Finn remained collapsed in the snow for several more monts before finally managing to sit upright while coughing violently.
anwhile, Lilith stood beside with her arms crossed still staring at him suspiciously.
"...So this is your friend," she muttered.
"Yes."
Finn slowly looked between the two of us before awkwardly raising a hand.
"...Hi."
Lilith ignored him completely.
That probably hurt his feelings a little.
I sighed before stepping between them.
"Finn helps run this place," I explained. "So don’t threaten him anymore."
"I wasn’t threatening him."
Finn wheezed loudly from the ground.
Lilith glanced at him briefly.
"...He’s dramatic."
"YOU CRUSHED INTO THE FLOOR."
She ignored him again.
Eventually, after a few more tense minutes, the atmosphere cald enough for us to continue the day normally.
Well—
As normal as possible.
Lilith still watched Finn like she expected him to suddenly attack at any second.
anwhile Finn looked at her like she was an ancient evil sealed inside human flesh.
Both assessnts were understandable.
————
A couple hours later, the three of us headed toward town with Potato pulling the cart behind us.
Snow continued falling lightly while the cold wind swept across the roads.
Surprisingly—
Lilith had beco weirdly attached to Potato almost imdiately.
At so point during the trip, she had started gently petting the horse while walking beside him.
"...He’s fluffy."
"That thing bites people," Finn warned.
Potato imdiately nudged Lilith affectionately with his head.
Finn looked betrayed.
"...Traitor."
Lilith lightly scratched beneath the horse’s chin while Potato practically lted.
I’d never seen him like soone that quickly before.
The town itself bustled with activity despite the cold weather.
Workers carried firewood through the streets while blacksmith forges burned brightly against the winter air.
anwhile, we moved from shop to shop gathering supplies.
Stone blocks.
Clay.
Large quantities of charcoal.
Iron bands.
tal piping.
Heat-resistant brick.
Sand.
Every purchase made Finn look progressively more concerned.
"...Leon," he muttered quietly while we loaded another shipnt into the cart, "are we building a furnace or a fortress?"
"Both."
"That wasn’t reassuring."
By the ti we returned to the workshop clearing, the cart was nearly overflowing with supplies.
And finally—
Construction began.
————
The first step was the foundation.
The blast furnace would be significantly taller and heavier than the bloories, aning it needed a strong stone base capable of handling imnse weight and heat.
Leon and Finn spent nearly an entire day digging deep into the frozen ground before filling the area with compact stone and clay.
anwhile—
Lilith sat nearby beside Potato wrapped in a blanket while watching us work.
"This looks miserable," she comnted casually.
"It is," Finn replied imdiately.
Next ca the outer structure.
Large stone blocks were stacked upward in a cylindrical tower shape while reinforced iron bands wrapped around the exterior to prevent structural cracking from the heat.
Unlike a bloory, the blast furnace needed to maintain continuous operation at far higher temperatures.
That ant stronger walls.
Better insulation.
And more efficient airflow.
Leon carefully lined the inner chamber with heat-resistant clay and brick to trap as much heat as possible.
"This section is important," Leon explained while applying another layer of clay internally. "If the heat escapes too quickly, we won’t reach temperatures high enough to lt iron."
Lilith tilted her head slightly.
"...So the entire point of this giant tower is making hotter fire?"
"...Essentially."
Finn pointed at her dramatically.
"See? I told you his explanations sound insane."
Once the furnace body was completed, they moved onto the airflow system.
Large pipes connected the blast furnace to upgraded bellows powered by the waterwheel beside the river.
Unlike before, the airflow now needed to remain constant and extrely powerful.
The hotter the internal temperature—
The better the iron quality.
Leon also added angled vents near the lower section of the furnace.
These allowed molten slag and pig iron to eventually drain separately once production succeeded.
Finn stared at the design nervously.
"...That molten tal is definitely going to explode one day."
"Probably."
"...Why do you say dangerous things so casually?"
For several more days, the clearing beca nonstop chaos.
Hamring.
Stone cutting.
Clay mixing.
Smoke.
Sparks.
Constant yelling.
anwhile, Lilith continued sitting nearby most of the ti watching everything with mild fascination while occasionally feeding Potato pieces of fruit she’d secretly taken from the manor.
At one point she looked toward the half-finished blast furnace and quietly asked—
"...So this machine makes liquid tal?"
"Eventually."
"...That’s kind of cool."
That alone nearly made Finn collapse from shock.
"You like one of his weird inventions?"
Lilith crossed her arms proudly.
"It’s better than manure mountain."
"That’s fair," Finn admitted.
Finally—
After nearly a week of exhausting labor—
The blast furnace stood complete.
Towering above the clearing beneath the falling snow.
And as Leon stared up at the massive structure illuminated by firelight—
He couldn’t help smiling slightly.
Because this—
This was the first real step toward true industry.
The blast furnace roared like a monster beneath the night sky.
Orange flas burst from the vents while thick heat radiated across the clearing. The waterwheel beside the river spun continuously, powering the massive bellows that forced air into the furnace without pause.
It was beautiful.
Finn stood beside covered in soot while nervously gripping a tal rod.
"...Leon," he muttered, "if this explodes I bla you."
" Stop thinking that everything is going to explode."
The furnace suddenly rumbled loudly.
Finn slowly looked toward .
"...You sound unsure."
I ignored him and focused on the lower vent of the furnace.
This was the critical mont.
Hours earlier we had filled the furnace layer by layer with charcoal and refined iron ore while maintaining continuous airflow to push temperatures beyond anything our bloories could achieve.
And now—
If everything worked correctly—
We’d finally have molten iron.
Actual liquid tal.
The foundation for proper casting and industrial machinery.
I tightened my gloves.
"Open it slowly."
Finn swallowed nervously before using the rod to pry open the lower slag vent.
At first—
Nothing happened.
Then suddenly—
Bright orange liquid burst outward.
Molten slag poured from the furnace like glowing lava, illuminating the snowy clearing around us.
Finn imdiately stumbled backward.
"BY THE GODS—"
I stared in amazent.
It worked.
It actually worked.
Monts later, a second flow erged from the lower tap hole.
Thicker.
Brighter.
Liquid iron.
My eyes widened.
There it was.
Molten tal.
Finn stared at it with complete disbelief.
"...We did it."
Hearing those words hit harder than I expected.
We had finally done it.
I imdiately grabbed Finn by the shoulders.
"WE MADE MOLTEN IRON!"
Finn grabbed right back.
"WE MADE LIQUID TAL!"
The two of us nearly started screaming in excitent while jumping around like complete lunatics beside the furnace.
anwhile—
Lilith sat calmly beside Potato watching us with complete judgnt.
"...You two are celebrating hotter rocks."
"We created the future!" I shouted dramatically.
Finn pointed toward the furnace proudly.
"LOOK AT IT!"
Lilith stared at the molten iron silently for a few monts.
Then—
"...I could do that easily."
The celebration imdiately stopped.
Finn blinked.
"...What?"
Lilith stood up calmly while dusting snow from her clothes.
"That furnace is weak."
My eye twitched slightly.
"...Excuse ?"
She casually pointed toward the massive structure we’d spent over a week building.
"That thing."
"That ’thing’ took incredible engineering."
Lilith shrugged.
"I can lt iron faster."
I crossed my arms.
"Oh really?"
"Yes."
"...Prove it."
Finn imdiately backed away.
"Oh no."
Lilith stepped calmly toward a nearby pile of raw iron chunks resting beside the workshop.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Dark purple mana slowly began gathering around her body.
Then—
She snapped her fingers.
A massive magic circle erupted beneath the iron.
Deep purple symbols rotated violently across the snow while furious flas burst upward.
But these weren’t normal flas.
The fire burned dark violet mixed with black.
And the heat—
The heat was monstrous.
It felt completely unnatural.
The snow around the clearing instantly evaporated while the air itself distorted violently from the temperature.
Even standing several ters away felt unbearable.
My eyes widened in shock.
The iron pile began glowing red almost imdiately.
Then orange.
Then—
It lted.
Instantly.
Liquid tal collapsed into the center of the magic circle within seconds.
Finn looked absolutely horrified.
anwhile, I simply stared silently.
That temperature...
It far surpassed anything our blast furnace could currently achieve.
Lilith turned back toward smugly while the dark flas vanished completely.
"...See?"
I stared at the molten iron pile.
Then at the blast furnace.
Then back at her.
"...That’s cheating."
"It’s magic."
"Sa thing."
Lilith smiled proudly before walking closer.
"You should just let work for you instead."
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"...And what exactly would you want in return?"
Her smile widened instantly.
"Your hand in marriage."
Silence.
Finn imdiately looked between us like he was watching a duel.
anwhile, I responded instantly.
"I’d rather build another blast furnace."
Lilith’s smile twitched.
Finn burst out laughing imdiately.
Then Lilith slowly looked toward him.
The laughter stopped instantly.
"...I suddenly support the marriage idea," Finn said nervously.
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