The following day, after some minor repairs, we headed towards the center of Halton, where Tarrant had a workshop by the river. The whole city was built around shores, which was one of the reasons it was such a significant destination for adventurers despite being relatively small for a town.

Like most satellite cities in the real world, it was a place where goods could be decentralized and shipped and a place for relatively affluent people to settle down and live reasonably quiet lives. It was close to the capital city and large enough to have all kinds of amenities. There were no major manufacturing industries in Halton itself, just local artisans who'd come out of the woodwork because they knew their product would sell well here.

"Well, ladies, here we are!" Dinah exclaimed happily as she bounced up the wooden bridge that led over the water and into the area around the riverside buildings.

I followed Lori, watching as the two girls exchanged pleasantries with an older-looking man who sat at a desk at the front door of a building set apart from the rest. Lori carried a bag of quartz with her, as well as two massive wads of cotton she'd gone out and purchased at the market. Tarrant requested that we bring the raw materials for everything we wanted to produce with us.

As I walked across the wooden planks laid out on top of the ground at an angle to keep them from getting wet, I couldn't help but notice how... cheap the materials seemed. The boards used in this bridge looked like they'd been made out of old pallets or something and didn't even seem to be nailed together so much as lashed together with twine. Even the rope looked worn and frayed. But the whole thing held up fine under our weight anyway. It probably wouldn't last long if there was any kind of a severe flood, though.

"Hmm..." I muttered, "Looks like a hazard..."

We continued on our way to the workshop. Ahead, I saw a couple other catboys working alongside what appeared to be a dozen men in their 20s inside a large barn-like structure. Their rippled muscles stood tall in loose shirts covering only about half their chests. Their shoulders were adorned in thick leather straps crossed in several places by copper rivets and buckles. Some wore thick leather gloves that protected their hands and forearms, while others kept their bare palms facing outwards for some reason. They were all muscular, fit, and tanned by the sun.

One of the catboys waved at us cheerfully. He was a good bit taller than me and had spiky black hair with green eyes, "Heyy!! You're all early today. Looking fine there, Dinah! And hello there, little missy!"

I flushed bright red as I saw he flashed me a cheery smile.

Dinah blew him a kiss back before turning away, "Good meowning, you lot! Sorry about the other day." She winked playfully over her shoulder, giving me a teasing smile. I blushed even harder as the sultry catgirl giggled at my expense.

Dammit, Alice. Could you not be a teenage girl for one day?!

"I'll go ahead and let Tarrant know we're here," she said, waving to the group as she began to hop and skip ahead.

I looked ahead toward the building she was hopping towards, and I blinked in surprise.

Even from about fifty yards away, it was clearly....steampunk. Everything about it was different and a little excessive. Giant gears were sticking out of walls, and things that looked like steam pistons attached to them were pumping some kind of liquid into tanks scattered around everywhere.
Huge vats of liquid bubbled furiously on the outside, causing loud noises with constant streams of smoke from pipes running into them. Some kind of device that looked like a turbine spun a wheel above one of the vats where water poured through a grate on top of a cylinder connected to another piston-looking contraption somewhere else entirely. It was bizarre yet fascinating at the same time.

Interestingly enough, a large, garish-looking metal tophat adorned the top of the building. It was painted bright green and had some foreign-looking playing cards along its side, along with what looked like 'Milliner & Co.' written across the front in an overly fancy font style.
Lori turned her head up when she noticed me staring and grinned cheerfully. "Hey! Are you just going to stand there all day? I thought you came to see the Chief!" she asked playfully as she ran towards the door after Dinah.

I quickly started jogging towards the entrance to catch up to the two girls before I tripped over my feet again; however, once I got close enough to the building, I couldn't help but notice something really odd about it. The sign hanging over the entrance was glowing a dark blue, and letters formed in the air in front of it, composing a message that read: "TARRANT'S WORKSHOP."

The doors swung open, and Tarrant greeted us in the street. He walked out wearing a tacky green tuxedo and a different tophat that looked more ridiculous than the first one he'd used when I met him.

"Ah, so good of you to join me for a visit," the elf told us with a broad smile, "I'm glad you're here today!"

He faced me and gave me a low bow with one arm extended behind him.

I stared at him for a moment. He honestly made a terrible impression on me the first time we'd met.

Tarrant tried to get me to join his adventuring party while I was attacked by some horrific monsters. Then, he'd added salt to the wound while I was having a fight with Lori. I didn't think Tarrant had bad intentions, though. He was just a bit tactless at the moment, and I was pretty sure I knew his type reasonably well.

I couldn't help myself and found myself scowling back at him as I looked away quickly.

Dinah snickered as she walked up to me to pat me on the head. "Hey now, don't let our big boss man get to ya too much, okay? Just keep smiling, and be polite. Got it?" she said kindly.

Tarrant was taken aback and tilted his head curiously. "Oh...I do apologize for the other day. That...just slipped my mouth..." He winced awkwardly before clearing his throat nervously again. "Um... please forgive my rudeness! Let's try not to have any such unfortunate incidents occur again."
I furrowed my eyebrows at Dinah before giving her an annoyed look with one eyebrow raised high. Lori giggled next to me. "Oh, little sis...never stop being you." She grinned playfully.

We stepped inside his shop after another second or two of getting our bearings. The place was smaller on the inside than on the outside. In fact, most of the room was occupied by machines that didn't seem to have any apparent purpose except making loud noises while churning away at their business. I wondered what they were actually for, though.

"Now, please feel free to look around and talk to me about whatever comes to mind! I will be happy to answer them! I won't bite unless you try and touch my tools." He said jokingly as he waved his hand toward an assortment of odd objects scattered haphazardly across several tables.
"So, Dinah told me you've had quite the few ideas come up, including a netting that could be draped over windows and beds to keep out insects?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yes sir, I've been trying to develop some products that could be low in material sourcing overhead, since I don't have access to cost-effective potion reagents or laboratory equipment. The family is in dire straits right now, and any angle I can find I'll take. I've been focused on creating things for all the adventurers going off to explore the new dungeon, though. I've made a paste extracted from quartz elements that can be used to take imprints of maps, letters, and other things."

"Splendid!" he replied, nodding happily at the idea. "That is certainly creative! How long have you been working at it?"

"Only a couple of days," I answered honestly. "It's just an experiment, but I got a product that could probably make it in time for the rush."

Tarrant laughed, "Well done! And you're doing quite well so far! It's impressive you were able to create something from scratch like this with such short notice."

I shrugged modestly before looking up at him. He looked genuinely pleased with me when he smiled down at me.

"The issue is really production and scaling. These items will need to be manufactured in large quantities quickly if they're to be profitable...and I'm not sure how I'd go about securing proper equipment and resources." I confessed hesitantly as the reality of what was needed set into my head. "I know I wouldn't want to try making these myself, though...so I was hoping you could help."

He was silent for a moment, thinking. Then his eyes lit up, "Oh, yes, I do think I may have a few ideas that would work! Let me show you around back."

Tarrant led us through a hallway with several more machines that didn't seem to serve much purpose in there other than making noise. Eventually, we reached another room behind the counter, where several tables had been cleared out for use. One of the walls had shelves full of small bottles containing powders and liquids, along with rolls of paper, parchment, and leather scrolls sitting on top of them. Another table was filled with tools and supplies like hammers and saws, vials and tubes, and some kind of odd metal contraption, which I couldn't identify immediately. There were also some empty boxes and crates piled against one wall next to a pile of various types of fabric that seemed to be in a constant state of disarray.

"Ah! Here we are!" he said proudly, looking over everything he had to offer before turning to face me again. "You see, the issue is mostly materials; which shouldn't be a problem since your father is sitting on a lot of unsold raw minerals, crystals, gems, and so forth. The only real issue is production speed." He explained. "If you want something produced quickly enough, you need someone who can run things on their own while still keeping costs low."

Tarrant moved toward a humongous large machine with a crystal sphere at its core at the back. It was glowing an eerie purple color from within as it hummed loudly at its task of heating up what appeared to be a rainbow of gemstones. The gemstones were contained in several boxes of translucent crystal. The green chassis looked like an arcade machine but was blown up to the height of a basketball hoop. There was a large, man-sized slot on the left with a single white crystal floating over it and a black crystal floating over the right. A single rod jutted out from the center, which made it look like an oversized joystick. A large blue, orange, and purple button stuck out of the machine next to the rod.

"This," he continued, pointing at the machine, "Is what I call a 'Spell Replication Machine' - My latest invention and potentially my magnum opus, and a tool that will change... everything."

He gestured at Lori and then at me. "Please, bring the cotton, and insert it in the left slot. Young Alice, please take hold of the control rod if you would be so kind."

I took the stick in my hand, feeling how cold and heavy it was. It felt almost unnatural in comparison to the rest of the equipment.

"Now, push the button, take hold of the control rod, and channel your mana into it. Then, focus on the cotton and weave one of your nets." He explained.

I did as he instructed. I hit the button, channeled my mana into the rod's core, and drew the plant fiber symbols in my head. I envisioned a modern mosquito netting as I wove it all together. Time passed, and eventually, I breathed out in exertion. I saw the white crystal in the left slot light up briefly as I stopped my spell.

Tarrant nodded approvingly after examining my work. "Excellent! This is a marvelous invention!"

He moved over, picking up the net and feeling its texture. "All the children that can be saved with this..." he muttered before turning to Lori.

"Lori, if you could be so kind. Could you move the other cluster of cotton to the other slot? Now, let us try something different, Alice. Please hit the purple button, and when she places the cotton inside, channel the spell itself into the rod and just pour mana into it."

I hit the purple button and waited patiently for Lori to place the cotton into the other slot. Then, I visualized the spell again and focused my mana on the rod. It began emitting a faint light that grew in intensity.

I heard the sound of cotton being shredded for a few seconds before it stopped after a few seconds. Then, I opened my eyes.
There was an identical mosquito netting in the black slot.

I gaped at the machine as Tarrant began to ramble excitedly. "Yes! You see? We now have our first production-line tool that will make these nets and other very quickly and cheaply! Not only that, but we are no longer limited by the size or shape of raw materials we need to buy. Just the pure mass. Sadly, this is indeed a drain on someone's personal mana reserves, and using gemstones would make it economically unviable."
"Wait..." I started, "Did this machine just replicate the steps I took to create the netting, just from channeling the same amount of mana into it using the spell?"

Tarrant grinned broadly. "Indeed, indeed! And...that's not quite accurate! You'll find that each spell used requires at least thirty percent less mana as well." He added proudly. "It's a prototype, but I could create numerous variations for models and products! The current input output slot volumes are a limitation, of course."

I stared at the man in shock. He had effectively created the world's first magical 3-D printer.

I looked around at the machinery scattered about his shop and nodded thoughtfully. The man lived up to his reputation, though I'd likely want to test them out thoroughly before they were released to the public. If ever.

I bit my lip, "Hey Tarrant...wouldn't this machine inevitably lead to massive, massive material inequality between people with magical talent and people without?"

He scratched his chin, pondering my question. "True, but if it was easy to become a mage, then everyone would be doing it, and rarely do people with magical talent become Artificers like me. Lorina told me you managed to relearn 'An Introduction to Household Magic' in just over a week. I'm an excellent student if I do say so myself, and that was more or less a full course across a semester for me! Besides, the limiting factor is still mana. And you, young lady, have a monstrous talent in that department if I do say so myself. For most mages, it would be very useful for artisan crafts like furniture or instruments, however!"

The elf started prattling on about percentages and overhead, and Lori shook her head at him as he began to rattle off numbers. She let out a sigh as she rubbed at her temple.

"Tarrant," Dinah suddenly started after observing the whole time patiently, "I understand this is an investment, but how much did this magic replication thing cost upfront? These gemstones couldn't have been cheap. What's left from the Lost Lands haul..?"

He stopped counting, thinking carefully about what to tell her next.

"Well my dear! Uhhh..." He stammered awkwardly, looking to Lori to help explain his point of view. But she just gave him a look that clearly said, 'I'm not helping.'

I stared at the two of them curiously, looking back and forth.

Dinah let out a long sigh before grabbing the man by one of his elf ears and dragging him into one of the rooms nearby as he flailed. "Mister. We're going to have a long, long talk here about savings and liquidity..."

She slammed the door shut, and I began to hear her shouting at him as he apologized behind the door.

I shared a look with Lori, who rolled her eyes but shrugged.

"Just ignore them," she said with an amused smile.

I smiled, then I started giggling, coughing in between giggles.

Then, for the first time since I'd woken up from my near-fatal injury, I began to truly laugh.