As we walked through the metallic entrance, the smell of something burning, along with heat, hit me. Some dust floated around the air while the sounds of metal hitting against metal became louder. Arranged tables were on the sides against the walls with numerous tools of sorted on top. There were also what seemed to be armour and some bottles that glowed various colours.

An opened door was ahead of us, where we could glimpse a man working on some metal, while spells were casted to make the fire hotter. He had raven, black hair as sweat poured down on his darkish, muscled body. He wore what seemed to be a sleeveless, brown leather, but in my knowledge from the books I’ve read, it came from a dangerous and precious monster called Cavanthas; a rare magical feline monster.

We walked past the doorway and other than the man we previously saw, there were three others, one man and two women. The two women wore medieval tunics and had similar appearances; short, reddish hair, tanned skin and green eyes. They had some sort of writing utensil that was connected to two green magical cores and they were inscribing enchantments on some brand new armour made from precious metals. I think I recognize both of them from somewhere. Then I remembered they were some of my mother’s friends that visited time to time. They knew that I was a special child, a genius to be exact, but my rebirth wasn’t part of their knowledge.

On the sides, the other man had oriental Asian features from back home; black hair, dark eyes, and a skin tone that seemed to be tannish yet not. He was standing in front of a metallic green cauldron where he inserted some precious ingredients that I couldn't fully recognize. Above the cauldron, there glowed magical particles of condensed mana that lit in various different colours.

My mother and I waited for a while before one of the women finally finished her work. My mother then called out to her, “Elda, how’s it been?”

Wiping her hands, Elda replied, “The usual, still busy working on some higher tier armoury. Sorry for not visiting your family. Ah! Isn’t that Joseph? You look bigger and cuter than the last time I’ve seen you!”

“Thank you for the compliments, madam Elda. I appreciate them,” I replied curtly.

“Awww, why are you speaking as if you’re one of those greedy nobles? I know you’re a genius, but you should be still talking like a cute, little prince! Come here and give me a hug.”

A tinge of red was painted on my cheeks, while Elda hugged and kissed me, like what an aunt or grandma would do. What an embarrassing sight to be in. Thankfully, my mother saved me from any more reduction in my self-ego.

“Elda, you’re making him blush. I think that’s enough and we’re here to check out your group’s workshop. Little Joseph here is quite curious and plans to become a similar profession and wants his own workshop.”

“Well, of course, you can,” Elda delightfully shouted, “Come, Joseph, what do you want to see in this shop? The potion station? The Metallurgy station? The best yet, what about the inscription station?”

“I would like to visit all of them, please. I need to understand each station to better comprehend my future plans as a scientist.”

“Sure! Looks like he ain’t going to follow your footsteps, eh Felisa.”

My mother retorted, “Yeah, but he still plans to be a fighter, isn’t that right, Joseph?”

“Yes mother,” I answered. Although I plan to create a formidable army, in a world that still elevates and focus on individual power, it’s best to for myself to become powerful. What people would follow a weak scientist into battle, even if I’m the one that provided the weapons. Another reason is that if the other races found me useful or a major threat, my safety would only be assured by my strength and not just the strong people around me. It is within my plans to cultivate my future elements, and hopefully, I would be bestowed with fire and metal.

“Alright, I’ll give you guys a tour, but don’t bother the others too much, okay?”

“Of course we won’t,” my mother assured.

Afterwards, Elda brought us to different stations. She provided me with some information on certain objects and tools. For example, there was a cauldron that heats up from absorbing mana or the forge that uses mana cores to run and sometimes almost reached the temperature of a twentieth-twenty or twenty-first-century furnace. With the use of these, it will be much easier to create some of the important parts of a modern gun. There were also some tools that utilize mana in a way to create parts imagined by the user, however, they’re hard to use considering the creations must be detailed. Another limitation is that the substance is limited in stock.

There were other tools in the shopthat tested mana levels or the type of mana it has. But my main concern was the storage area. In some of my readings in the library books I’ve received, there were many materials that were similar to one would find on planet earth, but they had different names, of course. However, the materials that I want to find are the ones that could create the rudimentary gunpowder that the first inventors from the ancient Chinese civilization. Yet, what was more interesting is that some of these materials provide mana conductibility, which if further experimented, may provide a stronger explosion or kinetic energy for bullets. My eyes glinted at the thought.

If I could somehow create a gun out of strengthened materials in order to accommodate magical gunpowder, the strength of the bullet impact would increase. Maybe there’s a feasibility that the bullet tips could be enhanced for more penetrating power or to affect mana and aura. There’s also mana crystal that provides energy, and with that energy, I could perhaps devise mana laser guns in future testings.

What if I were to have this nation pave roads, and vehicles were created for efficient transportation, especially in terms of civilians, soldiers and goods. Mana could also be a good alternative for the fuel of the vehicles. Then another idea struck me: a tank. A magically enhanced tank created from precious metals that could counteract magic and aura attacks. The possibilities were limitless with magic involved in science and my stormed of the many experiments I could conduct.

We eventually arrived at the storage, which had rows of shelves of various materials, I suddenly bolted, searching for materials to create my first weapon: the flintlock. I just remembered that I disregarded my mother’s rule to stay with her, but hopefully, she won’t punish me. I’ve thought about creating a cartridge weapon based on smokeless powder, but then I realized that the feasibility was inadequate with this technological era and the small number of mages working in the production profession. The detailed parts of the guns would be hard for regular people to create and mages needed to be trained in order to do so. So, for the next few years, I devised my plan in order to create the flintlock as my opening creation while at the same time, I would research and formulate advanced techniques, while transforming some forges and workshops into factories. Developing other weapons based on mana would be good, too, especially if I’m able to improve regular bullets with the use of it.

I eventually found some materials used to create a black powder, but one of the ingredients that were missing was saltpetre, while sulphur was there along with charcoal. I wondered if there was a limestone cave or mine nearby to extract some, since some of the books I’ve read about this world described many details that were comparable to that of earth, other than the magical things, of course. As my mother and Aunt found me, I quickly ran to Elda, inquiring about the existence of a limestone or saltpetre cave nearby, describing the materials with the help of my book.

As for the flintlock mechanism, I could create a model of it using my enhanced memories as a reference along with the magical substance that creates the shape form one’s imagination. If I’m able to describe with detail, I’m sure that fire mages would be able to make them through forging. I’m not sure if I would be able to get regular civilians to mass produce them since there isn’t much tech do so, but expert blacksmiths might have a chance. At most, if I’m able to at least gain twenty-four of each, we should be able to produce more than a thousand by one year if the idea of an assembly line is given. Though, I’m not sure If I want to mass produce them as by then, they would be obsolete once I create revolver rifles, which by then, I would’ve formulated the necessary tech and methods to create in mass production.

To my delight, she did say that there was one found near the city, where we lived, Avalon. Thinking about my first black powder creation, I used my cute, child voice against my mother to get her to extract saltpetre for me. My mother relented, saying that she is willing to send miners to get them. As for Elda, she asked why I needed these materials, but I replied that it was a secret, though she seemed really interested in it. Now, if only I could use somehow persuade my mother into creating my workshop next year, as a present for my fifth birthday…