The Sage of Einar

At the port of Asgard city, Yaasir was basking in the strange winter sun while sipping honey-sweetened pine tea.

"Ashraf, I have to admit that after spending time in this place, I feel quite comfortable with all the things that I can do.

Not to mention that being able to tour the island completely is something that I appreciate, but you are sure that you do not want to return with me to the emirate of Córdoba.

A person like you will always be welcome in the emirate, not to mention that you worked for the emir for many years. "

Ashraf, who was drinking some liquor, shook his head. "I appreciate the invitation, but I have to decline it.

Like in the emirate, I will be working in this place and maybe in the future we will see each other differently.

But there is something you can do for me. You could talk to all the bulk of the mercenaries that my father founded to start their way to this island.

I think they also deserve to know that there is a place for them to call home. It will not be an easy thing at first, but in a while we will all be in a better place.

If Konungar Einar promises something, I am sure he will fulfill it. By the way, has he already vaccinated you against smallpox? "

Yaasir nodded and showed a small scar on his arm. "After explaining why he had to use mythical and godly words, I understood that many times the population would not be vaccinated.

Well, they would be afraid of the vaccine, in any case, I have to thank Einar for the goodwill gesture that he made with me.

The following month, I will return with Nelda and from that place, I will start my way to the emirate of Córdoba.

I will take care to convey your words to your father's mercenaries, but I cannot guarantee that they will follow you. "

While the two of them were talking, a group of ships was arriving at the port. All of them had in their interior a large quantity of oil in clay jars.

In order to save as much oil as possible, they made gigantic clay pots weighing almost 50 kilograms, which were carried by 2 people.

In total, they were carrying a load of almost 10 tons of oil that they had been collecting since last month.

Einar, who was working in his port office, heard the bells of merchants and was surprised because he did not know that a merchant would visit him.

When he left his office and walked towards the port, he noticed the Knarrs of the Vikings from the Faroe Islands with the load of oil, so a smile formed on his face.

'At last I will be able to refine the oil to create a flammable fuel capable of imitating Greek fire, he asked me how Kassia would react when I combined it with copper salts and alcohol.

 

In theory, these two compounds should make a blue flame, completely different from Greek fire, but which will be so striking that I am sure it will be talked about until today.

 

But first I have to receive the materials, otherwise nothing can be done. '

Upon reaching the dock, a group of quite well-groomed Vikings began to lower the containers with oil from the ship.

Einar, seeing the clay pots with oil, smiled and started pointing at the slaves.

"Quick, I want three of these pots in the laboratory of the imperial palace. You should not be long.

Leave all the other clay pots in the warehouse for dangerous substances in the port and place vigilance. No one should go near them.

As it is a flammable and dangerous material, Eskol takes care of paying the Vikings the guaranteed payment we made.

I will be busy in the laboratory creating a substance that will revolutionize the world. "

In the laboratory, Sia was doing some experiments with the alternator that Einar had built.

"The energy transfer is quite stable here and with metals, but I still haven't found a metal with a higher conductivity than gold and copper."

Sia sighed and patted her head. "I guess this is tricky when a lot of the materials we have to discover from scratch and it doesn't help that we know very little about them.

I hope that before the teacher dies of age, we can see all the minerals in the periodic table. It would be interesting to be able to describe how they work ... "

The door of the laboratory opened and Einar entered along with a group of slaves who carried with them three large oil pots, which they left in a set place before leaving the room.

Einar looked at Sia with a smile. "Sia, our oil order has arrived. I want you to prepare the phosphoric acid, animal fat, blue food coloring, alcohol and copper salts.

While you do that I will begin to refine as much oil as I can to make a simple gasoline. "

Sia nodded and began to prepare everything. For his part, Einar put on his protective equipment and, taking a bulb-shaped still, he placed oil in the glass container.

After arranging the parts of the simple still so that a flammable gasoline-like substance could condense, he used an alcohol lamp and set the glass container on fire.

This meant that in just a few minutes, the oil began to bubble while a few drops of a dark, yellowish substance condensed in a beaker.

The condensation process lasted a few hours until Einar had in his possession almost a liter of the substance produced by the simple process of distillation.

If Einar knew something, it was that this substance must be flammable, but especially the gases that it could release.

So, using a dropper, he placed a few drops of the substance on a petri dish and using a match.

He discovered that the substance was flammable; he knew that if at some point he added lead and other substances to the distillation, he could create a better fuel but for the moment what he has would do.

In a notebook, he began to write down the amount of materials he would use to make napalm. As a military engineer, he learned the manufacturing process.

Although it does not have aluminum soap or naphthenic acids, he has the substance that was originally used that was phosphoric acid.

To give it a sticky consistency, he would use refined animal fat or pure animal fat. It was only a matter of research since it did not have palm oil or some other oil.

To give the mixture a blue color, he would use blue food coloring, alcohol and copper salts.

Because he did not know how dangerous this mixture would be, he decided to use a gas mask created as a leather prototype and covered in cloth with pine resin to seal the gas mask.

The filter is made of activated carbon and is similar to those used during the First World War. Because of the danger, he would also be wearing gloves covered with pine resin with cloth.

He would also do the combination with the windows open to ensure everything went smoothly.