The next week, Kylia, Roshi, Fermer and five newly recruited miners and foresters, making their way to the Kylian Mines northeast of Kylia City.
Over the course of several days the group continued their journey on foot, taking three days, traveling over 150 kilometers, just to leave Kylia City.
Kylia City, despite its name, is really not a city but more of a county that is 10,000 square kilometers in area. The actual urban population amounts to less than 100 on the Rosa-Roscof confluence. The other 8,900 are purely rural serfs who only travel to the urban area when they need supplies they normally can procedure themselves.
After dropping off five foresters at the edge of the county where pristine forests grew, they headed towards the Kylian mines, through 350 kilometers of nearly pure wilderness, except for a sparsely traveled dirt path.
No wonder why Kylia's steel production was so low! Transportation itself was a nightmare!
Thinking to herself, Kylia resolves that once the state has enough food to support horses, she would establish a proper logistics line between the two areas as soon as possible.
After a little bit more than a week of steady marching, the wilderness finally began to change. The dense forest thinned into a valley of gray stone and coarse scrub. The ground slowly gets steeper.
Kylia paused on a ridge near the base of a small mountain range. Below them sprawled the remnants of the Kylian Mines: half-collapsed scaffolds, the rotting frames of wooden carts, and a dozen yawning tunnels cut into the mountainside like open wounds.
Fermer adjusted his pack, squinting against the sun. "This is the state's thousands of years of inheritance. The veins here run shallow and the ground is hard but the ore is plentyful."
A voice echoed from one of the shafts. "Hey! Who are you?" Five dust-covered Rohati miners emerged, gripped in crude pickaxes and animal skin clothes. Their eyes were wary but curious.
Far from Kylia city, not many Kylians make it this far out. Even though there is a constant stream of men traveling back and forth between the mines and the city, these miners are not the type to privy in such matters despite Kylia being the new Valor for four years now.
Kylia stepped forward, her blue eyes gleaming. "I'm Valord Kylia, these are my aides and five of your new coworkers. We're here to ramp up mining operations. You'll have less work—yet better pay—if you help us."
A miner squinted at her, unsure whether to trust her. Fermer gave a small shrug. "Please cooperate with the new Valord of the State, you'll see soon enough."
The miners worked with primitive tools: wooden handles, stone hammers, and rusted chisels. Progress was agonizingly slow. Even the shallow veins took weeks to expose properly.
Kylia turned to her pack and pulled out a small, sturdy bag. "We need to speed things up," she said. "I've prepared something that will help."
Roshi tilted his head. "What is that?"
"Black powder," Kylia said. "It's what I call an explosive. It will break through rock far faster than our current methods. But it must be used carefully. One mistake, and the mine collapses—or worse."
The miners' eyes widened, a mixture of fear and awe crossing their dirt-streaked faces. Kylia explained the composition: potassium salt as a substitute for saltpeter, charcoal for fuel, and sulfur to increase explosive power. She had carefully calculated the proportions: 75% potassium salt, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulfur.
"I will demonstrate," Kylia said, laying the powder carefully into a narrow crevice in a rocky outcrop. She stepped back and ignited a fuse.
A thunderous explosion shook the mountainside, sending clouds of dust and rock fragments into the air. The miners ducked instinctively, but when the dust cleared, the rock face had split open, revealing rich veins of iron ore previously unreachable by hand.
The miners stared in awe. "What in the name of Hylia!"
"Another miracle!" Roshi exclaimed.
"Hahahaha!" Fermer roared boastfully.
Kylia just responded with a smile.
Over the next several days, the miner, five old and five new, worked systematically. Kylia carefully measured and deployed small charges, blasting out sections of the mine while Roshi and Fermer supervised. The efficiency of mining skyrocketed. Tasks that would have taken months now took a single day. Even the most skeptical miners were forced to admit that the black powder was really useful.
By the end of the first week, they had extracted more ore than the state had in the past year.
"With the rate that iron ore is being mined, we may even have a slight surplus of steel this year if nothing goes wrong." Kylia explained to Fermer and Roshi, "In fact we may have more pressing matters to deal with now."
"Once news comes out ,we will be swarmed by enemies on all sides!" Kylia continued. "We do have a non aggression pact with the other Valorian states. However the City States around us will take no hesitation to rip us to pieces.
"Without sufficient population, only by increasing the means of productivity of our people can we feed, arm and recruit more soldiers to fight for our state. I call this new term "Industrialization"." Kylia made quote marks with her hands.
"But how?" Roshi questioned.
"In the next couple of months I will visit and give designs to each of the different Industries in the state. At most we could keep this a secret for five years." Kylia stood up heroically. "In five years we must double the standing armed forces to 100. Only with sufficient strength can we protect our people!"
"Of course, my Valord, we wish to serve!" All answered in unison.