The Tank: The Spell Saga: Book Three by Cari Z

Author:Cari Z [Z, Cari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

If Anton had been expecting a scene from some sort of ancient Hephaestionesque forge in the Engineering wing, full of fire and smoke and grit, he’d have been disappointed. This had to be the tidiest shop of its type he’d ever seen, and also the largest. From the second floor, which he and Dr. Grable had reached thanks to the assistance of an elevator—quite a luxury—it stretched on for a length comparable to the entire main lecturing hall at the university. Not just one of the large chambers for lectures—all of them.

The breadth of it was stunning, and the level of organization that had to go into keeping it all running equally breathtaking. There were enormous structures partially elevated in places, with men and, indeed, a few women running around beneath them doing things with tools so esoteric that Anton could hardly imagine their use. He’d rarely felt more out of place.

Engineering and thaumaturgy were close cousins to many practitioners. They both had a basis in mathematical formulas and equations, but where thaumaturgy climbed into the spiritual and ethereal, engineering dug in its roots and planted itself deep within the earthen realm of practicality. For Anton, that was a mental bridge he had little facility at making—he was a thaumaturge through and through, better with alchemical symbolism than imaginary numbers. Someone like Caroline, whom he noted looked rather avaricious right now, saw a long way in both directions.

“Our Chief Engineer is Giovanni Da Vinci. Yes,” Lord Jourdain added with a hint of pride in his voice, “of those Da Vincis. It took some convincing to pry him away from his sinecure with the papacy, but to be the lord and master of the engine of the French Empire did the trick.”

“Absolutely fascinating,” Caroline exclaimed. “Is that the beginnings of another airship over there, like the one that picked us up?”

“It is, with a few modifications to the frame. The next generation of tanks are being constructed in the yard outside—there isn’t space for the number the emperor requested be built in here.”

“And multi-shot cannon,” Dr. Grable noted sourly.

“A step above what you might remember from the front, but not so different overall,” Lord Jourdain demurred. “Single-shot cannon still have their uses, but if a man can carry a double-barreled gun, why shouldn’t a machine make better use of its own solidity?”

“Why indeed? Anything spelled yet?”

“Ah, no. Signore Da Vinci is very particular about finishing his work before passing it on to our thaumaturges. They consult each other on projects, obviously, but for the most part he is left to do his work without consideration of magical enhancement.” Lord Jourdain set off along the walkway at a steady pace, pointing out a few things of interest but leaving far more unmentioned. It wasn’t surprising—he couldn’t be keen to give too much away, after all—but Anton wished for Caroline’s sake that the man was more forthcoming. The less she felt compelled to sneak about in search of information, the better it would go for her.

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