As we arrive in a secluded area in a forest near the City of Ponte Mare, Aurelia and Lia go off to do who knows what while I begin to work out some of the details surrounding the rocket. Where should I put it? Maybe I should make a pair and put them both on my sides like a plane or I could strap one big rocket to my back or perhaps I could make a super big one and coil around it. Wait, before I even think about that, I need to consider the materials I need. First and foremost I need to figure some way to prevent my scales from destroying the rocket. I know Lia is good at this and she seems to have worked with Aurelia at some point to make clothes that are resistant to corrosion so maybe she has a way to help with this matter. Other than that, the next properties the frame needs is to be durable and heat resistant. This one doesn't seem to hard to manage to I think I can start here.
For the base material, I can probably use titanium again. From my layman understanding, titanium is pretty heat resistant in addition to being durable. As for the shape, a cylindrical shape is probably the best since if I remember correctly that's what most rockets were shaped like.
As a bit of a test run, I use Wood Creation to make a large cylinder of wood and begin making the rocket's frame to match the wood's size. After securing the rocket to the wood, I begin to fill the inside with hydrogen and after I feel I can't put any more in with losing some, I light it up.
*boom*
With a loud bang fragmented pieces of titanium and wood going flying while the grass and several trees have caught on fire. Yeah... I probably should have expected as much. This may need a bit of fine-tuning.
As I'm thinking of what to do next, I hear Lia's voice in my head, {What did you do!? I was looking around the forest and now it's on fire!}
{Why do you assume it was me?}
{Because I heard an explosion and your probably the only one around who's crazy enough to cause explosions in the middle of a highly flammable area.}
{Well you were right, it was me. I think my device needs a bit of fine-tuning, also I need your help with something later.}
{Forget about that and help put out the fire! Aurelia and I can't put it out on our own... nevermind, Aurelia can definitely put this out on her own. But you should still help.}
Now that she mentions it, the fire does look like it spread pretty far. Maybe testing the rocket in a forest wasn't the best idea. I should stick to theoretical designs until we enter the city. Guess I'll help put down the fire.
---
Because of the massive environmental risk I apparently pose to any flammable area, Aurelia had her doppelganger speed things up and got whatever it was she needed to be done before sunset, allowing us to enter Ponte Mare and rent out a large facility for me to do my work. The workshop is a bit empty, but it's also big. Supposedly amongst the largest one in the city, seems like knowing the right people really can help in circumstances like this.
After the initial inspection of the place, we begin to have a small dinner and discuss the matter of the rocket and what I need, ignoring the part where I rendered the nearby forest inhabitable for its former residents.
"So, there are two things I need to figure out. Not breaking when I ignite the inside and not breaking on contact with my scales. Lia, what do you use when you make our clothes so that they are immune to my corrosion?"
"I use a special liquid that I made. I mix it in when making the fabric for our clothes and that seems to give it the best effect. Trying to cover something in it doesn't work very well since it usually slides off. I have plenty of it though so you can try it out later."
"I'll probably have to melt whatever metals down and reforge them while mixing your anti-corrosion liquid into them. The next problem is the durability one, it doesn't seem like titanium is going to cut it for this project.
"I think I know a metal you can use to strengthen the frame, it's one of the three metals unique to Lausiel, adamantium. It is one of the most durable metals around and it completely rejects magic, mana is incapable of passing through and serves as a great way to prevent any leakage. The only problem is it is the rarest of the three metals in Lausiel, with only two known mining locations. This makes it both incredibly scarce and expensive. Normally it's something that we only use in the construction of large and important projects, but even then we don't use much of it because of its scarcity as well as its two biggest flaws, being one of the heaviest metals around and being difficult to work with," says Aurelia.
"As long as I can get a hold of a small piece I can replicate it, but what makes it difficult to work with?" I ask.
"It is difficult to melt. The only material that can be used to melt adamantium is flarium, one of the other metals unique to Lausiel. what make's this special is that it's impossible to melt and is completely immune to heat, you could melt adamantium in a container made from this and touch it without feeling a thing. The melting point for adamantium is so high that only a flarium foundry can be used to melt it down. But it's got its own massive flaws the prevents it from being widely used, unlike adamantium, flarium breaks if do as much as sneeze on it too hard. Obviously, I'm exaggerating a bit but it is seriously fragile. It's also difficult to work with because it breaks so easily. Trying to make things out of it is incredibly difficult and people who deal with this need to take the utmost care when dealing with it."
"Like adamantium, I think I can work something out. So long as I eat it, I can create and control it as I please. If you can get me the samples I need for each of them I can get started on the next test as soon as they arrive."
"I'll make the arrangements tomorrow then, it's getting a bit late after all and I want to sleep."
"*yawn* I'm going to head off to bed as well, I'm a bit tired after the dealing with the mess you made earlier," says Lia.
"Oh, before you go, hand me some of that anti-corrosion stuff you made, I want to do some tests with it."
"Sure," Lia says, pulling out a small vial with a light blue liquid inside, "here you go, I'm going to go to the next room over and sleep, goodnight."
"Thanks, night," I say as I begin to create some copper and melt it down, beginning my test for the night.