Aiden stood on the elevated platform overlooking Blackvein Forge. The air smelled of hot metal, crystal dust, and sweat. Hammers rang without pause.
Conveyor lines powered by anchored crystal cores moved faster than any natural workforce could manage.
Production numbers had tripled in the last month. That should have been good news.
It wasn't.
"Batch seventeen failed again," an engineer reported, wiping grease from his hands. "The swords hold an edge, but they push the user into a rage after twenty minutes of combat.
Three soldiers in the training yard nearly killed each other this morning. One mountain clansman put another in the infirmary."
Aiden looked at the report tablet. The numbers were clear. Enhanced weapons worked better than anything the old empire produced, but the side effects were getting worse.
Not every crystal reacted the same way with human emotion. Some amplified aggression.
