Nomont: Ore Conductivity Test

The man had been pushed on the regular...
From magi supremacists that ached at his soul, plaguing the very city of Osrona: The Shimmering City of Magic itself...
To his general powerlessness, watching from afar as that which he looked up to, was so effortlessly brushed away.


The Popular Essharan Liberation Front and its leaders... Arrested and gone.

Amanita... Executed.

Bobson Dugnutt… Denounced him, and still caught up by inklings of magus supremacy.

Even Alkhea, the crazy woman that attacked yet, yet dared to defend him when he was being harassed by knights? Exiled.

He didn't have any magi in his circle any longer.
Just himself, and the men that he hired...
Back in his apartment-turned-vault, he stared blankly at his blackboard -- his employees going about their business around him, sorting out paperwork, validating files and tossing out files that were no longer relevant: busy work.

Asura himself was lost at thought, reaching into his pocket to unveil the lightning crystal he had saved from earlier.

This was what he had tried so hard to obtain...
Something supposedly so easy to obtain for a magi, yet troublesome for his kin.
Something that had the potential to change so many lives...

Today, was the day, he'd make the first step towards said change... In hopes, it'd lead to a better life.
(Asura Nomont)

"Alright, men."
Asura spoke up to slow the antics of the room, "Today, is the day we take the first step from regression and stagnation... Out of the dark age that Osronian authorities seem so keep on keeping us in, and towards something greater. Something better..."

The man steeled his visage, turning his head to peer over his shoulder.
"Unveil the ores, our tests start now."

The materials were unveiled...
The Blue Mercury had to be kept in bottles of glass, placed on an empty table made clear of papers and books.
Soon afterwards, a lump of raw mythril would follow not too far from the jar, followed by a lump of Nyeshk -- earning struggle with the effort to plop it on the table. The legs quivered under the weight, but the table remained standing!

Then came, a chunk of adamantite, iron and copper. Tyrium, need not apply.

"Do we have any magi among us?" Asura asked amongst his men, scouring his watchful gaze over them. "You don't need to be something like the others, any form of competent mana use would work."

There was further silence before a single individual broke from the numbers.
''Sir?'' spoke a teen bridging into adulthood.
''It's not much, but I can make a bit of a glow.'' They claimed, bringing up their left hand to present their prowess. Their fingers twitched and body shown visible strain, but alas, a subtle miasma of the air trembling within the grasp soon emanated a faint sapphire gleam.

"That'll do." Asura claimed, eyes shifting over to the arrangement of ores. "We'll start with... The liquid blue mercury." Asura claimed.
The jar was soon after opened, and the low-class magi was handed the lightning crystal. The presence of their mana irked a glow from the gem, sparking with flashes of fulmination. Slowly... Carefully... They lowered theirarm for the interior of the jar.

"Don't touch the stuff. It's supposedly not good to get in contact with." Asura warned, watching inquisitively.
The low-class magus employee hovered their glowing hand over the liquid, charging the crystal to invoke arcs of static at the blue fluid...

A mild glow from the mercury... But it quickly dissipated, as soon as it came.

While the preparations were being made, Asura had managed to take ahold of spare parchment and a quill to take his notes.
"Blue Mercury when introduced to an electric charge... Mild glow... Otherwise, nothing worthy of note." He muttered as he scribed away.

"Next."
(Asura Nomont)

It was time to test: Mythril.

The lump was light...
In fact, it was the lightest of the lot.

"Alright, slowly bring it closer, but gradually." instructed the Nomont. The low-class magi employed at the Nomont's volition brought their charged lightning crystal closer, sparking new arcs across their person, and jabbing at the wooden table with fulmination. The impacts left blackened stains, until it's flicker and strike upon the mythril itself.

An arc would jut and prod at the ore lump with nigh instantaneous vigor, spiking... Nothing... Spiking... Nothing, but other than a brief humming glow.
Nothing.

Despite this, Asura continue jotting notes down.

"So far, still nothing..."
The previously tested jar of blue mercury was shut and carried back into storage, followed by the mythril being grabbed t--

An assistant shouted in agony, dropping the lump back to the ground, where the wood it slumped into singed to the touch. It was... Hot? A glimpse at the area that it was rested upon on the table revealed a blackened stain, as dark as the original arcs of electricity warranted by the lightning crystal's direct flashes of static against the table.

"Hmmm..." Asura hummed, "So, it generates heat! That and it looks like it traveled through the wood too!" The employee tasked with touching the lump was quickly surrounded by unoccupied workers.
"Get him medical care and transport him to the Blue Unicorn. We have more work to do, in the name of science." He claimed. He, unfortunately couldn't stop his work yet...
Otherwise, life here in Osrona would never change.

"Get some protective equipment and put the mythril lump aside. We're moving on to the next ore sample."
(Asura Nomont)

Nyeshk was taken to focus.

Though, as the low-class magi equipped with a charged lightning crystal lowered their static embroidered fist towards the ore, a man from the surrounding group spoke out.

''Wait!''

Asura turned his attention in acknowledgement, whilst the would-be tester took abrupt pause.

''Sir, that is Nyeshk, one of the hardest material to smith in all of the land. Not even talented magi of even some the strongest resolve are capable of shaping it to their will.'' The Nomont worker claimed, ''Word says its even hard to bend in their battles, what practicality would there be even -if- the ore reacted to the lightning crystal?''

The question was taken into serious consideration from the Nomont, resulting in the glance back at the magus tester, back to the critic... and then to the lump of Nyeshk.
It -did- make sense.

They were all nonmagi. If they could find uses for the ore, it'd never be something they'd be able to exploit outside of sell value - which was already dominated by a magus exclusive market.
A disappointed hum and he'd succumb with a sigh.

"You have a point. We'll cross Nyeshk off the list. What's next?" Asura asked of one of his assistants.

''Adamantite, sir.'' - answered one of the employees.

"--and what is the viability of adamantite?" asked the observing Nomont, as the lump og Nyeshk was begrudgingly heaved from the table and slowly carried over towards storage.

''It's not as heavy as nyeshk, sir, but it still takes much more than any forge we have access to. That, and we'd need a fire mage to sculpt anything useful from it.'' They explained. ''What makes matters worse is, it's just... a stubborn metal, so it's not used much, even by magi outside of prison cells and collars.''

"Collars?" parroted the Nomont.

''Yes, the anti-mana collars, to incapacitate magus threats.''

"Humorous that magi supremacists have developed means to attempt oppressing other magi supremacists. I suppose they need to keep themselves in power somehow." Asura ranted, "Though, I'm rambling... So, Adamantite is used primarily for mana resistance, but it is too heavy to practicality in large amounts."

The thought was disheartening to Asura, but he had to apply common sense in some aspects.
"What else is there?" He asked, growing tired of the sacrificial process.

''Iron and Copper, sir.''

"--and there is nothing non-viable about either of these that I should know of?" Asura asked aloud.

''Outside of how common they are and lack of sturdiness against a magus threat? No, sir.''

"Then, start with Iron." The Nomont ordered.

The rest of the samples were taken away, stored back into their coffers to leave only a lump of iron and copper on the wooden table remaining.
(Asura Nomont)

The lump of Iron was centerstage now.

Rather unenthusiastic eyes watched from around the room, and an annoyed Asura looked on with parchment lain on a board, quill at the ready.

"You may start when ready." Asura claimed, waiting patiently for the magus employee to lower the charged lightning crystal... and lower it, they did.
Silence, as it neared the lump, but not a soul had an inkling of excitement for what was effectively a common ore with common use amongst nonmagus kin.

What exactly were they expecting to happen?
An arc....
A second, swiftly followed by a third, fourth-- No, now it was constantly dancing and flickering across the surface of the lump. The hum it made as the iron glowed throughout its contact -- resulting in the smell of burning... wood? Smoke... And-- The table beneath the lump was igniting!

"STOP!" commended the Nomont, and the tester pulled away, revealing the lightning crystal to have lost the majority of its glow -- spent to a massive degree. Though, before much could be analyzed of the recent experiment, the crystal illuminated once more, summoning forth the last inklings of its contents in a strong flash of light, arcing for an extensive distance compared from before... But not towards the lump of iron... But... The copper?

As though the ore wouldn't have the patience itself to wait its turn. Though, this was not some form of sentient lump! The tester simply got too close... Oddly, not within their usual testing distance however. The final arc was so clear... So strong and fluid in its nature, depleting the lightning crystal into naught but dust... The table, however? Was in flames. Towels were taken up immediately, beating on the flames to kill the tormenting smoke clouding the room.

Coughing and panic to kill the damage off was intense, but at least some notes were jotted down amidst the chaos.
Some individuals fled the scene, whether to escape or to-- Someone charged back in, bucket in hand, thrusting forth to douse the flames, clouding the room in smoke.

What the water didn't kill, the towels finished off, leaving a scorched table in its wake.

Asura was bewildered, discovering not only that mana crystals could be re-activated by a magi and could react to metals -at all-? But that iron, a common metal, reacted rather ecstatically to lightning, but not nearly as much of an attractant as copper, which was easily the most common ore of them all! To think people simply sold this stuff and used it as a beginner's ore for practicing blacksmiths. The cheapest and most disregarded ore, would become the catalyst for one of the most revolutionary constructs of all time -- in his eyes.

"Men... Get the remaining lightning crystals from storage." Asura ordered in awe. "We're going to innovate."
(Asura Nomont)