Hero From The Toilet

8. Who Needs a Furnace When You Have Plasma?

The carriage finally came to a stop, its wooden wheels creaking softly against the rocky ground as the coachman pulled on the reins, bringing both horses to a halt in front of the old mining valley.

The place was silent.

Gray rocky hills surrounded a vast basin, while several dark mine tunnels gaped open along the hillsides like the mouths of caves. Old wooden supports still stood in several places, but it was obvious that the mine had been abandoned for a long time.

Rangga climbed down from the carriage, and the moment his feet touched the ground, he stretched his body with a groan.

"Ugh... should've made some springs or something."

Arcelia stepped down far more elegantly before glancing at him.

"Springs?"

Rangga pointed at the carriage.

"To reduce the shaking."

He walked over and immediately inspected the underside of the carriage. There was no suspension system, only a rigid wooden frame connected directly to the wheels.

He knocked on the frame.

"See?" he said, pointing at the wheel assembly. "No layered leaf system... no springs."

Arcelia crossed her arms, now genuinely paying attention.

Rangga straightened up and stared at the carriage. His expression slowly changed, and a smile crept across his face—the smile of someone who had just gotten an idea.

"I think I'm gonna make that first while we're here."

Arcelia raised an eyebrow.

"You came to an abandoned mine to fight the Demon King... and the first thing you think about is improving the carriage."

Rangga grinned widely and Arcelia could only let out a quiet sigh.

"...I'm beginning to understand why you looked like a child yesterday."

She looked around the wide, rocky valley, far enough away from the city, then pointed toward a flatter section of ground in the basin.

"That would be a good place if you want to experiment with something."

She looked back at Rangga.

"But I'm curious... do you really intend to create something that reduces the shaking? How?"

A gentle wind blew through the valley.

And this abandoned mine might soon become Rangga's first workshop in the world of Aetheris.

Rangga walked several steps away from the carriage and stared at the ground before him, while Arcelia remained near the carriage with a half-skeptical expression, watching his every move.

Suddenly, Rangga smiled as an idea came to him. A scene from his old world flashed through his mind—someone controlling the earth.

"...Could work."

Arcelia narrowed her eyes.

"You're thinking of something again."

But Rangga didn't answer. He closed his eyes. No incantation. No runes. Only a concept.

The ground beneath his feet wasn't simply dirt. It was a collection of mineral grains, gravel, sand, and tiny stones that could be moved.

He imagined all of it rising. The ground in front of Rangga began to tremble faintly and Arcelia noticed immediately.

"...Mana is moving."

Small cracks appeared across the surface.

Then the earth slowly bulged upward as though something beneath it were pushing it from below. A massive chunk of soil rose about half a meter into the air and spread outward, forming a rough, table-like surface.

Arcelia stared without blinking.

"...That's earth magic."

But Rangga wasn't finished. Another concept appeared in his mind.

Pressure. 

Not merely shaping the earth, but compressing it from every direction. The mass of earth began to creak.

Crk... crk...

Its once-rough surface gradually changed as the particles were forced closer together. Cracks disappeared, gaps collapsed, and the structure became increasingly dense until it resembled solid stone.

A few seconds later, a flat stone platform roughly two meters wide stood before Rangga.

Arcelia walked closer and tapped its surface with the tip of her staff.

Tok.

A solid sound echoed back and She raised an eyebrow slightly.

"...That's not dirt anymore. It's almost solid rock."

Rangga opened his eyes, examined the result, then smiled in satisfaction.

"This should be enough for the base."

Arcelia stared at him for several seconds.

"The base... for what?"

The valley remained silent and Rangga stared at the platform, then turned toward Arcelia.

"Earth is basically everything that's in the ground, right?"

Arcelia slowly nodded.

"Usually, yes."

Rangga continued, glancing at her.

"Then metal counts too, right?"

Arcelia thought for a moment.

"...In theory, earth mages can control certain types of metal, but usually only after they've been refined. Raw iron in the ground is rarely touched."

Rangga was already crouching on the platform.

He pressed his palm against its surface and closed his eyes again. He wasn't calling upon an element. He was searching.

In his mind, earth wasn't simply earth. There were minerals, Silicates, and something else. Iron. Tiny particles. Extremely small. Scattered like points across a map.

Rangga slightly opened his eyes.

"Found it."

Arcelia watched him closely.

"You found something?"

Rangga nodded.

"Probably just a little left over."

He pressed his palm harder against the ground and imagined one simple concept.

Attraction.

Tiny particles of iron beneath the earth began to move and Arcelia immediately noticed the ground around the platform trembling faintly.

"...What are you doing?"

Small cracks appeared then tiny black grains began rising to the surface. Only a few at first then more and more, emerging from the ground like black sand.

Arcelia leaned forward slightly, her eyes widening.

"...That's iron ore."

The particles continued to rise, gathering together and clinging to one another as though drawn by an invisible magnet until they gradually formed a rough lump suspended in the air.

Arcelia stared intently.

"You... pulled the metal directly out of the ground."

The lump continued growing, though in the end it was only about the size of a fist.

Rangga fully opened his eyes, looked at the result, then casually said,

"Probably enough to start."

Arcelia stood several steps behind him, still staring at the lump.

"...Most earth mages don't do this. They move stone... but you're separating matter."

She looked at Rangga again.

"Do you realize what this means? If this method could be performed on a larger scale... you could locate metal deposits without ever digging."

A gentle wind swept through the valley as the small lump of iron ore floated in front of Rangga.

And for the first time, Arcelia witnessed something that even the kingdom's mages had never imagined.

Mining without a mine.

Rangga studied the lump of iron ore for a moment before turning toward Arcelia.

"Nah, I'm not interested in becoming a miner."

Arcelia raised an eyebrow slightly.

"...That's reassuring."

Rangga looked back at the lump of metal as he recalled a process that was deeply familiar to him.

Iron ore. Refining. Extreme heat.

"If I remember correctly... it needs to be heated," he muttered.

Arcelia immediately replied,

"Correct. Blacksmiths usually use a furnace, then refine the metal from the ore."

Rangga slowly shook his head.

"A furnace takes too long."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"Plasma is the answer."

He let out a short laugh.

Arcelia immediately narrowed her eyes.

"...I don't like it when you start laughing like that."

Rangga lowered the lump of iron ore onto the stone platform, forming a small pile, then stepped several paces back and stared at it like a scientist examining his next experiment.

"Arcelia, back up a little."

Arcelia immediately stepped backward without arguing.

"How far?"

"That's enough."

Rangga raised his hand and aimed his palm toward the pile of ore before closing his eyes.

The same concepts as before appeared in his mind. Ionization. Plasma. High energy. 

The air in front of his palm began to vibrate.

Zzzzzzzzt.

Arcelia immediately felt the concentration of mana rising.

"...That again."

A bluish-white arc of plasma appeared in Rangga's palm, flashing like concentrated lightning before shooting directly toward the pile of ore.

SSSSSHHHHH!

The metal instantly began glowing red.

Arcelia's eyes widened as the temperature skyrocketed in mere moments.

It wasn't like a furnace. It was as though a tiny sun had touched the metal.

The iron ore began to melt, its impurities separating as the material broke down until only bright-red molten metal remained.

"...That's faster than the royal furnaces," Arcelia whispered.

Rangga shut off the plasma.

The molten metal continued glowing brightly atop the stone platform. Now, he imagined the next step.

Pressure.