"Rukia?" I called out to the elf, my voice still grogged with sleep in the early morning. She froze at the door, that feeling of something being off lingering for just a moment. Then she turned to me with a feigned smile—a smile that seemed to be holding back words.
"Yes, darling?"
"Where're you going this early?" I rubbed my eyes, glancing at the empty wooden bucket in her hands.
"Oh," she said, hefting it slightly. "I was simply going to fetch water from the well, then put it to boil for your bath."
"Oh," I repeated, the word heavy with a sudden, profound realization that hadn't struck me before. Even in a world as advanced as this one, they seemed to regard basic quality-of-life inventions as frivolous—or perhaps never thought about them at all. The sheer mundanity of hauling and heating water felt oddly… archaic, almost out of place amid the wonders surrounding us.
Although, a spark of inspiration ignited in my mind. I should be able to—
"Will that be far?" I asked.
She hid the bucket behind her back, swaying lightly from side to side. "Not too far, just to the village and back."
"That's quite a ways away…" I murmured, remembering our first trek to the guild. It had felt endless.
"It's no big deal, really!" she said, giggling now. "I'll be back before you know it!"
"Hmm… alright then. Be safe on your way back!" I waved as she slipped out the door, beaming at my concern.
The moment the latch clicked shut, my mind was already racing with ideas. How could I translate this world's science to ours? A torrent of glyph combinations flooded my thoughts: a running water system… hot water on demand… It felt surprisingly simple to accomplish.
This was the perfect first project to test my skills!
I slammed together whatever materials I could find on the stone table, now cluttered with stones, iron ingots, and scraps of metal.
"Alright, first I need a mold…" I muttered, though being just a simple NEET and not a plumber, I had no clue what the inside of a faucet should look like. Still, I figured I could probably wing the basics… right?
I drew on the table with chalk once more an outer circle and two inner ones. When it comes to creation it's most likely a bit different from elemental creation– thats where the Language of the earth comes into play.
I wrote the symbols down carefully in between the outercircles, with it, i need to define the material im using, and how hot the sigil must be so it can be moldable without any flame, along with the symbol of creation.
And this is where it all turn into pseudo science…
Once I linked all of the symbols to the inner most circle, i dropped the ores within it.
I could feel the faint hum of mana running along the chalk lines as I concentrated, guiding it through the symbols. The outer circle pulsed steadily, anchoring the energy. The inner circles responded, shaping the flow of magic to define the cavity of the mold.
It was almost as though i was molding it by hand, my eyes closed in concentration as I felt the metal rise with my mind. Constantly I had to shift between the hot and cold sigils in hopes to keep the form just how I wanted it.
By the time I opened my eyes. I saw.
A complete mess! It was lop sided, the hose at the end of the faucet was dent in! There's no way I could use this…
"It's fine…" I muttered, looking at the creation with distain but a hint of pride in my eyes. "Atleast it looks like a faucet, right? I'll just try again…"
I kept trying, over and over again, it felt like hours passed by until I finally came across it. It was still deformed, but it was usable, atleast for what I'm doing anyway.
[Status Menu]
[Alchemist]
[Lvl]: 11
HP: 5
Mana: 130/230
IQ: 320
Stamina: 10
Looks like i'll have to be more carefull— this is more draining that I would've thought.
The HUD closed itself infront of me as I got back to it. With the crude metal form ready, I set to work on the real magic. I took chalk, one with a more precise edge and started to draw on the faucet. Once again, two inner circles and one outer one.
I linked it all together, using the sun's alchemical language I managed to create the first set using the runes for anchor, cycle, suction and transportation.
"Though…where am I going to get water from—" I thought to myself once I was done, I begun to search the house, my eyes falling on a bucket that was left in the kitchen but it was empty. Without a second thought and grabbed it, filling the mana bucket with water from my own spell.
Once it was full I drew on the side of the bucket, making sure to match the mana frequency with the other…
"That should do it–" I stepped back, admiring my work and looking between them before I started to focus my will.
The runes glowed with a soft, blue-white light, and the air hummed with contained power. The magic sank into the metal, not with a flash, but with a lasting, warm thrum. I held my breath, then turned the small, improvised handle I had fashioned.
A moment of silence, then a sputter. A trickle of water emerged from the spout, steaming faintly in the cool air. It grew steadier, becoming a smooth, hot stream. I stared, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across my face. I had just invented the magical water heater. Maybe this Alchemist thing had more practical applications than I thought.
With the rune drawing water from the bucket and heating it up in the process, then taking it through the faucet I practically made wireless plumbing!
Though theres one problem… Even though this is practical—it's effortless as I imagined– For one it still takes my mana to make this happen- a constant stream of mana depletion isn't good at all…but beyond that the sigil can be easily removed, and it's a pain to write on this small of a surface—
"I'll have to work in it some more…"
***
"I'm back!" Rukia cheered, slamming the door open with a grin and a water bucket in hand. Though she was met with an empty house.
"Darling?" She muttered, much quieter than before.
She walked to my alchemy room, seeing me sleeping on the floor with failed prototypes laid out on the table. Her brow furrowed in confusion and a hint of curiosity as she took a look at it.
"Sleeping already? It's the middle of the day…"
She looked at my sleeping figure on the floor and smiled, lifting me up in her arms. If I wasn't asleep, I would've felt her soft assets pressed against my side, squishing into me as she carried me as though I were a bride.
"Honestly, what am I to do with you?"