NOVEL NEXT Chapter 107: How to harden glass
At the library, Lucas had no trouble locating the massive tome he had been reading, the one that detailed the very dull lives of Ponos' many royals.
With the map in hand, Lucas began identifying the nearest tombs and searching for their owners' histories in the book.
The reason was simple: he had no clue what might lie inside those tombs, but he doubted that anything was free for the taking. It seemed naïve to believe that morals would stop people once they knew treasures were hidden there.
Lucas reasoned that the higher the nobility, the harder it would be to break in and retrieve anything of value. He marked three main locations on the map, each in a different direction.
The first, to the south, belonged to a young prince who had died before accomplishing anything of note, not even the book could embellish his life with irrelevant feats. Lucas scratched that tomb off his list immediately.
His reasoning was that, as a prince, it would likely be heavily guarded. Moreover, since the prince hadn't achieved much, and that was a place that valued strength and feats, the tomb probably wouldn't contain many valuables.
Of course, he could be wrong, perhaps the prince's grieving parents had filled the tomb with riches, but Lucas didn't think it was worth the risk.
The other two tombs were similar: both belonged to minor nobles who owned small plots of land. The main difference was that one tomb was relatively isolated, while the other was closer to two nearby cities.
Previously, Lucas would have opted for the isolated tomb to avoid encountering anyone along the way. He still remembered his unpleasant encounter with the old mage's group in the forest and was eager to avoid a repeat.
However, after Aysha mentioned her plans to search for her family in neighboring cities, Lucas reconsidered. It might be wise to familiarize himself with the area's neighbors, especially if, as Faruk had warned, a power struggle was on the horizon.
With that in mind, Lucas decided that once he left Zoria, he would head east to visit the cities and investigate the nearby tomb.
Having settled on a course of action, Lucas turned his attention to another issue that had piqued his curiosity: glass.
Finding a book about glass was no easy task, but eventually, he unearthed a volume discussing various materials, complete with an entire chapter dedicated to glass. The chapter's contents were dry and technical, but it held a few nuggets of valuable information, chiefly the process of hardening glass.
The book explained that to harden glass, one must apply a thermal treatment. This process involved heating the glass to a temperature of 1292°F, at which point it became pliable, and then rapidly cooling it.
Reading this, Lucas recalled something he had learned back on Earth but had completely forgotten until now: Prince Rupert's Drops.
These were toughened glass beads created by dripping molten glass into cold water. Despite their small size, they could withstand hammer blows without breaking. It came to show how versatile glass can be.
According to the book, the hardness of glass depended on three main factors: its chemical composition, its manufacturing process, and the presence or absence of imperfections.
This information sent Lucas spiraling into speculation. He had already undergone a kind of "heating process" when Axis had burned him to ashes. Or rather, his skin, muscles, and organs had burned, while his bones had remained mostly intact, or had they?
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Now that he thought about it, he had no way of knowing if his bones had actually survived the flames. His brain had been long gone by then, and he only regained consciousness when his organs began to regenerate. It was theoretically possible that his bones had also melted, but if his aura could bring him back from nothing, just how powerful was it?
Lucas also vividly remembered gaining toughness points during that ordeal. He had always assumed it was simply from enduring and surviving the beating, but could it have been the result of his bones being "tempered"?
No, that can't be right. I didn't go through the cooling process, Lucas reasoned. Yet, he couldn't entirely dismiss the idea. While his bones were "like glass," they weren't actually glass, so it was possible that only the heating was necessary to temper them.
Unable to reach a definitive conclusion, Lucas closed the book, his mind buzzing with ideas.
There were several ways he could attempt to temper his bones, none of which would be painless. However, with his skill that allowed him to shut off his senses, he wasn't too worried about that.
However, most of his ideas had significant flaws, and all of them required assistance from someone he could trust completely. Unfortunately, there was no one he trusted with his life, not even Aysha or Hilda.
Yet, through the tangle of failed concepts, one idea rose to the surface. It was simple: since his initial intention was to find an alchemical solution, there was no need to abandon that path so quickly.
Hilda might not have what he needed to straighten his bones, since her recipes were all regarding calcium based bones, but that didn't mean she lacked solutions for tempering.
Figuring that the best way to find out was to ask, Lucas pushed himself up from his chair and left the library, heading straight to Hilda's.
…
"You need a potion that heats something to an extremely high temperature and then rapidly cools it?" the old woman asked thoughtfully.
"Yes, exactly! But it doesn't necessarily have to be a potion—it could be anything," Lucas explained. Seeing her remain silent, he added, "Even something that only heats it might be enough—"
"I think I know of something," she interrupted, springing into action and rummaging through her uncle's old notes and books.
Several tense minutes passed before Hilda exclaimed, "Aha!" She returned, holding a worn piece of parchment.
"My uncle used to make this for smiths back in the day. Take a look and see if it's what you're looking for."
Lucas didn't wait for her to finish before snatching the paper and scanning it eagerly. It was all there, a tempering solution for those unable to use the conventional method. The list of ingredients was extensive.
"This is perfect," Lucas said, his excitement evident.
"Good. But I should warn you—I can't make this," Hilda replied, her voice tinged with regret.
"What? Why not?" Lucas asked, his excitement fading.
"Some of these ingredients are incredibly rare. A few might even be extinct for all I know," she explained.
"Couldn't we replace them with something else? I've seen you do that before when we were short on supplies," he pressed.
"Possibly," she admitted. "But even so, I've never made this solution before. It would be uncharted territory for me. One mistake, and not only would the ingredients go to waste, but you'd have nothing to show for it. It's far too risky."
Lucas wanted to argue but couldn't dismiss her reasoning. If he placed a request for each ingredient, how long would it take for them to arrive? And if she still failed to craft the solution, would he be willing to wait even longer? At this rate, how much money would he burn through before seeing any results?
Despite the setbacks, Lucas felt optimistic. Back in the tower, he had resolved to seek an alchemical solution for his bones, and now he had a clear direction to pursue.
If the tempering theory proved applicable to his condition, he would simply have to gather the ingredients himself. Since he planned to venture out anyway, he could combine the search for ingredients with his other tasks. After Hilda provided him with a tome containing illustrations of the necessary items, and many more, he felt ready.
With the matter settled, Lucas turned his focus to one last goal before leaving Zoria: getting to know the city better.
Though he had lived there for months, his knowledge of Zoria remained superficial at best. He was familiar with the main landmarks and could navigate to his usual hotel and Hilda's workshop, but beyond that, he knew little more than a passing tourist.
There was a huge community of people living alongside the NPCs, but Lucas knew only a handful of them—Aysha, Tim, and the mayor, John—even though many were familiar with his accomplishments.
With that thought in mind, Lucas bid Hilda farewell one last time. He left her with instructions to contact Tim if she needed anything in his absence and provided her with a substantial amount of money to cover any unforeseen expenses.