In the vast underground cavern, the glow of the eternal earthfire cast long shadows of Victor Mercer and Comet.
Standing before the decayed bellows, Victor showed no hint of frustration.
Instead, a near-frenetic light sparkled in his eyes.
To a top-tier mechanical engineer, the sight before him was not an insurmountable problem, but a perfect project on which to showcase his talent.
“Too primitive,” he scoffed, kicking the mound of rotted wood and degraded leather.
“These single-acting, manually compressed bag bellows are not only grossly inefficient, but their airflow is terribly unstable.
Fluctuations in air force cause wild temperature swings inside the furnace, which prevents carbon and iron from reacting uniformly.
No wonder the yield rate for Valyrian steel was so abysmal.
Claiming every piece is ‘one-of-a-kind’ is just an excuse for terrible quality control—each blade simply has a different set of flaws.” Even as he grumbled, his mind was already constructing a brand-new blueprint.
Picking up a sharp stone, he began sketching on the dust that had accumulated on the cavern floor over centuries.
One by one, modern industrial diagrams began to appear inside this ancient, magical cave.
“We need a brand-new bellows—one that can supply a continuous, stable, and powerful airflow.” To anyone from this world, his design would sound like sheer fantasy.
What he intended to build was a double-acting piston bellows.
“Comet, we’ve got work to do again.
This time, we’re building some furniture for our new home.” Victor patted Comet’s head, and the man and dragon embarked on another scavenging run.
This time, however, their goals were much clearer.
They needed large, relatively intact metal plates to form the bellows cylinder; strong, long-enough hardwood for the piston rod and levers; and plenty of supple animal hides to craft airtight gaskets.
Fortunately, the Dragonlord’s treasury was filled with enough junk, and the little dragon hadn’t devoured it all.
Huge bronze shields that once hung as decorations became ideal material for the cylinder walls.
Victor unceremoniously dismantled several massive ironwood beams supporting the treasury.
As for the hides, the blank parchment scrolls stored in rolls for recording documents served as perfect, ready-made sealing material.
Returning to the furnace cavern, Victor’s inner doctoral soul burned with fiery passion.
First, using the radiant heat of the eternal earthfire, he heated the large bronze shields until they glowed faint red.
Then he directed Comet to use its terrifying brute strength to bend the shields into a roughly standardized cylinder about half a meter in diameter.
Next came the piston.
Selecting the hardest ironwood, he used his Valyrian steel dagger and a few crude tools to carve a circular piston head that fitted precisely against the inner wall of the cylinder.
The most critical step was carving a groove around the edge of the piston head, into which he layered sheets of trimmed, pliable hide, fashioning a crude yet effective seal.
The design of the entire system best demonstrated his engineering genius.
Applying the principle of leverage, he designed a force-multiplying mechanism.
Pushing down gently on a long lever was all it took to drive the heavy piston back and forth inside the cylinder.
The core black-technology innovation, however, lay in its double-acting mechanism.
He installed intake and exhaust valves at both ends of the cylinder.
When the piston was pushed forward, the front exhaust valve opened to force air into the furnace while the rear intake valve opened to draw in fresh air.
When the piston was pulled back, the rear exhaust valve opened to continue forcing air into the furnace while the front intake valve opened to draw in air.
Thus, whether the piston moved forward or backward, it continuously blasted air into the furnace, completely solving the problem of intermittent airflow inherent in ancient bellows.
Throughout the construction, Victor worked like an artist immersed in his own world, muttering technical terms like tolerances, airtightness, and fluid mechanics—words Comet didn’t understand at all, yet found deeply impressive.
Comet became his most capable assistant: breathing a small puff of dragon flame when metal needed cutting, lending brute force when heavy objects needed moving, and flapping its wings to blow a cool breeze whenever Victor dripped with sweat.
Finally, after two full days of intense work, a massive, menacing beast of a machine—steeped in a distinctly steampunk aesthetic—stood next to the eternal earthfire.
Victor admired his masterpiece with satisfaction.
His face was smeared with grease and dust, but his smile was blindingly bright.
He walked over to the long lever, took a deep breath, and shoved it down with force.
*Whoosh—* With a heavy thrum of piston movement, a steady, continuous blast of air—several times more powerful than anything before—rushed like a roaring dragon straight into the hearth of the eternal earthfire!
*BOOM!* The earthfire, which had been burning quietly in a dull red hue, instantly erupted with startling vigor upon contact with the oxygen-rich airflow!
Within seconds, the flame shifted from dull red to bright red, then to a blinding orange-yellow, and finally into a near-pure, dazzling white that was almost painful to look at directly!
Terrifying heat radiated outward in all directions, causing even the rock walls of the cavern to crackle under the extreme temperature.
Feeling the surge of heat and staring at the blazing white flame, Victor could not suppress the surge of excitement in his eyes.
“Now *this* is industry!
This is real power!” He knew the conditions for forging a divine weapon were now fully met.