Chapter 100 - Negotiations (Part 5)

I walked up to Becca's Father, who was supervising everyone. "Hey Father-in-law, how is it going on this end? We finished making an I-beam and a solid square beam. The workers are currently setting them up at the testing area."

Becca's Father was happy with my results. "That's great! I am excited to see the strength of this unique shaped beam. It would be nice to see steel buildings pop up all around the Kingdom. As for the spring, follow me. Out of the 10 that we have tried to make, 3 of them are actually working as you described a spring should. Some snapped when trying to put force. Others were permanently deformed once compressed and did not go back to their original shape."

"Already having 3 springs in about an hour is really good! I am glad that you guys were able to make something from my theoretical explaination. I was a little worried that it would end up being impossible because of my lack of concrete knowledge.

Now that you know how to make one, you can experiment again and again until you find the perfect combination."

Becca's Father nodded his head. "Yes, we will continue to experiment extensively until we can make the best quality suspension system as well as other spring products."

We soon reached a table with the 3 springs on it. One was a thick spring that would need thousands of pounds to compress. One was a thin spring that moved up and down freely almost like a slinky. The last one had lots of coils which made it spring back to its original shape with more force.

"This thick spring is what I imagined when I thought about a suspension system spring. It needs to be able to take thousands of pounds of force before being completely compressed. It looks like the more coils on this spring helps if you want to have a spring that releases more force. And this small spring reminds me that I should let you know that springs can be made of things other than steel rod, like metal wire to make a spring that is good for small handheld products and doesn't need much force applied."

Becca's Father nodded in understanding. "That's good to know. Springs have a lot of variety. We need to try all kinds of combinations to see what can be good for what."

"Alright, now that the spring is proven to be possible, let's gather all the researchers and go check out the I-beam!"

"Yes, once both are confirmed we can get to making a deal."

Becca's Father called over all the researchers and we started to head to the beam testing area. I explained to the shop workers before I left that the beam should be set up so that the strong axis was what we were testing. Once we got there, I was happy to see that it was set up perfectly.

I looked over to the researchers. "The way the I-beam cross-section is oriented will have the strong axis resisting bending when gravity load is applied. If we rotated it 90 degrees, it would be on the weak axis and break much quicker."

The researchers nodded in understand. "I see, so this is the strong axis and that is the weak axis. I wonder how much the strength difference is? We will have to test that as well later."

"Yes, even though it's the weak axis. It still can take some load, so don't be scared to use it when necessary. Just make sure to test it thoroughly, so you know how much it can take."

I walked over to the shop workers. "Good work guys! Let's start the testing! First let's do the solid square beam so we can see the max load that it can hold."

"Yes, Sir!"

The way that beams were tested in the shop was by putting 100 pound steel plates at the center of the beam. It was pretty dangerous to have someone place plates on a beam that will eventually break, but we did not have cranes in this world to place the plates from a distance.

"Hey guys, this is a little dangerous. I would feel bad if one of you got hurt by the beam breaking because I wanted to test these beams…"

The worker who was going to be placing the steel plates shook his head. "No need to worry, Sir. We do this all the time. I will run away as soon as I see a little crack. Usually we can get far away before it actually snaps in half."

"I'll do it then. I can teleport away much faster than someone can run."

The workers eye's opened wide, "Teleport?!"

"Yes, I am an advanced lightning mage, so I can teleport."

The worker subconsciously took a step back in fear. I can understand he was surprised to hear I was so powerful, but I hoped everyone could feel at ease around me.

"Sir, I can't let someone like you put yourself in danger…I can do this, don't worry."

I walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "You have a family, right? I want you to be able to go back to them tonight without a single scratch on you. Imagine how your family would feel if they found out you got hurt on the job. I'm just the best person for the job, so let me do it."

His scared face softened dramatically. "I have a loving wife and 3 little children. Of course I want to go back to them unharmed, but…"

This time I raised my voice, "no buts! I will be the one loading the beams today!"

Before he could reply, I started walking towards the center of the beam. The worker soon came to his senses and call out, "thank you, Sir!"

His graditude put a smile to my face.

After carefully loading the solid square beam, it finally snapped in half after 10,000 pounds was placed at the center. The break was very sudden, but I was able to get far away the moment a heard cracking. I was really glad I didn't let anyone else do this job.

Some of the researchers stated, "10,000 pounds is what we would expect from this sized solid square beam. I wonder how close the I-beam can get to this…the material used is less than 10% of the material of the solid square beam. 5,000 pounds would be unbelievable."

"Yeah, right. 2,000 pounds is already good. Don't get too greedy."

I already knew the amount of load the I-beam should be able to take from a quick calculation, so I tried to hold back my smile.

Soon, the I-beam approaching 7,500 pounds at the center. The energy from the group watching was palpable. Everyone was shocked. After hitting 7,500, it finally snapped.

Becca Father was the first to approach me and grab my hand. "This I-beam is only 10% of the material, but is able to have 75% of the strength?! That is remarkable!"

I scratched my cheek wryly, "that's why I said it is revolutionary…it will completely change the steel building business."

"Yes! Let's go to my office right now to discuss a deal!"

He then turned to his researchers. "You all keep working on the springs. I'll be back once Nick and I agree to a deal."

"Yes Boss!"