The glow of the gold coins in Elias's pocket was immediately extinguished by the cold dread of the Royal Mandate. He returned to Ironspur, not as a wealthy victor, but as a man newly sentenced to eight months of administrative hell.
He found Sir Kaelen rotating the ventilation crank outside the smithy.
"Kaelen," Elias began, his voice flat. "The good news is we are debt-free, and I own the mine. The bad news is the King has ordered me to commit financial and physical suicide by building a bridge across the Wyvern's Gorge."
Kaelen stopped cranking. He frowned. "Wyvern's Gorge? That span is half a mile wide and drops into perpetual mist. It is said to be haunted by spirits and, well, actual wyverns."
"Forget the spirits and wyverns for a moment! Focus on the structural integrity!" Elias shoved the Royal Mandate document into Kaelen's hand. "We have eight months to bridge a chasm that is 800 paces wide and requires a minimum load-bearing capacity for an army and full siege equipment. This is not a project; it's a murder plot designed by Duke Vesper."
Kaelen read the document, his stoic expression finally cracking with alarm. "My Lord, the Royal Engineers spent a decade studying that gorge and deemed it impossible without advanced Earth Magic. Even the Mages' Tower refused the commission."
Elias demanded an immediate inspection. He and Kaelen traveled to the Gorge, a journey that took three days on the existing, primitive Royal roads.
The moment Elias peered over the edge of the sheer cliff, his engineer's brain seized up. The chasm was vast, the wind was fierce, and the rock walls were sheer and unstable. He knelt down, focused his mind, and activated the MAOI.
MAOI Analysis: [Objective: Wyvern's Gorge Bridge Feasibility]
Span Distance: 827 Baronial Paces (455m).
Wind Shear Load: 15-25 kilonewtons (Varies).
Foundation Integrity: Critical Flaw (Rock face heavily fractured).
Projected Material Cost (Using Optimized Steel): 90% of all current capital.
Estimated Time to Completion (Using Current Technology): 48 Months (4 Years).
CONCLUSION: **Structural Impossibility.**
Elias stood up, clutching his chest. "Four years! Four years and it will cost 90% of the gold I just earned! Vesper didn't just sabotage me; he gave me an administratively perfect execution!"
Elias spent the next three days sitting on the cliff edge, ignoring the cold, sketching furiously on rolls of parchment. He threw away design after design, each one defeated by the MAOI's relentless analysis.
He tried every structure he knew:
1. The Suspension Bridge: Ruled out immediately. The required steel cables were impossible to forge in their current smithy, and the necessary anchor points on the fractured rock would cost more than the kingdom's treasury. MAOI: "Anchor Failure Risk: 99%."
2. The Arch Bridge: Ruled out. The central supports would need to be built hundreds of feet down into the chasm, requiring impossible scaffolding and massive amounts of cement. MAOI: "Scaffolding Material Cost: Exceeds all known kingdom lumber reserves."
3. The Truss Bridge: Ruled out. The truss members would need to be perfectly forged and assembled mid-air, a logistical nightmare without cranes. MAOI: "Assembly Risk: Catastrophic Human Loss."
Elias threw his hands up in defeat. "There is no structure that works! This fantasy world doesn't have the materials, the technology, or the money for this! Vesper knew this!"
"My Lord," Kaelen said gently, after observing Elias's three-day mental breakdown. "Why are you only looking for a new structure? The ancient builders of this land were not fools. Perhaps there is an ancient technique you are ignoring."
Elias snapped out of his funk. Kaelen was right. He was focused on modern steel and concrete solutions. He needed to find a low-tech, medieval solution that his efficiency could optimize.
Elias began scanning the rock walls below. He focused on the patterns of wear and the small, pre-existing structural flaws.
Suddenly, the MAOI highlighted an obscure patch of ancient rock carving.
MAOI Analysis:
[Target: Ancient Rock Face Marking]
Interpretation: Structural Marking.
Technique: Cantilever Foundation.
Historical Data: Marks indicate the placement of a Tension-Stabilized Cantilever System used by the Elder Races.
A Cantilever Bridge—a structure supported only on one end. It wasn't modern, but it used basic principles of counterweight and tension that Elias could master. And crucially, it didn't require crossing the massive span.
Elias's terrible, greedy smile returned. "A cantilever! We don't need to cross the chasm, Kaelen! We need to extend a solid block of our Structural Cement out from both sides and lock them in place with giant, internal counterweights! We will defy the laws of the chasm by burying half the bridge right here in the ground!"
He grabbed his chalk, a fresh set of plans already forming. "We will need a massive amount of cement, Kaelen. And we are going to start by building the largest, most structurally perfect hole in the ground this kingdom has ever seen! Now, find me a geologist! We need to know where the bedrock is!"