Len was standing in the cramped workshop carriage with Captain Sam Joe, Christina, Peter, Wilbur, Harold and Gretchen are there.

  Len wiped sweat from his brow as he studied the diagram of the train he'd blueprint etched into the wood of the the workshops car's wall. The current system of passing blocks hand-to-hand was too slow - they needed something faster.

  Harold raised his hand like he was still in school. "What about those air pressure pipes you made for ventilation? Could we use something similar?"

  Christina raised an eyebrow looking interested.

  Len's eyes narrowed as he considered it. "Go on."

  "Well, if we made a larger pipe..." Harold gestured with his hands. "We could use air pressure to push the blocks through it."

  "That would be a lot of air pressure," Len said.

  "We'd have to put in rollers for the blocks to run on, if we do that why don't we just have rollers?" Christina said.

  "How do you mean?" Sam asked.

  "Make a whole bunch of rollers connected by gears made from stone, throw on the stone blocks and back it goes. Attach it to the side of the train so it moves with us as we move?"

  "Could use an enchantment I'm sure, or we could attach it to the engine so that as it moves forward through gears the wheels move the rollers on the belt," Joe said.

  "That's a lot of parts to make," Len said.

  Sam leaned against a wall, arms crossed. "Could enchant the blocks themselves to float backward."

  "We'd have to have an enchantment putting that on every block or we form the blocks with that enchantment in them—that is a very complicated enchantment," Len said.

  The other enchanters but Peter seemed to deflate, ready to stop that idea from becoming a reality.

  "I think that the roller system works best, we could stack them atop one another so we could have six or even more people pulling the wall apart," Harold said.

  "Extruder hoppers like we've got with the wood," Wilbur said. "We know how the tunnel is going to look ahead of us. We have a hopper that fits what we'll see ahead of us, it pushes into the wall, the hopper compresses it and then feeds it out, a straight stone sheet that goes down rollers on either side of the train, then comes out the other side, have them fed into an extruder that turns them back into stone behind us, or blocks if you want to get fancy," Wilbur said.

  Len looked around the workshop carriage. No one offered further comments, their expressions thoughtful as they processed Wilbur's suggestion.

  "I think that sounds like the best idea yet, anyone else?" Len asked.

  Several shook their heads.

  "Okay, we'll need rollers down the side of the train to support the materials," Christina, Joe can you look into that?"

  "Sure, we can space them out further as the stone will keep shape. Take less time to build," Joe looked at Christina who nodded.

  "Make them of stone, same with the hoppers so we don't use up all out metal," Len said. "Well on that idea we should add two more extruders from the hopper one that will only draw out iron and another for coal."

  "Start filtering out the materials as they pass through?" Captain Sam sounded intrigued.

  "Should work, haven't tried it before," Len admitted.

  "If it does then we just figured out a way to separate out different material pretty easily," Christina said.

  "Hoppers on the front, hoppers on the back, use some of the stone that's being moved around to do so. Have to make a car at the back to hold the extruder that's going to push all that stone out behind us." Captain Sam said. "We've got two hours before we have to pause the train to charge its mana and two more hours for it to charge up fully."

  "Harold and Wilbur on the hopper system up front with Captain Sam and her engineers helping. Peter you're with me working on the cart and extruder out the back. Gretchen I want you working on mana gathering and storage. I don't want us to have to stop every eight hours to charge if we can help it."

  He turned back to the Xinta's. "Roller system down the side of the train for you two. I think that it might be good to see if we can do multiple and just how much stone they can support, work with the forward hopper team so we can maximize the amount of stone coming out of the front."

  ***

  Len stood at the back of the train, watching the empty roller system stretch ahead along the side of the carriages. It continued past the train on new platforms, these ones created of stone with stone train wheels. At th end of the two new car were extruders that would push out the stone to nearly fill the tunnel except for the upper region to allow air through and not fusing with the walls or ground.

  His sound talisman crackled to life.

  "Starting up the front hopper now," Wilbur's voice came through.

  Len's fingers tapped against the wood of the last carriage as he waited. The massive hopper at the front of the train would determine if their whole system worked.

  "Feed is looking good," Wilbur reported. "Material's flowing smooth through the separator channels."

  "Iron's coming out!" Harold's excited voice cut in. "Coal too just flakes but the separation works!"

  Len allowed himself a small smile, he spelled on his eyes, seeing down the length of the train, most were hanging off of the train trying to see as well.

  He spotted the extruded stone began emerging onto the roller system.

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  "Rollers are handling the weight well," Joe's calm voice reported. "Stone's moving along at a steady pace-"

  A chorus of shouts erupted through the talisman.

  "Stop! Stop everything!" Joe's voice rang out with urgency.

  Len's chest tightened as he held himself from sprinting forward along the train.

  Stone cracked in several places with booms of it dropping.

  He waited, if they needed help they'd call for it, even if he wanted to rush in there he would just add to the mess.

  "Stone's too rigid over this distance," Joe replied. "It's cracking at the stress points between rollers. And now we've got a mess - the whole line of stone on this side is one connected piece. Can't clear it without breaking the whole thing."

  Len pressed his fingers to his temples, thinking rapidly. They'd need to modify the extrusion process to prevent the stone from forming one continuous sheet.

  "We'll have to pulse the extruder," he said. "Break up the flow every few seconds so we get separate sections instead of one long piece."

  Len watched as crews rushed to clear the broken stone, hauling the fragments to dump in front of the hoppers where they'd be reprocessed. At least it happened near the front where cleanup was easier.

  "Starting up again," Wilbur called through the talisman.

  Len spotted the stone coming out of the hopper, it didn't look any different to him.

  The hopper whirred to life, this time pulsing out separate stone blocks instead of a continuous sheet. Len tracked their progress down the roller system, nodding as they maintained their integrity.

  "Wait, stop!" Christina's voice cut through the talisman. "The blocks are rolling off!"

  Len cursed under his breath as he watched several blocks tip sideways and crash off the rollers.

  "We need guide posts," Christina continued. "Something to keep them centered on the track."

  "I think that the platform's cart wheels are going to need fixing up too," Joe said. "They're creaking like hell. I'd like to get them fitted with proper train wheels."

  Len turned to the soldiers anthat were part of his team.

  "Alright they're making wheels and supports for the platforms what we ripped off the carts isn't cutting it anymore. In the meantime we're going to make guide posts at the end of the rollers to keep the stone from rolling off. They're going to be doing blocks instead of one continuous extrusion of stone. Builders, break up some blocks into posts, the rest of you take the posts and fuse them to the pole that goes through the roller."

  The soldiers moved efficiently in squads. Len checked each post's stability, ensuring they were high enough to contain the blocks but not so tall they'd interfere with loading.

  "Engineering team coming down!" someone called from further up the train.

  Len watched as a group of engineers carefully guided stone blocks along the roller system. The blocks clattered as they moved, but the new guide posts kept them centered on the track.

  "Looking good so far," one of the engineers said as they reached Len's position. He recognized him as Sergeant Sergio from Sam's unit. "These posts are exactly what we needed."

  The blocks transitioned smoothly from the walkway-mounted rollers onto their stone platform.

  "What you want now?" Sergio asked.

  "Well brought it all this way, we should see how our extruder works. Feed the first block in."

  Two soldiers pushed the block into the extruder's mouth. The enchantments lit up as it processed the stone. Instead of emerging as a solid mass, the stone came out in a spray of fragments, scattering across the tunnel floor.

  "Well that's not right," Peter muttered, examining the extruder's settings. "Ah! Its already compressed, don't need to compress it into place, just need to fill the space."

  He made several quick adjustments to the enchantments. "Try another one."

  Len stood back and watched.

  This time when they fed a block through, it spread over the stacked blocks, leaving a gap above for airflow.

  "All good!" Peter raised a thumb to Len.

  "Nice work, now we hurry up to wait," Len said.

  ***

  Len watched down the train for movement.

  "Platforms are ready. Got the train wheels and undercarriage sorted," Rick said.

  "Ready to go again," Wilbur said.

  The others agreed as well.

  "Ready for more blocks," Len said last.

  "Engaging extruder," Wilbur said.

  "Separation's working perfectly," Wilbur called from the front hopper.

  "Rollers handling the load," Christina confirmed.

  "Guide rails keeping everything centered," Joe added. "No creaking on the forward platforms."

  The blocks proceeded all the way down the length of the train on both sides then the rear platforms to Peter's position at the rear extruder, coming out as a stone cap just shy of the walls and roof, while maintaining the crucial air gap above.

  "Looking good back here," Peter said, patting the extruder. "Nice even spread."

  "Alright we're eating tunnel, Edward, take us forward, "Rick said.

  Steam hissed from the engine up front as pressure built.

  "We've got good pressure, edging forward," Len's dad said.

  The wheels groaned slightly as Edward engaged the engine. They began crawling forward, the whole train moving as one unit.

  "Speed's good, system's holding," Christina reported. "Blocks staying on track."

  "Edward, increase speed," Rick called out.

  "Alright, we're eating tunnel, Edward, take us forward," Rick instructed, his voice steady, the weight of leadership evident even in the casual command.

  Steam hissed from the engine up front, a sharp sound that stirred the air around them as pressure built. The anticipation hung heavy, a silent agreement among the crew that they were in this together, pushing forward no matter the obstacles.

  "We've got good pressure, edging forward," Len's dad, Edward, chimed in, his voice carrying a reassuring tone.

  The wheels groaned slightly as Edward engaged the engine, a low rumble that felt like the heartbeat of the entire operation. The engine and everything attached to it began crawling forward, the whole system moving as one cohesive unit, a testament to their hard work and collaboration.

  "Speed's good, system's holding," Christina reported, her focus unwavering as she monitored the various components. "Blocks staying on track."

  "Edward, bring it up a bit more," Rick called out, his eyes narrowing as he assessed their progress. "We're clearing through the wall faster than we're moving."

  The engine and all attached to it began crawling forward, faster.

  "Going faster than we were before now," Edward said. The whole system moving as one unit. Len felt the vibration through his boots, monitoring every shudder and shake for signs of trouble.

  "Speed's good, system's holding," Christina reported, her eyes fixed on the gauges. "Blocks staying on track." Her professional tone carried the weight of absolute certainty.

  Len could feel the familiar tension in his shoulders - the kind that always came when testing new equipment, no matter how well-designed it might be.

  "Bit faster," Rick said.

  They were now two times faster than they had been when using the human chain to throw the blocks back.

  "Wilbur?" Rick asked.

  "Still on the slow setting." Len laughed, hearing the man's grin from here.

  "Well ramp it up and lets see what we can do, everyone keep a good watch!" Rick said.

  They increased the speed they were moving at incrementally until they were a full five times faster than they had been when using the blocks.

  Gretchen was wandering around everywhere checking her mana gathering enchantments and the cars for their mana charge.

  "Slow the train, we've got something up ahead," Rick called out after two hours of progress.

  Len looked up from his enchantment blueprint, taking out his notebook and pressing it to the page.

  "Looks like we've got a cavern up ahead," Rick said.