Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 254: The Wisdom of Mortals

Haru, the construction minister of the pioneer territory, and the young spellcaster Durt stood side by side on a small temporary dock built on the bank of the glacial river.

"According to the Lord's blueprints and construction requirements, this bridge requires at least three or four spans. However, the currents of the Glacier River are so turbulent that even if I quarried enough stone from the mountains for the bridge piers, it would be quickly washed away by the ice-laden water... This bridge is far more difficult than building the Mage Tower for you, Lord."

After receiving this arduous construction task, Haru went to visit Asdalen without stopping, and obtained a large number of bridge construction drawings and materials from the chief consultant of the territory. He began to study the theory day and night. This made Durte, who had always looked down on mortal people, look at him with admiration.

The young spellcaster suppressed his initial disdain and quietly reminded him, "Don't forget, Lord Harvey has a strict requirement for this bridge—the entire bridge must be six meters above the water surface to allow that magical steel sailless ship to pass through smoothly. This is probably the main reason why he sent me to assist you."

Haru finally came to his senses and asked cautiously, "That day in the lord's study, I really didn't understand what he wanted you to do. How exactly did he want me to help him? Could a spellcaster's magic actually create a bridge out of thin air?"

The Minister of Construction was accustomed to seeing some of the magic spells performed by his boss Reiner and Chief Asdalen, but most of them were performed by instruments and accessories installed on their alchemical bodies, similar to the ultra-high temperature energy beam welding gun that Reiner often used.

Durt suppressed the complaints that were about to burst out in his heart and patiently explained, "Since we need to build a bridge so high above the river, we naturally need to build gentle slopes connecting both sides. This is a huge project for ordinary people like you. Just mining and transporting the stone will keep you busy for a while..."

After saying this, he raised his hand somewhat complacently, pointed to the planned location for the bridge in front of him, bent his knees, squatted down, pressed his palms lightly on the ground, and began to silently recite a long spell.

Haru immediately felt the ground beneath his feet begin to tremble slightly, as if something was surging and rolling deep underground, causing the wild waterfowl on the riverbank to scatter in fright.

"You...what kind of magic are you using? You actually caused an earthquake!"

Durt ignored Haru's questioning. The spell he was casting was called "Durt's Mud and Stone Rising Spell", a modified four-ring earth element magic that he had created himself. Because it was mixed with some matrix structures and spell inscriptions of force field spells, the spell effect it created could also produce certain changes in the terrain structure.

The soft and wet soil beside the riverbank suddenly began to boil under the stimulation of his magic, and soon rose from the ground to form a "small hill" with a gentle slope.

Then, the soft mud on the riverbed seemed to be squeezed and kneaded by a pair of invisible giant hands, gradually changing its shape and firmly condensing into the common shape of ordinary rock.

Haru screamed and ran over, digging hard on the small hillock that suddenly appeared by the river within a few minutes, muttering in disbelief: "Oh my God! You turned the soil into solid stone! This is simply... simply incredible!"

Durt hummed with satisfaction, and with trembling hands he quietly took out an elemental magic stone from the pocket on his waist and held it in his hand - he was just a research-type mid-level spellcaster. If he didn't want to show off in front of this mortal, it would not be an easy task to cast this kind of area-type spell that almost exhausted his magic power.

Haru was quick-witted and quickly came up with an idea to apply what he had learned. He said excitedly, "Mr. Durt! I know what the lord means. As long as I get a boat to take you to the surface of the river, can't I use your magical spell to lift the solid rock piers directly from the riverbed? Hahaha! In this way, the bridge can be completed in less than half a month!" Durt couldn't help rolling his eyes. He snatched the stack of bridge drawings from Haru's hand, pointed his finger and asked palely, "Without touching the mud at the bottom of the river, I can't turn this rotten silt into rock. At most, I can lift them from the riverbed to expose them to the surface, but the turbulent water will continuously carry away the mud and sand. This kind of bridge piers won't last for more than a few days!"

This is not because Durt deliberately refused to cooperate with Haru's work. Even if a high-level elemental spellcaster came, without direct contact with the target of the spell, it would be impossible to solidify the soft mud and sand at the bottom of the riverbed into a rock form by simply transmitting the spell energy through the water surface. After all, this involves the transmission effect of magical energy, which cannot be explained to an ordinary construction official.

He sighed, put away the elemental magic stone in his hand, and said calmly, "It's better to arrange for people to go to the foot of Jackdaw Ridge to mine the stone and transport it back. Then find a way to tie it up with iron chains and throw it into the water... I can only cooperate with you to raise the gentle slopes on both sides."

Haru was not discouraged at all. He called his technical officers to gather around the bridge sketch drawn by Harvey and started discussing it on the spot.

Duarte stood quietly by and watched coldly.

Although spellcasters of mortal origin often have delusions in their pursuit of truth, these ordinary people are more likely to have unrealistic ideas, and most of them are fanciful ideas that come up in order to take shortcuts.

The heated discussion didn't last long. Haru suddenly slapped his head, walked over to Durte excitedly and said, "Mr. Durte, I've got an idea! Although the silt you lifted from the riverbed can't withstand the erosion of the river water, as long as it can hold up for two or three days, it will be enough time for us to pile it, pour concrete underneath, and insert steel bars to stabilize it."

As he spoke, he pulled out a piece of white paper, squatted down and started to draw without any airs, which made Durte unable to help but squat down and watch.

"Look... if I drive a hollow iron pillar in the middle, I can keep pouring concrete deeper. As long as the piles are deep enough, we can even embed the steel bars directly into the rocks on the riverbed..."

Moreover, since Durt can control the rise of the soil ground, he can naturally sink them in the opposite direction. Then these hollow iron pipes wrapped in soil and the solidified concrete and steel bars inside can be brought into the ground.

"This idea... is indeed quite clever." Duarte's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but praise him. "So the question now is, can this soft river mud I've lifted hold up until you drive the iron piles and complete the concrete pouring?"

An officer who had been temporarily seconded to the shipyard and had participated in the construction of steel icebreakers came over and suggested, "Why not have Mr. Spellcaster use his magic to shape the riverbed mud into a boat when he raises it, just like he did just now. That way, even if the water is turbulent, it can break through the current like a boat, avoiding being carried away by a large amount of mud..."

Duarte was stunned for a moment, and turned his head to look at the dark-faced young official, feeling slightly shocked.

These ordinary people who have no talent for spellcasting actually possess the same keen observation and thinking abilities as spellcasters in this pioneering territory in the northern wilderness. This is simply impossible for the hard-working poor people in the southern region who struggle for their livelihood all day long.

(End of this chapter)