Chapter 127: The Mechanical Pioneer

One week prior, Betty listened to the perfunctory words of Bayen the black cat at the gathering and sank into contemplation. She dragged Donna back home and immediately dedicated herself to research.

“I don’t need to try and create a mechanical titan from the start. That is indeed too delusional!” Betty stared at the small steam boiler before her, deep in thought.

“I should start with something simple and small-scale. A mechanical assist device, similar to armor, might be a good research direction! But first, I must solve the mechanical power issue. If it cannot be self-driven, it will be no different from the enchanted weapons and armor crafted by those blacksmiths.”

Donna looked at the self-talking Betty, watching her shift between excitement and frowning. She sighed inwardly, picked up the workbook Betty had prepared, and continued studying.

Donna did not want to always rely on Betty. She wanted to explore the wondrous world of Magic herself and create her own Spell Model.

“The so-called power is the core driver. I already understand the basic principle of steam propulsion: first, a boiler is needed to produce a large amount of steam. This is thanks to Bayen discovering the Density Rune, which taught me that the water element can expand and compress. The process of boiling water is expansion itself.”

Betty inscribed a Lesser Rune Array onto the bottom of the boiler. It was centered around the Lesser Fire Element Rune and the Lesser Scorching Rune. This was the Lesser Rune Array Betty designed to heat the boiler, which she named the Thermal Dynamics Rune Array.

Before meeting Bayen, she had already completed the design of the Thermal Dynamics Rune Array. After multiple trials and modifications, she found the appropriate scorching effect, which could continuously heat the boiler as long as there was Mana supply.

Her research hit a bottleneck here. The steam boiler required a large amount of water. Her envisioned mechanical titan would have to carry many water tanks, making it extremely clumsy.

Bayen’s arrival solved all of this. He discovered the Lesser Water Element Rune series, especially the Lesser Density Rune and the Lesser Pressure Rune. The moment Betty saw this in the Grimoire, she was so excited she wanted to leap up.

With the Lesser Water Element Rune series, the miniaturization problem of Betty’s mechanical device was solved.

She consulted Bayen, who had rich experience with the Density Rune, and found the appropriate density. She designed the Lesser Water Steam Rune Array.

This Rune Array could instantly generate a large amount of water vapor. Under the drive of the Thermal Dynamics Rune Array and the effect of the Pressure Rune, it could instantly generate high-pressure water steam.

“The reciprocating steam engine described in the books of the former civilization requires sealed cylinders and moving pistons. Without Magic, the sealing problem alone would be difficult to solve, but with Magic, these are not issues!”

Betty’s eyes glowed. Her small frame seemed to contain immense power. She skillfully began to use two Lesser Spells: the two brilliant achievements of the Enchantment Enthusiasts Research Group, the Lesser High-Combustion Spell Model and the Lesser Air Shaping Spell Model.

As long as sufficient Mana was supplied, the Lesser High-Combustion Spell Model could generate the highest temperature achievable by the Lesser Fire Element Rune, easily turning iron ore into molten iron.

Betty prepared Mana-contaminated iron ore, used the Lesser High-Combustion spell to turn it into molten iron, and then used the Air Shaping spell in conjunction with the Lesser Mana Hand to successfully cool and shape the molten iron into a small cylinder in a single go.

At this point, Betty was stumped. The books she had described the process vaguely, only mentioning the reciprocating steam engine and the piston performing work through steam expansion.

“Steam expansion can certainly push the piston, but how does the piston return?” This book is unclear. I will try it first…

Bang!

Betty’s prototype steam engine had no exhaust port. The experiment ended in an explosion.

Betty, whose face turned grim, activated the Lesser Mana-Crystal Shield in time and continued experimenting. This time, Betty added an exhaust port to the prototype steam engine but couldn’t solve the problem of the reciprocating piston movement.

“The power I create must be able to drive a main axle to rotate, which then drives the entire machine’s movement through gears, multiplying the attack power and movement speed.”

“Therefore, I need a different approach. I need a mechanism that makes the piston move cyclically, continuously driving the main axle! Maybe I can do this!”

After multiple failed experiments, Betty achieved a condensing vacuum steam engine, but the power was too low to drive the mechanical device she envisioned.

She quietly took the incomplete reciprocating steam engine blueprints from her father’s study and finally solved the problem.

She created a sealed slide valve chamber at the steam inlet, with a sliding valve connected to a pulley rod. This connected to an eccentric wheel, which linked the crank and connecting rod to the piston rod, finally realizing the cyclical reciprocating motion of the piston driven by steam inside the cylinder.

After successfully creating the entire prototype steam engine, Betty continuously attempted to miniaturize the prototype. She eventually created a Back-Worn Magical Steam Prototype Engine.

“Now the most crucial power problem is solved! This would have been impossible without Bayen’s Water Element Rune series. Now, I will assemble the parts I prepared long ago. I already know exactly how to assemble it!”

Donna looked at the small Betty, who was carrying a prototype engine almost as tall as her back, with concern.

Betty had created piles of parts long ago. She had a series of ideas but was limited by her inability to create a powerful core power source.

Her Grimoire recorded countless imaginative designs for giant machinery. Now was the moment her dream became reality. Although she couldn’t create the oversized mechanical titan, she could build an augmented auxiliary mechanical device.

She melted and reshaped the large, Mana-contaminated parts. It took her about a day to successfully assemble the Steampunk-style mechanical device.

It consisted of two auxiliary mechanical legs, one auxiliary mechanical right arm, and the core device on the back. Due to limited materials, the left arm was only equipped with a wrist guard inscribed with a Mana-Crystal Shield Rune Array. The final result was a somewhat clumsy auxiliary mechanical device, standing two meters tall.

“I shall name you Apprentice Combat Assist Machine Model 1, or Apprentice Model 1 for short. This name is perfect. It completely aligns with the descriptive style found in the former civilization’s books. I truly am a genius!”

The Apprentice Model 1 Betty created was connected to Betty via a Mana siphoning rune array on the back. It required Betty to expend mental power to guide Mana into the device, activating the several rune arrays inside the prototype engine to generate a large amount of steam to perform work.

The exhaust port was positioned above the right arm, with five tiny holes. Guided by the Lesser Directshot Rune Array, it could instantly release ultra-high-pressure, high-heat steam missiles, which had an excellent killing effect.

The mechanical arm was equipped with two solid Mana Crystal Weapon Rune Arrays (Mana Crystal Short Blade and Mana Crystal Long Spear), allowing for close-quarters combat when necessary.

Relying on the prototype engine on its back, the Apprentice Model 1 could significantly boost the user’s instantaneous movement speed and attack power, generating speed and power that surpassed ordinary enchanted martial arts.

Its only drawback was its slight clumsiness compared to the agility of Enchanted Martial Arts. Because it used Mana-contaminated iron as its material and was inscribed with multiple Lesser Fortification Rune Arrays, the machine’s strength, hardness, and resilience were greatly improved, significantly enhancing its defensive capabilities.

The back base, shoulder base, and foot bases of the Apprentice Model 1 were equipped with specialized instantaneous steam drive mechanisms. These could instantly expel a large amount of high-heat steam, which could be used to wound enemies, instantly propel the machine for rapid movement, short-distance low-altitude flight, and even drive the mechanical arm for powerful thrusts.