[ Reputation System v2.0 ]
User: Ravenna Solarius / Joy Cha Kim
Reputation Level: 91↑ — (603,335 / 1,010,000 EXP)↑
Current Reputation Points: 53,420 RP↑
Titles Unlocked: Raven of the Sun Palace, Unruly Princess, Beast Slayer
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“Hmm… my points have started to accumulate much more slowly now,” Ravenna muttered to the empty room. She sat alone in her study, the desk cluttered with a mountain of bureaucratic docunts and blueprints. She flicked her wrist to dismiss the blue translucent screen of the Reputation System.
“I suppose my na has already spread far and wide,” she mused, leaning back in her chair. “It’s getting tougher to find people who haven't already heard of . To keep the RP flowing, I need to do sothing truly world-shaking.”
Her gaze drifted to the large map pinned to the wall. Her eyes tracked the coastline from Ancorna across the sea to the Western Continent. A sharp, confident smile touched her lips. “Well, with my Master here, my plan to expand into the Western Continent should finally be viable.”
With a self-assuring nod, she reached for a fresh docunt but stopped mid-motion as a sudden realization struck her.
“Oh, that’s right! I can finally invite others into my Origin Domain now, can't I?” Her eyes sparkled with renewed interest. “I’ve been so busy I almost forgot. I need to start assigning specific roles to my inner circle to take full advantage of the Domain’s unique properties.”
Ravenna pressed a brass button on the edge of her desk. A clear, resonant bell chid through the hallway, and monts later, Alice stepped into the study.
“Alice, summon Mister Nillie and the lead craftsn,” Ravenna commanded. “There is a new project I wish to discuss with them.”
Alice offered a graceful bow and a surprised clap of her hands. “Your timing is impeccable, Your Highness. They actually just requested an audience with you. I was on my way to inform you of their arrival.”
“Oh?” Ravenna asked, her curiosity piqued. “What do they want to discuss?”
Alice’s smile widened, her eyes shining behind her spectacles. “The new inventions you ordered... they are finally completed!”
Fifteen minutes later, the heavy oak doors of the study creaked open. Mister Nillie entered, followed by four of his most trusted master craftsn. They moved with a practiced, solemn rhythm, carrying two long tables covered in heavy, dark velvet cloths that masked the shapes beneath.
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Nillie, his face smudged with a bit of engine grease he hadn’t noticed, offered a deep, respectful bow. A wide, triumphant smile broke through his thick beard. “It’s good to see you, Your Highness. I have finally completed the project we have been laboring over for so long. It took many sleepless nights and more than a few scorched eyebrows, but she is finally ready.”
Ravenna’s anticipation was palpable. She stood up from her desk, her eyes locked on the draped tables. “No way... is it truly what I think it is, Mister Nillie?”
Nillie nodded firmly. He stepped toward the first table and, with a flourish, whipped away the cloth. “Behold, Your Highness! The Internal Combustion Engine! We have finally succeeded in stabilizing the cycle and perfecting the casing!”
Alice leaned forward, her brow furrowed in genuine confusion as she adjusted her spectacles. On the table sat a compact, heavy block of blackened steel, copper piping, and polished brass. Unlike the massive, house-sized steam engines that powered the city’s factories, this device was barely the size of a large travel trunk. It was a complex maze of cylinders, a heavy rotating wheel on one side, and strange, sparking wires connected to small sides.
“W...what exactly is that?” Alice asked, her voice skeptical. “It looks far too small to do any real work. Where is the boiler? Where is the coal fire? How can sothing this tiny move a carriage, let alone a factory line?”
Ravenna smirked, a predatory glint in her eyes that matched Nillie’s own excitent. She walked around the table, running a finger along the cold, smooth steel of the cylinder head.
“This, Miss Gutav, is the heart of the future,” Nillie began, his voice rising with the passion of a man who had seen a miracle. “This is an engine, yes, just like the steam engines we use across the city, but it has one revolutionary difference. In a steam engine, the fire is outside. You burn coal to boil water, and the steam pushes a piston. It’s slow, it’s heavy, and it wastes an incredible amount of energy just heating the air.”
He tapped the tal block. “But here? The combustion happens inside. We don’t use steam. We use a fine mist of refined magic oil mixed with air. We compress it inside these cylinders and then, boom, we ignite it with a small spark.”
“A controlled explosion?” Alice gasped, stepping back instinctively.
“Exactly!” Ravenna added, her voice crackling with excitent. “Think of it like this, Alice: A steam engine is like a giant, slow-moving ox pulling a cart. It’s reliable, but it’s cumberso. The internal combustion engine is like a thoroughbred stallion. Because the energy is created directly inside the machine, it is ten tis more efficient and hundreds of pounds lighter.”
Nillie gestured to the second table, still covered. “Because it’s so small and light, we no longer need a massive train track to move things. We can put this on a carriage. We can put it on a boat. We might even be able to make things that fly, Your Highness, just as you predicted in your sketches.”
“That’s incredible...” Alice whispered, starting to see the implications. “So, are we replacing all the steam engines with these? Is that the plan for the factories?”
Nillie shook his head, his smile turning even more mysterious. “Oh, the factories will need sothing even better than just chanical motion. The engine is only the first step, Miss Alice. We aren't just changing how things move.”
Ravenna stepped to the second table and pulled the cloth herself, revealing a strange, rotating assembly of copper coils and powerful magnets.
“We will be advancing to a new era, Alice,” Ravenna said, her voice echoing with the weight of history. “Not just the era of engines. We are entering the Era of Electricity.”
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