Chapter 37: This Cement is Simply Amazing |
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After recruiting the workers, Jonas immediately began cement production.
The manually crushed limestone was mixed with clay by the workers into a slurry.
Then Charis used her Fireball spell's high temperature to bake the slurry on the ground.
Holdo, standing nearby, asked doubtfully:
"Jonas, can this stuff really bind stones together? And become incredibly strong so quickly?"
To be honest, when Jonas first mentioned this idea, Holdo hadn't believed it. After all, constructing city walls wasn't something that could be done overnight.
Jonas: "Don't worry, Father."
Holdo: "Alright then..."
Jonas immediately led his father to wait by the back door of the house.
Charis, her face covered in dust, was already waiting there.
Jonas: "How did it go?"
"The mud slurry has turned to gray powder."
She felt she should be spending more time practicing magic to prepare for the coming enemies.
Yet Jonas had called her here to bake these seemingly useless gray stones.
But whatever he was doing must have its reasons.
Jonas took a small shovel, scooped some powder, examined it, and praised: "Perfect, Charis, excellent work."
"Lord Jonas, what exactly is this for?"
"This has countless uses - building houses, bridges, roads... Houses made with this won't fear blizzards, storms or other disasters..."
"And with proper construction, city walls can greatly withstand mage attacks instead of crumbling after a few spells."
Without further explanation, Jonas added sand, water and some other ingredients in precise proportions.
He spread the mixture on a stone brick, then covered it with another brick.
After leading Charis back, he decided to check the results tomorrow since the cement would take about four hours to set.
Early next morning, Jonas returned with Charis and his father.
Opening the courtyard gate, Jonas immediately noticed the cement surface had hardened.
The two bricks were tightly bonded together, their connecting surface rough but clearly solid.
Delighted, Jonas touched it - this was the feeling of hardened cement.
Holdo: "They're really stuck together? But is it strong enough?"
Jonas: "You can test it yourself, Father."
At Jonas's suggestion, Holdo kicked the cement joint several times with full force, but couldn't separate the bricks.
They remained firmly bonded.
Wide-eyed, Holdo drew his sword and tapped it, only chipping the edges slightly.
Finally unconvinced, he swung his sword hard at the cement joint.
Crack—
A large notch appeared in the cement, but the bricks still didn't separate.
"Such incredible strength! Is this the power of cement?"
Holdo's eyes widened in amazement.
"This is unbelievable!"
He knew exactly how much force his sword strikes carried.
This material was simply miraculous.
"Who would've thought something like wet sand yesterday could become rock-hard overnight!
With this, we can build Thunderkeep's walls as fast as we want!"
"Plus with all the large stones nearby, we could even expand outward continuously.
We could erect a true fortress within years."
So when his son spoke of building high walls, he already had a plan.
Jonas: "And with Charis transporting stones for you,
construction speed will multiply.
Building walls in a month is no longer just a dream."
"Jonas, won't you stay to help build the walls?"
"I have more important matters.
Future construction will require more talents and a standing army.
Besides, Thunderkeep's funds are running low."
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