Bronly the dwarf spent the entire night attempting various smithing techniques, he didn’t even notice the group of goblins farming in the distance behind him. Even if he had he would likely have thought little of it. He had more important things to worry about at the time.

Exhausted he finally passed out with hammer in hand right before the man awoke.

The man as usual made breakfast for the Goblins who had worked the night prior. Three large pots were lugged towards the hole and afterwards processing began.

The loads of flowers collected each night were around fifteen pounds when wet and six or seven pounds when dried and crushed. They lost a little less than half their weight in water. A marginal loss also came from the thick stemy part near the base of the flower but now perhaps even that loss would be diminished.

The man first loaded the Mirthil mill by hand.

As it spun it made a metallic ringing but there was no strong grinding sound as with the quartz mill.

Soon near the corners light fluffs of red began to appear. It piled in the seams between the two shimmering stones.

Satisfied the man emptied a bag of flower flakes into the new mill.

He then took a step back and sat down in a nearby chair to watch the tumbling powder assemble on the floor of the mill. He could already tell it was far finer than he had ever milled before. It resembled the flour he received from Philip's attendants.

Worriedly he stood and reached out to grab a handful of the Roya powder. He carried it with him and dropped it into a sack.

Instantly the fine grains poured from the small holes of the burlap sack.

Indeed, he noticed the sack the flour was stored in was a much finer material. He currently only had two such bags, and one was still half full of flour.

Deciding to bake bread the man stepped out the door towards the outdoor stove/oven.

Baking bread had become easy for the man, flour, water, a chunk of starter from a clay pot, it all came together in minutes.

With all his flour converted to dough and set to bake the man ventured back towards the running mill.

What faced him after wrenching open the bronze knob was mysterious.

"Where…?" He began to ask, dropping the sacks and glancing around the mill carefully.

It still ground the Roya properly, once again the red powder began to assemble in a pile surrounding the mill.

"Ohya? You already up?" Bronly asked wrenching open the mill door to look for the man. Likely hoping to wrangle a meal before he left.

"That’s it!" The man says in amazement as the door is shut and once again all the red powder drifts away with the wind from the draft.

Following it carefully he spotted a seam between two beam. Stuck on either side was the remnants of Roya powder.

"Dammit." The man cursed realizing the cause of the disappearance. "This room has a draft."

"Ohoh?!" Bronly laughs understanding the meaning. "So my millstones are a little too impressive?"

"Mhm. Light enough for the wind to catch it. I can’t even store it in burlap anymore."

"Hm, might need to invest in silk bags." Bronly explains resting a hand to his chin as he mentally designs a catch system for the mill stones. "Elves make some good stuff. You should talk to one of them. Well I say we use the draft to our advantage and build an airtight storage area over here with two flumes going from beside the stones."

Indicating his plan and making a rough sketch the man hastily agreed.

So once again construction began within his house.

The man couldn’t seem to escape it.

Taking a handful of the salvaged powder the man set off to experiment. Perhaps he could take his mind of everything with cooking. Now that milling was impossible for the immediate future.

First he tried it on a small chunk of silver mountain goat.

This meat was brought back from the Qi tribe’s area by Bear. He had been a huge help in the expansion of the farm. He collected seeds from hundreds of miles away with little effort. In the case of the berries his strong digestion proved to much for the tender seeds which forced him to bring the animals back whole.

The man found the chunk of meat, which had normally been fairly tough and gamy, now satisfying and chewy.

The powder was far too powerful though. A small thumbful had nearly made his tongue numb.

First he mixed it with rendered fat in attempt to tone down the flavor but it too proved unsatisfactory.

Last he added it to a large jug of water and stirred it endlessly.

It started as a simple solution of Roya suspended in water but as he mixed it slowly began to dull in color as the fine powder dissipated within the water.

It had actually worked. The man had tried this countless times before, but the Roya would always settle towards the bottom as he mixed. But when milled with the mithril stones it was actually soluble.

Removing the spoon he watched the mixture carefully. Any sign of falling flakes would destroy his confidence. But they never came. It was truly combined.

Taking a cupful of the mixture he dropped a few chunks of goat meat within.

The salted meat happily accepted the water and swelled with the Roya infusion.

Dropping it on the flame a delicious smell wafted through the forest.

"I thought I smelled something good." Bronly says stepping out of the door and shutting it carefully. "All done in there. Whatcha making out here?"

"It really is a good motivator…" The man blankly replied as he flipped the chunk of goat.