Cthulhu Gonfalon

Chapter 192: Chapter 62

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The research for ink and ink stone was carried out smoothly, but paper making technology wasn’t.

Wor accidentally made papers that couldn’t go well with a feather brush. If there was a type of paper that could only be used with a writing brush, and that required many other combinations and writing speeds, and was comparably slower, one shouldn’t hope that it would be popular and common. Because writing was a tool, not an art.

Thus, efficiency was more important, as compared to mere appearance. But, to invent a paper that a feather brush could write smoothly on, and ink would smudge on, well, that’s easier said than done!

He first pondered if the difference of wood would lead to different paper material. He tried a dozen kinds of wood, and finally decided on bamboo as the raw material. He soaked the tender bamboos into water that was combined with a beginner magic “acidic splash”, and then cast magic spells twice a day, in order to soften the bamboo quickly and to remove the bamboo node, skin, and film. Then, he minced the rest of the parts and boiled them in the acid liquid, before grinding them. Finally, what resulted was his bamboo paste.

Acidic splash was considered the lowest level magic. Even a beginner mage apprentice would be able to cast it. Although the number of casting magic increased, the total expense was more economical, when compared to Sui Xiong’s wood paste purifying spell.

Later on, he purposely found another alchemist to make a humongous acidic cauldron. It could enhance the effect of acidic splash tremendously, save more money, and increase efficiency.

Every time after the bamboo paste was boiled, it had to be transferred into clear water. It could only be ground after the magic power dispersed. It takes about three times of boiling and grinding altogether, before one can finally achieve a pure bamboo paste. The quality of the bamboo paste was magnificent, and it didn’t require any color removal, and the processing time was quite fast. It basically fulfilled the needs of a paper mill.

In order to increase the paper making efficiency, he purposely custom made a really fine knit net, and strengthened it with magic to use as a moulding cloth. They set up the sturdy material on the rack, and spread a layer of paper paste that was sufficiently mixed, then it turned into a piece of paper.

Using one layer for each rack, then stacking dozens of rack together, they would then allow it to lay by the side for a while. Then, it would become paper.

The workers took down the paper from the moulding cloth carefully, and stacked them together to remove excessive water. They then hung them up to dry them. They straightened it slightly, and that was the paper that Wor gets at the very end.

That kind of paper was white and soft, and the quality was quite good. Tied up with a writing brush and ink, it could totally pass as a suitable writing paper. But, it still had the problem of ink absorbency, and that it didn’t quite suit finer brush strokes, not like the feather brush, at least.

Wor’s research had reached a bottle neck. He thought of many ways to make paper whiter and sturdier, but the problem of ink absorbency wasn’t resolved in the end.

To solve the problem, higher ups in the church visited paper mills in batches, in order to conduct research. Among these, Satan proposed a solution, as he used his past working experience in a goat skin workshop to re-apply onto paper-making. During the process of drying the paper, he would grind it again, and finally, they got a smoother piece of paper. That kind of paper matched with oil based ink, and didn’t smudge anymore.

“To mix the ink with oil was too extravagant!” Wor was unsatisfied with that result, saying, “What I am trying to make is writing tools for those people who are not rich.”

So, Satan’s proposal was on hold, while the research continued. They researched for a long time, and the one who finally came up with a reliable solution was Fafnir, the weird bird that was loose and perverted.

Back then, Sui Xiong gave the experimental paper products to workers in churches and the theme park, to have everyone work with collected wisdom and concerted efforts, to see if they could figure out a way to solve the ink smudging problem. Farfnir held the paper and pondered. He tried it with water, oil, and blood, then, he found the vital factor of the problem.

“The reason why the ink smudged was because it absorbs too much water,” he said, as he tore the other half of the paper and processed it with magic, to make it a little water repellent. When it wrote on the paper, it really didn’t smudged at all.

“Then... Try to make paper that doesn’t really absorb water.” Wor, who got inspiration, continued his research and spent a lot of time and money. Finally, he had gotten the paper that he wanted.

He mixed some of the glue-type material into the paper paste, and added some alchemy medication that was specially designed for it, which then produced paper that didn’t smudge the ink anymore. The feeling of writing on the paper and writing on the goat skin was very similar, only the toughness was slightly weaker. By then, his research had succeeded entirely, and he was satisfied.

“Then, how is the pricing of the paper?” Sui Xiong asked, when he was reporting his results.

“Because I had to add some colloid and alchemy medication, it got slightly higher, but it is way cheaper compared to goat skin,” Wor said. “It costs less than one tenth of the goat skin.”

Sui Xiong nodded and asked, “Then, how much, if you don’t add in any colloid or alchemy medication?”

“It could be as low as one percent,” Wor answered.

Sui Xiong nodded again and said casually, “Why didn’t you consider changing the writing tools?”

Wor was stunned, and looked at him in confusion.

“For example, to write with charcoal sticks is quite a good idea.” Sui Xiong recalled when he was practicing sketching, and he couldn’t help but laugh, “Who set the rules that are saying one has to use ink, and paper absorbs water? Then, we write without water.”

Wor was stunned. All this time, he had been stubborn to deal against the absorbency of paper, but he never thought of ways that go around the problem entirely.

“Ma... Majesty... Why didn’t you tell me earlier!” He shouted.

Sui Xiong scratched his head in embarrassment, “I have been occupied with how to open up a place, and forgot about what is going on on your side...”

The poor legendary swordsman “Black Blade” nearly spit out a mouthful of blood. Finally, he still didn’t give up the formulation that he had designed through his hard work, so he produced two different types of paper.

One was slightly thicker and the smudging was serious, but if one were to write with a charcoal stick, there wouldn’t be a problem. The other one was thin and sturdy, and didn’t smudge at all. The feeling of writing on it with a feather brush was almost identical with goat skin.

The former was a low end item, the latter was a high end item. Wor promoted writing with a charcoal stick that was very cheap, along with a graphite pencil that was invented under the instructions of Sui Xiong .

However, he couldn’t produce it according to Sui Xiong’s instructions, which were to glue together the extremely fine graphite powder, press them into thin round sticks, wrap them with wooden sticks, and finally, form a hexagon “pencil”. Still, from his viewpoint, his research already left nothing to be desired. Maybe in the future, there would still be people who improvise upon his research, but the keynote wouldn’t be out of the range that he had set.

As a person who likes to read, and one who was always hiding in the library to be with the book, even when he was on a run, the achievement made him proud, and he had a feeling of “no regrets in this lifetime”. Looking at packets of papers, charcoal sticks, ink blocks and various stationery being packed and sent to different branches of “Geerteng Stationery Store” in various places, the legendary swordsman, who had buried himself in hard work for two years, couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“To have such an achievement is so satisfying!” He looked at Sui Xiong and Oveila when he spoke, but his voice was deep, as though he was mumbling to himself, “My life, is finally complete today!”

His voice grew deep and his vigour went weak, then his eyelids slowly closed. Oveila got a shock, as she thought her teacher was closing to an end, and she wanted to figure out a way to save him, but was stopped by Sui Xiong .

“Silly, don’t mess around!” Sui Xiong said and smiled. “Your teacher is going to breakthrough!”

“Breakthrough? Breakthrough what?” The female viscount that was normally calm, asked in confusion.

“Legendary expert breakthrough again, what else could it be?” Sui Xiong couldn’t help but laugh. “Wor, is entering semi-god realm!”

When Wor’s breathing was at its weakest point, just like the candlelight in the wind, it looked as though it would be blown off at anytime. Then, a strange energy ignited from the deepest part of his soul like a bridge, and connected him to the root of the world.

Endless power was flowing out from the root of the world, into his soul. His soul that was originally full of impurities, that was not strong nor pure enough, suddenly strengthened very quickly. The strengthening quickly reflected on his physical body. The old disguise was quickly stripped away and revealed his true appearance.

The originally powerful build didn’t become stronger, but it gave up an aura like a mountain faintly. His face that looked as though he went through a hard life, was suddenly youthful, like he was a few years younger. If it wasn’t because of the scar, he could totally be a martial arts celebrity in Hengdian (film studio).

However, after his physical body and soul was fully enhanced, the connection of Wor and the root of the world was not broken off. On the contrary, along with low hum that commoners couldn’t hear, there was a strange wave that surged within his soul, an indescribable singing voice that reverberated in the surrounding air, and also colourful rays of light that shone from the sky, above which made it look like heaven.

Various gods from other kingdoms in Thousand Worlds noticed the situation here, and looked over with suspicious eyes. With a flash of light, the clones of the God of Art and Culture and the God of Celebration appeared simultaneously, gawking at Wor, who was slowly floating in the air among the strange light, as though he was losing his weight.

On his chest, was a halo that slowly took shape, and within the halo, there were paper, books, ink and a charcoal pencil.

“What clergy is this?” Sui Xiong asked.

“Not art nor culture.”

“Not books either.”

“Then, what is it?” Sui Xiong asked.

The two gods couldn’t answer, but they could feel that it was a clergy that was closely related to them. But they couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

After a while, Wor’s body shook vigorously and shattered into countless twinkles. But the lights gradually gathered and became him again.

However, at that very moment, he had already changed his outfit. He was wearing a scholar’s long robe, as a variety of transparent stationery floated around him. There were even images of countless people reading and writing surrounding him.

In Pantheon temple, there was a chair that was not eye catching, but the light was extremely striking. It was just that it was still blurry, like a shadow, not certain yet.

The God of Art and Culture and the God of Celebration shook at the same time, then spoke, “Knowledge!”

“Knowledge? The god of knowledge?!” Sui Xiong got a shock. “It sounds great!”

Another ray of lights fell, and a cloud of colourful light balls floated by their sides. It was the god of mysteries, the god of wisdom and magic, the recognised experts among all gods.

“From today onwards, culture would be widely spread in the human world. Wisdom would be segregated into ‘knowledge’ and ‘mystery’. The god of mystery looked at Wor quietly, and turned around to look at Sui Xiong .

“Knowledge and mystery are a part of wisdom, inseparable,” he said.

Sui Xiong understood His meaning.

“At first, I thought the god of magic that would appear first would be the God of knowledge,” he said, “But, I warmly welcomed his arrival.”

Just then, Wor opened his eyes. He looked to the left and right, and understood the situation. Without hesitation, he knelt down on one knee before Sui Xiong.

“The great Void Mask, I, the god of knowledge, Wor, am your follower and your loyal servant!”