The wind screamed across the Frostpeak Mountains like a living thing.

Snow swept through the narrow mountain paths in violent waves while workers struggled to keep the supply wagons moving upward through the frozen terrain.

Cold.

Relentless cold.

Even the soldiers assigned to escort duty looked miserable beneath the storm.

Lucien guided his horse carefully along the frozen trail while studying the mountain ridges ahead.

Behind him stretched the expedition convoy:

engineers,

miners,

guards,

steam machinery,

and dwarven surveyors.

At the center of that chaos marched Ironbreaker the dwarf.

Broad-shouldered. Heavy-bearded. Completely unaffected by weather that made ordinary men suffer.

The dwarf examined the surrounding cliffs with growing excitement while several dwarven engineers argued loudly behind him.

"No, look at rock layers!"

"I looking!"

"Then why wrong?"

"Because snow in eyes!"

Normal dwarven communication honestly.

Cedric rode beside Lucien quietly while snow gathered across his dark cloak.

"This place feels ancient."

Lucien glanced toward him.

"It is."

The old Frostpeak mining settlement once supplied iron throughout the northern territories decades ago.

Then it vanished.

Officially:

monster attacks,

transportation collapse,

and brutal winters destroyed profitability.

In reality—

The south simply abandoned investment in the north.

Maintaining distant mountain infrastructure cost too much.

Ignoring it cost nothing.

Now Lucien intended to reopen everything.

Because House Valcriox had made one mistake:

They believed Elarion still depended on them.

By dusk the expedition finally reached Frostpeak.

Or what remained of it.

Collapsed mining towers leaned against the mountainside beneath thick layers of snow while abandoned worker housing surrounded the frozen valley like broken bones.

Silence covered everything.

Cedric slowly surveyed the ruins.

"This place once held thousands."

"Yes."

"And now?"

"Now it waits."

The knight’s eyes shifted toward the mountains towering above the valley.

Then quietly:

"Not anymore."

Workers immediately began establishing camp.

Torches lit the snow-covered ruins while soldiers secured defensive positions around the settlement perimeter.

Meanwhile the dwarves scattered across the valley with alarming speed.

Within minutes:

hammers struck stone,

engineers shouted measurements,

and arguments about tunnel reinforcement already began.

Ironbreaker the dwarf knelt beside an exposed cliff wall before striking it sharply with his hammer.

CLANG.

The sound echoed through the frozen valley.

The dwarf struck again.

Then grunted approvingly.

"Rich iron."

Several nearby dwarves immediately gathered around him.

One inspected the fractured stone carefully.

"Good density."

"Coal nearby too."

Cedric crossed his arms quietly while observing them.

"They look happier here than in Elarion."

Ironbreaker overheard him immediately.

"Mountains honest."

Cedric raised an eyebrow slightly.

"And cities are not?"

"Cities hide weakness behind walls."

That answer actually made the knight smirk faintly.

Lucien meanwhile studied the valley carefully.

Good terrain. Natural defensive elevation. Strong ore indicators.

More importantly—

Enough room for expansion.

The next morning, survey operations officially began.

Lucien entered the primary mining tunnel alongside Cedric, Malen, Ironbreaker, and several engineers carrying lantern equipment.

The deeper sections remained surprisingly stable despite decades of abandonment.

Cold air drifted through the darkness while old rail carts rested overturned beside the tunnel walls.

Cedric’s hand rested near his sword instinctively.

"This tunnel definitely contains monsters."

Malen glanced toward him.

"You say that with confidence."

"I’ve survived long enough to trust bad instincts."

Reasonable logic honestly.

The group continued deeper underground while the dwarves examined every visible stone formation carefully.

Then suddenly—

Ironbreaker stopped walking.

The dwarf narrowed his eyes toward a section of dark stone partially buried beneath ice.

Slowly he stepped closer.

Then struck the wall sharply.

CLANG.

Different sound.

Denser.

Metallic.

Every dwarf in the tunnel immediately turned silent.

That alone made Cedric straighten slightly.

Ironbreaker hit the wall again.

Fragments of dark metallic ore finally cracked loose from the stone surface.

The dwarf caught one piece carefully before staring at it in silence.

"...Impossible."

Lucien stepped forward.

The ore looked unusual.

Dark silver mixed with faint blue veins running through its surface.

Heavy.

Dense.

One engineer touched the exposed mineral carefully before looking toward Ironbreaker with widened eyes.

"Froststeel..."

Silence spread through the tunnel.

Even Malen looked slightly surprised.

Cedric glanced between the dwarves.

"I assume that reaction means something important."

Ironbreaker slowly stood afterward while still holding the ore sample.

"Rare metal."

"How rare?"

The dwarf exhaled slowly.

"Kingdom-level rare."

Now everyone understood the significance.

Another engineer spoke immediately.

"Lighter than normal steel."

"Stronger too."

"Excellent heat resistance."

Cedric’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"For rifle barrels?"

Ironbreaker nodded once.

"And artillery."

That changed everything.

Lucien studied the exposed mineral vein silently while calculations formed rapidly in his mind.

Improved durability. Higher pressure tolerance. Better artillery longevity.

Potential future applications expanded immediately.

House Valcriox attempted economic pressure through industrial resources.

Instead Elarion had potentially discovered one of the rarest strategic materials in the kingdom.

Irony truly favored the prepared.

The expedition returned to the surface hours later beneath worsening snowfall.

Word spread quickly through the camp.

Too quickly.

Workers whispered excitedly around the fires while the dwarves nearly started fistfights debating extraction methods.

One engineer loudly declared: "This mine changes everything."

Another immediately countered: "No. Proper smelting changes everything."

Cedric stood beside Lucien near the edge of the settlement while watching the chaos calmly.

"I’ve seen nobles kill over gold before."

His eyes shifted toward the mountain tunnels.

"They’ll kill far faster for something useful."

Lucien remained silent.

Because Cedric was correct.

Froststeel was not decorative wealth.

It was strategic wealth.

And strategic resources reshaped kingdoms.

Later that night, Lucien reviewed geological estimates inside the command tent while snow hammered against the canvas walls outside.

Malen stood nearby studying the extraction projections quietly.

"The south cannot learn about this immediately."

"No."

Because if southern noble houses discovered Elarion possessed Froststeel deposits—

Political pressure could escalate into something far more dangerous.

Ironbreaker entered the tent shortly afterward carrying a partially refined ore sample wrapped carefully in cloth.

The dwarf placed it onto the table heavily.

"First refinement successful."

Lucien inspected the metal beneath lantern light.

Beautiful material.

Dark silver with faint blue reflections flowing across its surface.

Ironbreaker folded his arms proudly.

"Tested prototype barrel."

"And?"

"No cracking."

Now that mattered.

Standard rifle barrels degraded rapidly under repeated high-pressure firing.

If Froststeel solved that issue—

Then firearm advancement accelerated significantly.

Cedric picked up the refined sample afterward while furnace light reflected faintly across the polished metal.

"House Valcriox thought they were slowing production."

A faint smirk appeared across his face.

"Instead they forced us into the mountains."

His gaze shifted toward the mining settlement outside where workers continued building despite the storm.

"I doubt they’ll enjoy the result."

The next morning extraction officially began.

Steam-powered drilling equipment arrived from Elarion shortly afterward.

And the mountains changed.

Massive drills echoed through the valley while ancient stone walls shattered beneath industrial machinery.

Mining that once required weeks now took hours.

One older miner stared at the machines in disbelief.

"I spent twenty years breaking stone by hand."

A nearby engineer patted the steam drill proudly.

"Now machine does it faster."

Productivity exploded within days.

Coal output increased. Iron extraction stabilized. And Froststeel ore slowly emerged from the mountain depths.

The abandoned settlement began transforming rapidly.

New housing. Storage facilities. Workshops. Defensive towers.

Life returned to Frostpeak. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Lucien stood near the upper ridge overlooking the valley several nights later while smoke rose from the growing industrial settlement below.

Factories. Mines. Steam machinery.

The north kept evolving.

Cedric eventually stepped beside him quietly.

"The south expected dependence."

"Yes."

"And instead?"

Lucien looked toward the mountains stretching endlessly beneath the snowstorm.

"We adapt."

Far south beyond the frozen peaks, noble houses still believed power came from inheritance, politics, and ancient authority.

Meanwhile in Frostpeak—

The future was being pulled directly from the stone itself.