Chapter 20: The Power of Steam

Since Owen no longer needed to assist at the cement workshop, he had been spending more time at the blacksmith shop. Although he had blueprints for the steam engine, he wasn’t entirely at ease—he needed to personally oversee the quality.

And as expected, the blacksmiths struggled to interpret the precise measurements in the blueprints. Irwin had to first craft a standard ruler to unify the system of length. Unexpectedly, this marked the beginning of a broader reform—standardizing units of measurement. He planned to gradually standardize other physical quantities as well.

During the manufacturing process, Irwin wasn’t too picky about most parts, as long as the deviations weren’t too severe. But when it came to the cylinder and piston, he demanded perfection. These parts were frequently rejected and ordered to be remade for failing to meet standards.

The blacksmiths groaned. Did it really need to be this strict?

Another major headache was producing the air pipes, which was incredibly troublesome. Still, they didn’t dare complain aloud due to Owen’s status. They simply followed his instructions—after all, the pay was generous. No real reason to object.

Jita was one of only three blacksmiths in Bianshu Town. Rugged in appearance, he had a burly physique and bronze-toned skin.

Lately, he’d been feeling rather troubled. Because his forge was the closest to the castle, the lord had designated it as the temporary storage site for all the parts being made by the three forges. The pile of unfinished components was taking up a lot of space.

Indeed, building a steam engine was far too time-consuming for one shop to handle alone. So Owen had enlisted every blacksmith and their apprentices in town, assigning each shop a portion of the components to craft.

Every time Jita looked at the heap of unidentifiable metal lumps, his irritation flared. No one knew when the lord would return to complete the machine. Assembly couldn’t begin yet—Owen had said he still needed time to develop a new spell to weld the smaller parts together.

But how long would that take? Jita wondered. If the new magic never works, will this stuff just sit here forever? Of course, he wouldn’t dare move the lord’s belongings without permission.

No, I have to speak to the lord and ask him to move the parts somewhere else, Jita resolved inwardly.

Just then, one of his apprentices, holding a giant hammer, called out: 

“Master, why did you stop hammering? You’re just zoning out.”

“Ah—damn it!”

Snapping back to reality, Jita quickly grabbed his small hammer and returned to striking the red-hot metal billet.

Zoning out while working… damn those iron lumps! he cursed inwardly.

Suddenly, another apprentice rushed in, shouting.

“Master! The marquis is here!”

“Let’s go. Time to greet him.”

Jita placed the iron billet back into the forge with tongs, then hurried outside with his apprentices to welcome the lord.

Owen and his group arrived at the blacksmith shop and got straight to the point: they were here to weld the steam engine’s smaller parts.

That got Jita excited—finally, the lord was dealing with that mountain of metal. He and the apprentices immediately began hauling the parts to a nearby open lot, working with great enthusiasm.

Owen first pulled out four identical curved iron plates. These were components of the cylinder, which, when combined, would form a full tube.

With his right hand, he cast Fireball, positioning it above his finger. Then he placed a blazing magic stone into his palm to reduce mana consumption and raise the temperature. Using the technique he had refined, he transformed the Fireball into a blue flame jet at his fingertip.

This time, the nozzle he opened in the fireball was smaller, and the jet length was only around 12 centimeters.

He carefully aligned and tightly fixed two iron plates, holding a long, thin iron rod in his left hand. With his right index finger, he guided the flame jet to begin the weld.

As the flame met the seam, the high temperature melted the edges of both plates. The molten iron fused, forming a weld pool. Irwin then fed the thin rod into the joint, and the rod’s molten metal filled the pool.

And just like that, he welded along the entire seam. Fortunately, his dream-training in welding paid off—the real-world trial went smoothly.

Once he finished welding one side, he reduced the mana output and flipped the piece to weld the reverse side.

Welding complete, Owen inspected the seam—solid and flawless. A perfect weld.

[Well, well, not bad. You’re officially a qualified welder now.]

Winston chuckled, clearly teasing.

[Hmph, of course I am.]

…Awkwardly, Irwin missed the sarcasm.

Everyone nearby watched curiously as Irwin worked. When they saw the two iron plates firmly “stuck” together, a collective gasp of surprise went up.

Especially from Jita, who was stunned. In all his years as a blacksmith, he had never seen metal joined this way. Unlike bolts or rivets, this method was far more solid and reliable.

Alongside his amazement, though, came regret. This welding technique was clearly only possible for mages—something forever out of his reach.

Owen then welded the other two curved plates using the same method, completing the cylinder assembly. He handed it to Jita’s apprentice to grind away the excess weld material and smooth the surface.

Next, Owen welded a series of small parts into larger ones, steadily building up the components of the steam engine. And finally—with everyone’s help, a large, pitch-black steam engine was fully assembled.

Though it looked rough and bulky, Owen saw a different kind of beauty in it: the beauty of technology—a powerful machine that anyone could eventually use with ease.

Of course, this was just the first prototype, with plenty of room for improvement. With better conditions and technology in the future, he planned to build a more efficient model.

[Ah! This is a historic moment. The first steam engine has been built in Bianshu Town.]

Winston remarked with heartfelt pride.

“Wow! It looks amazing!”

Fanny circled the machine, knocked on it curiously, then turned to Irwin.

“What can this big guy do?”

“It can move on its own—and with great force. It can take over many heavy labor tasks.” 

Owen explained.

Jita immediately turned away and covered his mouth, stifling a laugh.

He had helped assemble this so-called steam engine himself and knew exactly what it looked like inside—just a hulking lump of metal. Move on its own? Don’t make me laugh…

Nobles these days sure love their crazy ideas, he thought. Always coming up with wild fantasies.

Shaking his head, Jita called his apprentices and went back to work. Since the lord’s machine was finished, he had nothing more to do with it.

Like Jita, Fanny didn’t quite believe the machine could actually move. Mapel, however, tried to convince herself to believe in Owen.

Owen didn’t blame them. Until someone witnessed a steam engine running with their own eyes, it was hard to believe. If he hadn’t fully understood the principles himself, he wouldn’t have believed it either.

“Just wait and watch. You’ll believe me soon enough.”

Owen borrowed some water and charcoal from Jita’s forge. He poured the water into the boiler, then added charcoal below and lit it with Fireball.

“Boiling water?” 

Fanny muttered softly.

Owen said nothing—just waited.

He remembered when he first saw steam engine blueprints, he too thought it was just a fancy way to boil water. Winston had even “praised” him, saying he’d uncovered humanity’s technological secret: finding new ways to boil water.

After about ten minutes, the water inside began to boil, and the sound of bubbling echoed from within.

Then—a clack came from inside the cylinder. It seemed to be filling with steam.

And then, the moment of truth—

The piston moved.
It pushed the connecting rods, which began to rotate outward.

With the double rods driving motion back and forth, the iron flywheel started to spin—faster and faster, until it reached its current maximum speed. The air pressure generated by the rotation was strong enough that Owen could feel the wind brushing past him.

The machine trembled slightly, emitting an ear-piercing roar, and thick white steam hissed out from the exhaust ports.

Fanny and Mapel, watching from the side, were both completely dumbfounded.

How marvelous! As the steam engine roared to life, Owen couldn’t help but be captivated.

This… was the power of steam.

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