The Forge of Kings (A Man Made of Glass, Book 1)

23

^^ Hovering Barge ^^

With only a week left to go before their scheduled trip into the depths, (Elias had been happy to to agree to take part in the mission when asked,) Finnegan decided the one thing remaining that needed handling was Transportation. Not for himself, of course, walking was just fine, but of their Loot, he definitely knew he'd need something for that. Kelt's Cart was a strong option, but in the end he still didn't know how it worked, exactly, so he didn't want to tinker with it and break it. Instead, he decided to build his own, a sort of practice run for his Train, which would work on the same basic principal; a metal cart he could drag behind him without any effort even as he added weight to it, which would glide along on its own, smooth as butter. In theory, such a thing was simple, and he imagined the only reason no one had done such a thing was because it hadn't been cost-effective. In all likelihood, the theory of mine-carts had been explored, just like the drill had, but had failed due to faulty designs or lack of interest, so he'd have to make his own, and then later-on make his own Track-layer like he'd originally planned, but on a much smaller scale.

First, though, he started with a Mine-Cart Blueprint, and began altering it slowly to match his needs; wheels were problematic, as not all ground was even in caves and tunnels, so it needed to float, before anything else. The enchantments to make something lighter existed, and they worked by pushing down against gravity and creating a barrier that absorbed the downward pulling energy of gravity itself to pay their energy needs, effectively being self-sufficient. Flight was not an uncommon thing for ArchMages of the Clear, Air, or Metal Elements, so that was a surprisingly well-developed idea, but he still had some extra tricks up his sleeves to lighten the load without magic; like the concept of Dirigibles. Bags of Air lighter than Air, they floated naturally due to their lower point-specific gravity, and they could be artificially produced, last Finn had checked. With how his abilities to enhance certain materials worked, he was sure he could make Helium even Lighter, and thus gain an ultra-light substance to keep his craft in the air without any interference! Add in a spell to alter the weight of everything in the craft to control elevation and ballast, (lest he become too light and float off into the stars to die in the cold cold astral seas,) and a prop propellor, and he had a floating craft with little to no issue! Of course, this was only a first draft; a bag of air could pop and ruin everything or catch fire and blow up, and also wouldn't fit in the tunnel, and a prop not only could be a danger to him and his party, it was also prohibitively loud, so instead he needed a way to contain the concept...

As he was staring at the blueprints, he noticed some of his six-layer glass, something he'd been making for the exterior windows, and instantly there was a reminder for himself; if the mine cart was going to have things in it that weren't heavy, and there was no reason for it to be heavy and tough with Barrier Spells in it, so why shouldn't the metal be hollow? Having two layers of metal held together by a semi-solid frame would leave a gap for the gas, and it wouldn't be that difficult to make a simple air spell to push the craft forward. Once Finn had the idea fleshed out, he drew up the plans for a barge-like craft, with a wide open area perfect for crates and sacks of goods, considering he'd be using it for mining, soon enough. At the pointed front of the craft was the only seat, the engine, and the controls, comprised of a simple throttle, a directional control for the blade-less propulsion, and another for the ballast. "This'd be a damned-sight better than Sand Ballast for a Ship... night should sell it, if they've got Coastal Regions to this place... Oi, Uncle, are there any Port Cities in the Kingdom?"

Rahman slowly responded, sounding groggy, tired, and annoyed, with a heavy sigh seasoning his voice. "Finnegan... it's Moon-High. Look. At. A. Map!"

Finn flinched, grimacing at his Uncle's irritated tone. "That's fair, sorry, I didn't know it was so late... Sleep well, Uncle, tell Henna I said hello!" With no further response from Rahman, Finn set aside the idea for the Ballast and Air-Based propulsion, (which he'd figured could be used to push a boat forward in the water, if you pointed it at the sails,) and focused more on the floating barge/raft abomination. With such low clearance, much like a normal mine cart, it could clear any gap a person could, so long as the gap was at least two meters wide. But, at six meters long, it would hold a large amount of material without an issue, and once the ballast and gas was enchanted, there would be grand amount of cargo that the little barge could carry.