I had thought I could just get started on my work as soon as I got back but I soon realized a problem. I had no way to heat my cauldron. I needed to boil water in it and then dissolve items with the corresponding aspects. There was no way I could get there without a fireplace or similar. Most thaumaturges would use nitor, an alchemical flame that never stopped burning. The problem was, once placed, nitor could not be moved without breaking apart. I would have to settle down somewhere to use that. Instead, I took a look in the kitchen but the stove was too small to properly fit my cauldron. So I went to ask Safrah where I could get a bigger one for the attic.

I found her still in the bath with Vivi. She was washing the ocelot’s fur with some bubbly soap and said cat had her eyes closed in bliss. Even when she noticed me, the dwarf did not stop massaging Vivi’s fur.

“Hey, Fio. You’re back? Do you want a bath as well?”

I shook my head.

“No, thank you. I need a stove large enough to fit my cauldron. Where can I find something like that?”

The dwarf thought for a moment.

“You’ll probably want to go to Riggard’s. He’s a skilled artificer and specializes in large appliances. He made a lot of artefacts for the communal houses in town. He’s… let’s see…”

She continued to give me directions and I quickly was on my way again. The artificers were the only profession in town taking up two streets. They were the most prominent right after the miners. Riggard’s artefactory was easy to spot since it was the biggest by far. It took up the space of two buildings with a large open area in the back. Dwarves rushed around the place bringing tools and materials to several devices in the process of production. Every artefact they were building had only one dwarf working on it. The front of the building had a little reception area with a few finished artefacts on display.

I entered and was promptly welcomed by a female dwarf in a business outfit. It was not a suit as might be worn on earth but had a similar structure. She wore straight pants and a tight jacket in dark red with gold embroidery around the hems, a pair of sleek black shoes and ear covers in a deep, near-black green. Her black hair was done up on the back of her head and her smiling face covered in light make-up.

“Welcome to Riggard’s artefactory. My name is Lora Riggard. I am master Riggard’s wife. How may I help you today?”

I blinked and tilted my head. She was not surprised to deal with an owl? One made from metal and glass nonetheless? Or was she just that professional to perfectly hide her emotions? I had to be careful not to get ripped off. At least I saw her eyelid twitch when I formed the mental connection.

“Hello. I’m Fio. I need a large stove to heat a cauldron.”

The dwarf nodded.

“I see. Do you have the measurements?”

Right. I could have taken measurements or… just brought the thing with me. I activated my storage and pulled out the cauldron.

“This big.”

Now I had her out of her rhythm. She stared for a moment, lips slightly parted. The cauldron was about as tall as she was and had a width twice of her. It had four feet placed symmetrically around its circumference leaving about a hand-width of space between its bottom and the ground.

“Certainly. That’s a large item. I suppose we could fit something in the space below. Though I doubt we have something ready.”

“That’s fine. I need it to fit into my storage. I travel a lot and would like to use this item regularly.”

The saleswoman walked around the cauldron with measuring tape of all things. Was this not a medieval fantasy world? At least they had no plastic and used a thin metal band within a metal cover instead. She took a few minutes to get all the numbers she needed before standing up and turning to me once more.

“This looks like an upscaled form of an alchemic crucible. Would it not be easier to make your own nitor and use that?”

She figured that out?

“How did you know? And no. Nitor is not very mobile.”

“Hmm. That makes sense. We have had some business with alchemists and even the occasional thaumaturge in the past. They might be rare in dwarven lands but that is mostly because very few of us are interested in the higher disciplines of magic. Our people mostly deal with artefacts and a bit of alchemy. Let me get my husband. He will know how long it would take to fulfil your order.”

I nodded and the dwarf made her way into the building. I left the cauldron where it was and took a closer look at the displayed artefacts. There were a lot of large devices here. A stove almost three metres long with six by two places for pots and pans. A bar fixed to the wall with half a dozen shower heads fixed to it. A large tub with multiple mana crystals on all its sides and pipes leading to and from it. One side had a hatch which I could not discern the purpose of. I found a little sign just in front that read: Stone Washing Tub, 150 Gold. I gulped at the price. Hopefully, I could pay for what I wanted.

Soon after, I made out steps coming towards the display room. The saleswoman walked in, a stocky dwarven man behind her. He was wearing what were obviously work clothes and looked a little distracted. His face was dirty, as were his clothes but he had washed his hands at least. I still saw a few drops of water on them.

He looked at the cauldron and went to measure it once again. Though different from his wife he used no tool but simply held his fingers to some spots moving them along the gap below the cauldron. After a minute he stood up and looked at me. He brought a hand to his face before remembering how dirty he was and bringing it back down.

“Right. So. A heating plate. How hot do you need it?”

I answered his wife instead, still being connected to her.

“It needs to boil water at the very least. Higher would be fine but not as far as to damage the cauldron and only if I can regulate it.”

She looked to her husband as if expecting an answer.

“I have not connected to him. It is a bit of a strain if I talk to multiple people at the same time.”

While true, the strain was worse for them than for me.

The dwarf blinked once before looking at me.

“Ah. Right. She says it needs to boil water. Stronger is fine”, turning to me she added, “All artefacts can be regulated by how much vis you power them with.”

The craftsman nodded.

“Hmm. What’s your budget?”

I did a quick count in my head. I had spent three gold on metals earlier. I did not need money for food or lodging but I wanted to keep some on hand. That really was not much.

“10 gold. 12 at most.”

Mrs Riggard conveyed the number.

“Well. That’s not a lot for a device this size. Even for the most basic version, I would have to take at least 15.”

The woman interrupted her husband there.

“Dear, that is unreasonable. That barely covers the materials. 25 gold is the absolute minimum.”

I sunk in on myself. This was a bust, huh? The craftsman’s eyes then landed on my chest. For the first time, he seemed to be actually looking at me. Or rather, at the supersensory matrix. He closed the distance and knelt before me. His hand was almost on my item before I pushed a tendril of shadows in between. He sat there and stared.

“What. Is. That. That item. Did you make it?”

His eyes found mine and I nodded.

“Then. Are you a thaumaturge?”

I tilted my head.

“Sort of? I dabble.”

His wife relayed my words.

“I have an offer.”

“Dear, no. Come with me.”

The woman dragged her husband by his hair into the back room. He could not take his eyes off me. Maybe there was a chance?

It took quite a while before the Mrs returned. Her husband peeked at us through the slit of the door.

“So. We have an offer”, she started with a pointed look at said door, “My husband will show you how to make your own construct up to the point where you can make a stove. In return, you will answer his questions on artificing and help out in the workshop for one month. Frankly, I doubt you will be of much help, but we can’t be a charity.” She sighed. “This means you will only have to source the materials and thus will be able to save a good bit of money. What do you say?”

I barely had to think about it. I wanted to learn about artificing anyway. This was the perfect opportunity. Though I did have one question.

“What are the hours?”

She seemed relieved.

“We start at sunrise and work for ten hours. Breaks are determined by the lead artificer of your project. You would be working with my husband as head assistant. You can take one day per week off.”

That sounded fine. It would be a lot of time but it looked interesting. I would learn from a master of his craft.

“Sounds good. I have an appointment at the library tomorrow but I can start the day after.”

The dwarf let out a breath. She turned to the door and waved her husband over. He nearly skipped like an excited child.

“Come. Let’s get to work!”

His wife stopped him.

“Fio will start the day after tomorrow. You’ll have plenty of time to talk then.”

The artificer deflated. I decided to ignore him for now.

“Thank you for the offer. I’ll see you in two days then.”

“Yes. Goodbye. Enjoy your day in the library.”

Her husband perked up at that.

“Oh, you have to read Master Oculum’s Artificing Theory! It’s the book for artificers! There’s also…”

Before he could start ranting off everything I should look at, his wife started dragging the poor man back into his workshop.

“Goodbye!”, she called out and left me sitting there in the showroom.

‘Well, that went different to expectations.’

I had come to get a portable way to heat my cauldron but instead got an internship at a respected artificer’s workshop. This meant, I still had no way of making thaumium. But I had a clear path forward. There were a few hours left in the day and I still had my metals on me. It was time to get some experimenting done.