Chapter 425: Rudder

Ed wanted to immediately start work on his boats and ship after settling on a basic shape, but the matter of materials had yet to be handled.

'The best would be something light yet sturdy' Many materials came to mind, but Ed decided to add a third requirement. Mana.

'I need something that I can write some arrays on' The material of the array in a way sort of didn't really matter but at the same time, the effects would be enhanced on better material.

After much pondering, Ed was finally able to come to what he believed was the best compromise between these three requirements. He looked at the uprooted and displaced trees at one edge of the pond and pictured them as boats and ships.

'I need something to carve with' Ed thought before pulling out some ores from the system space. He got orc iron.

Under his ethereal sparks upgrade from the system, the orc iron started to rapidly melt into shape. Ed's sparks were a bit hard to control, but he was getting used to their erratic behavior.

The end result was a carving knife that was neither too big nor too small. Well, that was just a carving blade for now. Ed eyed the fallen trees and headed over to break off a branch.

He used the sparks to once more melt the wood into the shape of a handle. It was worth mentioning that although the ethereal sparks did not act very fast when compared to the system forge, their handiness could not be overestimated.

Ed had spent a quarter of an hour making this carving knife, but that was already rather impressive. With a wood carving knife, Ed moved onto the next required equipment. A wood chisel.

There were many tools that could be used for wood carving, and they each offered more versatility and simplicity without necessarily requiring more skill. Nevertheless, a simple carving knife and chisel could get the job done for Ed.

He didn't need a file, a gouge, a mallet, or even a saw. He could smoothen out and make curves with the ethereal sparks if his tools or skill were lacking, so what was there to be afraid of?

This function of the system space could make all craftsmen jealous! With just this ability alone, any potential craftsmen were guaranteed to create seamless, high-quality products just by having a good grasp of the basics.

[Craftsmanship has leveled up]

What made it scary was that as the person becomes more accustomed to both the basics of the craft and the tools available to them, even if they never reached the apex of knowledge and skill, their products could still leave a mark in history!

With newfound familiarity, Ed formed a chisel in only 10 minutes. The level-up obviously played a part in this. It also played a part in Ed even finding his wood carving knife a little ugly.

'Let's make them better' Ed thought before entering the system and looking at his warehouse of ores. The plan to make them better required the forge.

[Manellum]

[Windite]

[Ventaes]

Ed assessed each of the ores and after some consideration landed on…

[Pesallum]

{ A tough yet malleable ore often used for smithing sharp weapons and tools }

The assessment suggested it was overkill to use this metal for a chisel and carving knife, but Ed had reached such a level of extravagance.

After dismantling enough Pesallum from weapons in his storeroom, Ed fused them together with his new tools, and the results were pretty much as he had expected.

[Sharp Carving Knife]

[Pesallum Chisel]

Happy with the results, it was finally time for Ed to do some proper carving. Exiting the system space, he brought out an axe and approached one of the felled trees.

He winded up his axe and then struck down. The sound of wood cutting resounded outside of Sanctuary, but not for long.

The trunks of these tall trees that were much thicker than Ed himself were cut through after no more than 3 or 4 swings. He was using a plain old axe! The axes from the dungeon were practically dull even if very durable.

With a large log present, Ed just needed to dig right into it.

First, Ed used his wind affinity to smooth out the wood, and then he also used it to split the wood into two separate parts. Using an axe for this step would be a bit troublesome was all.

Similarly, Ed started to carve out the basic shape of the boat using calculated cuts using wind. The use of mana eased his work, but the tools he made were not for show, it was time to make actual things!

The wooden pieces he carved out using wind could still be used to create objects, so Ed put those aside to start making a helm.

He chiseled at a relatively flat block of wood and carved some rough edges. He smoothened them out using his ethereal sparks, and within minutes there was a boat helm.

'Now it's time to make this an array' That was right, an array. Having the lizardmen rowing meant that they weren't battle-ready! That was why this was also a boat helm rather than a ship helm, Ed was making this standard in his boats.

With his formationist skill, he was confident in designing what was essentially a magic boat.

'I need lines' Ed made seams and grooves that coursed through the helm. These seams would then have the blood ink run through them to activate the magic.

The way they would work was roughly planned out inside of Ed's mind. The seams worked sort of like wires and by putting connection points that ran along the helm, Ed could check which direction to turn the boat towards.

That meant there would be two connection points on the rotating section of the helm. They would align when going straight but when spun, they would result in one higher and lower connection point.

The lower point would be the direction the lizardman intended to turn towards, the array would make the boat turn towards this direction, be it left or right.

This was all fine and dandy, but what exactly was the array that would turn the ship? Nothing fancy, just two arrays positioned on both sides of the boat at an angle. There would also be a rudder functioning as the mana economic solution.

'Hehehe' That of course meant there was a mode with lots of mana consumption! Ed would never make an ordinary boat, it had turbo! Activating it would require emptying the tank of the magic boat, but it would have its uses.

'It can be used to retreat or just used in short bursts for sudden movement' The latter would require some expertise though and Ed was not expecting to see anyone using it like that.

That being said, conceptual knowledge had to be put into practical use before carving these arrays. Drawing them at the bottom of the hull might prove irksome, Ed wanted to set the boat on a maiden voyage first.

To do this, he made it possible to manually turn the rudder rather than using the helm. The helm was not steadily connected just yet. Ed worked on this right after settling the rudder.

'This might be dangerous…' Ed thought while using his own blood and a brush to draw the array's runic lines.

Finally, the notch for the crystal was made and the boat was ready to set off into closed waters. The danger was nothing to Ed!

The boat was currently just a seat-less, empty boat-shaped log. The weight was not too bad as things stood. There was nothing added on except for the rudder at the rear and the stick used for manual turning.

Ed entered the boat without a hint of trepidation. He then used his mana to control the soil and had the pond's shore push the boat into the water. Immediately after, the boat rocked back and forth before stabilizing.

'Good so far!' With a water crystal inserted for power, Ed powered up the array while standing at the rear.

The boat powered on and the seams that ran along it started to shine a blue hue. It was an interesting contrast to the light brown color of the filed wood.

The boat then also began to move forward on its own. The arrays that were supposed to be placed at the side didn't yet exist. These were just cool lights for now, though they did test the runic connections.

The actual moving was caused by Ed controlling the water to form small waves. A small propeller before the rudder might help in the future, even if it meant some mana expenses.

'Nice, let's try turning' He could use the water again but that beat the purpose of the test, turn the rudder!

Ed manually turned the rudder starboard, which was the right side of the ship. This made the boat start moving port side, this was the left side.

"Hahahah!" Ed was fascinated with his creation this time. Making his own boat was something he couldn't have even dreamt of doing in his past life.

The experience was something he would remember for years to come. The joy of creation never ceased to amaze him.