It's been a few days since the wedding, and it feels like things have both changed a lot, yet stayed the same. Luna has become a lot more affectionate, especially in public, and now the tent we share isn't because of 'security,' it's because we're married. At first, I had thought the large tent we were given would be temporary, but the large bed wouldn't fit in our smaller tent, and Celeste told me that we could keep the big one for 'added security.' She did indeed give me another storage ring to use, so I decided to give my old ring to Aria since I think she needed it the most, considering all the arrows and things she had to carry all the time. Even the limited storage space would help her a lot.

  Construction around the camp is now in full swing. The large number of people Callisto and Saiph brought with them immediately began fortifying the camp into something resembling an actual fort, especially around the dungeon entrance. Extensive waterways and the beginning of a sewer that will run under the new town are being built next to the dungeon to filter out the salt and carry water into what will become the new city. That's led to quite a bit of relocating for some of the people here, but everyone knew that would happen eventually, so there haven't been any real complaints, mostly just grumbling. It was incredible watching the mages use their magic to create walls and aqueducts rather than destroy things. The speed at which they're able to build large structures is mind-boggling, but their work went in fits and starts. They blow their mana all at once and then rest, so big things pop up and then are left alone until the next big thing pops up next to it. It's still impressive to watch while things are happening, though.

  Luna and I haven't had any time to meet with Celeste since her brothers arrived. I'm not sure whether she was intentionally keeping Luna away from the two of them or just busy, it could be either. Saiph is going to leave today and return to Ironcastle, but Callisto is going to be staying here with Celeste for a while. Despite the conversation I'd overheard, it doesn't sound like Celeste wants to see her father before he dies. Just from the short time I overheard them talking, I could see how their relationship could be complicated. It seems like Celeste is more focused on doing her duty to finish up the fortifications here rather than returning right away.

  "Why did Dragon Princess Celeste ask us to go see the crafters today?" Iris asked.

  "She's sending us to pick up the experimental weapon a few of the crafters from that meeting were working on," I told her.

  "The draco with the human name?" Iris asked.

  I frowned. "No, the drakken that was making the flamethrower."

  Iris bobbed her head as she followed along with us.

  We pushed our way into one of the crafters' tents in the 'experimental' group. Both Kell'ket and Aven'ket were here, but today we were looking for Aven'ket, the purple-scaled female drakken.

  The moment she saw us approach, she perked up and waved. "Ah! Good, you're here. Follow me into the testing area. I want to show you what I've been working on!"

  She pulled a box from her short worktable and led us through the rear flap of the tent into a courtyard with stone walls and added sand from the dungeon covering the ground. Hidden in the sand, I could see small bits of glass reflecting the sunlight as we approached the test area. The idea that this glove could possibly spit out flames that hot was a bit intimidating, assuming that's where the glass came from.

  "I've fitted this glove to the big human! Celeste wants someone without much mana to test it for us since this is meant for physical-focused delvers," Aven'ket said.

  Maxwell nodded and walked up next to her. She impatiently looked up at him before he got the picture and kneeled so she would be able to reach his arm. I idly wondered if what he was doing was usually considered rude, but I had no idea how people of such varying sizes normally interacted.

  "Remove your gloves and pull up your shirt, please. If you end up keeping this one long-term, you may want to get some fireproof clothes," she told him.

  Maxwell smiled and shot a glance at Luna. "My armor is already fireproof. We had a few early magic incidents that made me think it was a good investment."

  Aven'ket followed his gaze to the blushing Luna before cackling. "I see! Let me take a look, then." She took his removed glove and looked it over before giving a hesitant nod. "This will help, but when I said fireproof, I meant fireproof, not fire-resistant. Still, this is better than nothing, I would still say you should consider upgrading if you can."

  "I'll look into it," Maxwell agreed.

  "Now, put this on," she said. Aven'ket handed him what looked like a chainmail glove with metal inserts holding an array of gems in an almost decorative pattern. He slid the glove up his forearm, nearly up to his elbow, before tightening the leather strap at the top and buckling it down. "How does it fit?" she asked.

  Maxwell flexed his arm while opening and closing the mitten in front of him. "It feels pretty comfortable overall, but I would rather have articulation in my fingers. I could probably get away with using my sword like this, but truthfully, that would make me not want to use this glove regularly."

  Aven'ket nodded while listening to his impressions. "That makes sense. This is an early design anyway, more of a proof of concept. Something more rigid along the top would be better, like a plate gauntlet, but I went with this for testing, so I wouldn't have to cast as much metal. Okay, come over here." She led him a bit away from us and pointed him in a direction facing a pile of sand. "You can use mana to activate things, even if you don't have much, right?"

  He nodded. "I do, I also have another ring that helps with my mana capacity."

  "Good, now point the glove away from you, and power the twelve stones along your arm, from bottom to top." She touched her own arm near the elbow and mimed going up toward her wrist to help explain.

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  "Okay, I'll give it a try." Maxwell held out his arm, and I watched through the blindfold as he pushed a small amount of mana into each gem in sequence. Each one glowed like a splash of color to my sight through the blindfold.

  Suddenly, Maxwell jerked back as a heavy plume of flame poured from the palm of his hand into the sand in front of him. The entire thing went forward about thirty feet, which is quite a bit longer than I had assumed. Once Maxwell had regained his bearings, he aimed the spout of fire towards the ground and watched as it spilled along the sand. Then he released the fire, and all of it shut off at once, leaving the nearby sand smoking.

  Aven'ket clapped her hands. "That was great! Unfortunately, it ate through all of the mana I was using to power the glove, so we'll need to replace that. I started working with Kell'ket to see if his mana regenerating gem array would work with my glove, but I'm worried it will be too bulky. Once I replace the gem powering it with another one, would you be willing to test it in the dungeon for me?"

  Maxwell was staring at the glove with newfound appreciation. "That was much more potent than I was expecting. Did I drain the entire glove myself?" he asked.

  Aven'ket shook her head. "No, it was already mostly empty. You would have maybe... five or six times that duration with a full gem. So not an exhaustive amount, but nothing to scoff at either. I've been trying to get it to be more efficient, but that's where some field notes will come in handy! If you could tell me which things you need more or less of after a practical trial, I could tune it better to fit your needs. Range, intensity, width, there are a lot of adjustments I could make, but I don't really know which adjustments would be beneficial for this application."

  Maxwell was grinning. "I'm excited to try it. I never thought I would be able to do something like a mage."

  ("Helena, will you ask her if it's possible for a mage like me to power it?") Luna asked.

  I relayed the question to Aven'ket, and she scratched her chin. "Mages can power it, but it might not be the most efficient use of your mana. Since the gem is empty now anyway, would you like to try it?"

  Luna nodded with excitement and came forward to take the glove from Maxwell. He gave it up without any argument and chuckled at Luna as she put on the oversized glove. She had to tighten it quite a bit more to keep it in place. Aven'ket helped her with the straps to make sure the gem array was in the right spot. Once she was satisfied, she poked the one that wasn't powered. "Activate all of the gems like I told Maxwell, then channel all of the mana you wish to use into this gem at the base of your arm. The mana should be siphoned into the rest of the array from there. It can't be recharged while it's embedded, but we're working on that too."

  With a nod, she took a few steps away from Aven'ket, and I was able to watch as Luna did much the same as Maxwell had. Once each gem was powered, she pushed her mana into the 'battery gem' and a plume of flame came from her hand, looking identical to the one that Maxwell had used. Luna's concentration focused, and she attempted to push even more mana into the array, but it didn't accept the additional mana or change the output at all. It was fixed to whatever tuning Aven'ket had set up beforehand. With an abrupt end, Luna stopped pushing her mana into the stone, and the fire winked out.

  "So, what did you think?" Aven'ket asked.

  Luna waved me over, and I began to speak for her.

  ("It was a very interesting idea! I can see how it would be useful to non-mages, but it's pretty much pointless for an actual mage. Unless they were lazy, or didn't have the right affinity, I suppose. Because everything is fixed, I'm not able to adjust the spell myself, and even dumping more mana into it just creates waste. Its output is also less than I could create on my own at this stage, but maybe mages earlier into their empowerment would benefit more,") Luna explained.

  I dutifully repeated everything she said for Aven'ket, who nodded in thought to the critique. "All of that is pretty much expected," she replied. "This project is intended for physically empowered delvers, so it not being very useful for mages is acceptable."

  Iris cleared her throat, turning Aven'ket's attention to the mousegirl. "Uh, since I'm a wind mage, would I be able to use something like this to give me flames to spread? Right now, I have to rely on Luna or Milana to give me something to work with, but if I could use something like this, even if I needed to power it myself, that might still help."

  Aven'ket's grin went wide at the idea. "Oh! Using it to amplify a wind affinity? That's an intriguing idea! I suppose you wouldn't need a lot of fire to work with, would you? I actually still have an earlier test bangle. Let me go grab it!"

  Without waiting for Iris to reply, Aven'ket ran back into the tent and was loudly digging around in her desk. Iris was blushing a little bit from the sudden attention, but Luna looked proud of her for asking. Everyone else mostly just looked amused.

  When Aven'ket returned, she was carrying something a lot less impressive looking. It was a wrist cuff with a width of about three inches and fewer gems embedded on the top of the cuff. It was a little big for her, but with some fiddling, Iris was able to wear the cuff bracelet enough to activate it.

  "Before you use it, put these gloves on," Aven'ket said, handing Iris a pair of long gloves. Iris did as she was told and slid the drakken-sized shoulder-length gloves over her arms, then adjusted the oversized cuff so it was in the right spot to activate it. Aven'ket nodded. "Good, now go take a few steps over there and activate it the same way I told Luna. Once the gems are activated, pour your mana into this gem. This one isn't charged either, so it should work the same way. Once you have a flame going, you can see how well your wind magic interacts with it."

  "Okay, Miss Aven'ket," Iris replied.

  Aven'ket snickered. "Go ahead, kid."

  Iris walked over to the test area before taking a deep breath. Once she settled her nerves, she activated the cuff and poured her mana into it. This time, the fire only came out about a foot and opened into a wider plume in front of her, but that seemed perfect for what Iris did next. She summoned her wind magic and carried the flame forward. The plume first lengthened into one that matched Maxwell's, then thinned and twisted like a snake. A large grin came over Iris's face as she manipulated the twin flamethrowers as if they were alive. The two twin streams of flame then gathered in one spot and created a small fire twister that she was able to control as well. After a good ten minutes of Iris playing with the fire, she released control of it before pulling one of the gloves away and wiping her sweaty brow. Keeping the item active that entire time while also manipulating the flames seemed pretty impressive for such a young mage.

  When Iris turned around, Aven'ket began clapping. "That was great! Ohhhhh, I can't wait to make you something better! Come, come, tell me about the bracelet, what kinds of things would make it better for you? It might be a challenge to get the spacing right for your smaller wrist, but I'm sure I can make something more appropriate! I'm so excited! I'm so glad my sister convinced me to come help on this job!"

  Before Iris could reply, Aven'ket swept her into the tent and began to grill her on everything she could think of. Iris would typically have been overwhelmed, but she was clearly so excited that the words came easily as the two chatted about the prototype.

  Hello! Working on new equipment for our team! Not much to stay about this one, I hope you enjoyed them exploring with the magic technology of this world! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

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