Ironhold Keep - Master BedroomDay 6 (Two days after the Wyrm Hunt)
Consciousness returned to Dante not like a sunrise, but like a system reboot.
First came the hum of the Titan Forge interface. Then came the sensory input. Smell: Antiseptic, stale air, and... lavender? Sound: The crackle of a fire. Feeling: Pain. Absolute, grinding pain in his right shoulder.
Dante opened his eyes.
He was in a massive four-poster bed, wrapped in silk sheets that felt too soft for a man who had just nuked a dragon.
[System Boot Complete.][Host Status: Stabilized.][Injury Report: Right Humerus fractured (Healing). Ligament damage (Severe). Mild Radiation Poisoning (Purging... 80% Complete).][Current Funds: 0 Gold.]
Dante groaned, trying to sit up. His right arm was immobilized in a crude sling made of leather and bandages.
"Don't move."
Elara was sitting in a chair by the fire, sharpening a dagger. She looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hands were wrapped in bandages.
She stood up and walked over to the bed, pushing him back down gently.
"You've been out for two days," she said. "The fever broke an hour ago. For a while... I thought the Green Death had taken you."
"The Wyrm?" Dante asked, his voice rough. "Did we kill it?"
Elara shook her head, a shiver running through her. "No. We barely got you out. The blast knocked it into the canyon wall, stunned it... but as we dragged you down the mountain, we could hear it screaming. It's hurt, badly, but it's still alive up there."
Dante looked at his arm. "It doesn't matter. We got what we came for. Status of the mine?"
Elara blinked. "That's your first question? Not 'Am I alive?'"
"I know I'm alive. The System tells me so," Dante rasped, his throat dry. "The mine, Elara. Did you secure the glowing rocks?"
"Yes," she sighed, pouring him a cup of water. "But the cost... my Lord, the sickness is terrible. Five of the men who carried the chests are already dead. They vomited blood until they just... stopped. Those who touched the stones with bare hands... their skin turned red and blistered. We put the rocks in lead-lined chests, just like you ordered before you passed out."
Dante nodded, drinking the water greedily. "Good. That sickness is called Radiation. It kills invisibly. Tell the men that anyone who touches the ore without lead gloves gets executed. It's a mercy compared to what the radiation will do to them."
He shifted, wincing as a spike of pain shot through his shoulder.
"My shoulder," Dante gritted his teeth. "Why isn't it fixed? You used magic."
Elara looked down at her hands. "I told you, my Lord. My magic is... weak. It's barely a spark. I could close the skin, but I couldn't knit the bone. I'm not a Priestess. I'm a blacksmith's daughter."
Dante looked at her with his Analysis Eye.
[Target: Elara][Mana Capacity: 15/15 (Low)][Class: Civilian.][Hidden Trait: Photonic Resonance (Healer Potential).]
"It's not that you're weak," Dante muttered, looking at the faint glow fading from her hands. "You're just doing it the hard way."
He looked at her with intense focus.
"You're trying to force the magic through your own body. It's like trying to hammer red-hot iron with your bare fist. It works, but it breaks you."
Elara stared at him. "I... I don't understand. That's how my mother taught me."
"I know," Dante said. "But we can do it better. I'll build you a tool later—a focus made of gold. It will carry the weight of the magic so you don't have to burn yourself out."
He sat up, fighting the dizziness. "But first, we have a bigger problem."
"We do?"
"I checked the books," Dante said, swinging his legs out of bed. "I spent every copper coin we had on that Railgun. We have an army, a castle, and a Uranium mine. But we can't pay the soldiers."
He stood up, swaying slightly. Elara rushed to steady him.
"My Lord, you need to rest!"
Dante shook his head, pushing her away gently.
He walked to the window and looked out at the courtyard of Ironhold.
The soldiers were drilling. They looked sharp in their black mass-produced armor. They were terrifying. But loyalty had a price, and Dante knew that patriotism didn't fill bellies.
He needed an industry. Not weapons—he couldn't sell those to potential enemies. He needed a consumer product. Something high-value, low-volume, and impossible for the locals to replicate.
He looked at the map on the Baron's desk.
[Resource Scan: Ironhold Region][Detected: Sand (Silica), Soda Ash, Limestone.]
Dante smiled.
"Glass," he whispered.
"Glass?" Elara asked, confused. "Like... windows?"
"Not the cloudy, green trash they use in this kingdom," Dante said. "I'm talking about clear, perfectly flat glass. Mirrors. Lenses."
He turned to Elara.
"The Mages use crystal balls to focus their magic, don't they?"
"Yes," Elara nodded. "Quartz orbs. They cost thousands of gold coins."
"Quartz is hard to mine and shape," Dante said, his mind already drafting the blueprint for a float-glass production line. "But I can manufacture optical-grade glass from sand. We're going to flood the market."
He walked to the door.
"Gather the officers, Elara."
Dante opened the door, the light of the hallway hitting his face.