Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

The steam was rising from the chimney of the metal mill so high that everyone in the camp could see the proof that the forge finally started operating. 

As Layn approached the building, he felt how even the air continued to turn hotter and hotter. 

'Right, I didn't think about introducing an air conditioning there,' he thought, clenching his hands into fists. 'While I would be okay, I doubt many of the mercenaries will be able to hold on in this kind of heat.' The archmage raised his eyes to the cloud of smoke hanging above the building. 'At least we can cast aside all the environmental issues,' he thought, breathing a small sigh of relief. 

In a sense, every kind of human activity was bound to bring in more pollution. From the food production, through all the manufactory and ultimately the fossil fuels, every last drop of technology that increased the level of human civilization... It did it at the cost of nature. And while in Layn's original time, it started to turn into a quite real problem, the same couldn't be said about his current situation. 

'If I take that new information about nuclear magic to be true, then I'm at least several thousand years too early to worry about pollution,' he thought as he finally approached the building and pushed the doors open. 

"Close those damned doors!" Someone shouted from the inside. The intensity of the voice made it clear that its owner was pretty close, but due to all the smoke and dust that clouded the insides, Layn couldn't see anything further than two meters away. 

"I'm sorry!" Layn shouted back, pulling the solid doors back where they were supposed to be. As he closed them up, he could see how a huge portion of the smoke and ash that filled the place escaped to the outside. 

At the same time, the temperature in the room cooled down, proving that it was this mist that continued to increase it. 

"Damn it," the voice continued to whine. "It will take us at least an hour to heat up the place back to how it was before," a man said, coming out of the thinner smoke. But as he cast his eyes on the visitor, Pavrien's knees gave out. "Boss, I'm sorry!" He shouted, falling to his knees. "I didn't know it was you!" he shouted, striking his forehead against the hardened earth making up the floor. 

"Don't mind me," Layn shook his head while putting a kind expression on his lips. Surprisingly, with how tired he was after several hours of turning mana stones into dust, this proved to be quite a challenging task. "Just tell me, why do you need this place to be so hot?" Layn asked, not really sure about that aspect of the forge. 

"Sir, it's not about us being hot. But the hotter the air inside the building, the easier it is to keep the forge running at the desired intensity," the young mercenary explained as his face brightened. 

'It seems that I found one passionate guy,' Layn thought as a natural smile finally formed on his face. "Either way, I brought you the material," he said, raising his hands to pull the young forgemaster's attention to them. "If you need it, I can help you heat the forge up," Layn added as he placed the stacks of containers filled to the brim with stonedust on the floor. 

"Sir, that would be of great help," Pavrien once again struck his forehead against the floor before finally standing up. "How many coins do we need to make with those?" he then asked, pointing his hands at the thin, stone containers Layn brought. 

"Ten batches," Layn replied. "Seven for the trade with our partners, two for the internal use, one for the expeditions," the archmage instructed the young man about the quota.

"Expeditions, sir?" Pavrien asked as he approached one of the walls, only to pull out his knife and leave some marks on it. 

"Yeah," Layn nodded his head. "Sooner or later, we will have to start looking into expanding our influence. And what's a better way of doing it by pushing forth a product only we are capable of producing?" he posed a rhetorical question before shaking his head. "Well, I still have some stuff to do, so let's not waste any time. Lead me to the forge," the archmage requested. 

"On it, boss!" Pavrien reported joyfully, instantly diving into the depths of the steamy place. 

The entire building wasn't all that bigger than all the others that the camp was filled with. In a sense, the size and shape of every building, except for the kitchen, was standardized. In this regard, the forge was created just by doubling the sides and quadrupling the space inside. Yet, already used to the tight confines of his own workshop, Layn couldn't help but feel a sense of overwhelming space from this building. 

"It's here," Pavrien pointed his hand at the only piece of immovable furniture there was in the room. 

It was a simple rectangle made with a smaller kinds of magic bricks. As high as one's ass, it was roughly two meters long and one meter wide. In terms of fuel, given how they have yet to discover a single deposit of coal or other useful material within Layn's dominion, only charcoal could fulfill that role. 

Sadly, even with the trade with the monsters already established, providing wood across a vast distance that separated the camp from the forest wasn't easy. While there were some plans to make use of the lake to flow the logs down towards the camp, they were just that. 

Plans. 

"Give me a moment," Layn said, approaching the forge. A single look to the side allowed Layn to notice makeshift bellows made from three pieces of clothing sewed together to a thin, stone frame. 'I guess I could mount the air pump here,' the archmage thought as he placed his hands on the burning-hot charcoals filling the bed of the forge. 

'In the end, magic is just an energy,' he thought, recalling one of the very first lessons he was taught back at the academy. The lesson which allowed him to connect the dots between magic and science, both of which proved to work in a real-life situation. 

And now, just by pushing his mana throughout the burning coals, Layn could feel how the temperature started to rapidly rise. And before long, even with his body reinforced by cultivation, Layn could no longer keep his hands on the burning coals. 

"That should suffice," he said, turning to the young mercenary before closing his eyes for a moment. 'With that kind of forge, maybe making that thing golden would be possible?'