The Puppet's Origin
BAM BAM BAM.
Nie Gan hammered nonstop at the ingot he had just cast from iron and platinum. In order for the gears to withstand the tremendous pressures created by the engine, they'd have to have virtually no impurities. One small impurity too much could cause the gear to literally burst apart. In the best case scenario, this would paralyze a limb. In the worst case scenario, it'd damage many other gears, causing the puppet to become unusable.
On the cork covered wall, there were dozens of hand drawn leg designs from different perspectives pinned with needles. This was meant to be the lower half of the puppet that Nie Lan had given him. However, he was just copying more or less the structure of the autonomous puppet he used to give maintenance to in the arena. Nothing guaranteed it would be compatible with the workings of the new puppet. Nevertheless, it was the best starting point he had.
"The platinum steel alloy should endure the temperatures well enough. It will still be deformed after multiple uses, but it's the best I can work with for now." He muttered under his breath as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
The process of forging a gear was not easy. The measurements were vital. If it was too big, it would not fit. If it was too small it would fall out. If it was slightly wider, the friction against the other gears would be so intense it would end up melting down.
Just a single gear had taken him more than two hours to forge. From this alone, the difficulty in crafting a puppet could be seen. Most puppets would have around 1000 gears. However, ancient puppets like the one he was trying to repair could have up to 3000. Realizing that the restoration process would be much more time consuming than he had thought, he chose to enlist some help. Skilled blacksmiths were extremely few in number even in the entirety of Gray Ridge Marquisate. Nevertheless, there were a few.
Taking out a bamboo slip, he wrote four names; Chu Zhang, Nie Lei, Nie Bai and Nie Dong. Although none of them knew anything about puppets, he didn't need them to. All he needed was that they could satisfy the specifications he had for gears and pipes. After completing the list, his face turned sour. These were four master blacksmiths and metallurgists. Just hiring one would be extremely expensive, no need to mention four.
He still had an idea, however. Whether it worked or not, that was yet to be seen. Taking out a jade slip, he contacted Nie Lan's assistant, Nie Ai. The message was simple; he had run out of materials and needed more. Of course, that wasn't true, but if he got more, he would be able to at least sell them to come up with the spirit stones to hire help.
The reason why he didn't ask for spirit stones directly was because he knew Nie Lan would be much more scrutinizing when it came to what he would spend them on. And it wasn't like she'd be against hiring help, but the people in his list just so happened to not be in the same clan faction as her, except for one. He did not care about clan factions, since he basically belonged to none. However, she would definitely be against including someone from a rival faction in the endeavor.
After receiving Nie Ai's answer, he was elated. It seemed Nie Lan was really putting her all into helping him, regardless if it was for her own benefit.
Standing up from the stool where he usually rested between working sessions, he headed towards the only clansmen exclusive bathhouse in Gray Road City. He knew he'd find one of his candidates here, and it didn't take him long to spot him sitting in the thermal water pool, his face the very expression of relaxation. The man was fairly tall, with an abnormally lean complexion and a pair of slanted, amber colored irises that made him look more charming than he would have been had he had the standard black eyes shared by most Nie Clansmen. It was Nie Dong.
He approached and sat nearby, enjoying how the steam and hot water relaxed and rinsed his body. Only after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn did Nie Dong open his eyes.
"Quite wise of your father to establish his clan near Mount Grayspear, don't you think so?" Asked Nie Dong as he stared at Nie Gan intently, but with no animosity. This caused Nie Gan to feel that he wasn't someone to be trifled with. After conversing for a bit on mundane matters, an awkward silence ensued.
"So, what do you want from me? Better keep it brief, cause I have a tight schedule." He commanded arrogantly, although it struck others as if the arrogance was merely a facade.
"I am working on a project, and I'd like to hire your services." Sincerely stated his intentions Nie Gan.
"Everybody would like to hire me. Now, what's in it for me, were I to accept? And more importantly, what kind of project is it?"
His last question confirmed that choosing Nie Dong as his first option had indeed been the best. While he would not work pro bono, Nie Dong was known to do work for much lower rates than the others if the project caught his eye. The rest were much more professional in this aspect, but Nie Gan was afraid he could probably only afford Nie Dong, and that was provided his project caught his eye. He wasn't the best in the list, but that was not as relevant as cost.
"Didn't you once say that puppets broke the laws of metallurgy?" His question caught the slanted eyed man off guard. Thus, he took some time before formulating his response.
"Yes. As established in Gu Shang's "Metallurgy: Theory and Practice", at least. I needn't go in detail since you are already initiated, but basically, no alloy that we know of can resist the friction and heat the gears are subjected to. Not while retaining its integrity and having an ideal mass. Unless a dedicated cooling system is used, that is. But I have inspected the training ground's puppet and it lacks such a cooling system, yet its gears are perfect as if they had just been forged." By this point, his eyes revealed interest, which was exactly what Nie Gan wanted all along. From the way he talked, it was evident what kind of person this Nie Dong was; beneath his arrogance he was forthright and extremely by-the-book.
Nie Gan wanted to say that Gu Shang had been a metallurgist from the Dark Times, not from Ancient Times, which could have limited his knowledge to what had been preserved after the cultivation world started declining. However, knowing how high esteem most metallurgists nowadays held him, he refrained from going into this argument.
"I got my hands on a puppet, but it needs restoration. Well, technically it was Nie Lan and Nie Yan who got it, but I am in charge of restoring it."
"Another one?" Asked Nie Dong, slightly shocked, but even more curious. Nie Gan simply nodded in response.
"If you cannot repair it, I'm afraid I won't be of much help." He lamented, not wanting to put off a pretense of being knowledgeable about matters he was not.
"Worry not, I can repair it. It's just that forging each gear by myself would take months. You are an expert in metal sheet cutting. I could use that."
Nie Dong agreed silently. Everything Nie Gan had said made sense, and he had long since harbored a deep interest for puppets that had yet to be satisfied.
"Well, if we do successfully restore it, I want half of the credit. I also want a detailed diagram of its internal workings, if possible. Lastly, I still want the market rate to be paid." Listed Nie Dong, his slanted eyes making contact with Nie Gan's.
"Your requests are within reason. Alright, we should start right away if we plan to finish before my deadline." Having successfully set the terms for Nie Dong's collaboration, both men left the bathhouse in clean, recently washed robes, heading straight toward Uncle Xing's dilapidated house on the edge of the outer district.
"With Uncle Xing's knowledge, my practical experience and Nie Dong's expertise, it won't take as long to completely restore it!" Thought Nie Gan to himself on the way to the workshop. Both the elderly and the slanted eyed man followed behind him.
At the sight of the puppet, Nie Dong and Nie Xing were both left speechless. The former's jaw was wide open and he seemed to want to say something, but no words came out, while the latter took a deep breath and his eyes shone with passion. Taking a step forwards, Nie Xing gripped the baton he always carried with him as a cane for self-defense and in one swift motion, he swung it against the puppet's head with all of his elderly body's remaining strength, much to Nie Gan's fright.
He knew that the cane Uncle Xing used to walk had once been the handle of his Black Tremor, a sledge hammer treasure, with the exception that it had been made specifically to last an incredibly long time and have unparalleled sturdiness needed to pound heavy metals during the early stages of forging.
GONG!
Much to Nie Gan's relief, and to Nie Dong's, who had also felt that this puppet had unmeasurably value, Uncle Xing's cane broke in half upon hitting the puppet's body. Due to having exerted himself physically, Uncle Xing started coughing extremely badly, to the point where he fell to his knees before he stopped.
"Uncle, remember your injuries." Reprimanded Nie Gan as he approached to support Nie Xing. Simultaneously, he sighed inwardly. Nie Xing's physical state was not solely because of his advanced age. He wasn't that old, so taking into account his fourth stage Qi Condensation cultivation, he should still have some vitality and strength left in him. The real problem was his internal injuries. Any physical effort would cause them to flare up
The reason behind this was that Nie Xing had failed to step into Foundation Establishment long ago. It was actually quite miraculous that he was still alive, considering the extremely high mortality rate of failure. With time, his cultivation base fell from the tenth stage to the fourth.
Cough, cough.
"Haha, who'd think that I, Nie Xing would live to see such a puppet!" Exclaimed Uncle Xing before chuckling, his dim eyes regaining their glow.
Nie Gan could not understand Nie Xing's exhilaration. Upon seeing the curiosity in his eyes, Nie Xing steadied himself as his gaze turned serious.
"In Ancient Times, when a puppetmaster crafted a puppet, they'd imprint their signature somewhere on the puppet's body, just like artists do on their paintings. This puppet of yours is far from ordinary. It's definitely much better than the one we have in the training grounds. Here, look." Explained Nie Xing as he pointed to a spot on the puppet's chest with the half of his broken cane.
Nie Gan and Nie Dong stared intently at the place where Nie Xing was pointing, but to no avail. The older man said nothing, as if he were testing his juniors. Half a dozen breaths later, Nie Gan's pupils constricted. With his full concentration, he was able to glean something. It was a symbol, not quite a character yet, even though it resembled one. More accurately, it was an ideogram. It was floating millimeters above the puppet's forehead, not entirely incorporeal but not material either. He could not determine the substance or method used to create such a signature.
"Wang?" He muttered, sounding unsure and comprehensively so. No one nowadays studied ideograms except for scholars who focused on linguistics, but Nie Xing nodded to agree with his interpretation. Nevertheless, neither Nie Gan nor Nie Dong were prepared for what he would reveal next.
"From the craftsmanship itself, the use of an ideogram as signature, and other factors, I am 90% sure this puppet of yours was made by a disciple of Clockwork Sect!" His words caused them absolute shock, and it could be seen in their facial expressions.