No Step On Slime

Chapter 13: Look At My Guts

The smithery had changed quite a bit ever since I left. It was now in a dedicated building rather than a canvas tent, and it seems one of the Kijin had settled in well with the Dwarves.

I was honestly a bit flattered that Rimuru set aside an empty plot of land next to the smithery for me. I met a few of the Orcs on the way there and it seemed like those guys were spearheading the construction project. One of them told me that I was free to plan anything I want on my plot of land.

The blacksmith building was nice and all, but I'll need to set up my own dedicated spot at some point. A gunsmithery? No, I won't just be building guns... it would actually be closer to a machining shop.

"Kaijin! How've things been?" I asked. "Hope the drill press's been useful?"

The Dwarf patted me on my back. "Things have been going absolutely great. We've been putting the drill press at good work, and with Kurobe here, we're able to spin it up faster to cut even harder metals!"

Kaijin pointed to his Kijin friend, who was currently hammering away at something on an anvil.

"You liked it? There's more where that came from," I said. "I got a ton of drawings for new pieces of equipment. You sure as hell are gonna love it."

The blacksmith Dwarf laughed. "What are we waiting for? Let's get started."

I held up a finger. "Not exactly, there's gonna be an energy issue we'll be having with 'em. That's what I wanna talk to you 'bout."

Kaijin was confused.

"Energy problem?" he asked.

"Yep. A majority of the things I'm planning to make require a fuckton of energy to run."

He scratched the back of his head. "If it's magical energy that's the problem, that should be easy to resolve."

"Not magical energy, per se," I replied. "Rotational energy. We need a lot more to make these things run, hand cranking will be nowhere near enough."

"Rotational energy... so like a windmill or a waterwheel? We're not close to any flowing rivers, and I'm not sure if wind power is consistent enough."

"Mind if I go on a tangent for a bit? I have a question or two to ask that kinda relates."

Kaijin was puzzled at the question, but answered, "Sure."

"Is there any technique to heat up water to boiling really quickly and efficiently? Like, large amounts of water."

"A technique to heat up water? Are you talking about fire magic in particular?" he asked. "It's possible, but water takes up a lot of energy to heat. There's no point in doing it unless you plan to use that water for cooking or a hot bath."

"Regardless," I continued. "I'm just looking for any way that doesn't require burning anything. Think, there has to be some way with magic."

Kaijin stroked his chin.

"There's one material, but I don't know if it'll suit your goals."

I perked up at that.

"What is it?"

"We have a material commonly mined back at Dwargon," Kaijin said. "It's called Firestone and gives a warm aura depending on the magicule density in the air. I suppose I can say it can produce heat when refined."

"Firestone?" I asked. "Tell me more."

"So, Firestone is something that generates in underground magma pits and caves near them. It can normally be refined into firesteel. Firestone normally gives off a warm temperature when in the presence of magicules, but when it's refined into firesteel, it's able to store the magicule energy up."