The heat from the kiln was so intense Ambrose was very glad Trelen had cut back the brush from around it, as he felt it might burst into flames otherwise.

  "How much longer till it's done?" He asked over the roar of the fire as the Slovèi pumped air into it using the bellows.

  They stood back and rubbed sweat from their brow, making a point to wipe the crook of their horns. "Let me check." Using a pair of tongs, they removed the door to the section where they had put the ceramic container that held the ore mix. Reaching in with them he carefully tipped it to see its contents. "I think It's ready, stand back."

  Ambrose took a step backwards and they lifted the container and its molten contents out of the kiln. Swiftly they moved it over to the rock they had converted to a work surface where a rectangular ceramic mold the length of his forearm and about a finger length deep was waiting. Ambrose moved closer to observe what they were doing and watched as they carefully poured the liquid metal, leaving a lumpy layer in the container.

  "You want to keep as much as the slag out of the metal as possible. That's what the bit on top is." Trelen said, noticing him watching closely. Once the mold was full, they turned the container over fully onto the rock emptying it. They looked at the discard and gave a satisfied nod. "Looks like we got most of the pure iron."

  Ambrose nodded along with them. "That’s great." He looked at the still slightly glowing iron bar in its mold. "And with that you can make the iron supports for the houses?"

  They nodded. "I should be able to beat and fold any of this size I make into a support."

  "How many supports will we need?"

  Trelen sighed and screwed their face in thought. "A lot more than the ore we currently have can make."

  Ambrose puffed air out of his mouth, inflating his cheeks as he did. "Right, well I will let you take the lead on this, what do you want to do next?"

  They looked around at the supplies they currently had. "We are going to run out of charcoal before we do ore, so best if you start making some more. We can get on building mine supports later."

  With a thumbs up they separated to their tasks. When Ambrose went to begin building another charcoal pyre, he realised with a bit of surprise that they had managed to work their way through most of their wood supply. Seeing the opportunity to get two tasks done at one, he gathered some of the force runes and one of the new axes and headed off to where they had started to build Ros and her family’s home.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Felling the trees took no time at all and besides a small incident with a rune that Gro-Lag didn't do a good job at making the appropriate strength, but luckily, he had managed to dodge the wooden stake that had flown towards him. All he had to do now was break it all down into logs.

  On the first swing Ambrose came to appreciate two things. Firstly, the benefits of having a professionally made axe. The ones he had made, whilst they had done the job, always felt like they were about to break after every swing. The tool he wielded now felt almost unbreakable in his hands. The second thing he appreciated and had been appreciating more and more, was how much he had needed the healing session he had. Before, when he was chopping wood, he would quickly find he had to take a break due to pain in his back and neck, but now he was through four whole trees and was only now feeling like he needed a break.

  I really need to talk to Gro about using his coin to get a healing session for him and Ros.

  He could pay for Trelen, and he wasn't sure Rennie and Gren-Lag would need it, but considering how much more efficient he felt he had been able to work he felt it was an investment in their productivity regardless of the personal benefits.

  He stopped swinging and paused; he cocked his head so he was looking at the sky. What the healer Sarah had said to him had been bubbling around his head for days now. He looked at his hands; he had a small blister on one of them. More out of curiosity then necessity, he placed his other hand over it and focused his mana. It washed over the area of the blister and he began to feel the soft relief of healing magic. It didn't take long for it to be gone, the only thing remaining of the wound being a layer of dead papery skin that Ambrose easily picked off. Despite it being such a small task, he still found himself out of breath and felt a pressure that had started to build in his head.

  Doesn't feel any easier to me? He thought to himself, almost annoyed.

  He staired at his healed hand for a few moments, before shaking off the thought and continuing his task.