Heir of Aurelian

Frank was in the middle of his father’s workshop, where he gazed upon the middle-aged man as he pulled out a crucible with a wide smile on his face. The man was a handyman by trade, working his way up the latter as a contractor, until the point where he now owned his own business. He made a decent living, at least enough to provide for his family.

However, it was just his skills as a contractor. Marco enjoyed doing all kinds of DIY projects at home. Among them was the smithing of knives. However, he was a stubborn old bastard, and had built his own blacksmithing workshop from scratch. Naturally, he made use of his teenage son to help him with his projects.

Recently the two of them had finished his crucible furnace, which was how Marco planned to make his own steel. At the moment, he was lecturing his boy on the process behind this. At the moment he was filling a crucible full of pig iron about three-fourths full, where the rest was filled with charcoal.

After filling the crucible with pig iron and charcoal, the man sprinkled sand, ashes, and lime into the mix to act as fluxes. He then capped it off with broken glass to act as a seal. After doing all of this, he began to explain the reason for adding these things to the mix to his young son.

“You see, boy, the carbon from the charcoal will mix with the pig iron, and raise its carbon content. While the glass acts as a seal when it melts and prevents air from reacting with the molten metal, thus ruining the chemical reaction needed to make steel._.

Now all we need to do is put the crucible into the furnace and heat it up to 2,786 degrees Fahrenheit and let it sit for three hours so the iron and carbon can form into steel. Once that’s over, we break the crucible apart and extract the steel bloom from the slag and impurities. From there, we can process the steel into whatever it is we desire. Now get your ass to work and help me put this bitch in the furnace while it’s still hot!”

Frank could only sigh as he grabbed a pair of tongs and used them alongside his father to put the Crucible into the furnace where its contents began to melt down into a new product. He waited for three hours before his father ordered him to pull out the crucible. After doing so, they cracked it open and revealed a bloom of steel which his father then taught him how to refine into a blade. The two of them spent the entire night forging a knife from the steel that they made in the crucible.

—

Marcellus snapped back to reality as he gazed upon the completed blast furnace. It had taken several months, but the city of Ravenna now had its first blast furnace, where its initial batch of pig iron was being manufactured as he stood by and watched.

Perhaps this was the reason that he had a sudden vision from his past life. Whatever the reason, he just found out how he could make use of pig iron to create high carbon steel, something he felt would prove useful for his military.

The foreman who operated this blast furnace was a familiar face to Marcellus, a man he had not seen since his brief time at Castra Regina. Catus walked out from the building with a batch of pig iron in his hand and handed it over to Marcellus. The man had a proud smile on his face as he did so. As a man of few words, he did not speak, and merely handed over the goods to Marcellus as proof that the new device worked as intended.

Marcellus inspected the basket of pig iron and nodded his head. It was an acceptable amount. However, he now intended to use the pig iron in the creation of high carbon steel. As a result, he patted Catus on the shoulder and asked the man a question.

“Catus, how about I teach you and your workers how to create a new type of steel?”

The man gazed at the Imperator with a questioning look in his eye. It was weird enough that he had developed this new iron making technique, but now he also had a new means to produce steel? However, he did not comment on it and simply nodded his head in agreement.

Crucible steel already existed in regions such as India, but how it was created was a mystery to the west. Until now that is, Marcellus quickly instructed the crew who operated the blast furnace how to make a crucible furnace, and how to make use of the pig iron, and other ingredients to create crucible steel.

The men spared no time working as Marcellus had instructed them to build a crucible furnace, and by the evening they were finished with their work. Together Catus and his workers followed the instructions Marcellus had given them to produce a bloom of Crucible steel.

In the end, Marcellus smiled while Catus held the puck of steel in his hands after it had cooled. He was shocked to see that this method actually worked, and looked at Marcellus as if he were a genius. Marcellus merely smiled and nodded his head before speaking to the man who ran his blast furnace.

“Since this is the first batch of Crucible steel you and your men have created, I’ll allow you to think about what you want to make with it. Catus thought about it for a few moments before nodding his head, and pointing towards Marcellus’ sword.

The Imperator quickly understood the blacksmith’s intent and unsheathed his blade before handing it over. Catus quickly inspected the blade dimensions, and then the puck of steel, and decided that he would need a bit more if he wanted to create a sword worthy of the Imperator. Thus, he grunted before raising three fingers to Marcellus, causing the man to question him.

“Three days? You want me to wait for three days and you will make me a new sword?”

Catus nodded his head in silence, causing Marcellus to relax. He probably wouldn’t need his sword for the next three days, and he could always borrow another from the armory if he did. Thus, after careful consideration, Marcellus decided to agree to Catus request, and allow him to make a crucible steel spatha for him.

Catus was quick to get to task in producing more crucible steel, while Marcellus eventually left the scene. He had more important things to do than simply wait around for the finish product and returned to the Palace where Sigefrida was waiting for him. The busty Suebi beauty kissed him on the lips before handing him a document.

“Alaric has responded to your request to meet. He has delivered news that he will set out for Ravenna within the next few days. Are you sure it is the best idea to place faith in the man to rule over Illyricum in your stead?”

Marcellus nodded his head with a stern expression on his face, before outlining his reasons.

“Alaric controls a Gothic horde of over thirty thousand men. Unlike Sarus, he does not fear me, and because of that, it is difficult to ensure his loyalty. I have many questions about what has been going on in Illyricum ever since I gave him the region, questions he must answer in person. Don’t worry, my love, I will make sure he behaves himself, and show proper respect to me as Imperator!”

Sigefrida sighed as she latched onto Marcellus. She was worried about men like Alaric and her brother. They were barbarians, far from the light of Rome, and though they had their own codes of honor, she knew full well that they could not be trusted. By giving the Suebi, and Goths lands to settle, Marcellus had invited future conflict into his Empire, and she feared that it may be the death of him.

Naturally, she couldn’t express her concerns, or else Marcellus would chastise her for worrying too much. However, she had a feeling in her gut that Alaric was simply biding his time, and waiting to march on Italia once more.

After a few moments of silence, Marcellus whispered something into Sigefrida’s ears that only she could hear. There was a sheepish expression on her face as her cheeks blushed, but in the end she nodded her head ever so slightly. Still, it was enough to cause Marcellus to grin, and thus he led the woman towards the bedroom so that they could spend some quality time together as a couple.

Though his marriage to Placidia was around the corner, Marcellus still made use of every opportunity to spend with Sigefrida that he could. After all, once he was finally wed, he would have two women to please, and that meant he would have less time to spend with the Suebi Beauty. The two of them spent many hours of the evening together before regrouping with Placidia for dinner.