Chapter 4 – The Power of Standardization

  The Power of Standardization

  The next day, fifty knights stood in the courtyard.

  Before them lay fifty swords.

  Each one identical.

  “My lord…” Kaelan whispered to the Earl of Excelion.

  “These swords… they are exactly the same.”

  In this world, every blade was slightly different.

  Every smith had his own hand.

  But Jin had removed the human error.

  Templates.

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  Measurements.

  Process.

  “Swing them,” Jin said.

  Fifty knights raised their swords.

  Then struck.

  WHOOSH.

  Not fifty sounds.

  One.

  A single thunderous arc of steel cut through the air.

  Jin glanced at the stunned royal smiths.

  “This is called standardization.”

  “The age of luck is over.”

  The Water Hammer

  The final blow to the old world came by the river.

  For a week, Jin had built a massive contraption of oak and iron.

  A giant water wheel.

  Gears.

  And a towering iron hammer.

  “Master Jin… surely a wheel cannot strike harder than a giant,” Vargas muttered nervously.

  Water rushed through the channel.

  The wheel began to turn.

  K-CHUNK.

  K-CHUNK.

  The ground trembled.

  Then the hammer fell.

  BOOM.

  A glowing plate of steel flattened instantly beneath the impact.

  The metal screamed as it reshaped into a perfect shield.

  The knights fell silent.

  Many slowly dropped to their knees.

  They had seen magic before.

  But this was something else.

  Power without mana.

  Strength without spells.

  Jin watched the machine calmly.

  Steam rose from the metal.

  “This is only the beginning.”

  No one in the courtyard laughed.

  Because they knew.

  The world had just changed.