Moonquest: A Journey To The Stars

Chapter 54 - How To Get Our Rocket Fuel, Part 1

Today was a good day indeed. The birds were chirping, the deer grunting and bleating in the woods, slimes rustling near the edges of the forest, the Geminite birds–

Bang!

The Geminite birds preening their glossy gem feathers atop–

Bang!

Watching them flutter into the ground–

Bang!

"Oh for the love of– Who the fuck on Earadun is causing such a racket so early in the morning! Would you please shut up, some people are trying to sleep here!"

Bleary-eyed, Duncan rubbed his puffy eyes, pulling his blanket across the floor, as he headed towards the window, trying to determine who was causing such a racket so early in the morning. His head, ringing in the tune of chimes, made it difficult for him to focus much on doing his job of building a rocket, much less walking.

Bang!

Head shaking once more, he held it tight to stop the vertigo, landing straight onto the sill. "Oh hello, how're you doing Duncan?"

Holding his hammer, Simon, sweating a waterfall, turned around, greeting him with only his pants and his trusty leather fanny pack. Behind were Titus and Lewis, the former using his brute strength to hold plates of steel(?) in place as the latter held a blueprint of sorts, constantly checking between the drawings and the contraption in front of him.

Speaking of contraptions, Duncan could not make heads or tails on what it was.

Its tall, misshapen body had all sorts of pipes coming from its body. Beneath it lay a large pipe, from where you could see the insides (although it was too dark to do so). On its right lay one of the many compartments that made it up, along with clear signs of hammering.

Only then did Duncan realise.

"Wait, when and how did your hammer get smaller!?"

Shocked, he exclaimed, surprised at the sight of the dwarf's once mighty hammer shrinking. "Oh this? Yeah, this happened as soon as I reached tier-3. Neat, right? Anyways, this is something which Goblina asked us to make. Something called a frack-shon-ating tower or something. She says its supposed to help us get the full we need to go to the Moon. How cool is that!?"

Giddy as a Dwarven baby getting his first Mithril pacifier, Simon excitedly waved the hammer around, nearly knocking sending a curious Goblin to the afterlife.

"Hey, watch where you're swinging your hammer, you big oaf!"

"Oops, sorry. Anyways, we are nearly done with the creation of the tower. Wanna help?"

Duncan waved off his hands, having other priorities. "Nah, you guys can do it instead. I've got millions more jobs to do, such as calculating the trajectory of the flight, how much fuel we need, how to get the oxygen required to get to the Moon, what's the gravity constant of Earadun..."

Seeing him deliriously rambling off the things he needs to do, the group quietly backed away, carrying away the half-finished 'frack-shon-dating tower' as far away as possible from Duncan's sight.

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Plopping down the construct near a flat rock top, Lewis wiped his sweat, exhausted by the effort. "Phew! Anyways, we don't have much more to do. A couple more days, and we'd be finished. Oh, and Simon, its a fractionating tower, not a 'frack-shon-ating tower'. Say, Goblina, why make the tower now? I thought you'd be busy with reading the books?"

Wiping her dark eyes, Goblina, despite being worn to her bones, spoke with glittering eyes. "I've already finished reading those books 5 days ago. I still can't believe it! Did you know that everything's composed of tiny objects called 'atoms'? And that everything's built using it! Eeeh! Oh, and that the same water feels heavier in different temperatures, and...and...and..."

Watching her spit chemistry facts, Lewis smiled at the scene. It's been so long since someone was as happy as she was in learning...

Titus, scratching his head, asked Lewis "Why're we building a fractionating tower here and now? I mean, don't get me wrong, but shouldn't our other priorities be, for example, finding metals that can be used to build our rocket or something?"

Gesturing with his hands, Titus asked Lewis the obvious question. "Well, A – I did ask Duncan for some samples, but they're way too expensive, as well sas ome being in some very remote regions of the world. And B – the earlier we can figure out which fuel composition we need, the earlier we can start manufacturing it."

Hearing this, Titus could not help but nod his head in agreement. "Ah yes, energy. Back in my previous job, without fuel, we couldn't go anywhere or do anything as well. Man,I sure do miss those times (even though I nearly died many times there)..."

Now curious, Lewis tentatively asked the burning question in his mind;

"Hey, can you tell me where exactly on Earth you worked? Cause some of the things you mention are not present on Earadun...?"

Shaking his head, Titus merely replied "One day maybe, but not now. Now, don't we have other things to do, such as building a rocket for a certain Dwarf to go to the Moon, hmm? Also, shouldn't you be heading to the Guild now? I heard they have a personal question for you..."

Realsing what he had forgotten, Lewis slapped his forehead. "Oh shit! Sorry Goblina, I'll help you finish it later! Gotta go, bye!"

Under the eyes of a smirking Orc and a pouting Goblin, Lewis ran towards the Guild, excited for his first personal quest since he became a Copper rank Adventurer.

Boy I can't wait to find out what it is!