The effect of the "Solidify Spell" instantly solidified the soil like cement. According to the mages' previous tests, this kind of road could maintain its hardness for five months after the spell was cast. When it was close to the deadline, they only needed to send the arcane puppet to cast the "Solidify Spell" again along the way.
Luther was as curious as the crowd around him. He ran to the newly compacted road to feel it, and found that the solidified soil was no different from stone. No matter how hard he rubbed it with his feet, he couldn't raise any dust. He looked ahead and saw that the tall arcane puppet had already walked four or five hundred meters away.
"At this rate, it won't be long before we can pave a road directly to other cities …"
The importance of a smooth, wide, and hard road for transportation was self-evident. In this era, long-distance transportation was basically done by horse carriages. The bumpy and bad road not only delayed the transportation speed, but also increased the wear and tear of the carriages and horses. If this road was built to Hollier, the journey that originally needed more than ten days would probably only take three days.
When the transportation cost was reduced and the transportation speed increased, the "distance" for the people of a country was shortened. This also meant that the economy and culture would usher in explosive growth.
Luther's knowledge was shallow, and he didn't realize the changes that "transportation" brought to the whole world. After taking a few steps on the new dirt road, he suddenly found that there was a bustling construction site not far from the city gate. The roadbed that protruded more than three hundred meters out of the ground was obviously the masterpiece of the arcane puppet. But it was not flat, and was covered with gravel.
Above the gravel, there were parallel rows of logs placed about half a meter apart. Luther found that all the logs had been processed uniformly, with the same width, thickness, and spacing.
And above these ties, there were two "tracks" made from whole logs. Luther immediately thought of the transport ships that traveled back and forth in the city, and realized that this was the "train" line that had already begun construction in Elson.
Although Eiffta was the largest iron producer in the kingdom, the current production was not enough for Roddy to lay steel tracks. But this world was different from the other world. "Magic" solved many of the original problems … The wood did not need to be air-dried or processed, and could still be as durable as steel through the "Solidify Spell". The only drawback was that the arcane puppet had to periodically re-cast the spell.
Efta's primeval forest was too big, and there was no end to the trees. The cost of maintaining a wooden track was much lower than a steel track in terms of cost.
Luther saw several platforms being built at the beginning of the tracks, which were connected to the transport ship tracks leading to the city. However, this new track was different from the tracks of the transport ships in the city. The experimental train carriages placed on it were also squarish and had nothing in common with a 'ship'.
"City Lord's thoughts are always strange …"
Luther looked into the distance. More than ten kilometers away, hidden by the forest, the Beastmen were building a brand-new town. It was said that the entire town's architectural plan was based on Lord Roddy's blueprint. It would be the largest transportation hub of the future Elson territory, and it would be compatible with residential areas.
These were all things he had heard on the city's bulletin boards and in classes. The recently released 'Cullen Era' had also mentioned them. All of this made Luther, who had been isolated in the mountains for decades, sigh endlessly. He looked back at the Pasha Magic Tower in the center of the city and couldn't help but sigh at his own choice.
*****
Roddy, who was patrolling the Pasha Magic Tower, was now shuttling back and forth between the various research groups of the 'Elson Magic Research Institute' with a serious face, checking the progress of the projects he had assigned.
Although they were collectively known as the 'Magic Research Institute', it actually involved research in various aspects such as chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, and so on. There were too many kinds of 'magic' that had been invented in this world. Although many of them could not kill enemies on the battlefield, in Roddy's eyes, they had all kinds of miraculous effects.
"Paper-making" and "moveable printing" were two important inventions in the hands of mages, which did not take much effort. For mages who could control the elements, many complicated processes could be completed with a wave of their hands. Roddy had just come out of the "canned" research group, holding a glass jar that had been sterilized at high temperature. He used a fork to pick out the marinated pulp inside and nodded with satisfaction. He then stepped into the "Magic Vehicle Research" research group that currently occupied the most laboratories and workshops.
"City Lord, we have made the prototype according to your requirements, but there are still many problems that need to be solved …"
"Oh? Tell me about it. "
As Roddy answered, he stepped toward the "prototype" that the researcher had mentioned. In fact, it was a three-wheeled crystal-powered vehicle made of bare wooden frames.
This thing was, of course, a vehicle that Roddy had created based on the "car". With the "Rechargeable Crystal", Roddy directly skipped the stage of using fossil energy and directly used the "crystal battery" as a benchmark to develop the vehicle.
After inserting a "Rechargeable Crystal" into the closed miniature magic circle, it became an "engine." It was not large in size, weighing more than 30 kilograms. Compared to the hundreds of kilogram iron lump engines in his impression, it was absolutely light. After the magic circle was activated, the energy would make the driving gear rotate and at the same time, transmit the power to the rear wheels.
Logically speaking, there was a gearbox structure in the middle of the engine that transmitted the power to the rear wheels. However, at present, Elson did not have an engineer who could make such a complex gear as a gearbox. So, Roddy could only use an "energy limit lever" to control the energy output of the magic circle, thereby controlling the speed of the gear rotation to achieve the purpose of controlling the speed of the vehicle.
The reason why the three-wheeled structure was used was that the current technology could not make steering gears to ensure the differential speed when the two front wheels turned. Therefore, Roddy's plan was actually more like building a "three-wheeled motorcycle." The steering depended directly on the handlebars connected to the front wheels, and it was done purely by manpower.
The prototype in front of him did not yet have a shell. The structure of the body was made of wood that had been strengthened by the "Strengthening Spell." This was also because it was more convenient to modify the wood.
The car currently only had one driver's seat in the center, which was made with cushions and armrests according to Roddy's requirements. The "accelerator" that controlled the speed was located on the right side of the car, and the "energy limit lever" was located. Pulling back was to increase the output, and pushing forward was to decrease the output, similar to an airplane.
The brake device was installed under the soles of the feet. The left foot was the front wheel brake, and the right foot was the rear wheel brake. Both of them used disc brakes with simple structure.
There was no rubber in this era, but the sorcerers found the skin of the "Lunda wild boar" as a substitute. This kind of wild boar's skin was very tough and wear-resistant. After magic treatment, it was wrapped around the wooden wheels in circles, and then compressed and shaped by a mold, and finally became a solid tire with a wall of ten centimeters thick. Although the wheels themselves were still made of wood, at least they were more suitable for bumpy road conditions than the pure wooden wheels of a normal carriage.
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