We spent most of the first day pouring over designs and going over the theory of magnetism and alternating currents. Most of my knowledge came from what I remembered from high school physics and the applied mathematics and electrical and electronic engineering modules I had taken during my first year of University. I never thought they’d come of any use, but my father had insisted I take them to keep my options option. After all, engineers make decent money.

Now, the theoretical knowledge tucked away in a corner of my mind returned to me clearer than ever. Perhaps I owed the Intellect attribute for the clarity. Everything felt clearer and sharper than before, too.

After debating for a short while, we came up with three versions of the device: a large stove for every-day use. The hill folk would need something big and sturdy enough to support their large cast-iron pots and pans. Then we made a quick-to-craft miniature version with economical material costs. We planned on marketing to guilds whose members spent months on end travelling. For the fun of it, I whipped up a little electric kettle design too. Hruk appeared skeptical, but I told him how the device had become commonplace in almost every household on Earth. It was convenience we took for granted but had made our lives so much easier. In the end, he relented and started on runescripts too.

The people of Dil’s Nook appeared hesitant to hand over their copper, aetherite, and discarded aether crystals. Neither Tom nor the halflings I met so directly, but they appeared hesitant about Hruk’s credentials. Despite the promise of helping the children, the hamlets smith appeared hesitant to provide his services for free as well.

“I’m sorry,” Tom said, taking me aside. “It’s nothing personal, of course. We welcome all visitors but trusting strangers with rare materials is a bit much. I understand you vouch for Mage Hruk. Even though you’re one of us, people can grow distrustful of hill folk that leave their land to travel. Most assume they were up to no good and got exiled from their lands.”

“It’s understandable, mate.” I sighed. “You’re treating us better than most outsiders, already. When people see my cloak and hear I’m a bard, they think I’m a no good grifter. It’s the same when they see Hruk’s skin colour.”

Tom’s ear tips reddened as he diverted his eyes to the ground. He appeared embarrassed, and I didn’t hold it against him.

“What if we create a working model to prove Hruk’s ability?” I asked. “Are your neighbours stubborn or would they change their minds on seeing a working product?”

“They’re stubborn, but with children at stake, I believe they just need some reassurance,” Tom said. “We can’t pay you, though.”

“That’s fine. Your hospitality is payment enough for the demonstration model.”

Dil’s Nook had essentially become our guinea pigs. I didn’t expect payment for labour or the initial parts since if we were successful, they’d give us everything we needed to test our theories and create test products. After refining the designs in Dil’s Nook, we could take the product to Eldar’s Port and make our riches—all the while hunting for Tracy’s champion. I’d need a cover to act upon my insidious intentions, after all.

I met with the blacksmith first, feigning not to have a lot of coin, and haggled a decent rate for the copper wire we needed. I believed in paying people fairly for their service and product, of course, but at the end of the day, we were also working to help the hamlet’s residents. In the end, he agreed to ten silvers for a spool made from a single ingot. It felt like he was overcharging us and taking advantage of my ignorance, but I didn’t make a fuss. Since Arena Disk didn’t have electricity, copper cost a lot less than iron. I saw the ten silvers as an initial investment, though. When we got to Eldar’s Port, I’d make hundreds of gold as a return.

“Can you make a self-destruction rune script?” I asked.

“What for?” Hruk asked.

“This product might use reasonably cheap materials but looking at your sample runescripts and the lack of nothing similar on the disk, we don’t want others reproducing it.”

“Self-destruction might be drastic, though,” Hruk protested. “What if it explodes in a child’s hand?”

“You need nothing that big,” I said. “Can’t you just rig a hidden runescript that activates if someone without your personal instruction tries dismantling the product? You don’t have to make the device explode, just ensure the bits containing the primary scripts warp and become illegible. Perhaps have the device heat up rapidly so people are forced to release it and the coils inside get damaged too.”

“I could do that,” Hruk replied thoughtfully. “It’s easy enough and I can create a unique rune patterns that requires a set spell form to dismantle.”

“Excellent. I’m just thinking as an investor trying to protect my gold.”

“I understand, Perry. You’re the one footing the bill for this venture.” He stared at his stack of papers thoughtfully. “Creation is the rarest of all the attunements, and the lightning focus is just as scarce. However, gnomes lead the disk in artificing and most kinds of magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a way to reproduce it. Perhaps a self-destruct script will slow them down enough for us to refine our product and build a decent market for it.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

It took the blacksmith a day to produce the coil. In the meantime, Hruk assembled three prototype runescripts that would absorb ambient mana to produce an electric current. The device didn’t need to be powerful or function constantly. A charge enough to run the device at maximum power for eight hours felt enough. Hruk scribed thumb-sized aether crystals before attuning them with his mana to fulfil the purpose. They’d absorb ambient mana and convert them into lightning for storage.

It was our third day in Dil’s Nook before we finally got around to testing our first prototype. The trial ran smoothly until the device warped and melted on the slate that separated it from the heating element.

Our second product attempt took another two days to assemble and exploded on activation. The blast destroyed half of our copper spool and Hruk almost lost an ear till. Since Sasha's magic worked gradually over time and did nothing for regeneration, Tom took us to Elena to get sort it out.

Booger greeted us eagerly at the door. The brorc appeared to have lost weight, but the festering hadn't spread any further. We were lucky the poison hadn't entered the bloodstream. If it had, the poor beast would've likely died by now.

"It's a good thing you didn't blow off a finger or anything with bone in it," Elena told Hruk, cleaning the blood away to inspect the wound. "I can regrow cartilage, skin and even regenerate a liver, but you need reagents, a powerful life mana core, and complex spell forms to work with bone."

"Thank you." Hruk winced as she dabbed the wound with a spirit-soaked rag. "Most artificer lose a lot more before reaching Journeyman. I'm lucky to be knocking at Adept's door with just a handful of scars and a nicked earlobe."

"I don't know what your charming friend told you, but it’s a lot more than a nick, Mage Hruk." Then Elena turned her attention to me. "I hear you have regenerative healing magic. Why didn't you sort this yourself?"

"Its not regenerative," I answered. "I channel it through music instead of traditional casting, and the mana speeds up the body's natural healing process. If I took a crack at it, Hruk would stop bleeding and the wound would close. However, he'd not get his ear tip back."

"If that's the case, what makes you think you can cure everyone in the village?" Elena's brows furrowed as she continued, placing her hands on her hips. "What makes you think you can fix the village's residents where I and two apothecaries have failed."

"I don't know what Tom told you, but we never said we'd cure everyone," Hruk said. "It's an economical preventive measure that we're putting together."

"That's right," I said. "The water is the source of your troubles. I'm sure of it. The children are either picking up parasites or disease from it that adult stomachs can resist. Our aim is to provide the means to rapidly boil water without wasting much time or wood. It'll kill all the harmful things and make everyone's life more convenient while at it."

"So your solution is to fix our problems with cooking tools?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Is there anything wrong with that? Before starting my life as a bard, I was an apprentice cook, and hundreds passed through the family Inn every year. I picked up things along the way."

"I'm not buying it," Elena said, returning her attention to Hruk. "I still can't figure out why you're still wearing a gleaming cloak while just milling around the village. I understand why Mage Hruk initially wore a hood and scarf. People judge hobgoblins unfairly. He's moved on from it now, though, and displays his red hair and green skin proudly. What are you hiding, Peregrin Kanooks?"

"Trust me, love, you're better off not knowing." I chuckled.