Day 30.
The noise of work at Fort Blackiron never usually ceased. But today, that noise stopped.
Grom, the massive Blacksmith, sat slumped against his anvil. He was gasping for air. His arms were trembling. Beside him, two strong serfs lay on the ground, having fainted from exhaustion while pumping the bellows.
"I am not a machine, My Lord," Grom looked at Rian with burning, bloodshot eyes. "We need nails. We need pickaxes. We need shovels. You ask for 100 tools a day. My body may be iron, but I still tire."
Rian looked at the halted production.
This was the problem. The Manpower Bottleneck.
Humans needed sleep. Humans needed rest.
"If we want to increase our speed," Rian said softly, "we need a worker who never sleeps. Who never tires. And who never asks for food."
Grom furrowed his brows. "Golems? They only exist in fairy tales."
"No," Rian pointed toward the river flowing outside the fortress walls. "Physics."
The Dark Rapids
Rian, Grom, and Torin (the Miner) stood on the banks of the river.
The upper surface of the river behind Fort Blackiron was frozen solid. A layer of ice three feet thick covered it.
But Rian trusted his Daily Intel.
[Ding! Daily Intelligence Report - Day 30]
[1. Energy Source: Hydro Power]
Location: 300 meters downstream, at the narrow bend known as "The Neck."
Physics: Due to the Venturi Effect (narrowing channel), the water velocity here is 15 m/s.
Result: The water moves too fast to freeze completely. Beneath the surface ice crust, there is a raging current.
"Here," Rian marked a spot on the ice. "Torin, break the ice."
Torin and his men swung their pickaxes. CRACK!
As the ice shattered, black, freezing water was revealed rushing beneath it at a terrifying speed. The current was so fast that if anyone fell in, they would be swept straight out to the ocean.
"This is power," Rian said, watching the flowing water. "Torin, I need an Undershot Water Wheel here. And Grom... I need Gears."
The Engineering of Giants
For the next two days, a strange machine was seen being constructed within the fort.
Rian used Petrified Wood. It was as hard as iron, but it could be carved.
He had Grom craft large teeth for it.
These were Gears.
"What is this?" Kael asked, watching one wooden wheel interlock with another.
"This is a Torque Multiplier," Rian explained, pointing to a large wheel and a smaller axle. "The river will turn the wheel. The wheel will turn this shaft. And this shaft..."
Rian pointed to a massive, heavy iron hammer—a Trip Hammer—that they had built.
"...this shaft will lift that hammer and drop it."
The Activation
Day 33.
At that narrow bend of the river, a 4-meter tall wooden Water Wheel had been installed. Half of it was submerged in the icy water.
Rian pulled the lever that released the brake holding the wheel.
The water pushed against the blades of the wheel.
Creak... Groan...
The wheel began to move. Slowly at first. Then, faster.
The cold water kept spinning it. The long wooden shaft connected to the wheel began to rotate, passing through a hole in the wall and going straight into Grom's workshop.
Inside, Grom and the others stood holding their breath.
The shaft coming through the wall spun. A wooden protrusion—a Cam—attached to it turned.
The cam lifted the 50kg iron hammer...
And as the cam rotated past...
CLANG!
The hammer dropped onto the hot iron placed on the anvil.
A second later, the shaft spun again. The hammer lifted.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
It was like a heartbeat.
Without a human touching it, the hammer was working. With consistent force. With consistent speed.
Grom's eyes went wide.
"This... this is demon magic," he muttered. "The hammer moves on its own!"
"It is Kinetic Energy, Grom," Rian shouted over the noise. "Now you just have to place the hot iron under it. The river will do the striking."
Rian had also connected the bellows to the same shaft using a crank. Now, the air was pumping automatically too.
The fire of the furnace no longer depended on human lungs, but on the flow of the river.
[Ding! Technology Unlocked: Industrial Automation (Water Power)]
[Production Speed: Increased by 500%]
[Grom's Fatigue: Reduced to 0%]
Rian watched the massive wheel spinning.
Now they had Power. Unlimited. Free.
"We won't just make nails anymore," Rian said, looking Grom in the eye. "Now, we begin Mass Production."
End of chapter 26