Volume 5: Taming the Beast Chapter 1 The Function of Telescope (Part 1)
"Telescope" is a kind of jewelry-like equipment. Wearing it can improve the wearer's vision range to a certain extent.
The manufacturing process of the telescope is a combination of a series of unprecedentedly complex processes. To successfully manufacture a telescope, you first need to refine "rough glass" from a large amount of quartzite jade, and then purify it repeatedly to gradually obtain "transparent glass", "crystal glass" and the final finished product "pure glass", and then use a special mold to grind them into various thin sheets of different sizes and convex and concave shapes; I also have to extract some brass from copper ore, and then process these brass into thin sheets that can be rolled; finally, I have to arrange these large and small "pure glass convex lenses (concave lenses)" in a certain order, fix them on brass sheets, and then use brass to roll these glass lenses together and fix them to make a strange long cylindrical object, which is considered a successful manufacturing.
Before this, I had only tried to extract certain substances from natural things, or at most tried to purify these substances, but I had never experienced such a complex processing procedure. The requirements of these processing procedures are very strict, especially the process of polishing the lens. If you are not careful, it will produce waste and all your previous efforts will be wasted - this is also the most troublesome part for me. The blueprint said that both alchemists and mechanical manufacturers can learn the technology of making telescopes. I guess these processes should be the part that mechanical manufacturers are more proficient in.
The process of trial-making the telescope was extremely painful. I spent a lot of money to buy mountains of quartzite jade ore from ore dealers, and then used a special magic furnace to melt them into liquid and remove various impurities. When this process was completed, the weight of the ore was only one-fifth, and this process had to be repeated three times. According to this ratio, even if my magic backpack was filled with ore, I could only refine a finished product of "pure glass" that was about the size of a fist. This inhumane and cruel ratio made it difficult for me not to have the urge to chop down Mount Uzig with an axe and throw it directly into the furnace to make an elixir.
This was just the beginning. When I started to grind these glass lenses, my truly miserable life began. I had to split a whole block of solidified glass into thin slices, and then grind them into various thin shapes. If I wasn't careful, they would break into pieces. I spent three whole days turning a warehouse of quartzite jade ore into a small piece of glass that could be held in one hand, and then into a thin slice less than a finger thick. In the end, just because of a little carelessness, I broke it into pieces with my own hands. You can fully imagine my despair at that time, hoping to die quickly.
When all the lenses needed were completed, I didn't know how much of this shiny white mineral I had used up. My personal feeling was that I had melted a majestic mountain into these small transparent lenses that were too small to be used as seasoning plates, and I couldn't help but cry because of my strong willpower to move mountains and fill the sea.
When the first telescope was successfully created in my hands, my previous hard work finally paid off: not only did my alchemy level rise directly to level 6, but even my own level rose to level 33. I excitedly put the telescope in my pocket, and couldn't wait to verify its effectiveness.
Looking out the window of Teacher Edgwell's house, I found that my vision had indeed expanded a lot. Before, when I stood here, I could only see the scene within three blocks. Beyond the intersection facing the city gate, my vision became blurred and I could only see hazy figures and couldn't distinguish anything.
Now, I can clearly see the figures of pedestrians at the intersection of the fourth street in front of me. With the magical effect of the telescope, I can even see the appearance of an elf man walking from there: he is tall, with white cheeks, a straight nose, and long flaxen hair softly draped over his shoulders, fluttering in the wind, making him indescribably handsome and free and easy.
The two emerald green eyes of this male pure-blooded elf revealed a sensual and mysterious charm, which was both quiet and hazy, as if some unknown secrets were hidden in them. He was carrying an exquisite blue composite bow with carved flowers on his back, and was walking slowly on the street. In front of him, two human women in exquisite clothes were walking towards him while chatting. They were chatting so much that they didn't notice that there was an elf walking towards them. Although the elf man had a friendly smile on his face that warmed people's hearts, he didn't show any intention of avoiding him.
Finally, the three people walking in opposite directions came together, almost only half a step away from each other. It was only at this time that the two ladies who were chatting noticed the existence of the pedestrians on the opposite side. They both exclaimed in surprise and stopped immediately.
At this time, the elf ranger with a bow and arrow seemed to have just discovered the two ladies in front of him. He was already unable to stop and was about to collide head-on with the two ladies. At this moment, he suddenly took a half step to the left and front, using his left foot as the axis, and took advantage of the momentum of moving forward to turn lightly to the right and rear, brushing the shoulder of the lady on the right and going around to her right. This inadvertent dodge was as smooth and brisk as flowing water, showing his extraordinary reaction speed and body balance, and was also as graceful and agile as dancing.
I saw him swerving to avoid the two ladies in front of him, and was about to successfully avoid the unexpected collision. Unfortunately, he did not notice the tall iron hotel sign erected behind them on the right. He rushed forward with an extremely elegant attitude, recklessly and without hesitation, and then his whole body was "slapped" on it like a gecko with its tail just cut off, making a crisp "bang" sound. I think he was hit hard this time, and I could vaguely hear the sound even from dozens of steps away.
This unexpected accident immediately made the two ladies who had just been a little frightened cheerful. They ran forward hand in hand, looking back curiously as they walked, pointing and poking at the elf ranger who was still lying on the hotel sign from time to time, and spreading "silver bell-like laughter" along the way.
I think you have all guessed it. This clumsy elf who walks without eyes is my former adventure partner, comrade-in-arms who fought side by side with me, the super nearsighted elf ranger Xian Ge Yayi, who impressed everyone with his hopeless eyesight and extremely poor archery skills.
Walking from that street to the city gate avenue, a distance of just a few dozen steps, the poor weak-sighted elven ranger bumped into pedestrians five times, hit the wall twice, tripped over the gravel on the ground three times, and once hit his head on a pillar, mumbling something in a low voice with a guilty look, obviously not seeing clearly what he bumped into, and apologized to the pillar. With his frequent accidents, it was hard not to worry that he would be killed by accidentally bumping into it before reaching the city gate.
Seeing Xiange Yayi walking in a shaky manner, and thinking of the tool I had just trial-made, I suddenly had an idea and came up with a bold guess: If Xiange Yayi wears this "telescope", will his vision be improved? Thinking of this, I hurried downstairs and ran towards the city gate.
The city gate area is crowded now, with people of all kinds gathering here, some waiting for people, some accepting tasks, but most of them are setting up stalls to sell goods. It is well known that the natives who run various shops are mean and stingy. They are always willing to buy the spoils you sell at extremely low prices. For them, a long sword or ornament with quite good attributes can only be sold for less than 50 silver coins at most, while the minerals and herbs they collect are even cheaper. And the same thing, when sold by them, will be more than tripled in price.
As a result, more and more people who are unwilling to be cruelly exploited have found other ways to trade. They set up stalls in the busiest places in the city, put the goods they want to sell on the stalls, mark the prices, and wait for inquiries from interested parties. In this way, sellers can get higher profits, and buyers can buy the items they want at a lower price. In fact, I am also a frequent visitor here. I have bought a lot of raw materials for learning alchemy here, and the finished products have also found suitable buyers through this channel.
The goods sold by the vendors at the stalls are not only cheaper, but also much more complete than those sold in the shops of the natives, including some very popular boutique equipment. Among these goods for sale, there are two things that are most often mentioned, one is called "point card" and the other is called "RMB".
Walking among these vendors, you are sure to hear noisy shouts from time to time like "selling point cards at my own expense, 500 gold per card, no bargaining" or "professional gold-earning group, 50 yuan per thousand gold, 20% discount in the early stage of opening."
But the strange thing is that I have never seen the real objects of these two most popular and best-selling products in Campnavia or Valencia. I only saw many people scrambling to throw out large sums of gold coins like they were possessed, but they walked away happily without getting anything, as if so much money in their bags would explode. Only occasionally someone would stand in the middle of the city and yell angrily, saying that someone had cheated him of his money and did not give him the point card, and that his whole family of thieves and prostitutes would die miserably.
Although I have never seen the real thing, the "point cards" and "RMB" give me the feeling that they are something similar to gold coins, probably the currency units of other countries. They are all considered hard currencies and constitute the financial system of the Kingdom of Dranmeya. Among them, the value of "RMB" is the most stable. No matter how the exchange rate between the three changes, its price is always strong and slowly rises. It can be said to be the leading hard currency in the entire continent.
