SHADOWS FROM THE DISANT SEA & THE FIRST TEST OF IRON'S STRENGTH
The afternoon cast an orange hue over Ardhanusa. The sky looked like a silk cloth being slowly burned, reflecting light off the earthen walls and tightly packed wooden houses.
But in the small royal harbor, what should have been a tranquil atmosphere was instead filled with anxious whispers.
Fishing boats had just returned with strange news: a large shadow on the horizon…
not a local ship…
and not the shape of a sail familiar to the Nusantara people.
Some even claimed to have seen a symbol of a strange bird on one of the sails.
The news reached the palace before sunset.
---
Ardhanusa Palace – Core Room
Rakai Darma strode quickly into the hall, his face tense.
> "Prince Ardhana! Reports from the north—fishermen have spotted a strange ship. Not a Javanese ship. Not from Sunda. And not from the eastern islands."
Ardhana, who was examining the iron production blueprint, immediately closed the palm leaf scroll.
> "The shape of the sail?"
> "Tall. Straight. Like a rectangle."
"And… a bird symbol they don't recognize."
Ardhana held his breath.
Memories from his past conjured up visions of merchant ships from the eastern part of the world…
ships that would one day establish the largest trading company in the eastern seas.
The name of the future whispered strongly in his mind:
Valendrick East Sea Company.
Not officially, of course…
but the seeds might already be emerging.
A small kingdom like Ardhanusa didn't exist on their maps.
But the world doesn't always follow true history.
> "They haven't landed yet?" Ardhana asked.
> "Not yet, sir. Just passing slowly. Like… observing."
Ardhana gazed far north.
The afternoon breeze carried a different air—cold, threatening, and unfamiliar.
> "They'll return," he murmured. "And next time, they won't just observe."
---
The Location of the Great Ardhanusa Furnace – Night
The fire blazed like a dragon trapped in the bowels of the earth.
The workers and Empu Wangsita surrounded the large furnace, which now stood firmly.
The sound of air being forced through the pipes made the furnace hum like a living creature.
"Prince… we are ready to cast the first iron," Empu Wangsita said in a trembling voice.
Ardhana stood in front of the furnace, wearing a simple black cloth and the typical Ardhanusa headband.
On his young face, there was a mixture of tension… and hope.
"Okay," he said. "Let's see if this new civilization can truly be born."
The furnace was opened.
Liquid red light gushed out like a small sun.
The molten iron was poured into a long mold that Ardhana had made himself—thicker, denser, and designed to be a test of strength never before attempted in the archipelago.
The mold cooled with a simple but structured technique.
Minutes felt like hours.
Finally, the first iron bar was lifted.
The color was darker…
cleaner…
and when Ardhana tapped it gently, the sound was clear, like the clink of high-grade metal.
Rakai Darma approached.
> "Prince… is this enough to… face the threat you mentioned?"
Ardhana stared at the blade as if gazing into the future.
> "Not yet," he answered honestly.
"But this is the first step to prevent Ardhanusa from being swallowed up by history."
---
First Test of Strength
Rakai Darma brought Ardhanusa's standard sword—one that bent easily, cracked, and often broke.
In front of the workers, the two swords crossed.
The atmosphere was tense.
Ardhana held his breath.
Rakai Darma struck his old sword against the new iron.
CLANG!
The thud echoed throughout the small valley.
The old sword broke in two—like dry bamboo battered by a storm.
Ardhana's new iron?
Not a scratch at all.
The workers cheered spontaneously.
Empu Wangsita knelt, holding back tears.
> "Prince… this… this isn't Javanese iron…"
"This is iron from the heavens!"
Ardhana smiled faintly.
> "This is only the beginning."
---
But in the distance…
Beyond the hills and the northern coastline, aboard a large foreign ship…
Two men speaking a foreign language were taking notes while gazing towards the land of Ardhanusa.
> "That land looks small… but it has potential."
> "We'll report it to the headquarters in Valendrick."
"That small kingdom might be useful one day."
The ship's sails slowly moved away from the archipelago…
But the world was no longer as it had been.
Ardhana gazed at the night sky from a distance, unaware that foreign eyes from across the ocean had been watching him.
> "The time is drawing near…"
"The world is beginning to move."
And Ardhanusa's first ironworks were now officially the foundation of future defenses.
The Era of Eastern Light had just shaken the distant oceans.