Hey, Hey we back! Sorry y'all, when programming throws a wrench in your plans its super hard too unscrew. It's pretty hard and took me longer than I thought. One error and your program goes haywire haha. Then family birthday over the weekend but we back! Drake will finally be able to build a gun!
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Drake was sitting on a rock in the middle of the crystal cave. His eyebrows scrunched up in thought while a dancing fire reflected in his eyes. Having small cuts and bruises he decided to camp out in the cave. A subtle green glow of mystical origins flowed through the cave due to the crackling fire in front of Drake.
'I have the crystals, but no idea how to use them. Obon was using fire elemental Aether crystals for his forge...I wonder what happens when you use pure aether crystals.'
Drake got up and went towards the mosaic of light blue transparent crystals painting the cave wall. Taking out his sword he chipped off some small pieces of crystals and brought them back to the fire.
'Shouldn't be to ba...'
BOOM!
The Aether Crystals exploded on contact of the fire blowing Drake against the wall as flames spread out in tendrils. Drake immediately began to panic.
'Shit! If more crystals catch fire I'll be blown to hell!'
As time moved slowly the tendrils of flames crawled across the floor. As the fire touched the crystals nothing happened. Drake let out a deep sigh thanking the gods of the universe for having pity on his soul.
'Thats odd though...why didn't the other crystals explode on contact of the fire...?'
Drake, who looked like he just walked close to death with tatters of clothes and burnt marks all over his body, gazed upon the room. In the middle where the fire burned was now a small crater. No crystals were left that were tossed to the bottom near the wood.
'Could it be that intense heat causes them to explode!?'
His crimsons eyes flashed with cunning as a theory popped into his head.
'If small amounts of high intensity heat can explode a crystal I could use that instead of gunpowder. This is a new world and not my old shitty one! This is brilliant! The only problems is shaping the crystal to be that of a bullet. I can still use the hammer and firing pin method hopefully by producing enough heat that a small explosion occurs.'
Drake continued to lay out his plan for a gun similar to Single-Shot pistol. Creating molds would be difficult but with wood and sand he figured he could do it. After recuperating with the Grade A wolf meat and sleeping through the night, Drake gathered up many small crystals and made his way back to the beach.
'After collecting some iron and coal I can start to melt the metals and make steel. To do that I need to create a bloom furnace, with only the environment to give materials it will have to do for now. Maybe that Obon blacksmith could help me create the machines I will need in the future.'
Drake planned out his next steps while collecting the ore. When he returned the bloom furnace became his priority.
'I need mud with dead leaves and straw mixed in. A small pit for slag to fall into under the coal and iron that will melt into the steel. For billows I can use the pelt skin to tie it around a cylinder mud mold and connect it with a tuyere.'
Drake began to dig a hole on the beach using his hands but kept it close enough to the forested area to collect dirt. He also set up a a small fire to create a clay mold with pelt skin inside for collecting water. Once both of these were done he combined the dirt and water within the sand pit along with dead straw and leaves that were laying around.
When he finished Drake began to dig two holes, one lower than the other. The higher level hole was then topped of my a cone shaped mold made of the mixed mud while a small fire burned within drying it faster while hardening it in the process.
The lower pit was a drainage for slag that would come out later. He continued to form the cone upwards until it reached almost two meters in height.
Leaving the fire to harden the bloom furnace Drake began to break down the coal into smaller pieces and iron into dust.
Finishing that task he set off to make the molds for the weapon. By creating an open square with wood he was able to fill it with wet sand. First the frame where he could hold with his hand which was the grip. Knowing that he could not yet put a trigger on it put him in a pinch.
'Maybe I could use the action on the top. This is just a prototype to get me out of this predicament before I come back. Having better tools would make this easier. A spring won't be easy but I think if there are simple tools I can bend the steel myself which will be a pain in the ass.'
By placing the action on top rather then inside the gun won't stop the shooting but it bugged Drake cause it would look terrible but he had no choice.
Using a a straight wooden stick and smaller mold he created the shap for the barrel which was 5.5 inches long.
'The aim will be terrible without rifling inside the barrel...sigh...this gun will be shit but at least it will protect me to a certain degree.'
Figuring more than a couple meters will lose accuracy when the bullet left the barrel but he had no choice. Drake soldiered on through the molds he would need while the bloom finished drying. The bullets would have a small iron tip that would lay in front of a small shaped crystals.
When Drake got too shaping crystals he realized how fragile they were. After many attempts and losing many small crystals he was able to create a somewhat smooth cylindrical bullet.
'Note to self, crystals are a pain in the ass to shape.'
Finishing the gun molds Drake moved on to the tools he would need. Multiple different types such as tongs and hammers were created to pour in the melted steel. By the time he finished with all his preparations the molds were finished.
Drake moved back to the bloom furnace to see its process. The majority of it had now dried and hardened and was ready to be used. Unfortunately night was getting close and he had no motivation to work during the night.
'Man this sucks ass, props to the hard working men of 1200 BC! Thank the lords I took engineering history or I would have no idea about the bloom furnace. The downside is the hours that will go into to make small amounts of steel but I got this. I only have to do this once.'
Drake reminisced about the time before he was tortured. However his thoughts wondered back to that point in his life. Whenever those thoughts came to the forefront of his mind about then his blood boiled in rage. No longer did he care about humans as they were a lost cause. In his previous life he dedicated his research and inventions for the betterment of mankind but they left him to rot in a cell. No one came looking for him or even Tia and Jenny. They all suffered a terrible fate.
'Humans are hopeless, their own worse enemies and I doubt it's any different here on this planet. I will leave the Tenebris's, they have my gratitude but that's it. I don't want to owe them, plus John, Marn, Karn, and Hugo didn't even come to find me. Being dead weight, they probably thought I was killed by the wolf once I didn't show up to the cave. I can't expect help nor will I let myself. It's all on me. I'll bring inventions from my old world into this one and create my own utopia where I can do whatever the hell I want.'
A cruel grin slowly formed on Drakes face. The wind dancing and pushing his midnight black hair around his face while his crimson eyes gazed out upon the sea. Many thoughts of how to create his utopia popped in his head.
'Once I am able to sell some crystals, I will be able to get a good grip on the empire and its political geography. That way I can use some of the nobles to work for me. Corruption is always a great means to an end.'
The night dragged on and while Drake was unaware, the search party was already searching through the woods be led by Tina herself along with the princess of the Proxima Empire.