The first thing Nirra did next morning was visit the market district to buy some ingredients needed to make smokeless powder. She bought coconut milk, calcium carbonate rocks, and a few pieces of talc. Of course, she was accompanied by a Paladin from the church as well as her sister. Ameria went somewhere else. When the twins asked her, she just said she was meeting some old friends.
"That's a weird list of ingredients, sis." Ellie walked beside her, looking at the bag Nirra was carrying.
Nirra also looked at the bag and gave her sister a small, confident expression. Most people would not take notice due to the usual expressionless face Nirra wears. "Don't worry, these are the ingredients I need to make a new type of gunpowder."
"Gunpowder? The red powder thingy you put in your… uhhh" Ellie tried to guess the word she was looking for but Nirra answered it for her. "Cartridge?"
"Yeah, cartridge… the brass tubes that come out of your weapon when you use it," Ellie said. She had a hard time trying to remember what Nirra calls the parts and ammunition her sister used in her weapon.
"The brass tubes that come out of my weapon are called casings. The things that travel out are called bullets. Mix them together; those are cartridges," Nirra explained.
"Oh, I get it," Ellie replied as she walked with her sister.
Nirra was so busy chatting with her sister that she had not noticed that she bumped into someone. A figure covered in a large coat and hat. The Paladin witnessed the contact and immediately used himself to block Nirra and the person she bumped into.
Nirra stepped beside the Paladin and bowed. "I'm terribly sorry; I didn't see where I was going."
"Don't worry, it's alright." He slowly turned his back towards Nirra and the Paladin and slowly walked away, disappearing into the crowd a few seconds later.
"That was… weird…" Ellie commented.
"Let's pay no more heed to it." Nirra followed the Paladin, who now led the way back to the cathedral.
The man in the coat walked into a nearby alley, where a familiar figure was waiting for him.
"So, how was she?" Ameria stepped out of the shadows and crossed her arms.
"Quite polite, actually. I can see why you like to be around her." The man said in a monotone voice and took off the coat, which revealed he was wearing armor with the same gold, blue, and white design as Ameria had.
"So convinced she's not a threat at all?" Ameria asked with an eyebrow raised.
"That remains to be seen." He sharpened his gaze as he also crossed his arms.
"And you wonder why all the other S-rankers call you paranoid? Arwin." Ameria sighed.
"Not paranoid, just careful," he corrected.
Ameria rolled her eyes. "Sure"
Back with Nirra, she was now inside her forge, with Mofu standing beside her. She placed the bag of ingredients on the table and exhaled.
"Alright, let's begin." She grabbed the first ingredient to be processed, which was coconut milk. All she had to do was burn it in a crucible using the forge, and she would be left with a burnt sap called diphenylurea. A deterrent to limit the expansion of gas produced by igniting nitrocellulose.
She poured the milk into the crucible and placed it on the forge. While that was cooking, she crushed the tin extract into a very fine powder. It served as a decoppering additive. Which helps eliminate the residue that is left in the barrel. After that, she crushes some talc into very fine balls; talc helps reduce the wear on the barrel after firing.
She used the tongs to fish out the burnt coconut oil and let it set. At this point, she took out the main ingredient from her personal shadow storage bubble. Two frozen flame salamander organs produced the clear viscus liquid that is also flammable.
"Hang on a second," she says, thawing it using the heat from the forge and placing some of that liquid on the anvil. She then lit it up with a burning ember from the forge, which caused it to instantly combust, but not the way Nirra wanted.
"This reaction is similar to nitrocellulose, not nitroglycerin," Nirra sighed, as she needed to find a way to make the goo ignite with even more intensity.
She tried to heat it up like she did with the slime from the boom slime, but the result was an ignition that was a little more violent than the previous test but not enough to be comparable to nitroglycerin.
"It's almost there... I just need more heat…" Nirra thought.
She then looked at Mofu, the latter scratching his ears, and ended with a sneeze from the ashes that started to go everywhere inside the room. She then remembered Mofu's fox fire, which was able to partially melt the sturmhersch's antlers back in the Redfield forest.
"Maybe…" She squeezed the organ to deposit another batch of the flammable liquid into the crucible and placed it in the forge with a cover. The forge burned, but a little was still burning when she put it inside.
"Mofu," she called. "Can you heat up this crucible with your fire?"
"Mofuu~" The little fox stepped on the anvil to get higher and breathed in; the tips of his ears and tail turned red as he blew the fire directly into the crucible. "Mofuu!!"
The crucible immediately turned red, and it looked like it was about to crack. A couple more seconds, and Nirra tapped Mofu on his back to make him stop.
"Mofu?" Nirra pulled the lid off of the crucible with tongs and looked inside. The goo turned a black color after she pulled it out of the forge. She let it cool and picked up Mofu to place him near the entrance of the room to watch.
She placed a tiny bit of the burnt goo on the anvil and hid behind a metal desk. She then threw a burning ember from the forge, which made the goo combust very violently in a beautiful display of fire.
"It worked?" She peeked out of her cover and onto the anvil. The combustion left not a single residue behind, which proved that her little experiment went correctly. "It worked!!" She ran up to Mofu and hugged him tightly.
"Mofu, you did it!!" She yelled joyfully.
"Mofuuu~" the small fox nuzzled his head onto her large bossom.
After a few minutes to cool down, Nirra went to finish the smokeless powder. She mixed all four ingredients in a metal container and poured it on the mold beneath the mechanical press. She turned on the motor, and it pressed the mixture into molds that looked like small flakes. She locked the press in place and waited for it to dry.
After a couple of hours, she returned and lifted the press. What met her eyes were numerous black flakes of what was supposed to be smokeless powder. She grabbed a couple of them and placed them on the anvil. When she lit it with a burning piece of wood, the ignition produced a lot of gas but little to no smoke or residue.
"I did it!" She exclaimed with a larger than normal smile.
"I can now make more complex firearms, even self-loading ones," she said, relieved that she had finally reached one of the most important milestones in firearms development.
The first thing Nirra did next morning was visit the market district to buy some ingredients needed to make smokeless powder. She bought coconut milk, calcium carbonate rocks, and a few pieces of talc. Of course, she was accompanied by a Paladin from the church as well as her sister. Ameria went somewhere else. When the twins asked her, she just said she was meeting some old friends.
"That's a weird list of ingredients, sis." Ellie walked beside her, looking at the bag Nirra was carrying.
Nirra also looked at the bag and gave her sister a small, confident expression. Most people would not take notice due to the usual expressionless face Nirra wears. "Don't worry, these are the ingredients I need to make a new type of gunpowder."
"Gunpowder? The red powder thingy you put in your… uhhh" Ellie tried to guess the word she was looking for but Nirra answered it for her. "Cartridge?"
"Yeah, cartridge… the brass tubes that come out of your weapon when you use it," Ellie said. She had a hard time trying to remember what Nirra calls the parts and ammunition her sister used in her weapon.
"The brass tubes that come out of my weapon are called casings. The things that travel out are called bullets. Mix them together; those are cartridges," Nirra explained.
"Oh, I get it," Ellie replied as she walked with her sister.
Nirra was so busy chatting with her sister that she had not noticed that she bumped into someone. A figure covered in a large coat and hat. The Paladin witnessed the contact and immediately used himself to block Nirra and the person she bumped into.
Nirra stepped beside the Paladin and bowed. "I'm terribly sorry; I didn't see where I was going."
"Don't worry, it's alright." He slowly turned his back towards Nirra and the Paladin and slowly walked away, disappearing into the crowd a few seconds later.
"That was… weird…" Ellie commented.
"Let's pay no more heed to it." Nirra followed the Paladin, who now led the way back to the cathedral.
The man in the coat walked into a nearby alley, where a familiar figure was waiting for him.
"So, how was she?" Ameria stepped out of the shadows and crossed her arms.
"Quite polite, actually. I can see why you like to be around her." The man said in a monotone voice and took off the coat, which revealed he was wearing armor with the same gold, blue, and white design as Ameria had.
"So convinced she's not a threat at all?" Ameria asked with an eyebrow raised.
"That remains to be seen." He sharpened his gaze as he also crossed his arms.
"And you wonder why all the other S-rankers call you paranoid? Arwin." Ameria sighed.
"Not paranoid, just careful," he corrected.
Ameria rolled her eyes. "Sure"
Back with Nirra, she was now inside her forge, with Mofu standing beside her. She placed the bag of ingredients on the table and exhaled.
"Alright, let's begin." She grabbed the first ingredient to be processed, which was coconut milk. All she had to do was burn it in a crucible using the forge, and she would be left with a burnt sap called diphenylurea. A deterrent to limit the expansion of gas produced by igniting nitrocellulose.
She poured the milk into the crucible and placed it on the forge. While that was cooking, she crushed the tin extract into a very fine powder. It served as a decoppering additive. Which helps eliminate the residue that is left in the barrel. After that, she crushes some talc into very fine balls; talc helps reduce the wear on the barrel after firing.
She used the tongs to fish out the burnt coconut oil and let it set. At this point, she took out the main ingredient from her personal shadow storage bubble. Two frozen flame salamander organs produced the clear viscus liquid that is also flammable.
"Hang on a second," she says, thawing it using the heat from the forge and placing some of that liquid on the anvil. She then lit it up with a burning ember from the forge, which caused it to instantly combust, but not the way Nirra wanted.
"This reaction is similar to nitrocellulose, not nitroglycerin," Nirra sighed, as she needed to find a way to make the goo ignite with even more intensity.
She tried to heat it up like she did with the slime from the boom slime, but the result was an ignition that was a little more violent than the previous test but not enough to be comparable to nitroglycerin.
"It's almost there... I just need more heat…" Nirra thought.
She then looked at Mofu, the latter scratching his ears, and ended with a sneeze from the ashes that started to go everywhere inside the room. She then remembered Mofu's fox fire, which was able to partially melt the sturmhersch's antlers back in the Redfield forest.
"Maybe…" She squeezed the organ to deposit another batch of the flammable liquid into the crucible and placed it in the forge with a cover. The forge burned, but a little was still burning when she put it inside.
"Mofu," she called. "Can you heat up this crucible with your fire?"
"Mofuu~" The little fox stepped on the anvil to get higher and breathed in; the tips of his ears and tail turned red as he blew the fire directly into the crucible. "Mofuu!!"
The crucible immediately turned red, and it looked like it was about to crack. A couple more seconds, and Nirra tapped Mofu on his back to make him stop.
"Mofu?" Nirra pulled the lid off of the crucible with tongs and looked inside. The goo turned a black color after she pulled it out of the forge. She let it cool and picked up Mofu to place him near the entrance of the room to watch.
She placed a tiny bit of the burnt goo on the anvil and hid behind a metal desk. She then threw a burning ember from the forge, which made the goo combust very violently in a beautiful display of fire.
"It worked?" She peeked out of her cover and onto the anvil. The combustion left not a single residue behind, which proved that her little experiment went correctly. "It worked!!" She ran up to Mofu and hugged him tightly.
"Mofu, you did it!!" She yelled joyfully.
"Mofuuu~" the small fox nuzzled his head onto her large bossom.
After a few minutes to cool down, Nirra went to finish the smokeless powder. She mixed all four ingredients in a metal container and poured it on the mold beneath the mechanical press. She turned on the motor, and it pressed the mixture into molds that looked like small flakes. She locked the press in place and waited for it to dry.
After a couple of hours, she returned and lifted the press. What met her eyes were numerous black flakes of what was supposed to be smokeless powder. She grabbed a couple of them and placed them on the anvil. When she lit it with a burning piece of wood, the ignition produced a lot of gas but little to no smoke or residue.
"I did it!" She exclaimed with a larger than normal smile.
"I can now make more complex firearms, even self-loading ones," she said, relieved that she had finally reached one of the most important milestones in firearms development.
