The mysteries of magic

Rowan's shout left Jaina stunned. Only moments ago, her heart had been dead with despair, but now a spark of hope flared within her again.

Jaina, why are you going soft again? You really have no backbone. What's so great about Rowan, anyway? Jaina silently berated herself, then shifted her gaze to Rowan.

She deliberately avoided his eyes to maintain the appearance of being utterly disappointed in him.

"Could you finish what you're saying in one go?" Jaina puffed out her cheeks and snapped at him.

Rowan wasted no words. He stood the two iron plates upright, faced Jaina, and said, "High heat, Jaina. Aren't you a mage? You could just help me shape these two iron plates to match the plans."

Jaina frowned and said irritably, "Could you stop fooling around? Magic isn't some circus trick. It's not as simple as you imagine."

"Don't be so rigid in your thinking. As a mage, surely you can control flames?" Rowan tried another approach.

Flames? Jaina's faint eyebrows lifted slightly, as though she had realized something.

"Of course I can." The moment Jaina finished speaking, furnace-hot flames sprang up around her.

At that moment, Jaina resembled a flame spirit with a graceful figure, every movement flowing with beauty.

Kobi, his son, and the blacksmiths all stepped aside, their skin stinging from the scorching heat.

The heat radiating from Princess Jaina was even greater than the temperature inside the furnace.

Rowan was struggling with the heat too. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, "Heat the iron plates, then bend them. Ideally, they should have the same curvature as in my plans."

He had just brought over the steam engine schematic when, with a whoosh, the plans were gone.

"Crap. Did you see them just now?" The corner of Rowan's mouth twitched, his confidence wavering.

Jaina gave a little huff. "Do you think I'm like you, ignoring everything I say? I already saw them. All I need to do is weave arcane energy into a spell model and fix it behind the iron plates. Then it'll be easy to shape them into the finished pieces you want."

I knew mages couldn't just be machines that cast damaging spells. If magic could replace the development of technology and firearms in Azeroth, there had to be a reason.

The mysteries of magic were hardly inferior to science.

Rowan stepped back to stand with the blacksmiths.

Jaina stood alone beside the milling machine, a circular purple arcane spell array appearing above her palm.

As Jaina recited an incantation, a vast number of intricate symbols appeared within the array hovering over her palm.

Under Jaina's control, the arcane symbols floating inside the array attached themselves around the two iron plates, lifting them into the air.

Rowan wrinkled his nose. He watched Jaina's spell nervously, praying nothing would go wrong.

If Jaina lost control of the spell, all the hard work the blacksmiths had put into forging the plates over the past few days would go to waste.

Fortunately, Jaina was reliable. Her years of magical study and countless arcane experiments left no room for elementary mistakes.

Whoosh! A torrent of scorching flames shot from Jaina's palm.

Blue light flickered at the base of the dazzling flames, making them look like the blast from a flamethrower.

The iron plates heated rapidly, their black surfaces turning bright red in an instant.

"That's enough, Princess Jaina," the experienced Ironhammer promptly warned her. If she kept heating them at that temperature, the plates would soon melt into liquid iron.

Jaina immediately stopped controlling the fire elemental energy. Raising her hand, she fired two Arcane Blasts at the iron plates.

Under Jaina's precise control, the Arcane Blasts completely covered both plates.

With the prepared spell model serving as a mold, arcane energy immediately shaped the two iron plates into the required forms.

Once she finished, Jaina moved the iron plates into the water trough.

A continuous hiss filled the air as the iron plates cooled in the water.

After the plates cooled, Rowan took them out of the trough. Astonished by their neat, precise shapes, he wanted nothing more than to pull Jaina into his arms and plant a few enthusiastic kisses on her.

But Rowan knew Jaina would never let him kiss her, so he immediately abandoned that idea for earning pleasure points.

"Holy moly, Jaina, you're incredible!" Rowan praised her.

Jaina rolled her eyes at Rowan and said coldly, "There are still two iron plates left. If you haven't built that steam engine thing by the time I finish processing them all, just wait for me to teleport you into the sea."

Five minutes later, all the iron plates were finished. Jaina stood with her arms folded across her chest, watching Rowan tinker with the parts on the milling machine.

"Are you done yet?" Jaina was growing impatient. She had a nagging suspicion that Rowan was simply stalling.

Rowan laid out the air pipe, piston, iron plates, bearings, wheels, and the other parts in assembly order. Then he picked up two iron plates, fitted them tightly together, and turned toward Jaina.

"What do you want now?" Jaina sounded a little impatient.

Rowan's eyes practically shone. "That combustion talent you used just now-the one where your whole body catches fire."

You've never studied magic. How do you know which magical talent I just used? Jaina was curious, though her face showed nothing but reluctance.

Despite her reluctant expression, Jaina's body cooperated readily. She activated her combustion talent again, and scorching flames once more rose around her.

"Try joining these two iron plates together. They need to be fused tightly, without any gaps. I need to make sure the cylinder is airtight."

"Stop babbling." Jaina cut him off.

Another arcane spell array of her own appeared above Jaina's palm. Constrained by the spell model, it released a steady, even stream of scorching flames.

Magic that merely controlled fire elemental energy to release heat was far simpler than cycling Pyroblast, so Jaina handled the fire elemental energy with ease.

The scorching flames moved evenly down the seam between the two iron plates. Wherever they passed, the plates fused together smoothly and completely.

Rowan stared in awe. So this was the power of magic?

The weld between the two iron plates could hardly even be called a seam. If a blacksmith polished it, the plates would look as though they had been forged as a single piece.

"Come on, do the back once more."

Half an hour later, Jaina stared at Rowan, panting. Rowan's head was also drenched in sweat from the heat of her flames. They looked at each other, the atmosphere slightly awkward.

"Don't tell me I just put in all that effort to make a bucket without a bottom." The more Jaina looked at Rowan's contraption, the stranger it seemed.

Rowan's face darkened. Listen to that, everyone. Is that any way to talk?

Though it really did look rather like a bucket.