“So, I want to talk about metals that could interact with mana.”
Finally, I managed to pull the smith out of his own mind. He had been acting like a curious monkey since he entered the ship, gawking at every little thing. Even his apprentice was more dignified than him.
“What exactly do you want to know?”
There were simply too many things that I didn’t know about this world. And as a mechanical engineer, metals interested me more than magic.
“First let’s start with the how many metal there are. I know a little about few of them, but in-depth information would be nice.”
Eyes of the apprentice, Brian, were focused on the caesar salad, but it was clear that he was paying attention to us. The elven ears were much more expressive, just like the tails of dogs.
“Hmm, the most common is mythril. It’s required to make magic trinkets and equipment, but to be of use, it needs to be at least 20% purity, which I cannot do. While it is the most common one, it’s also the most expensive. High level mages tend to need it most, so countries with more mages such as Narcissa or Atalanta, and the richest country, Empire will buy it for any price. Buying power of the Empire has gone down after the civil war, but they still buy it at any price you can demand.
Next most common would be adamantium. It’s exceedingly strong, maybe not as much as orichalcium, but unlike it, doesn’t block with magic. Just like all other magic metals, it’s harder to forge it pure, so it is mostly used in alloys. At 5%, it is bit harder than steel, yet just as malleable. Legends say that the pure adamantium armor of the ancient heroes could withstand attacks of the ancient dragons for days on end.
There are 3 more of them. When you feed mana to zorikanium, it heats up, making it easier to penetrate or cut an enemy. Even 5% steel alloy can cut though the skin of orcs like ordinary leather. Only, it’s ineffective against orichalcium. But that’s hardly a demerit.
The other 2 are rather weird. Orichalcium can nullify any magic done to it, and it’s even stronger than adamantium, but it is very dense. A piece as big as a finger can weigh as much as 10 kilograms. If it is mixed with any other metals, it will lose its effect, so making an alloy with it is impossible. In the first place, one needs to be a grandmaster smith to work with it. Also, there is a need for a special potion to melt it; as otherwise, it won’t heat up no matter what. Last one is covanium. It also limited to be used only by the grandmasters. After it’s forged, it will absorb all incoming damage till a threshold. After it reaches a point, it will start to heat up rapidly, but will keep up its effect. Similarly, it needs an alchemical concoction to soften it up to work. Legends say it took almost 100 Tier 5 mages 3 whole month to be able to force it to melt with Mana ball spells.”
It was a lot to take in, but, it made me excited for the first time since arriving at this planet. For example, if covanium could be used as shock absorbers, adamantium as external armor, zorikanium as ammunition for gauss rifle, and compressed gas for propulsion, one could make a functioning Ironman suit. Of course, there still would be the age old issue of your internals turning into a paste due to rapid change in momentum, but this world also had an answer for that. Cultivation. If one were to become a high level warrior, they could most likely shrug it off. But I was getting ahead of myself. I still knew too little about these materials. There was a need for better information, which smith couldn’t provide. I had to do my own tests.
“Then, how are there metals found and mined?”
The apprentice and I had already finished eating, so I brought some wine from my stash. From the looks of it, neither of them ever had alcohol this good. It would have been more weird had they not, as there was no drink better than a 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, at least, to me.
The smith continued as he enjoyed his drink.
“All of them can be found with spells. You let out a wave of mana, and if some of it is absorbed by the ground, it means that there is something that can react with it in the soil. Only, orichalcium can’t be found like this, hence, it is much rarer. Larysa, who is a Tier 3 mage, can fill you in on it much better than I could. As for the refining them, you need to heat the soil in a forge, crush it to a fine powder, before hand panning it. Afterwards, you have to melt the metal particles together and use an alchemical solution to burn away the normal metals. What is this drink, by the way? It’s alcoholic, and stronger than beer. Yet it’s mellow to drink...”
. . . . .
After that, the discussion spiraled away from metals, as we began talking about some business ideas and social issues plaguing this world. The eyes of the apprentice, which was swimming inattentively since drinking wine, locked onto me as I made a careless remark.
“What do you mean by that? Mr. Lloyd, how would magic materials slow down the progress of this world?”
“Hmm. Imagine a world where farmers can only grow enough food to feed only 1 man, himself. They wouldn’t have enough time to do anything else, such as learning smithing, carpentry or guarding the village, right? Are you with me so far?”
“Yes.”
“But if a man could feed more than one, even if by 1 more, that would mean one man not needing to work for food, leaving him with enough time to take another profession, such as smithing. That very smith could forge metal plows, causing an increase in efficiency of farming. This will allow less people to work for food, allowing society and towns to be built. With more free people, everything else will increase. More smiths, more carpenters, more guards, more traders, more kings and queens. A true society like yours can only be born if a man can feed more than just himself.
“Yes, I can understand that, by why would magic metals slow it down?”
By now, the smith was relegated to only listening, as his much more interested apprentice got spirited.
“That’s the point isn’t it, Mr. Brian? You lot are so far back, you can’t see it. You lot are in the same position as that example I gave. If the metals such as iron were to be more common, you would be able to advance your society. Yet, all of your lords are investing in magic materials, while ignoring the needs of common populace. As long as your magic materials don’t run out, there will be no real progress in the world.”
“And what kind of change would that be? You claim as such, yet give no proof.”
“Its power, Brian. Or energy to be correct. In the example, which was real history, elves only had the energy of their own muscles. Now, you still only have you own muscles, and mana, but you have learned how to use it better, with the help of metals. The next step, the industrial revolution will not be as such. Power of elves will only be a guiding force, not the one applying energy.”
It was too much for the elves. They couldn’t possibly hope to understand it without seeing it.
Steam. Steam could change everything. With it, for once, there would be a reason to invest in populace, to educate it to professionalize in narrow fields. It would be the first time for the common rabble of elves to matter in strengthening the nations besides giving birth to farmers, miners and smiths, and to soldiers.
There was only one question remaining. It was whether I was going to help or not.
Also, the same world map once again:
Remember that we had a working steam engine over two thousand years ago. It was chucked into he garbage pile of failed ideas when the king it was presented to said (paraphrased): "Why would I need something that can't even do the work a slave can do."
So even introducing new concepts doesn't guarantee they will stick.
I don't get why he would want to get involved. While industrial revolution sounds great for the whole, when it comes to the individuals it may not be as simple. Besides, as far as I could tell, the mc probably can't count even as an amateur when it comes to politics or sociology and yet he wants to carelessly affect an entire civilization on a very large scale.
I can already imagine the plethora of social and economic problems such changes will lead to. Why? Because a man from a different planet decided to mess with history of a species because he thought he was right.
Steam, he says. Maybe this civilization would go some other technological route, one that would go stunted I'm it's growth or die entirely.
An excellent comment! Thank you for the feedback.
I don't get why he would want to get involved.
Maybe because he has realized that he's stuck here - marooned on a primitive world, likely for the rest of his life? Maybe because this will have to be his new home and he wants to improve their way of life, if not for himself than at least for those around him? Who knows? Maybe he'll marry a local one day or even start a family?
Why does any MC in any isekai story ever written inevitably get involved in the politics or goings ons of the fantasy world they suddenly find themselves reincarnated into or transported to? Maybe they should all just resign themselves to living the life of a hermit to avoid "contaminating" the potential development of such worlds merely because they have knowledge of modern Earth? Does that make any sense?
While industrial revolution sounds great for the whole, when it comes to the individuals it may not be as simple.
True enough. And getting involved means taking on enormous responsibilities and consequences. It's not for the faint of heart. Then again, these people came to his very doorstep - poor refugees with a bleak future and nowhere else to go.
Besides, as far as I could tell, the mc probably can't count even as an amateur when it comes to politics or sociology and yet he wants to carelessly affect an entire civilization on a very large scale.
That's just an assumption on your part. Besides, him being a man of the 23'rd (Earth) century on a futuristic ship with a powerful AI, he very likely has access to a database of textbooks and encyclopedia's of expert information. Even if the MC isn't familiar with those subjects, he could always study up and/or consult his AI for advice. Considering how greedy and ignorant the leaders on this primitive world are portrayed, he's likely more intelligent, educated and wise than all their leaders put together.
If nothing else, he clearly has a firm understanding of Earth's history and how it correlates to this primitive world. As the saying goes: Hindsight is 20/20. Using Earth's history as an example, he should be able to help them avoid or at least warn about some of Earth's pitfalls.
I can already imagine the plethora of social and economic problems such changes will lead to. Why? Because a man from a different planet decided to mess with history of a species because he thought he was right.
The very presence of his ship has permanently altered this world's history. So what? Granted, anything he says or does could have unforeseen consequences. But then, he's stuck on this world. Interactions between himself and natives are inevitable. Very likely, hostilities are inevitable, too. It's not like he has much choice.
By your logic: Why should any person get involved in any social or political situation just because they think they are in the right?
Yeah, I get where you're coming from: The almighty Prime Directive of Star Trek. But I don't think it's very applicable here.
Steam, he says. Maybe this civilization would go some other technological route, one that would go stunted.
I very much doubt that there is anything the MC could do that would "stunt" the growth of the research of magic and magic metals. It has so much potential, so it would remain far too important to them to ignore, even if he managed to kickstart an Industrial Revolution for them.
Indeed, an Industrial Revolution might - as a side effect - push rapid advancements in magic research. For an example of this - an attempt by a transported Earth person to kick off an Industrial Revolution in a fantasy world - try reading the popular "Magic Industry Empire" Chinese webnovel. It might change your mind.
Have you been reading very closely? Because several times over the story explains it: The leaders and rulers of this world think very little of average people. Because of the existence of magic, magic metals and Tiers, they rely on them and do not invest in the common people.
Even in a historical context, life in Medieval Europe (i.e., the "Dark Ages") on Earth was much the same. For the most part, nobles only cared about themselves. Peasants were treated rather poorly. And education - even reading and writing - only really became common after the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution.
Without something similar, the lives of the people are going to remain much as they've always been: Primitive and mostly miserable. Also, the average lifespan for peasants was something like 30 to 35 years, with many not even having enough to eat. They didn't even know what caused disease or know enough not to empty sewage into the same rivers they drank, laundered and bathed in.
@Xpacetrue Now, these are interesting views! I won't say much, since the points are either correct(IMO) or, are subjective. The only thing that I have to say is that, as far as I know, 30-35 figure comes when you include early infant deaths. If you were to exclude the early childhood deaths, the median life expectancy increases to late 50s.
Also, if you have time, may I interest you in joining the discord server of ours, after you read the story to the last chapter?
Considering the condition world is in with its wars, technology would just escalate the conflict if he just spreads it around. If MC wanted to keep world from going WWx, he would pretty much have to amass resources, people and military power to conquer other nations for control. That way MC could control following techonology and population boom.
We needed two world wars to learn how devastating modern warfare is. And honestly, magic + technology can most likely create way more horrifying weapons than nukes. I mean even individuals would become even more like ballistic missiles they already are at higher tiers.
Iwould personally probably go world conquest route in this situation, after gaining power to back it up. You could guide civilization to avoid pitfalls of history as best as you can as you would have the control.
@mukkaar You make some pretty compelling points. And I think I'm inclined to agree with much of it. Introducing guns and explosives to a Medieval world is a common isekai trope. But it's also commonly accepted that doing so will inevitably lead to an escalation in warfare and bloodshed, for good reason.
That said, I'm not sure that I can agree that magic + technology would make for more horrifying weapons than nukes. I mean... What could such weapons even look like if they are somehow more horrifying, considering how horrifying nukes already are? Planet destroying devices? Magic curses or diseases that affect billions and are nigh impossible to cure?
The only other thing I can think of that might be more horrifying is some type of magic sniper rifle that had a scrying orb to see the target anywhere in the world and could literally shoot anyone, regardless of where they are hiding by teleporting the projectile.
Also, now that I think about it, mind control and brainwashing are pretty terrifying powers, especially if they could be done on large numbers of people.
@XpacetrueA Ahem, brainwashing for sure, but mind control is rather ineffectual in the world. I am going to add it when I edit the story that manipulating the soul(controlling mind) is next to impossible if there is hostile intent. To do so, one must be a very high tier mage, and there must be a very big strength gap. The "translation magic" that was done Lloyd had no ill intent and had no possibly to harm or manipulate him, so his soul didn't resist. Similarly, it is dur to this very mechanism that mages way stronger than target trick the soul into being manipulated...
@Monk_Origins That makes sense. I like that you've planned out your magic and can give logical, straight answers on why it works the way it does and on what it can and can't do. (Sometimes when I read a story or watch a film or show, I have to wonder if they really thought things through, especially if they aren't always consistent.)
In my last comment, I was largely speaking in general terms and not necessarily addressing this story. But I am glad to hear that mind control is limited in scope and sounds at least somewhat ineffectual in your world.
Personally, I don't usually care for mind control in fiction - partly because I find it so incredibly ugly and turns my stomach (like torture and slavery), but also because is just seems so overpowered and cheap. And, IMO, the use of cheap plot devices tends to cheapen the entire story. For similar reasons, I don't usually like Deus ex Machinas or time travel as a plot device. (Though, I can enjoy some time travel stories as some do it better than others.)