boyutpedia Chapter 33: Mid-Apprenticeship
Chapter 33: Mid-Apprenticeship
By the time Novia returned to De Gea territory, it was already completely dark.
Inside the council chamber, grease torches burned, casting distorted shadows of the antlers on the walls.
Lord Ramon sat at the end of the long table, holding a tin cup in his hand, the ale in which was empty.
He didn't let anyone rest; his second son had just been brought back from Ashwood, and he wanted to hear the firsthand report.
Novia recounted the entire journey in detail.
The structure of the barbican, the defensive capabilities of the blue brick city walls, and the temperature difference in the pit courtyard.
Finally, at the negotiating table, they could exchange potato seeds for bricks to refine recipes.
When Ramon heard the name "Ron Ashwood," his fingers paused on the rim of the tin cup.
"How did you agree to that?"
"I agree," Novia said. "The brick recipe is very important. Even if we can't fire it, as long as we understand its power, we can reduce a lot of magic consumption in brick construction. Ashwood has already subdued some goblins who are descendants of humans, so we should be able to get the seed potatoes soon. There's no need for us to hide them. Anyway, Ashwood's territory is on a plain, so it's impossible to grow them there."
Ramon was silent for a moment, then placed the tin cup on the table with a very soft sound.
"You did the right thing."
Standing behind Ramon, Devon, the eldest son, remained silent. Five years older than Novia, he resembled his father more in build, with broad shoulders and calloused hands. The way he looked at Novia was no different from how he looked at anyone his father praised.
"That Ashwood guy, he threatened you?" Devin finally spoke. "He said what would happen if you didn't pay compensation."
Novia did not give a direct answer. "He said this attack was intentionally to drive away the goblins and remind us to be careful."
Devon let out a very soft, cold laugh. "Pay attention to what? He doesn't even have any evidence, how would he know about driving away goblins?"
"Bard's here," Novia interrupted him. "Bard heard it with his own ears."
Devon let out a very soft, cold laugh.
"Bard? The hunter?"
"Bard followed my father for fifteen years," Novia said calmly. "His ears are sharper than your sword."
Devon placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Novia didn't move, not even blink.
There was a three-second silence in the council chamber.
Ramon picked up his tin cup and took a sip of ale, as if he were looking at Devon.
Devon loosened the hilt of his sword.
Ramon stood up.
The torchlight flickered on his face as he walked to the map hanging on the wall, which marked the locations of all known frontier territories in the southern Blackthorn Wasteland with charcoal.
The Ashwood territory has been marked with three circles.
"Buy bricks first, solve Ashwood Territory's food needs first. They can't cultivate farmland on a large scale. The soil fertility of Blackthorn Wasteland is simply not enough to grow enough food to feed more than a thousand people," Ramon said. "Build the city wall first. Their bricks are better than stones. After that, we'll figure out what to do next."
"We'll give him the potato seeds too, but not now. We'll give them to him when his goblin finds them. He waits, and so do we."
Novia nodded, but Devon's expression did not soften because of his father's statement.
As Ramon turned to leave the council chamber, Devon and Novia exchanged a glance.
Devon looked away first, not because he felt guilty, but because he didn't bother to hide it at all.
That same night, in the pit courtyard of Ashwood, Ron was struggling with a rock.
It was a piece of waste rock brought back from the Wengerling mine; the slag content was too high to be used for iron smelting.
But Ron kept it not because of the iron; he recognized something in the cross-section of the scrap rock.
A light gray, loose, powdery mineral. Natural volcanic ash.
The presence of volcanic ash on the Blackthorn Wasteland indicates that this wasteland experienced volcanic activity during a certain geological era.
This discovery is no less valuable than iron ore.
He used a transformation technique to extract a small amount of volcanic ash powder from the waste rock, and then mixed it with lime mortar in different proportions.
The first batch of ingredients dried too quickly, and cracks covered the wall like a spider web.
The second batch of mortar was too diluted, and its hardened strength was not as good as that of ordinary lime mortar.
When he mixed the ingredients in a 1:1 ratio, added a small amount of fine sand, stirred it evenly, and applied it between two blue bricks, he had a gut feeling that the ratio was correct.
The next morning, old Hall came personally to test the strength of the new mortar. He placed two bricks, bonded together with volcanic ash mortar, on a stone platform and then struck them with a hammer. The bricks broke, but the mortar joints didn't crack. He then soaked another set of samples in a bucket of water, waited an hour, and then took them out and struck them again.
Ordinary lime mortar will have a significantly reduced strength after being soaked in water, but volcanic ash mortar will have a higher hardness after being soaked in water than when it is dry.
Old Hall put down the hammer and said, "This thing can harden in water."
Ron nodded. The calcium silicate hydrate produced by the reaction of volcanic ash and lime works on the same hardening principle as cement, but is more resistant to corrosion.
The outer layer of the city wall is made of cement, which is fast-hardening and high-strength; the inner layer and foundation are made of volcanic ash mortar, which is durable and impermeable.
Using both together can double the lifespan of the city wall.
As dawn broke, the side gate of the north gate's barbican slowly opened.
Thun stood in formation outside the village gate with ten naturalized goblins, all dressed in dark brown leather armor, with short swords at their waists and bone bows and quivers on their backs.
If it weren't for their exposed gray-green skin and overly flat face, they would look like a well-trained light reconnaissance team from a distance.
Ron stepped forward and hung a monocular telescope on Thun's waist.
"Fifty miles to the north. The main task is to scout the goblin tribe's movements. If you spot any trace of humans, return immediately and do not engage the enemy."
Thun solemnly took the telescope and looked up at Ron. "My lord, I will prove that the Treda people are not beasts."
Ron patted him on the shoulder. "You're a human being now! Go! Come back alive."
Thun and his scouts disappeared over the northern horizon, and Mad stood on the watchtower watching them go.
He heard that Thun's mother was the daughter of a lord, who was kidnapped by goblins for twenty years and raised a group of hybrids who could speak human languages and use human weapons.
Twenty years later, her son, using the breathing techniques she taught him, went to spy on the kind of people of her enemies.
Damn, I think this is just fate.
Of course, their mission this time was to bring back the Earth Rock Potato and try to cultivate it in their territory.
Ron had a feeling that the ground potato might be a crop similar to a sweet potato or potato.
Perhaps he could cultivate it into a crop that doesn't need to be planted on cliffs, but can be grown in the ground.
On the third day after Thun left, Ron got up on time and, as usual, immediately opened his character panel to check his personal attributes and see which data had increased.
Ron Ashwood
Class: Mid-stage Apprentice of Architect/Mage, Mid-stage Apprentice of Knight
Physical condition: 15
Power: 12
Spirit: 10
Mana: 105
Random attribute points: 2
27 formwork buildings have been completed.
He had been focusing on building the adobe city wall these past few days, so there was no magic power feedback. He could only increase his magic power by idling and cultivating. Unexpectedly, he broke through to the mid-stage of the apprentice level without paying attention.
"System, what's the difference between breaking through to the mid-apprentice stage?"
[The host should have seen this. Because the meditation method you are practicing is an exclusive top-tier meditation method, in addition to the reward of 20 mana points and 1 point of mental energy, meditation restores 6 mana points per hour.]
Hearing that meditation restores 6 points per hour means that even when you're AFK, you can gain an extra point, which can greatly reduce the time you need to meditate to restore mana.
This breakthrough made Ron even more eager to build the city walls. In just one more day, all the wooden stockade walls would be replaced with adobe walls, and only then would the defense of the territory be guaranteed.
He can also build a complete brick city wall and reap a huge amount of magic points.