In Tarud's office, Jack began to explain his plan about making a higher-quality paper using a simple device that will allow them to mass-produce it.
The idea is simple. Rather than using a conventional method that employs manual labor, the plan will use a grinder-like tool to crush the wood into paper pulp. The wood needs to be soaked in water for a week first.
After that, mix lime liquid into the pulp to lighten its color and make the final product more durable. Pour the pulp slurry into the screen evenly before pressing it. Then, using a set of heated giant rolling pins, the residual water will be squeezed out. At the same time, the paper will become thinner and sturdier.
By repeating the same process with another set of heated giant rolling pins that have a smaller distance a few times, the new and improved paper will be born. Compared with the current product that mostly used bamboo as the raw material, this paper will definitely become a new star.
To convince Tarud, Jack exerted all of his persuasive abilities as a former salesman. "Of course, we need to do a lot of experiments to get the expected result. But after that, the paper market share will be ours."
'Probably.' Added Jack inwardly.
According to his memory, a special bleaching agent is used to make industrial paper pulp. But Jack didn't remember the exact name or how to make them.
'Fortunately, the bleaching agent can be substituted with lime liquid. Although the final product quality will be lower than modern papers, it could turn the current paper to become worthless. The age of mass production is coming!'
'I hope.'
Tarud was silent for almost five minutes before suddenly laughing. Jack was startled and nearly jumped up from his chair.
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant! As a leader of the Dragon Hammer Workshop, I will gladly accept this business proposal. I will arrange special meetings with our core members to discuss it further. But we need to draw the tool design first."
The two of them start brainstorming. Because steam engines haven't been invented yet, the grinder-like machine will be operated manually. Jack will use a worm drive that is connected to a unique mechanism with different sizes of gear. This way, the effort needed to execute the machine will be minimized.
With the combination of Jack's understanding of modern machinery and Tarud experience as a craftsman, the design is finished in one hour.
Tarud took out two wooden cups and filled them with liquid that came out of a wooden barrel in the corner of the room. He extended one of his hands in front of Jack and said, "To our successful cooperation."
Jack didn't want to ruin their mood, so he rejected it politely. "Sorry…. But, I didn't drink alcohol."
"Hahaha… Don't worry, Jack, it's just a fermented drink made by my wife using her family recipe. Mostly ginger and honey."
The laugh continued, making Jack a little embarrassed. With a bashful expression, he takes the wooden cup from Tarud. The smell of ginger mixed with something sweet emanated from it.
After raising it above his head, Jack said with a louder voice. "To our successful cooperation!"
Both of them emptied the cup in one gulp. "Aahhh… So, what kind of favor do you need from me?"
After organizing words for a few seconds, Jack said with a solemn expression. "I want to enter your workshop warehouse and examine some armors and weapons. If possible, I also wanted to look at your main weapon."
"Sure, why not," Tarud replied immediately.
'Eh? That was easy! I think every workshop hides their secret there.' Jack was a bit surprised.
Seeing Jack's reaction, Tarud Chuckled before explaining while he filled his cup again with the ginger-honey beverage. "It's just a warehouse, nothing but weapons and armors. I will have Kyle take you there.
"About my weapon. It will take a while to get it, so come back here when you're done there."
"Thank you." Answered the jack briefly.
On the way, Kyle tells Jack about his life as an adventurer. How he first arrived in Alexandrium, became an adventurer, and joined Dragon Hammer Workshop. His life journey is not as smooth as Jack thought.
On the other hand, Jack also shares the story that he tells Tarud and Francis. When they arrived at the warehouse, both of them already looked like close friends that knew each other for years.
"Our workshop also has our own adventurer party, you know. We often do missions together and search for a rare material while at it. You should join us, Jack. It will be awesome."
Jack sighed before responding, "I'd love to. But, you know... I don't have any fighting or adventuring experience. I'm afraid I will just be a burden to you guys."
Kyle disagrees, "Says who? My father told me how heroic you are when you save him from Fenris. And didn't you manage to survive Shadowless Forest alone?"
The corner of Jack's mouth twitched, believes that Joran must have told his son the exaggerated version of the story. "No way, I could kill the wolf because it is busy attacking your father. Besides, I never fight against another human being."
"Maybe it's true. But… Come on… It will be fun. I will protect you." Kyle tried to coax him.
"Okay then. I will tell Tarud when I meet him again." Jack finally chose to agree, become closer to Tarud and have Kyle as a party aligned with his current objective.
Hearing Jack finally concedes Kyle's smile becomes widened. He pretended to hit Jack on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Nice… I have an Idea. How about we spar after this? I want to test your fighting ability."
"Hmm… Sure. I also curious myself." Jack will eventually do this, so why not.
After opening a double steel door with a golden key, Kyle extended his left hand toward the room and said, "Welcome to Dragon Hammer Workshop's Warehouse. All of our weapons and armor are stored in this room.
"So, what you want to do now."
Jack rubbed his hand together while walking through the steel door. "Let's see..."
Jack started to inspect the weapons one by one while injecting his mana. Some of them are big, heavy, or have a strange shape that makes the process longer. But with each attempt, his proficiency is also rising.
Jack could feel that control over his mana was getting better and better. Turns out, this kind of exercise was really effective to increase his mana sensitivity and control.
The curious Kyle closely observes what his new friend was doing, hoping that such action would enlighten him. But four hours later, he suddenly sighed in disappointment.
"I really didn't understand what you were doing to that weapon and armor, Jack. It seems I have no talent to be a blacksmith."
Jack commented inwardly, 'Honestly. Me too… But I found some interesting facts from this experiment. Hehehe...'