Chapter 104: The Alchemy of Fire
The sun was peeking over the snow-capped eastern peaks when Kellar crossed the settlement courtyard. The morning air was freezing and sharp, but inside the workshop the atmosphere was already warm thanks to the braziers lit since dawn. Mentz and Lennis stood waiting by the main workbench, observing the clay jars and leather sacks their leader had brought from the expedition with extreme curiosity.
"Good morning, Shaman," said Lennis, giving a bow of his head. "The apprentices prepared the stone mortar and distillation vessels as you ordered."
"Excellent," said Kellar, setting the sacks onto the wooden table. "Today we are going to craft a type of fire these savages have never seen. Mentz, I need you to pay close attention to the process because your men will have to build the defensive storage containers."
Kellar opened the first sack and extracted a portion of the gray ash collected from the entrance of the Ash Valley, spreading it out over a polished stone slab.
"This ash isn’t campfire residue," said Kellar, pointing to the tiny whitish crystals mixed into the dirt. "It contains natural saltpeter and sulfur in high concentration. Lennis, the first thing we will do is dissolve it in hot water and strain it through fine cloths to purify the crystals."
Lennis furrowed his brow, staring at the grayish dirt with a mix of fascination and doubt.
"Crystals? Saltpeter?" said Lennis, scratching his chin. "Shaman... how am I supposed to shape a clay vessel to hold something so fine without it getting ruined by moisture in the air? If boiling water purifies it, won’t snow vapor ruin our work on the watchtowers?"
"That’s why we will seal everything with beeswax," said Kellar, bypassing the technical doubt. "Now watch this."
Kellar grabbed the sealed jar of red pine volcanic resin and removed the clay stopper.
"This resin is the real accelerant," said Kellar. "In its raw state it’s far too thick. We need to gently distill it in a double boiler to separate the volatile oils and get a pure, sticky pitch."
Mentz scratched the back of his neck hard, baffled by Kellar’s words.
"A double boiler? Volatile oils?" said Mentz, frowning deep. "Shaman, forgive my ignorance... but what kind of witch’s magic is that? Are we supposed to bathe the vessel in holy water while heating it, or what do you mean?"
Kellar blinked a couple of times, realizing he had assumed everyone understood basic cooking and chemical concepts from his past life.
"Just put the jar inside a pot filled with water and heat the water, not the jar directly," said Kellar patiently, clearing his throat. "No direct flame. That’s all."
As the temperature rose, a dense aroma of pine and sulfur filled the workshop while the resin transformed into a fluid, crimson-red liquid, shining like boiling blood.
Kellar waited for the purified crystals to dry near the brazier, crushing them into a fine powder using the stone mortar. Then, in a deep clay bowl, he mixed the base with the powder from the draconic black ash.
"The secret to all this lies in the cohesion," said Kellar, pouring a steady stream of hot resin over the dry mixture. "The resin acts as the perfect binder for the powder."
Lennis interrupted, raising his hands in utter confusion.
"A... binder?" said Lennis, blinking with his mouth open. "What is a binder, Shaman? Is it some sacred word of the Bear God?"
"It’s the glue, Lennis. What binds the mix together," said Kellar, letting out a soft sigh. "When packed under pressure inside a sealed container, the expansion of gases will trigger a violent exothermic reaction... an explosion capable of shattering wood, bone, and iron."
Mentz’s eyes widened, stepping forward as he stared at the dark paste.
"Wait, Shaman!" said Mentz, chewing over the idea in his head. "If that thing explodes inside baked clay... how am I going to design the defense pits? If my men use oak timber for the traps, will the blast shatter the wooden palisades we just built or just push the dirt sideways?"
"If we mold the clay with internal channels, it will blow outward," said Lennis, chiming in suddenly with his eyes sparking with inspiration. "Shaman, if we make the back walls thicker and the front lid thinner, the force of the blast will shoot out in a single direction right toward the enemy!"
Kellar offered a satisfied smirk, seeing how both craftsmen’s minds were beginning to adapt to military technology.
"Exactly," said Kellar, tightly sealing the neck of the first jar with beeswax. "I want you to prepare fifty of these small bombs for the crossbow bolts and ten large jars for the defile traps. Tomorrow we test the first prototype at the shooting range."
"It will be done exactly as you command, Great Shaman," said Mentz, slamming his fist against his chest with pure enthusiasm.
.....
No one slept that night in the workshop. The fever of creation and the promise of unprecedented power kept everyone active beneath the flickering light of torches and braziers. Kellar worked alongside Lennis and Mentz without taking a single break, carefully measuring every ingredient.
In the middle of the night, Elia and Loria arrived carrying baskets with hot roasted meat, rye bread, and fresh water sent on Mila’s strict orders. However, instead of leaving after delivering the food, both stayed behind, fascinated by the distillation and mixing process. Driven by curiosity, they soon lent a hand by cleaning the stone mortars, organizing the jars, and holding the crude balances.
To Kellar’s surprise, Elia showed great skill in crushing the saltpeter crystals without wasting a single grain, while Loria memorized the exact proportions instantly, handling the hot resin without hesitation.
These two aren’t just skilled... they have a natural talent for this, thought Kellar, watching them work with an approving smirk. They could become my alchemy apprentices and take over mass production.
Noticing that Kellar was staring at them, Elia and Loria lowered their heads, their cheeks flushing with a soft blush beneath the brazier’s glow as they clutched their tools against their chests.
"They are excellent," said Krag, who had just stepped into the workshop carrying a fresh batch of clay. "It was a blessing from the Bear God and his mercy, granting us good helpers right when we need them most. Even with all of this, I have so much to learn from you, Shaman."
Kellar let out a sigh of satisfaction, looking down at the first row of black vessels, sealed and ready for battle. The sun had fully risen over the horizon, and the tribe’s first prototype was about to be put to the test.