Captain Jack of Azeroth

Chapter 7 Dwarf Craftsman
Not long after, the dwarf craftsman was invited back. When he saw the temporarily saved machine, he said with disdain: "Whose craftsmanship is this? It's so crude. The ones I made when I was ten years old were better than this."

The overseer looked at Jack, who didn't seem to mind at all.

"Of course. Dwarves are natural craftsmen. Even if I study for another ten years, I still cannot match your craftsmanship."

When the dwarf craftsman saw the real owner, he didn't feel embarrassed at all for being caught talking bad about someone behind his back. He was very satisfied with Jack's self-awareness and his words were no longer so harsh. "Although your craftsmanship is not very good, you have good talent. In such a shabby place, it's amazing that you can make it work."

Jack immediately came over and said, "I still need to learn more from you."

"Hahaha--"

The dwarf craftsman laughed heartily and said like a teacher: "Just follow me. I will teach you a lot. How much you can learn depends on your luck."

Jack was delighted. "Really? That's great. When I have money, I will definitely treat you to a drink."

Hearing this, the wine dwarf craftsman became even happier. He patted his chest and said, "No need to wait. We will finish the work in a while and we will not come back until we are drunk."

"That's so embarrassing!"

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We dwarves don't have so many rules. As long as you can drink, we are friends!"

The overseers were stunned to see how Jack became friends with the dwarf craftsman in just a few words.

What did this guy say? It seems that he didn't say anything special. They seemed to have said these words, so why didn't the dwarf craftsman treat them as friends? It's really strange.

They saw that the lucky rabbit's foot hanging around Jack's waist was emitting a faint invisible white light.

The dwarf craftsman works when he says to work and drinks when he says to drink.

He took Jack to the furnace in the mine, took some copper ore and lead ore from local materials, smelted out copper ingots and lead ingots, and then melted the two into copper-lead alloy.

"Copper-lead alloy is an alloy with both advantages and disadvantages. Its advantages are large load-bearing capacity, high fatigue strength and good heat resistance. However, it is relatively poor in running-in and corrosion resistance, so the lead content is preferably around 25%. This alloy is most suitable for this kind of rough mining machinery. First, it can be made from local materials, and second, it is inexpensive. Although it needs to be replaced frequently, its cost-effectiveness is still much higher than other alloys."

The dwarves were all masters of forging. They used hammers to forge the alloy into a three-and-a-half-meter-long drive shaft, which was even more sophisticated than Jack's wooden drive shaft.

That short stature contained great strength. The dwarf craftsman alone carried the transmission shaft weighing hundreds of kilograms into the mine and replaced it on the machine.

After finishing, he waved to Jack, "Let's go! Let's go drink!"

It was Jack's first time drinking alcohol. After taking a sip of the so-called rum, his throat suddenly hurt. To be honest, this wine is really not very tasty. However, the dwarf craftsman didn't care and drank it down in one gulp. Jack had no choice but to bite the bullet and toast with him. Anyway, it was all unpalatable. Instead of drinking it sip by sip, it was better to drink it directly in one gulp.

The dwarf craftsman laughed loudly. Jack's action was particularly suitable for his temper. He picked up the wine barrel, filled the glass, and then raised the glass to clink with Jack, "Cheers!" "Cheers... Cheers!" Jack continued to drink with gritted teeth. He didn't know how much he could drink.

After two drinks, Jack felt his consciousness becoming blurry, and the shouting of the dwarf craftsman became vague.

"Jack, my friend, you are much more straightforward than other humans..."

"My name is Fern Wildhammer..."

"You are welcome to come to Eagle's Nest Mountain to find me in the future..."

"You have a talent for craftsmanship. Take this and consider it a gift from me..."

"Jack...Jack..."

After three glasses of wine, Jack could no longer hear the dwarf craftsman's shouting. When he woke up again, it was already noon on the third day. He vomited all over the floor, but in his hand he was tightly holding a manual that the dwarf craftsman had given him last night.

"Are you awake?" The supervisor came in with food and put it on the table. "I didn't expect you to be favored by Fern. You are so lucky."

Jack tried to remember what happened before he got drunk, but he couldn't remember much.

The supervisor glanced at the book in Jack's hand and said with some jealousy: "Get up and eat! You don't have to go mining anymore, just be responsible for the equipment. Work hard, and if you perform well, we will introduce you to Sir Barov."

Hearing this, Jack's pale face showed a trace of blood. If he could become a guest of honor of the nobles, it would be a way to cross the social class. Although the Barov family would decline in the future, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it would not be a problem for him to get rid of his status at the bottom of society.

After finishing his meal in a hurry, Jack couldn't wait to study the Fern manual in his hand. It recorded the dimensions of various parts of large-scale equipment that Fern had built, as well as the experience of forging copper-lead alloy.

This is simply an introductory book on engineering! As long as you can get started, with your extraordinary engineering foresight, you will definitely become a master engineer. By then, when you build powerful chariots, airplanes, and warships, won't those kings kneel down and beg you to join their country?
With motivation, Jack endured the physical discomfort and frantically absorbed the knowledge in the manual. After finishing reading the manual, he started the practical part.

Considering that copper-lead alloy is the basis for making parts, and Jack has no experience in this area, he first tried to forge copper-lead alloy to figure out the first step.

Jack was a layman in the art of forging. However, he was willing to work hard. After checking the large equipment every day, he would go to the forge and ask the blacksmith in the mine for advice. Soon, he mastered the forging technology and successfully forged a copper-lead alloy.

After accumulating some raw materials, Jack began to try to forge various parts. Fern said in the manual that the most vulnerable parts of these large machines are the transmission shafts and those delicate parts. The transmission shaft consumes too much copper-lead alloy, so Jack started practicing with those parts.

Seeing how hard Jack worked, the supervisors provided him with a lot of nutritious food. Soon, Jack gained a lot of weight and became stronger. In addition, he stayed in the mine and by the furnace all day, so his skin became whiter and redder, which was very different from his previous image.

With his skills, Jack became an important figure in the mine and changed his fate of dying of exhaustion in the mine. Other refugees also saw hope, and many wanted to learn skills from Jack, but they were ruthlessly blocked by the supervisors.

(End of this chapter)