n

n

nLayn focused all the efforts of everyone in their small group on laying down the brick-making factory first. For four days straight, everyone lived off their supplies alone. Not a single soul went hunting, not a single man went fishing.

nFor four, long days, everyone focused all their efforts on perfecting the chain of command and sequence of work, allowing them to reach the optimized results.

nThe first part of the process started at the mine. Here, a group of four mercenaries would dig all the clay they could find. Additionally, one of them would spend half of their work-day scouring the place for the further presence of clay.

nOnce the clay would be unearthed, it would be transported to a pit. It was a structure that took two entire days of everyone's concentrated efforts to make. Yet, despite how much effort went into making it, it was a fairly simple structure.

nRoughly ten meters away from the furthest point that the waves washed, a huge basin was dug out. At two men's height and four men's width, this circular hole was connected to the shore with a simple, small canal.

nOnce the clay and the water would reach the optimal ratio, two further operators would turn the swampy content of the basin into a regular mass. What the mercenaries didn't know, though, was that their task of beating the basin's content with all the strength they could muster was also aimed at improving their own capabilities.

nIn fact, once one would look closer, every single profession that Layn created in the middle of what was supposed to be a desert, consisted of pretty repetitive tasks. What's more, each of those tasks required one to constantly push himself or herself to the limits.

n'In other words, it's something like a mandatory gym for everyone,' Layn thought, watching over the proceedings of the simple chair of production. He was the only one who didn't employ his muscles in the shared efforts of the group. Rather than that, he oversaw every single spot and added his input across the entire chain rather than its single part.

nLayn moved his eyes towards the basin. 'They are about to finish the mixing,' he noticed, before sending a surge of power towards the revolving, thick mass. Walking over to the basin, he pulled out a mana stone from one of his sacks before squeezing the pasta a little bit with the magic he infused in it.

nIn an instant, the mercenaries threw themselves inside to shovel away the excess water. Then, Layn focused on the stone in his hand before crushing it into a powder. Sprinkling roughly half of the dust into the mass, Layn gave the signal. For a few more moments, the mercenaries continued to stir the mixture.

n

"Okay, it's ready. Go,

" Layn ordered, moving his eyes towards the next station. There, Irea and Pavrien would make sure the two mercenaries responsible for preparing the clay paste would properly fill the formation ditches.

nBecause the process was fairly more complicated than it normally would be.

nEach of the ditches had exactly the same shape as the desired bricks. Once a single shovel of clay paste would enter the ditch, Pavrien would place a simple, wooden plank on it, leveling the surface and making way for another portion of the clay.

nOnce the entire ditch was filled, Irea conjured a small spark of fire before setting all the ditches alight.

n'I hope it will work,' Layn thought to himself, watching the color of the flames. And sure enough, they soon turned green!

n

"What the hell?!

"

n

"What is this?!

"

nIn an instant, the vast sea of grass turned noisy with all the mercenaries shouting in unison. In fact, even Irea gave away the signs of awe and shock.

n

"This is a part of today's lesson.

" Layn suddenly announced, allowing the flame to take their course of action. 'Gosh, that was so nerve-wracking!' Layn breathed a sigh of relief in his thoughts, not allowing anyone to see just how tense he was.

nBecause while each part of the process already went through an extensive process of testing and trying… It was the very first time when the process worked in a complete chain.

nAnd despite his excitement, Layn didn't allow his mercenaries to just rest easy now.

n

"Do anyone have any idea why the flames turned green?

" Layn asked, deciding to make his lecture a little more proactive.

n

"Because there was something in the clay paste!

" Antion shouted, eager to score some brownie points.

n

"That's not enough,

" Layn shot his hopes down, looking over the faces of the other mercenaries.

n

"Is it…

" Someone else attempted to give a guess, only to turn silent halfway through the answer.

n

"Come on, there is nothing to be shy about!

" Layn encouraged the man. As a teacher of the academy that those mercenaries would become creators of, Layn knew he had to take the leading role from the very beginning.

n

"Is that this stone powder from before?

" A middle-aged man asked while raising his hand. His long beard added a lot to his age, yet it wasn't enough to fool Layn's eyes.

n

"Bingo!

" Layn shouted happily, turning his finger in circles for no reason at all.

n

"The powder from the mana stone is so fine, that it actually has no resistance to elements whatsoever.

" Layn started his explanation.

"If you drop it in water it will diffuse in it. If you blow at it, it will scatter on the wind. If you drop it, it will mix with the earth, and if you burn it…

" Layn stopped his words for a moment only to look at the faces of the mercenaries listening to every single word of his.

"Then it fuels the flames, just like it fuels quakes, waves, and gusts of wind.

"

nLayn's words stopped at the same time as the flames suddenly all died out.

n

"Normally, those bricks would need to be laid out at the sun and left for days if not weeks to dry out.

" Layn pointed his hand at the small field with over twenty ditches filling it.

"Now, go and pull the bricks out.

"

nAs per the order, Antion instantly jumped forward to fulfill it. He grabbed a special handle not caring about his own comfort or even safety before pulling it up.

nThe mechanism of recovering the bricks was fairly simple. A metal plate connected to a long metal arm was at the very bottom of every single pit. The burning of the bricks didn't last for long enough nor reached temperatures high enough to melt the metal. On the other hand, with the wood all turning into ash, the huge column of lumps of clay now turned into a set of magically enchanted bricks.

n'I wonder if I will ever be able to explain it to them,' Layn thought while looking at the joy that appeared on the faces of his mercenaries. For them, it was a joy of their hard work finally paying off. Yet, not a single one of them was any wiser about the true scale of intricacy that laid behind this seemingly simple process.

nBecause there were two important mechanisms that played a major role in this manufacturing process. Just like Layn said before, dropped on the earth, it will mix with it. It was this ability to instantly permeate the entire body of earth that allowed Layn to do it. By the simple act of sprinkling the dust on the clay paste, it instantly spread out across the entire volume of the paste.

nRight when the clay paste reached the border temperature between the dust firing up and actually mixing into the ground. And right when the temperature of the clay paste reached the lower end of the scale beyond which the dust would simply assimilate into the particles of the ground…

nThe fire was added.

nIt was thanks to this precise timing, that the particles already lost their fire property, leaving with only the energy propagation ability. Once the flames reached those unstable particles, they all exploded.

nBut not with fire, but pure, magical energy. For a brief window, the barrier between the physical and the magical world broke apart. And in this single moment, for those few whiles that green flames burned, this energy followed the pattern of the particles diffusing into the ground, enriching the entire volume of the brick with an equal amount of energy.

nNot only did that leave the brick structure way more sturdy than a simple fire could it also brought it into a state of perfect, magical balance. With the gradient of the energy across the matter of the brick being exactly the same, it basically became an item that no magic could influence. And an item that couldn't be destroyed without breaking through the resistance of its perfectly crystalized energy structure.

nLayn walked towards the bricks and picked one of the finished ones. Yet, even when he exercised all the strength he could, the brick remained perfectly as before.

nThe archmage smiled.

n

"Everyone!

" He shouted to the small group of people that decided to follow him.

"Let me present you, a godless brick!

" Layn dropped the brick to the ground before sitting on it with a satisfied look on his face..

"In the terms that you guys are used to, this brick is indestructible.

"

n