A fire pit was nowhere near as optimal for experiments as a laboratory was, but sadly William didn’t have a lab. Thus, he had to make do. It had been good enough for rocks… it was going to have to be good enough for an extra shiny rock. Though, William had to admit it was a bit beyond a firepit right now. The rocks that formed the structure were really just that, and only there to keep the heat somewhat contained. Outside of that area, though, William had used some of the various materials that he wasn’t using in his final product to create a small formation. All it did was pull a bit more mana into the area, but without it William would certainly run out of mana before he finished. What he was doing didn’t use mana all that quickly, but it was a long process.

He started with heating up the crystal that was now placed in the center. He would chant for a time, then stop to breathe for a few moments. It was better to take more frequent but shorter breaks before he got out of breath, so that the crystal didn’t have much time to dissipate the heat. Once he got it to what he thought was a sufficient temperature, he started the next process. His actions looked much the same, meaningless chanting with many breaks. It was just that, instead of creating fire, he alternated between that and reforming the crystal.

William didn’t want to botch the process, so he took it slowly. That meant it felt like he was only removing groups of impurities or straightening imperfections what felt like a few molecules at a time. Of course, it was much more than that, but it still felt like it. If he had to deal with actual handfuls of molecules at a time, or even hundreds of them, the process would almost literally never end. Still, he wasn’t sure he was doing anything until a few iterations of attempts, when he finally saw the slightest change.

By the end of an hour, William was sweating like he had run a handful of miles. Except, with his current body it wouldn’t actually be too hard to run a few miles, so it was actually more. Fortunately, he was done. Perhaps it wasn’t perfect, but the crystal visibly glowed brighter. In the middle of his work, it had actually dimmed, so he couldn’t say how much brighter than at the beginning. It was also a bit less opaque, though still not clear by any stretch of the imagination. William wasn’t sure if he should quench the crystal to cool it rapidly, but decided it was better not to take the risk. It might become a better end product, worse, or shatter entirely. Since he had gotten this far, there was no point in gambling.

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After William completed his “lamp” the hardest part came next. Perhaps to some it might not have been, but to William it was. Now… he had to sell it. The first difficulty came with his age. Though he was now 9 years old, he couldn’t think of any way to describe himself but as a little kid. Though he wasn’t small for a 9 year old gevai, he wasn’t big either. He was just about the same size as he expected from a human.

William’s parents could probably sell it. They sold various goods from the farm, so even if they didn’t immediately know someone who would want to buy it, they would be able to ask around. The problem there was he didn’t want to depend on them… and he didn’t want to tell them how he made it. Basically all of the information in its construction came from his previous lives, more than he could get away with by saying “I just thought of it.” While he trusted his parents in general, telling them he was reincarnated was a bit of an issue. After all, there was the association with the Demon King- or the Eternal King, if he was feeling generous. Perhaps there were other demons who had reincarnated with memories- or at least partial memories, but there wouldn’t be many. Either way, they weren’t well known, and the association would immediately be made. Whether his parents truly had positive or negative feelings with regard to the Eternal King, he didn’t want to be associated with that.

Eventually, he decided to sell it himself. He just wouldn’t say he was the one who made it. Instead, he decided he would be selling it for his “uncle”. That way he could declare there was a minimum price set, though honestly it wasn’t like anyone was going to be surprised by his haggling skills. Though they were better than the average child, William was probably middling at best for an adult in terms of haggling. That was with a few lifetimes to work off of as well.

The end result was that he made a profit. A very small profit, only slightly more than what he’d spent on materials to begin with. Though he wouldn’t need to spend so much time to make another one, and some of the materials weren’t used in the final product so a second or third would be cheaper, William decided against making more. It had taken a long time to even find someone interested in buying it, and he didn’t think they would need more any time soon since they mostly bought it as a curiosity.

William wasn’t going to give up his plan to earn money though. He bought more materials, but different this time, as well as a beginner’s guide to magic. The second thing was more as a cover than anything, so that he would know some typical chants for different “spells”. The materials… William wasn’t sure what he would make yet, but he had a few ideas that he could use them in. Hopefully, one of them would be good. If not, he would have to wait until he got more money from his parents… and he didn’t really want to rely on them for that even at this stage.