The second explosion was much larger.

Far larger.

Large enough that snow fell from the upper ruins of Elarion while several workers outside the industrial district screamed in panic thinking the mountains themselves had collapsed.

Inside the sealed testing chamber—

Chaos reigned.

Smoke filled the room completely while pieces of shattered stone scattered across the floor and one wooden table had somehow caught fire despite standing several meters away from the blast center.

Malen kicked the burning table over immediately.

"Gods above!"

The Peak Knight coughed heavily through the smoke.

"What did you put in that thing?!"

Lucien calmly brushed dust from his coat.

"Improved ratios."

"You say terrifying things too casually."

Nearby, Bromgar looked like he had just discovered religion.

The old dwarf stared at the crater left behind in the reinforced floor with wide eyes while black smoke drifted upward around him.

Then—

The dwarf started laughing.

Not politely.

Not normally.

Maniacally.

"Hah!"

He slapped his knee loudly.

"Hah! It exploded harder!"

Several nearby dwarves immediately crowded around the crater excitedly.

One pointed downward enthusiastically.

"It cracked reinforced stone!"

Another stared at the shattered metal fragments.

"Imagine putting that behind steel!"

Gandalf suddenly looked deeply concerned.

"...Why do all of you sound happy about this?"

Aurethar’s enormous golden eye peered through the chamber entrance while the Dragon Lord looked delighted beyond reason.

"Yes!"

Golden smoke drifted from his nostrils excitedly.

"Now this resembles proper destruction!"

Lucien pinched the bridge of his nose slightly.

The dragon was enjoying industrialized warfare far too much.

The workers outside remained less enthusiastic.

A frightened guard hurried into the chamber moments later.

"My Lord! Is the fortress under attack?!"

Lucien glanced toward the smoking crater.

"No."

Another explosion echoed faintly behind him as one overheated container finally burst apart.

The guard visibly flinched.

"...Are you sure?"

Lucien looked toward Gandalf.

The old mage coughed awkwardly.

"We are conducting controlled experimentation."

The chamber wall behind him cracked loudly.

Silence followed.

Malen sighed deeply.

"We’re all going to die."

Surprisingly—

Morale throughout the industrial district actually improved afterward.

Mostly because the workers interpreted the explosions as signs that Lord Lucien was creating terrifying new weapons capable of destroying enemies from afar.

Which—

To be fair—

Was accurate.

By morning, rumors had already spread throughout the valley.

Some claimed the lord had created bottled lightning.

Others believed Gandalf was summoning thunder spirits inside the ruins.

One particularly drunk worker insisted the dragon had laid an explosive egg.

Aurethar seemed deeply offended by that one.

"Why would my eggs explode?"

Bromgar shrugged.

"Because you look unstable."

The Dragon Lord stared at him silently.

"...I continue allowing your survival purely because you amuse me."

The dwarf looked proud afterward.

Meanwhile—

The real work began.

Inside the upper industrial halls, Lucien spread several blueprint sketches across a reinforced worktable surrounded by Bromgar, Gandalf, Cedric, Malen, and selected blacksmiths trusted enough to witness the next stage.

The atmosphere felt entirely different now.

No longer skeptical.

Excited.

Because everyone present had witnessed the explosive powder personally.

And now—

Lucien intended to place that power into human hands.

He pointed toward the blueprint calmly.

"Flintlock ignition system."

The blacksmiths leaned closer immediately.

Most looked confused.

Bromgar looked fascinated.

The design itself remained simple compared to modern firearms.

Wooden stock.

Smoothbore steel barrel.

Trigger mechanism.

Flint striking steel. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Crude.

Primitive.

But revolutionary.

One blacksmith frowned slightly.

"So the powder ignites from sparks?"

Lucien nodded.

"The hammer strikes flint."

Then toward the pan assembly.

"Spark ignites priming powder."

Another blacksmith pointed toward the barrel design.

"And the projectile?"

"Metal ball."

Silence followed briefly.

Then Bromgar slowly grinned.

"...Tiny cannon."

Lucien looked toward him.

"Yes."

The dwarf immediately slapped the table excitedly.

"I like it."

Of course he did.

Malen studied the design carefully afterward.

"So ordinary soldiers could use this?"

"Yes."

Another pause.

"With training."

That part mattered.

Firearms lowered the importance of noble martial bloodlines dramatically.

Not entirely.

A Peak Knight could still massacre ordinary infantry.

But massed firearms changed battlefields.

Volume of force mattered now.

Not merely individual strength.

Lucien could already see the implications spreading across everyone’s faces.

Especially Cedric’s.

The knight looked disturbed.

"Kingdoms would kill for this."

Lucien answered calmly.

"Which is why nobody outside this room learns about it."

Immediate agreement followed.

Good.

Because if central kingdoms discovered industrial firearms production this early—

War would come instantly.

The forging began shortly afterward.

And unlike swords—

The dwarves became terrifyingly obsessed.

Bromgar nearly screamed at one blacksmith for imprecise barrel shaping.

"No! The interior must remain smooth!"

The exhausted blacksmith looked ready to cry.

"It’s close enough!"

"Close enough kills people!"

Aurethar rested atop the upper support beams observing the process lazily.

"You tiny people truly enjoy building strange metal tubes."

"They’re weapons," Bromgar snapped.

"They look like angry pipes."

Malen smirked slightly.

"That’s because you’ve never seen one work."

The Dragon Lord looked intrigued instantly.

"Oh?"

Hours turned into days afterward as the first prototype slowly took shape through endless adjustments and refinements.

The barrel required precision impossible through ordinary frontier smithing methods, forcing the dwarves and human craftsmen to develop entirely new shaping tools and alignment techniques.

Several barrels failed.

One exploded during pressure testing.

Another bent slightly after cooling.

But eventually—

Success.

The first completed flintlock musket rested upon the forge table beneath the warm orange glow of furnace light.

Silence filled the hall.

Because despite its primitive appearance—

Everyone understood instinctively.

History had changed.

The weapon looked deceptively simple.

Wood.

Steel.

Mechanisms.

Yet inside it rested the power of thunder itself.

Bromgar stared at the musket proudly.

"It’s ugly."

Lucien blinked once.

The dwarf crossed his arms.

"But powerful ugly."

High praise again.

Outside the industrial district, targets had already been prepared near the snowy western cliffs far from worker housing.

The testing group gathered carefully while freezing winds swept across the valley beneath dark evening skies.

Aurethar watched from above excitedly.

"This had better explode impressively."

Lucien loaded the musket himself.

Powder first.

Then lead ball.

Ramrod compression.

Priming powder.

Simple.

Efficient.

Deadly.

The surrounding group watched silently.

Even Gandalf looked tense now.

Lucien raised the weapon slowly toward the distant steel target plate positioned across the snowy clearing.

Then—

Pulled the trigger.

CLICK.

Tiny sparks erupted from the flint.

Then—

BOOM.

Thunder exploded across the valley.

Fire burst from the barrel while smoke erupted outward violently and the recoil slammed into Lucien’s shoulder hard enough to make several workers flinch instinctively.

A fraction later—

CLANG.

The distant steel plate shook violently from impact.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Then everyone turned slowly toward the target.

A hole pierced clean through the plate.

One worker whispered weakly.

"...Impossible."

Malen walked toward the target afterward before examining the penetration point carefully.

The Peak Knight’s expression slowly changed.

"This..."

Another pause.

"...this could kill armored soldiers."

Lucien lowered the musket calmly.

"Yes."

Above them, Aurethar suddenly burst into roaring laughter powerful enough to shake snow loose from nearby cliffs.

"Oh this world is becoming entertaining."

Golden eyes gleamed brightly in the darkness.

"Humans with dragon-killing ambition."

Bromgar meanwhile stared at the smoking musket like a man seeing the future itself.

Then slowly—

The old dwarf grinned.

"Make more."

And beneath the frozen mountains of the north, humanity fired its first shot into a new age.

End of Chapter 33

Poor author.....sobsob...waiting for better reviews