He turns out to have some idea what he's doing this time. Some of the relevant physics is considered important for sun and structure mages.

That's not quite the same as being able to actually make a freezer out of the things they have on hand, though. There's still a lot for Nick to figure out.

"I bet we can make better coolant fluids. That's the big one, for below-freezing temperatures. That and the pump, pumps are hard. There's a book on it. And the metalwork, too, I guess. I'm having fun, though, how 'bout you?"

"Definitely the best job I've tried so far. What do you think, should I read up on coolant fluids while you try to figure out metalworking or the other way around?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Metalwork is a very specialized skill, considering how little of the stuff we're used to having."

He hands over the tablet and opens it to a textbook on refrigeration processes. "There might be something in here - books are useful, eh?"

"They're great, yeah."

He doesn't skim. If getting this done is what it takes to have a patron who won't let them get locked up then a slower start is worth it if it means they're less likely to ruin everything and have to start from scratch.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it."

This textbook assumes at least one year of college level engineering knowledge!

He misses some things. He does have his translation spell for all the jargon. That gets him some of the new concepts. But his science background is a couple months of physics and chemistry for the working sun mage and there's only so far the translation helps. If he understands everything that sounds like a warning he'll call that good enough after a while.

After about forty minutes, Nick looks over at him and says, "For a while I forgot you've read this kind of stuff even less than I have. Let me know if I can answer any questions?"

"Well, I don't understand this... picture... thing." It's a pressure-enthalpy diagram.

"So, it turns out the behavior of fluids as they vaporize and condense is actually pretty complicated..."

He drops his metalworking experiment to go over thermal processes with Valanda for a while!

Some deliveries show up at the door. "Ah, our new sponsors are coming through already. I wonder when the help will get here?"

He's a quick learner but the gaps in his understanding aren't all in the expected places.

"What did we get?"

"Tools, non-metal reasonably rare materials, books, furniture, and a team of vacuum-sealed engineers."

He starts hauling the crates in. "The last thing was a joke. I do think we'll have to hire on more help soon, though. This is fun, but kind of exhausting."

He tries to help with the crates. He's gotten a little stronger since coming to Cloudbank, but not a lot. "It really is. But on the gripping hand at least we're in control of our own lives doing this."

He can manage to help a little. "Gripping hand? And, yes. To quote a really, really old poem... I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

"Where can I read the rest of that poem? I like it."

He brings up Invictus on his computer. "I like it too, it's a good sentiment. I'll just be unpacking, don't mind me."

It's the best collection of words anyone has ever put together. He reads it three times.

Then he figures he should help with the unpacking if Nick hasn't gotten to it all yet.

He's still unpacking. "Poetry can be powerful, no?"

"Yeah. I'm going to memorize that so no one can ever take it from me even if I never get to see another written word in my life. Later. After we've got all this stuff unpacked. - Where does this thing go?"

Nick grabs it, looks thoughtful for a moment, then decides, "Eh. Forget it for now. I'm gonna go buy some shelves and labels and bins and stuff. Otherwise this place will turn into even more of an unholy mess."

"Want me to go look for someplace selling them?"

"I was thinking I'll go get them, and you could read up while I'm gone. There's an engineering principles book I found earlier that's a lot easier to understand, I'll pull it up."

"That'd be good, thanks."

And off Nick goes.

This intro to engineering text still assumes a fair bit of math knowledge (specifically, algebra) but it's a lot better at explaining itself.

No one ever actually taught him algebra but he can derive some of it from some other things he knows. He'll see how far he can get while Nick's gone.