Coal had been stocked in advance in the warehouse outside the Steam Chamber. Once the engine was installed, the workers loaded enough coal into the boiler.
With a great sense of ceremony, Jaina activated her Combustion Talent, and blazing flames engulfed her body.
She unleashed a Pyroblast in a burst of fire, and fire elemental energy heated the coal red-hot, setting it ablaze.
Black smoke rose from the stern's smokestack. The townspeople stared in astonishment, wondering whether Young Master Rowan had installed a furnace on the warship.
Half an hour was neither especially long nor especially short. The clean water in the boiler gradually came to a boil.
Rowan took a deep breath and opened the Steam Chamber's valve, letting the surging steam flow into the cylinder.
Soon, a series of clacking sounds came from inside the tall cylinder. The workers exchanged glances, looking worriedly at the machinery Young Master Rowan had built.
Rowan remained calm. This was simply the cylinder expanding as the hot gas heated it. It was perfectly normal.
The pressure of the hot gas reached a peak and drove the piston, and the two connecting rods began moving slowly.
A smile finally appeared on Jaina's tense face. She instinctively clutched Rowan's sleeve, eagerly awaiting the warship's departure from the harbor.
The connecting rods and piston worked normally. Rowan let out a long breath, inwardly marveling at Jaina's superb welding and the blacksmiths' forging skills.
Rowan gripped the lever that opened the valve again and slowly pulled it all the way down.
As the valve opened wider, more steam entered the cylinder. The connecting rods outside it no longer moved at a crawl. They alternated faster and faster, rapidly driving the wheel outside the warship.
Long, broad, thick paddle blades had been fitted around the iron wheel, making it look very much like a large turbine.
The turbine blades spun rapidly, propelling the stern toward the sea to the south.
"It's moving! The warship is moving without raising its sails!" someone in the crowd cried. In an instant, the shoreline erupted.
"Am I seeing things? The warship really is heading out to sea."
There were no wind runes, no blessing from the Tidesages, and, most astonishingly of all, no raised sails! Every resident of Morris Town stared at the steadily accelerating sailing warship, their faces filled with confusion and awe.
"Father, the engine we forged really works! The ship is moving, and it's fast!" Esenk was so excited that he nearly jumped.
His elderly father, Lusen, had tears in his eyes. He lifted Esenk up and shouted excitedly, "Even without House Stormsong's wind runes, our Morris Shipyard can send warships out to sea! From today onward, as long as Young Master Rowan is here in Morris Town, we can build warships capable of sailing far across the ocean ourselves!"
The people around them cast envious looks their way. They envied Lusen and his son for being able to contribute to the warship's voyage.
Kande, the old butler, stood at the harbor. The moment he saw the sailing warship head out to sea, tears streamed down his weathered face.
Byron stood on the deck, watching the clamorous shoreline. Suddenly, he felt deeply grateful to Bishop Joseph. If Bishop Joseph had not forced him to come to Morris Town, he would never have met someone as brilliant as Young Master Rowan.
Byron suddenly felt that his future was bright.
Despite thinking for a long time, Byron could not come up with anything to praise Rowan with. He desperately wanted to seize this chance to flatter his superior, but unfortunately, his vocabulary was rather limited.
Byron pondered for several minutes. When Young Master Rowan and Her Highness Jaina emerged from belowdecks, he shouted, "Young Master Rowan is fucking awesome!"
The workers froze and gave the Paladin contemptuous looks. Why does this Paladin talk just like us rough laborers, spouting filthy language? How vulgar.
Hearing Byron's excited shout, Rowan beamed. "After today, give every worker who helped build the steam engine five gold coins. Byron, you've worked hard running around these past few days. Take ten gold coins for yourself."
Jaina stood beside Rowan, then jogged a few steps over and gave the sailor at the helm a sweet smile.
The sailor yielded the helm to Jaina. She took it and steered the warship, which did not rely on sail power, out to sea.
"The age of sailing warships is over," Rowan said with feeling. He stood at the bow with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the wind as the sea breeze fluttered his robes.
Jaina gazed at Rowan's back and smiled sweetly.
Ding! Pleasure points from Jaina +1314.
"Then what will replace it?" Jaina asked, knowing the answer already. She waited for Rowan's reply.
Rowan smacked his lips and turned around. "The steam age! Of course, there are plenty more ages waiting for us. Jaina, you'll soon see many more things you've never known before."
Young Master Rowan and Her Highness Jaina took the warship farther and farther away.
What should have been a grand ceremony celebrating the warship's maiden voyage became a day for Her Highness Jaina and Young Master Rowan to spend together.
As the shoreline dwindled to a tiny black speck, Byron watched Young Master Rowan and Her Highness Jaina being lovey-dovey and finally could not hold back any longer.
"Ahem, young master, it looks like we've burned through all the coal."
???
Rowan frowned slightly and looked up, discovering that Azeroth's twin moons were already hanging high in the sky.
"Why didn't you say so sooner? There go your ten gold coins," Rowan said irritably, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Byron opened his mouth, then stopped. Young Master Rowan, you were chatting so happily with Jaina. How could I dare interrupt you lovebirds? Now that there's no coal left aboard, you're blaming me instead.
Jaina waved a hand, in an especially good mood that day. "All right, Byron didn't do it on purpose. Let's just treat this trip as a test of the warship's maximum range."
"About seventy nautical miles. We had roughly one ton of coal aboard when we set out," Ellen said, appearing from somewhere with a quill and a sheet of paper in his hands.
One ton of coal could take them seventy nautical miles. Judging by the warship's displacement and speed, the steam warship's performance utterly outclassed that of a sailing warship fitted with nothing but wind runes.
"Ellen, you've been thoughtful. Five of Byron's ten gold coins will go to you," Rowan said approvingly as he took the paper from Ellen.
Ellen bowed politely to Rowan in thanks, then continued, "Young Master Rowan, let's put the matter of rewards aside for now. Our main problem is how to get back."
Rowan helplessly turned to Jaina for help. With no coal left aboard, he had no choice but to ask her to boil the water.
"Jaina, how about..."
"I'm not stoking the boiler. But I do have a more convenient method." Jaina raised her delicate eyebrows, silver-white magical sigils hovering above her palms.
"Raise the sails," Jaina said.
Rowan waved a hand, and the sailors raised the sails. Then Jaina lifted both hands high, and a powerful current of air swept in from somewhere, driving the ship toward Morris Town.
Watching Jaina propel the sailing warship so effortlessly with magic, Rowan looked as though he had bitten into a lemon. "Jaina, this is a real blow to my confidence. I spent half a month getting my warship moving, and you can send it racing along with a single spell. That's so unfair."
"What's unfair about it? There's only one Jaina, but you can build hundreds of steam warships. How are those the same? Besides, if you make an effort, couldn't they all be yours?" Jaina blushed, dropping blatant hints at Rowan.
Rowan clearly failed to catch Jaina's meaning. He simply thought her reassurance made a great deal of sense.
"I guess you're right. Hehe."
Before you continue