red of sun gave a tinge of purple to the midday glow.

A few hours later in the early afternoon Drake pulled out the molten steel quickly so as not to break the large clay bucket and poured it into his molds, one of a bucket and the rest into other tools such as the tongs and hammer.

Drake contemplated before stopping for the day, to wait for the molds to harden into shape and get ready for the next day of smelting. It would require the parts of his single shot pistol action gun, the first of its kind on this world that he was aware of. Though being ignorant of the world gave rise many doubts.

What were swordsmen and mages in this world? How does aether energy interact with them? How is it possible to create such phenomenon? Is there any inventions that replicated a gun like structure? With such little knowledge and experience like when he watched Tina and Hailey use their blue flames for show, what other possibilities existed in this world?

'I need more knowledge.' With such a conclusion Drake still had no idea where to start. Sure he could ask the Tenebris for such information but wouldn't that make him a burden and feel tied to a house he barely even knows in an empire of unknown power, size, and technology? Sure there was definitely a start point and asking for guidance would seem like a norm. However not knowing the rules and laws of such a scene Drake decided it was better to avoid.

Using the crystals to collect money and search out the knowledge himself in a city such as Feldar, the provincial capital of the Tenebris barony seemed like a better view. Along with collecting skilled talents and a start location Drake felt there was no need. He could pay people to teach him the basics and from there he would start.

At night the storm had reached the shore and unleashed a barrage of large sized rain drops. Waves crashing upon the beach portrayed a rising of waves any other beaches Drake had been too. Fortunately the waves never made it up to his location as the constant flow of river water churned up the sea waves giving a safe haven on the shore.

Once daybreak arrived the air was moist and the beach drenched. Thankfully it would not hinder the smelting as the bloom held and tools dried. With both a hammer and tongs Drake could now move onto to his next molds. The parts of his gun.

Repeating the same process as the day before of smelting, billowing, smelting, billowing, Drake successfully was able to pour the molds of the barrel, handle, and bullet tips. Not for the lack of challenge, Drake charged through the process even if it meant a bad mold or to much smelted steel.

Late in to midday and before afternoon, Drake had finished all his molds. Now he had to play the wait game. Two to three hours later Drake broke down the molds and fished out all the pieces he needed and tossed them into clay buckets of cold water. The less aggressive 'tss' sound reverberated through the camp as he patiently wait for the parts to cool down.

Now with the parts of his single shot pistol collected Drake went to work. Connecting the barrel onto a wooden handle that joins the metal handle and barrel together creates the base for his gun. Knowing that he will have to manually load in the bullets every time to shoot Drake leaves the end pointing towards him uncovered.

Taking the firepin of flint and trigger onto the back of the handle with a small spring for tension, Drake creates the action. The design was rather poor, due to complications of creating a well made weapon he had improvise and leave all moving parts out in the open uncovered by steel casings, which in turn made Drake seethe but knowing it was temporary was also fine.

Collecting the cylinder crystals and combining them with steel pointed tips, Drake made his first aether energy bullet. 'AE tip bullet for short' nodding his head at his ingenuity Drake loaded his first ammo for testing.

'Phewww~' Taking a deep breath, Drake crimson eyes narrowed as he attempted to aim down range towards a tree, his thumbs slowly cocked back the hammer.

'Click!'

With the AE tip bullet pushed into place his thumb brushes over the trigger on the side of the back of the handle, he applies some pressure to fire the first shot.

'ZINGGG~'

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Hey guys! Let me know if the set up of this new chapter is better. I tried changing my writing style a bit because I felt the first 14 chapters lacking. More interactions in detail and in future hopefully in conversations, or fights I can properly portray how the characters are feeling.