Two months had passed since the first whisper of war turned into roaring echoes of conflict. The world outside had begun to crumble, but within the walls of her laboratory and workshops, Elara Wyrmshade built.
She had become more than just a prodigy or innovator. Elara had become a mythic figure in the eyes of the common folk and a terrifying symbol to her enemies. While others discussed diplomacy and tactics, Elara let her inventions speak.
The days blended into one another, but the progress never slowed. With the Forge now upgraded to include a precision-based metal 3D printing system, and the Rune Printer improved to carve into any surface—even diamond-hard alloys—Elara's lab became a relentless engine of progress. The boundaries of magical engineering bent to her will.
In the first week, she and her team released the Runic Excavator—a magical construct of enchanted steel capable of tunneling through stone and dirt with surgical ease using layered Earth, Vibration, and Precision runes. Mining guilds scrambled to acquire licensing, and cities began plans for underground shelters and storage systems.
The second week brought forth the Agricultural Glyph Harvester. With Vectors driving its movement and Directional Runes focusing its harvest paths, the harvester cut crops with surgical accuracy and reduced waste to near zero. Farm production spiked, and word of its effectiveness spread like wildfire.
By the third week, the Runic Concrete Mixer entered prototype testing. This enchanted drum blended Elara's new cement mixture with water and metal-rebar extensions, resulting in a new hybrid construction method. Walls hardened in less than half an hour and were twice as strong as any previous method. Roads, buildings, and fortresses could be assembled in days instead of months.
Week four saw the advent of the Magnetic Sorting Engine, a rune-powered refining unit that separated ore and materials based on density and elemental frequency. It tripled output efficiency for metal mines and led to a significant drop in material costs throughout Aldemar.
In the fifth week, Elara introduced the Runic Scaffold, a magical construct built from memory-metal infused with construction runes. The structure could unfold and anchor itself, then self-adjust based on crystal-encoded blueprints. Buildings rose like plants from fertile soil.
Then came the sixth week—where her genius truly bloomed.
She released the Load-Bearing Pillars, self-adjusting supports that automatically redistributed weight based on the stress levels of surrounding stone. These pillars worked in tandem with the new Runic Foundation Weavers, which created energy-anchored platforms in unstable terrain, allowing safe construction even over ravines or marshlands.
The Terraforming Plow followed soon after, converting hostile terrain into fertile farmland. The Mana-Pressurizing Mining Drill, the Rebar-Welding Golem, and finally, the Stoneflesh Mixer, which could integrate crushed stone into a smooth, flexible building material, completed her two-month spree.
Thanks to the improved Forge and Rune Printer—now precise down to microscopic carvings—every machine was produced in record time. Thousands of units flowed from R&D into the kingdom. Aldemar's cities transformed into blossoming centers of innovation.
The King himself purchased exclusive rights for her Rebar and Cement construction method. Overnight, old walls began to fall—and stronger, taller fortifications replaced them with a fraction of the labor.
But innovation did not protect against bloodshed.
In the second week of this period, Tolan met her in the Forge's central chamber. His eyes were tired, his voice heavier than usual.
"They've surrounded Hartholm," he said without preamble.
Elara froze, a spanner still in her hand.
"Siege?"
He nodded. "Hartholm is resisting, but two other fortresses are already under threat. This... this is turning fast."
Elara clenched her jaw. She turned and gave a single nod before returning to her work, but from that moment, her pace doubled. Where before she had led, now she charged.
At the end of the two months, the war became real in a way she had hoped never to experience.
A runner arrived—mud-streaked, eyes wide. He whispered into Tolan's ear. Tolan's expression shifted. He found Elara moments later in the tower observatory above the city.
"Your home," he said.
Elara blinked.
"What about it?"
"Two families. Killed by an enemy scouting unit before stationed guards pushed them back."
Silence fell.
The wind was loud up there.
Elara said nothing. She didn't cry. Didn't break.
She stared into the horizon for a long moment.
And then, she turned to Tolan.
"No more."
That very night, she redrew the structure of her entire R&D organization. The civil wing remained operational—but a new military development wing took form beside it.
First came her old messenger constructs. Repurposed. Modified. The result: Runic Aerial Scouts—fast, silent, long-range fliers equipped with Disruption and Sensory runes.
Within days, she integrated explosive glyphs. The first Suicide Bombers took flight in test runs against mock siege engines.
Kael personally tested combat armor prototypes: lightweight, flexible, yet strong enough to deflect moderate attacks. She wore the first completed Personal Defense Sigil, a new-generation protective weave with runes for absorption, kinetic dispersal, and burn resistance.
Lyria led combat training sessions with freshly outfitted recruits. The first ten squads of E.W.-equipped soldiers graduated by the eighth week.
Meanwhile, Elara drafted blueprints for upcoming war tech: Mobile Artillery Constructs, Automated Field Triage Golems, and Battlefield Communication Towers.
Tolan approached her with worry. "You're throwing everything into this."
"They reached my home, Tolan."
He nodded slowly. He didn't argue again.
What was once a kingdom of tradition and politics had become something else.
A nation of engineers, steel, and relentless resolve.
And Elara Wyrmshade stood at its heart—no crown, no title.
But in every sense, its architect and shield.