The eastern coastline of the Pearl Kingdom was no longer a place of quiet solitude or rhythmic tides. It had been transformed into a massive, highly active construction site that hummed with the constant, low-frequency vibration of humming crystals and spinning gears. Thousands of laborers, engineers, and mages worked in shifts, yet the true complexity of the defensive grid was handled entirely by the young minds who had designed it.
Jules stood atop a high, craggy cliff overlooking the churning grey waters of the eastern ocean. He wore a heavy, practical coat over his tunic, his hair windblown and untidy. In his hands, he held a massive scroll covered in shimmering, complex mathematical proofs. He was sixteen, a young man on the cusp of adulthood, yet the weight of his calculations surpassed those of the most senior royal architects. He was currently recalculating the focal points of the defensive array to account for the unpredictable currents of the deep ocean.
