Jason had finally made it to the Slipner mines. After two detours, one to which he could have easily avoided, he saw the piles of ore lining the yard. But as he got closer, he saw a yellow substance next to the ores. While his mind went to sulfur, he thought "There's no way they could produce sulfur out of these mines, right?" But as he got a closer look, the distinct smell of eggs and charcoal having a baby made him sure it was sulfur. He needed to go talk to the owner, Mr.Slipner, right away. But before he could find him, he found Jason. He was a heavyset man, wearing boots and a suit. His voice was quite deep and loud, so even from his distance Jason heard him. "Jason my boy, it's good to see you. Again, my condolences for your father."
He paused for a second to come closer, and shook Jason's hand. "I presume your here for more materials, son. I'm not one to waste time with business."
And that he surely didn't. He pulled up his father's old record of his usual purchase, to which seemed perfect for Jason. 50 pounds of lead ore, 100 pounds of iron ore, and 50 pounds of aluminum ore. While this seemed like a normal load, Jason was completely out of anything at home. "For this order, can I add another 25 pounds of iron ore. I completely ran out of materials, so having a bit extra never hurt ."
After checking his numbers, Mr.Slipner said "Never a bad idea indeed. I also saw you eyeing our newest product."
Jason tentatively said "Yes, certainly."
Mr.Slipner didn't even ask for his reasoning, all he asked was "How much do you need? The going rate is 5 silvers per pound."
While the price was still high, it was at least 100 silver cheaper per pound than before. "Sounds good. What's the total?"
Jason had brought 125 silver coins with him, and then added the 17 he got. "With the sulfur and more ore added, it's going to be 135 silvers."
Jason didn't like the number, but it was still very cheap. He gave him 149, as payment for his men to load the material. He was already quite tired, so he didn't want to have to load and unload it. With that, Jason went in his way back home. By the time the sun had finally set over the horizon, he saw the Northern shores if lake Komic. The lake itself was quite large, with a large island in the middle that housed a very old castle. He used to go their as a kid, thinking he could find some untold treasure's. He made his way back home, and smelted all the metal down before going to bed. The runes assisted him greatly in doing so, making the process take only an hour, rather than eight hours in the forge. The next morning, he was so excited to be working on this new rune. He looked back in the book to double check it, and quickly realized that he originally translated it wrong. This rune apparently amplified the effects of this said substance. He felt rather cheated in this regard, but was happy non the less. His created his mixture of 75% Saltpeter, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulfur. The seemingly hardest material to now aquire was the most prevelent in the mixture, but he proceeded with the original recipe. He grinded down all the materials into a fine powder, then mixed well. It came out as this fine, dark powder. He then went over the book once again, and it said that the effects of the rune would activate when the substance is lit. He decided to first test it without the rune, as the see the difference. He put a small pile of it on a rock he grabbed from the yard, and lit it with his pyro rune. The powder lit up in sparks and black smoke, and created a decent amount of heat. Just for fun, he out the powder down a metal rod, and lit it by lifting up the bottom. The smoke and explosion were now much more concentrated, creating a large amount of force. He made sure to note this, and proceeded with both tests using the rune. The effects were quite useful, as the rune nullified the black smoke, and mad the explosion much stronger. After noticing how it reacted in a small space, he wanted to test if was something useful. He cut a small hole in the side of the rod, placing powder down the rod and leading outside of it. He then put a small rock down the rod, and lit the powder. To his surprise, the rock flew out at an incredible speed, hitting a nearby tree and exploding in impact. He was intrigued by this, and tested it again with the rune. Not only did the rock explode, but it also left a decent dent in the tree. After a few tests, he realized that the rocks were too brittle. So, he fashioned a few lead balls to fit down the rod, and fired it. The lead did still explode, but a decent amount stuck in the tree. The impact was at least three times larger than with the rock, making it seem much more effective and easy to make. While he thought he should get to work, he had already done all the normal work for that day. So, he began tinkering with this new idea. By the end if the day, he made four different pieces of this device he now called a "firearm". He made a piece of wood that would fit into ones shoulder, so the kickback was lessened and easier to control. He then made a piece connecting the rod with the wood, where one could slide of of three slides to open different areas. The first area was to load in the powder, as loading it in from the top didn't seem efficient or safe. The next area was for cleaning, if one needed to take out the residue the powder left in the tube. The last one was to load in the lead ball, and one could use the second slide to push the ball into the powder. The fourth piece was an area where he fashioned an lever that would move a metal gear, that would then internally create a spark to light said powder. He also wanted to give this powder a name besides powder, so he called it "blackpowder". Now that his prototype was ready, he loaded and fired his first shot. The lead ball was much more accurate than his first shots, but it did have quite a bit of kick. So after testing it without the rune, he added the rune by inscribing it below where the powder was held by cutting out the material. He then fired it with the rune, and it had almost no kickback. It was so little in fact, that he made another one without the wooden support piece. The firearm still fired just as well, and was much more manageable. While he knew the design still needed a lot of work, he finished he his day off by making a few basic requests: three knives, four rings, and two pots. After delivering his work, he headed off to bed.