The sun was high, but the air remained deadly cold.
While the serfs were busy digging clay and boiling tubers, Rian walked towards the barracks. He needed to see his "army."
Twelve men. That was it.
They stood in a line, shivering slightly despite their thick cloaks. Their faces were grim. These were the men who hadn't run away when Captain Thorne deserted. They were loyal, yes, but loyalty doesn't stop an arrow.
"Draw your weapons," Rian commanded.
The guards hesitated, then pulled out their swords.
Scrape.
The sound was rough and unpleasant. Rian frowned. He walked up to the Acting Captain, a burly man named Garrick.
"Let me see it," Rian extended his gloved hand.
Garrick handed over his longsword. It was heavy, dark, and covered in patches of reddish-brown rust. The edge was jagged, like a saw rather than a blade.
Rian swung it experimentally. Whoosh.
Then, without warning, he struck the wooden training post hard.
CRACK!
It wasn't the wood that broke. It was the sword.
The top half of the steel blade snapped off like a dry twig and spun into the snow.
The guards gasped. Garrick's face went pale. "M-My Lord! I... I sharpened it yesterday! The steel... it becomes brittle in the winter. It is the curse of the North!"
"It's not a curse," Rian said coldly, picking up the broken shard. He examined the grain of the metal. It was grainy and gray.
"It's bad chemistry."
Just then, the familiar chime rang in his head.
[Ding! Daily Intelligence Report - Day 4]
[1. Material Analysis: Northern Iron]
The swords in your armory are made of local "Black Iron."
Defect: The ore contains High Sulfur (4%) and Phosphorus. Result: In sub-zero temperatures, this makes the metal suffer from "Cold Shortness" (extreme brittleness). A strong impact will shatter 80% of your guards' weapons.
[2. Resource Location]
To fix this, you need a Flux agent to remove the Sulfur during smelting.
Intel: The white cliffs 2 miles East are not chalk. They are Limestone (Calcium Carbonate).
[3. Threat Warning]
The smell of the boiled Frost Tubers has traveled with the wind. A pack of 6 Snow Wolves is tracking the scent. They will reach the outer walls by dusk.
Rian tossed the broken hilt back to Garrick.
"A pack of wolves is coming tonight," Rian announced calmly.
The guards stiffened. Wolves in the North were not like Earth wolves. They were massive, aggressive beasts that could tear a man in half.
"With these swords," Rian pointed to the broken metal, "you will die. You hit a wolf's skull, and your weapon will shatter."
"What do we do, My Lord?" Garrick asked, his voice tight with fear. "We have no other weapons. The armory is empty."
Rian looked at the system intel again. He couldn't re-smelt the swords today. He needed a Blast Furnace and Limestone for that, which would take weeks.
He needed a temporary solution for tonight.
Rian's engineer brain raced. If the metal is brittle, don't use it to slash. Use it to pierce. Or better yet... change the battlefield.
"Garrick," Rian ordered. "Forget the swords. Gather all the spears. Are the spearheads made of the same iron?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Then we don't rely on the iron." Rian turned to look at the castle walls. "We rely on water."
"Water?" Garrick was confused.
"Get the serfs. I want buckets of water poured down the outer wall, right where the gate is. Let it freeze into a ramp of ice."
Rian's eyes narrowed.
"And bring me the coal dust from the mine. We can't fix the steel today, but we can make sure the wolves never get close enough to test it."
"Tonight, we don't fight with steel," Rian declared, turning back to the castle. "We fight with physics."
End of Chapter 5