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--donation bonus (day #18, post 3/5)--
‘I understand what you were thinking,’ said Garovel. ‘But no, that’s not the way it works. If you wanna create a machine--or any complex structure for that matter--then you have to know all the parts of it, as well as where they go. Essentially, a blueprint in your head.’

“Damn...”

‘And you should probably know how each piece functions as part of the whole.’

“Yeah, okay...”

‘Also, a basic understanding of how the fucking thing works in the first place might be helpful.’

“I get it, geez...”

‘I can tell you all about catapults, actually. You’ve got the ballista and the springald and mangonel, but those all need rope or twine to operate. Maybe you could figure a creative solution around that, but you’re probably better off going for a trebuchet. Then again, a really good trebuchet would use a sling AND a counterweight, which could be problematic, but hey, if this is just for practice, then what does it matter, right?’

“Uh. Th-that’s nice, but I don’t, um...”

‘Yeah. Not very helpful without diagrams to look at. We can go find a library tomorrow, if you like. I’m sure they’d have plenty of useful reference books, catapults or no.’

“Guess I should...”

‘In the meantime, though, why don’t you try to make something that you actually have a proper idea about?’

“Right.” He decided to go for something he’d practiced before. He held his gloved hands up in front of himself and concentrated. The metal gathered quickly and took form--the exact form, this time--and to his surprise, the gauntlets were completed in a fraction of the previous time.

‘Wow,’ said Garovel. ‘That used to take you fifteen minutes, but just now--that couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds.’

Hector waved his arms to see if the metal plates stayed linked together. They did. He added pointed fingertips, stubby metal claws. He grinned.

‘I am sufficiently impressed. But also curious. C’mon. What else can you do?’