Cornflower Witch

Chapter 294 The Dilemma of 'Golden Steam'
The convoy heading to the 'Dark Sand Valley' is ready. This time, it is loaded with potatoes and wheat, as well as a large amount of vegetables and the 'purifying spring water' needed for the Dark Sand Valley.

The entourage consisted of about sixty people, most of whom were 'second-tier' knight squires, with a small number being of other classes.

"Is Tia going to the Dark Sand Valley?" Dorothy asked the girl before she left.

"Yes, is Dorothy going too?" Hilti asked curiously.

"I won't go, but could you bring some materials back for me?" Dorothy asked with a smile.

"I need high-quality Tier 3 'Magnetic Sand', and you can also bring me some Tier 2 'Red Iron'. As a reward, I can help you craft a useful alchemy tool."

"Is this considered a side quest?" the girl thought to herself.

"No problem, I'll help you look for it later."

After bidding farewell to Dorothy, Hilti boarded the carriage, and the entire procession set off towards the distance.

……

In the wilderness, the wind howled, and even though Hilti was sitting inside the carriage, she could hear the sounds outside.

During the storm season, it's either raining or windy; there's rarely a calm time.

It takes about 4-5 days to travel from Lantern Town to Dark Sand Valley. She is currently sitting in the carriage, using candlelight to review the materials given to her by 'Beast Cry Valley' some time ago, which includes information on raising and taming beasts.

The horses pulling the carts in the caravan are the wilderness horses from the 'Beast's Cry' Valley. They have much better endurance than the warhorses bred in the 'Golden Plains', and their breeding costs are also much lower.

In the past, the cost of purchasing one 'weather horse' could buy three 'wilderness horses'. The only drawback might be that they are not fast and not agile enough, making them unsuitable for the ever-changing battlefield.

Humans can communicate with animals using simple commands, but in the face of complex battlefields and diverse and complex needs, these simple commands are often insufficient. This is where specialized abilities are needed, namely the "synchronization method" (blood rhythm). This is a means of conveying information that relies on blood and vital rhythms, and can communicate across species and languages.

Many knights will learn the 'Synchronization Technique' and then combine it with another charge-type ability to complete their class build.

The 'Iron Knight' is a combination of [Synchronization Method] and [Rapid Charge] into [Unified Mounted Combat].

The 'White Knight' is a fusion of [Synchronization Method] and [Wind Chasing] into [Galloping Journey].

The two principles differ slightly. The former aims to enhance the strength of the warhorse, giving it greater speed and impact force, while the latter aims to reduce wind resistance, resulting in a lighter and more agile state, thereby improving speed and responsiveness.

The stronger impact force is suitable for dealing with huge monsters, while the latter's lighter size is suitable for long-distance travel and flexible handling in one-on-one battles. This is the difference in class between the Iron Knight and the White Knight.

As for the inheritance of 'Beast Cry Valley', you can use the [Synchronization Method] to communicate with your battle beasts in order to understand their status and train and nurture them better. This is similar to the effects of 'Emerald Eyes' or 'Natural Perception' in the Gardener's skill.

No wonder that "Iron Finger" said that their school of thought and gardeners have many similarities.

During the past few days on the road, Hiltiya has been learning how to master the 'Synchronization Method'. Perhaps because she had learned the 'Breathing Method' before, mastering the 'Synchronization Method' was not difficult for her. In just four days, she raised the 'Synchronization Method' to Lv.3.

【Synchronization Method Lv.3】: It can communicate with other living beings by using the pulse of life, and convey emotions and basic information.

"Little Horse, come here."

When they set up camp at dusk, Hiltiya called to the foal not far away, and the young 'wild horse' came trotting over. Its fur was dark brown and soft to the touch.

The girl circled around Hilti, cupping her head in her hands and bringing her forehead close to feel her heartbeat and emotions. Then she took out a small piece of potato and fed it to her.

After finishing eating, the foal stood in front of the girl again, looking at her with its two black eyes.

"Turn around once," Siltia commanded.

The foal didn't quite understand at first, but the girl led it around in a circle with her arm, and then it gradually came to understand the command.

"Go and bite the branch over," Hiltiya commanded again.

The pony hopped and skipped around her for a while before going to fetch a branch from a distance. "It seems that even if it understands, given its playful nature, it won't obey immediately," Hiltia thought.

Training battle beasts is a long-term process. If the beast is not smart enough, it will take a lot of effort. It seems that she is more suited to the path of elite training rather than large-scale domestication like in Beast Valley.

"Go on, go play by yourself~" After feeding the little pony the last piece of potato, Hilti opened her hands to show it that there was no more food.

The foal frolicked around Hirutia for a while before trotting away to return to its mother's side.

……

After a four-day journey, Hiltija arrived at the Dark Sand Valley.

Before even reaching the camp, Hiltiya heard the sound of rushing water from inside the carriage. Upon arrival, she discovered that the camp was located by the river and consisted of a mountain fort built of dark yellow rock.

"Welcome, Miss Siltia." The one who came to greet her was the steward of the residence. He was wearing a gray-yellow straight robe, a tall hat, and a long, thin wooden cane in his hand.

“My name is Rean, you can just call me by my name.” The other party bowed and then led Siltia’s group into the mountain fortress.

Throughout the journey, Rean introduced the local environment to Siltia.

"As Miss Tia can see, the water and soil here are murky and unsuitable for irrigation. We need to purify and filter the water we draw several times before we can drink it."

"Magnetic sand is the main product here, extracted from river sand. The second largest product is the 'red iron' mine located beside the river valley. The ore in the mine can be refined into high-purity 'red iron,' which is a necessary material for precision parts in many alchemical creations."

Listening to the other party's description, Hiltiya saw that there were many alchemists here, and they were all extraordinary beings with the 'Golden Steam' attribute.

"There are many alchemists here."

“That’s right. Most of the alchemists here belong to the ‘Magnetic Wheel Water Machine’ school. They are skilled in refining various ‘magnetic’ materials and the various alchemical creations derived from them.”

"The most common are pumping machines, screening machines, and forging machines."

As he spoke, he led Hiltiya to visit the large machinery in the camp. The huge machine was constantly turning, sifting and filtering river sand, searching for precious metals and classifying them. In addition, there were water pumping machines and machines for forging plate armor.

"They all look very useful, so why aren't they widely used in the woodlands?" Shirutiya wondered.

"Well, that's because there aren't many extraordinary individuals with the 'Golden Steam' attribute," the other person said with a wry smile.

“To operate these machines, one needs a transcendent being with the ‘Golden Steam’ attribute. Without them, these machines would be difficult to operate.”

"Then why not develop a power source that doesn't require the 'golden steam' property, like using steam?" Hiltiya asked, puzzled.

"Steam? Actually, some people have experimented with it before, and it is indeed feasible, but it also requires a superhuman with the 'blazing sun' property to evaporate the gas, which is putting the cart before the horse."

"A power source that doesn't require superhuman intervention, such as directly boiling water to produce steam."

"This seems feasible, but it's actually extremely inefficient." The other person shook their head.

"It's true that burning wood can generate heat, which can be used to evaporate gases and generate power, but how much wood would we need to burn? It would take many years to grow that much wood, and then it would burn up in a few minutes. It's such a waste."

“Coal…” Hiltiya was about to utter the word from her memory when she suddenly realized that there was no coal or oil in this world.

This means that any fossil fuel-powered engine is difficult to promote. Without cheap coal and oil, relying solely on burning wood would require too much and is simply unsustainable.

Coal and oil are formed from the remains of ancient plants, requiring hundreds of millions of years to accumulate. Furthermore, coal was formed on Earth because there were no bacteria or fungi that could decompose lignin at that time. In later eras, even with the emergence of bacteria and fungi that can decompose lignin, it has become very difficult for coal to form again.

No wonder that after the 'Golden Steam' phenomenon was created, it did not lead the world into the industrial age as quickly as it did on Earth. Lacking industrial lifeblood, relying solely on superhumans to maintain machinery meant that it could only be promoted on a small scale.

Unless people in this world find better and more convenient energy sources in the future, an industrial revolution will not be possible.

(End of this chapter)