The Ascension Age

Chapter 27: Real Gem

Aire nodded and started to follow Cala's instructions.

"First, put on this belt. It's connected to the Pinpoint Furnace and will absorb the Stellar Energy you have in your body. Because you're still in the Stellar Bones Stage, there isn't much for you to manipulate. Nevertheless, it should be enough to melt down a piece of Suruca Ore," Cala said as she took the ore from a box. After that, she explained the ore she took out, "Suruca Ore is a common Stellar Material that isn't too hard to find. The melting point is only 356 Savs, which someone with high Stellar Energy Aptitude should be able to do in a minute or so."

Aire was left confused after hearing the material's melting point, prompting him to ask, "Savs? Is that some kind of temperature measurement?"

"Oh, you really are clueless about Stellar Smiths, aren't you?" Cala asked as she laughed.

Aire scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he replied, "Sorry. As I said, it was my roommates who recommended this occupation to me. I'm truly clueless about it. If you want, I can leave straight away."

Cala immediately shook her head, responding, "There's absolutely no problem with that at all."

How could she complain? Risers with high Aptitudes were already very hard to find, let alone one who wanted to become a Smith. In a certain way, the Stellar Smith Faction had the most lenient requirement for members to join as long as they reached the required Aptitude and manipulation. Have you never heard of it? No problem. Came out to take the test without knowing anything whatsoever? They can teach you. It was that simple.

Cala then gave a quick explanation, "Sav is indeed the unit of measurement for temperature. However, the temperature of fire fuelled by Stellar Energy works differently than normal heat. Because of that, the Baulmu Alliance created this new measurement method."

"Why is that?" Aire couldn't help but become curious, which pleased Cala.

"Have you ever heard of the Kelvin measurement?" Cala asked with a smile.

"Yes." Aire nodded before continuing, "If I remember correctly, it has something to do with the famous absolute zero. Kelvin measurement starts right from this point. Since it's impossible to go any lower than absolute zero, measurements were made starting from there. That's the Kelvin measurement."

Cala nodded with satisfaction as she said in response, "Good, you're exactly right. Kelvin starts from absolute zero. However, the truth is that with Stellar Energy, it's now possible to go even lower than absolute zero. That's Stellar Absolute Variation, or Sav in short form. Just like how heat can be added infinitely as long as there's enough energy, cold can become colder without limit thanks to Stellar Energy."

Aire then remembered something he learned in class before. "Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense. Cold is nothing more than the absence of heat. That's why absolute zero exists. After all, once all heat is removed, there's simply no way to go lower."

Cala couldn't help but look at Aire with different eyes as she said, giggling, "Now look at that. You seemed to be interested in this kind of thing. This is a great quality for a Stellar Smith."

"You're exactly right again. Unfortunately, you forget how Stellar Energy changed the Universe. Thanks to Stellar Energy, we've discovered the Fourth Dimension, didn't we? It's basically the same thing. Now we know we can go even further, surpassing the simple absence of heat. It's that simple. So far, the lowest temperature achieved that's known by the public is -12896 Sav," she continued.

"How much would -12896 Sav be in Kelvin?" Aire asked straight away.

Cala shrugged her shoulders in response as she said, "That's why I used Kelvin to explain. It turns out that the Baulmu Alliance Races also knew of absolute zero before we met each other. However, each race had a different name for it. Obviously, it would be too much of a hassle to keep converting everything, so they all reached an agreement and came up with this name, Sav. You can go infinitely hot and infinitely cold."

Aire had to admit that this conversation was very entertaining. "I see..." Soon after, Aire began to use his Stellar Energy to fuel the Pinpoint Furnace. "Good, I got the gist of it. What should I do now?"

Cala nodded as she explained the controls to Aire. Following that, Aire followed the steps and controlled the Stellar Fire in the furnace to melt the Suruca Ore. At first, he was having some difficulties with the task. After all, not only did one need to control the fire, but the material inside as well. Position, form, concentration of heat, all of that had to be adjusted at the same time.

"Keep calm. It's only this hard at the start. With Stellar Energy, you can do many things at the same time. It's just an issue of getting used to the equipment," Cala said as she observed the process, giving Aire a few words of encouragement.

Every now and then, Cala would give Aire a few directions, which made the process a lot easier. Eventually, Cala gave him the order, "Alright, that should be enough. Use your Stellar Energy to control the fire and start the melting process."

Aire took a deep breath and followed Cala's order. The Stellar Energy in his body was still being absorbed by the belt, but this time, it was happening at a faster rate. Nonetheless, Aire ignored that as he paid attention to what was happening inside. At some point, Aire began to feel comfortable, and the burden of controlling all of that disappeared little by little. 'It's as if I suddenly grew wings. Because I'm a human, I don't have wings, so I obviously wouldn't be able to use them well from the get-go. However, it turns out that it isn't as hard as I thought.'

Cala stopped talking and smiled at the sight, seeing that Aire didn't need her help anymore. Soon after, someone put a hand on her shoulder, startling her a little. "Oh, superv-"

However, Due covered her mouth, shaking his head as he whispered, "Keep quiet, or you will break his concentration."

Due noticed when Aire started the melting process, so he came back to check. Though, he didn't expect that Aire would grasp the methods this quickly. 'Seems like we've got a real gem here.'