Chapter 37.1

*** Director Torrace ***

In the recent years I have moved from public project works and was recruited by the Illuminated to directly lead and oversee their many projects across the country. The Helton mine was among the first of my projects, it had been originally worked on by the master of the illuminated but it had been recently turned over to the illuminated. It was the single most bountiful mine in the country.

The iron sand was so abundant that at first I had to limit its exports so that the shipment department could keep up with the quantity of raw iron that was constantly being pulled out of the mine. Using earth elementals that were personally trained by court magister Granate they pulled up iron from the sulfuric waters using magnetism. The pools were dried using water spells and the sulfur separated into its solid state.

Sulfur was quickly becoming highly demanded as it was discovered to be an important ingredient in a certain explosive. The black powder was in high demand as it made mining much easier as the illuminated had a limited source of mages. In fact after the first month the earth elementals were called away, but by them I had requested mana engines to power mechanical magnets. The workings of the engines were not explained to me, all I understood was the fact that it contains a mana capacitor that fuels the engine, this capacitor is frequently exchanged with another. The shipment department is in charge of taking the depleted capacitors and bringing new ones.

I did not wait for the sand to run out, I could easily tell that the ore was only abundant on the surface, there would be more underneath but in a less cooperative form. I requested the delivery of tons of black powder and an apt earth elemental with Seismic Sight for the future planning of a proper tunneled mine.

The iron sand would not be completely mined out for several years, but I planned ahead anyways. I was not surprised to find that the cavern system had a whole massive complex natural cavern below. The closest and easiest of the entrances into that system was in the mid level depth of a lake of sulfuric water. It would take time but no where near enough for the iron sand to run out to dry the lake, after which it would only be a matter of widening the small tunnel the earth elemental found there and mining the deposit of iron within. The iron sand above was calculated to be an insignificant portion as compared to what could potentially be found below.

The Helton mine was such a success that I was moved to directing the refineries.

I was given full autonomous control and decided to split the refinery into one massive multi-part refinery. By then the master had provided the Illuminated with a book containing his notes on creating rings capable of giving a person mastery over his own element. Suddenly the Illuminated had hundreds of able elementals, a resource no empire has ever had. I was personally given a full company to command as I desired.

Using those three hundred individuals I had the refinery mostly completed within a month, in two months it was already working production, and in four it was fully operational.

I was then moved to the shipyards and helped with construction of the most powerful vessels in the Illuminated armada.

Chapter 37.2

*** Doctor Ludwig ***

After completing my reports I was given a number of small and large tasks involving the creatures from the other side. After the gate capturing missions came to an end an entire company was sent over to my site to secure the other side of the seal.

The fighting was intense, but not entirely costly. In fact with my presence the casualty calculations dropped into the single digits. A grand total of six individuals died that day.

When the other side was finally secured I was moved through the seal where a temporary base was being set up. It would later be upgraded into a stronghold, but for now it would do with sentry turrets and a third of the company as constant guards. The first day of finally getting my hands dirty with the foreign creatures was pure ecstasy for me.

Due to the barren nature of this new world and after several studies I came to the quick conclusion that the creatures use a marble size core within their bodies to sustain themselves. The larger animals have larger cores and vice versa with the smaller creatures though it seems that a core the size of an eye is the standard size. This core converts natural mana and energy into fuel for the body all the while constantly drawing in nutrients from the air and soil. Most creatures prefer meat second only to ash, a common nuisance in this world. The “herbivores” tend to be strong and sturdy, not so much on the fast and powerful side. Killing one of those is a group effort except for much larger predators.

Many of the creatures have natural fire attributes and abilities. Some can breathe fire, coat themselves in it, resist extreme heat, eat rocks that are processed in a refinery like stomach, and lower and raise the temperature.

At first I believed the world to be full only of fire attribute creatures but an exploration expedition into the mountains revealed a cavern where darkness element spiders nest. The nest was deemed far too dangerous to explore due to the extremely hostile nature of the spiders that it was decided that no action would be taken until a full company could be sent over.

Chapter 37.3

*** Bjorn ***

“We have been sent back to the drawing board ladies and gentlemen,” I had been moved to the safest location on the planet, a location off the planet, the Orbital Dock. My master greatly values my existence as I have proven to be the most apt at adapting to new and constant changes to our understanding of the world and universe. I was partially responsible for the design of the anti-gravity engines that power all the flying class vessels including the Orbital Dock.

A recent proposal had been rejected due to the complexity and fragility of the design, a more robust and simple design was requested. What am I talking about? Powered suits designed for the hostile nature of space, a dresswear capable of keeping the host within alive and well while out in zero atmosphere.

The power was the problem as well as the “thin” flexible material that would have been used to cover the body. A barrier field would keep the host safe but it was desired that a suit be made more sturdy to survive on its own without the added protection of the barrier field.