Welcome to the Galaxy

Single Lady

Life wasn’t as easy as Helion expected. He had taken a blanket and some toiletries. He had nothing else really. He had learned to start fires, cook and sow. He found work plying these trades. The pay was horrible. He got a copper penny here or there and meals. The copper pennies were a start. He needed silver and copper to transmute Silanium. 

Helion moved often. The older he got he more frequently he was chased by boys and men eager to stake a claim on his female body. He hadn’t seen a mirror but, his body was attractive. His face must have been pretty too. He kept himself impeccably clean. It was a habit he carried from his last life.

He had plenty of midwife practice too. From delivering four brothers and sisters, he was well versed in how to assist that chore. He was able to add that to his list of skills to earn some extra coins too. Copper coins were easy to come by. Silver were impossible. It wasn’t long before he had too many to feel safe with. 

Traveling was a dangerous prospect. A women alone had to be wary of who she talked with between towns. Helion learned about nuns and got materials to make a habit. He wore it between towns. It took away some of the risk. 

This paid off in a big way for him. He encountered knights on the road. One had died and they had not encounter a priest to give him last rights. He was asked to preform them. He asked for privacy when he noticed the man was wearing a gold chain. The other knight obliged respectfully.

Helion quickly removed the necklace. It had a silver and gold cross on it. He also had a coin purse with silver and gold coins. He was able to dump out the silver and gold coins and quietly put in a sizable amount of copper. It was a grand payday for him. With this small haul he was well on his way to getting home. He knew if they found out soon they would come looking for Helga. They thanked him for his kindness and he slipped away soon after.

Helion got over the next hill and out of sight. Then found the closest wooded area and changed. He took a few hours to sew the coins into the bottom of a traveling backpack. It was an extra precaution so they wouldn’t be found if he got attacked on the road. He was pretty sure his luck would run out before long in that regard. He had been traveling two years and his female body had grown more tempting to men. He was playing a dangerous game. He had little choice if he wanted to get home.

He ran into another stroke of luck in the next town. It was much larger than the small villages he had been traveling through. A rough guess estimated it at near ten thousand people. They had a gold and silver smith here. He had a son the took a shine to Helga. 

Helion had been trying to figure out how to process his materials. He had to break them down but, without all his advanced technology he found it impossible. He started courting the young man. Eventually he convinced him to show him how they made jewelry. “If I’m going to marry a man I want to know what he does.” Helion had told the young man in Helga’s sweet voice.

It was a simple setup. Helion would be able to duplicate it with ease. He really only needed to know how they heated the metals. He had more advanced techniques for casting than they were using. Some of the pieces would be easier to make using their methods though. He wanted to pocket some of their tools but never had the opportunity. The young man was watching him all the time. 

Their lab would be an ideal place for him to make his transmuting chamber. It would mean he would probably have to have s*x with the young man and marry him. These times were not conducive to women working in most jobs. “Teach me how to make jewelry. I want to learn and make some of my own. If I’m going to be married to you, I want to be able to help.” Helion explained.

The young man turned the request down flat. “My father wouldn’t allow that. A woman’s place is in the house. You’d have a maid to cook and clean. We would have a nanny to help raise the kids too. You’d have a good life as my wife.” He replied.

Helion left town the next day. Without saying goodbye. He had purchased supplies to replicate the smelting system. The most important item was a bag of coal. He also had to get a clay bowl. He had spent a couple months in the town. Aside from dating the young man he had made a decent amount of coin. Crafting the parts for his machine was almost in sight. 

He needed lead for the chamber. He had to make acid for the transmutation compound but that was easy. Stomach acid mixed with lye dissolved the metals, when they hardened they created a new material. He didn’t need the platinum at all, if he could transmute the Silanium.

He found a cave outside of town. This was the best place to get supplies he might need. He could winter here. Crafting blankets between doing his other work could earn enough coins for food too. The privacy was required. What he was doing would be considered witchcraft. In this time that would be enough to get him killed for sure. He stayed clear of the goldsmith shop. Opting to where the nun’s habit and covering his face when he went into town to buy and sell goods kept suspicions to a minimum.

Helion had managed to make it almost to spring this way unnoticed. There was a late winter blizzard. After the blizzard ended he went to town to get supplies. His food stores were all gone so there wasn’t any way to avoid it. He left a trail to and from the cave in the snow. A hunter stumbled into the cave late in the evening. 

Helion was happy the device he made this time was small. Due to his limited resources he had to scale it down. He had made a belt and had sown it into the lining too. He was waiting on the last batch of materials to finish transmuting. He needed to craft a couple more small rods to finish his device. He would be able to test it out in less than a week.

This was simply bad luck and timing.