Second day, after classes, we started working on the chimneys. We hollowed blocks, made a mix of refractory clay to fix the tiles in the blocks and built it up. Block by block, the first of the free chimneys was built, going from the ground floor all the way up and through the roof.

  We barely had enough to finish building one chimney and to surround it with terracotta up to the first floor, meaning we’d need four kilnfuls of tiles, twice as much as I first thought. ‘I’ll need to buy more clay…’

  “So, you do make mistakes too…” Magnar remarked as he placed in the last tile.

  “I’m not some array… I do make mistakes, I was just lucky until now, but I have to say I made a big mistake on this one…” I shook my head. “This will drag on some longer…”

  Magnar nodded looking at the floor. “I have to admit the windows are nice. I like the light they let through.” He said moving his foot, making his boot change color tone with the change in light.

  “I’d have preferred no light shows… But I can’t complain, it was cheap.” I sighed. “I really didn’t want to get started on glass making… that is an annoying process.”

  “You know how to make glass too?” surprise was etched into Magnar’s voice.

  “Yeah, I know the basics, never tried to make any though.”

  Magnar shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder when’d you have time to learn all this…”

  “Let’s just say… it’s complicated.”

  We both went back to the ground floor. One of my new pots was boiling softly over the stove. The smell of the soup filed the room and assailed my nose instantly. It was nothing more than vegetables boiled together. I was so focused on everything else that I forgot to set aside some salt money, not to mention that unlike fantasy books, spices were expensive as hell and only really wealthy people had access to them.

  “You’re going to eat like that… My offer still stands.” Magnar brought up his suggestion of eating with him in the Dining Hall of the noble students.

  “I told you… It will just draw unwanted attention. I have no intention of clashing with other nobles yet.” I answered decisively.

  “Why are you assuming anyone will find trouble with you?” he said walking towards the front door.

  “Because I’m a commoner and me eating there would undermine their sense of superiority. Even if most would just let me be, there definitely will be one or two to find themselves smart.”

  “I believe you’re overthinking, but do as you will.” He opened the door and stepped out.

  I shook my head. “Perhaps. Better safe than sorry though. See you tomorrow!”

  “See you tomorrow.” He closed the door. I felt his steps in the floor for a bit longer, then heard the gate closing outside.

  I went back upstairs to look out to the back of the tower. Hargrave was still there, tinkering with formations. After failing to adjust the array several time he decided to do it formation by formation. Today at the very least he only cracked a block twice. He was still using it.

  Vex was not here today; luckily, it was not a problem until now. Reason being that some upper classmen had gotten quite badly injured on a training mission and his presence was needed in the medicine ward. ‘As annoying and creepy as he is, in this kind of situation I’d rather take him being here.’

  I went back down and took the pot of the stove. I used a fork I made out of iron to test the veggies. My attempt to pierce them was met with a firm softness, a characteristic of well boiled food. I took the only bowl that survived the baking process, it’s surface rough against my skin, and picked a few of the vegetables.

  I found them good but bland. ‘There can’t be anything bad about boiled food…’ I continued chewing. A crunching sound came out as I peacefully ate, it radiated in my jaw. Frozen, I stood there not daring to move. I used my tongue to check what happened.

  A rounded hard thing met my tongue. I spit it out together with another fragment I felt. A small round stone and a tooth fragment lay in my hand. ‘I cracked a tooth… Luckily these are still the milk teeth… I’d be really mad otherwise…’

  I threw the stone and tooth piece out. My tongue darted to the chipped tooth. ‘How annoying… Now I’ll constantly have it on my mind…’ I looked at the vegetables in my bowl. Boiled soft and yet I didn’t dare to keep eating. ‘I’m not taking any chances.’

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  I diced the vegetables up. I kept them whole only to have them cook slower so I could work without worry. Now I paid the price of my impatience. After every swallowing my tongue wandered once more to the chipped tooth, a nagging sensation of something missing.

  Next day after a short run to the mandatory assembly we returned to the tower. We finally started working on the crucible for purifying silver and copper. We brought stones to the chosen location, then Magnar started mixing clay. Wet thuds could be heard each time he slapped the clay down.

  I on the other hand carved out the stone, chips and dust smelling of ash flying out. Thick sludge of saliva mixed dust kept forming in my throat. Some of it formed on my tongue too, gritty and making a weird sound each time my tongue darted to the chipped tooth.

  The result was a chest level stack with a cylindrical hole in the middle going from the top to the bottom. I left an opening about knee high and used iron bars to create a grate. This was the main structure for what I’d do now.

  I brought in more stones to lay down a foundation for the big blast furnace I would use to cast my own billets. Compared to the rest of the floor, the base of this furnace would be two blocks higher. I shaped it like a square from which an ‘U’ was cut.

  Then back to carving. The sounds of me hammering the chisel to chip the stones mixed with the wet slaps of clay hitting clay. Then the slaps turned softer, a sign he moved on to kneading it. I focused on my work, bringing the hammer down, looking for small holds for the chisel from which to take of chips.

  Dust got in between my fingers too, making the hold uncomfortable. It was the first time I chiseled so much at once. Usually, I took breaks to wet the stone to avoid dust and to stack them together, but this time even just the amount needed for the base was bigger, not to mention I had dug the hearth in the U, a slope that once lined would serve as a slide for the molten metal.

  Coughing and spewing one last time, feeling my throat sore with an earthy-ashy and salty aftertaste left in my mouth I spat out one last time and went to fetch some water. ‘Stupid ashy stones…’ I couldn’t suppress the thought as I rinsed my mouth for the third time to remove small thin sandy dust.

  I carried a bucket back. I threw the water over the working area, spreading it wide. Wet plops came about as the water fell and the air was cleared. I went back and brought one more bucket. Now I was first adding some water, then chiseling, which improved my condition by a lot.

  I avoided this strategy at first. This was a furnace supposed to burn at over a fifteen hundred degrees. Any drop of moisture in it while lit could straight turn it into a bomb. Considering the materials I was working with; this was the only option.

  ‘I’ll just have to dry it out with small fires… It’s colder out so a dry fire on the inside will drive the water out fast.’ I kept chiseling, enhancing myself with aether to not rattle my bones too much. Phantom aches kept appearing when I was not.

  Building up an inverted cone I needed to add some supports from the outside. It turned into a triple ring of stone blocks placed vertically. The upside-down cone was as tall as myself at this point, and considering my needs, it was enough.

  I finished chiseling and tried placing the last stone block from the inside. It didn’t fit.

  “Haaa…” I exhaled tiredly. After some more trial and error, I managed to get it in.

  I crouched and jumped, aether coursing through my legs to push bone and ground, gripping joints and strengthening the leg. I landed on the outside of the inverted cone on the square platform. This was all I could do for now. I’d need a copious amount of refractory clay to continue.

  “Is the first batch done?” I asked Magnar. He was slapping cutting a block of clay, separating the halves and adding cinder stone dust. Something we had a lot of due to Hargrave.

  “Yes. On the other side.” I nodded. It was on the opposite side of the mixing trough. I took half of it and took the short, palm wide log I had purchased for this. I rolled the log on the clay, rising its corners to get them to stick to the log.

  I obtained a cylinder. I took more clay and made two lids. One which I stuck to the cylinder rolling the log more to remove signs and seams, and one on which I molded a circular rim of the same diameter as the log.

  With the rest of the clay, I lined the inside of the waist high furnace. I left everything to dry and joined Magnar in clay mixing. Among the wet slaps of clay smacked on top of clay I heard the gate open. Looking over Cassia came carrying a sack over her shoulder.

  She came over and carefully placed the sack down. “Here are the materials for the array.” Our eyes met for a moment then she looked away and rubbed the place between her eyebrows. I got back to cutting and slapping the clay together.

  “Thank you for bringing them… I am a bit busy as you can see.” I slapped down the slice to punctuate.

  “I got questions about your method. Could you spare some time today? Also, what stinks here? It smells like manure from the stables…” She said frowning.

  Both me and Magnar stopped and looked at each other.

  “It is manure.” I answered directly, at which Cassia’s lips curled in disgust.

  “I’m surprised you still smelled it. The cinder stone dust removes the scent pretty well.” Magnar observed whiffing. Her nose creased seeing him.

  “Why are you working with manure?”

  “It contains a lot of straw made of strong fibers that dry out fast. They also allow the entire clay to dry up faster.” I felt the need to explain in more detail.

  “Do you need some help?”

  I looked up at her. “You sure? I thought you’d be grossed out.”

  “I am… But the both of you are doing as if it’s nothing, so I might try it as well.”

  “Then go to the back and bring up a sack from each of the two groups. Magnar will show you.”

  “Oh, no, you will. Don’t think I don’t remember last time. He simply didn’t think of it, but you definitely saw it coming. So, while he has an excuse you don’t. If anything happens, I’m blaming it on you!” She said her eyes narrowing into slits.

  “Saw right through me.” I continued cutting and slapping while she went to bring what I told her.

  “I’m surprised you two didn’t fight.” Magnar remarked.

  “She didn’t treat me like she was superior to me or try to bind me to her. I have no other reason to not get along with her.”

  The three of us rhythmically slapped the mud back down, mixing clay. The sun was still rising. ‘Hargrave should come too, with the materials here… The toilet will be done soon.’

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  ?? Author's Question:

  Cassia went from being the haughty Headmaster’s daughter to being elbow-deep in manure-clay in a single afternoon. Do you think this 'grounded' version of her will be a more reliable ally for Cato, or is her presence just going to bring unwanted heat from the noble class sooner than he planned