The gambit worked.
By noon the next day, Zephyr's Faith reserves had replenished slightly from the residual awe of the villagers.
[Faith Points: 45 / 200]
Five people had arrived at the shrine. They were the dregs of Oakhaven—an old man with a lame leg, two orphans who looked more like skeletons, and a disgraced blacksmith named Kael who smelled of cheap ale and despair.
"This is your army?" Kael asked, kicking a loose stone. "A cripple, two rats, and a girl who thinks she talks to ghosts?"
Elara stood by the repaired altar. She didn't flinch. Zephyr had spent the night downloading "Leadership Modules" into her brain via [Whisper].
"Do you want a job, blacksmith?" she asked coolly. "Or do you want to drink yourself to death in the woods?"
Kael spit on the ground. "I want to hammer iron. But the Elder took my forge."
"Opportunity detected," Zephyr projected to Elara. "Asset Acquisition possible."
"We don't have a forge," Elara said, repeating Zephyr's words. "But we have a Blueprint."
She unrolled a piece of parchment on the altar. It wasn't parchment—it was a broad leaf she had sketched on with charcoal, tracing the glowing lines Zephyr projected onto the surface.
[System Action: Project Blueprint]
[Cost: 20 FP. Remaining: 25 FP.]
It wasn't a normal forge. It was a [Blast Furnace (Level 1)].
Kael squinted at it. "What is this? The ventilation is wrong. The heat would melt the casing."
"It uses a dual-chamber intake to superheat the air," Elara recited. "It burns charcoal 40% hotter than your Elder's forge. And it smelts ore in half the time."
Kael stared at the diagram. He was a drunk, but he was a master smith. He saw the logic instantly. It was genius. It was impossible.
"Who taught you this?" he whispered.
"The Architect," Elara said. "He says your current methods are... inefficient."
Kael looked at the girl, then at the ruined shrine, then back at the drawing that defied everything he knew about metallurgy.
"Build," he said hoarsely. "If we build this... I can make steel that cuts through the Elder's iron like butter."
"Contract Accepted," Zephyr intoned from above, visible only as a shimmer of heat in the air.
[New Believer: Kael (Blacksmith Level 5)]
[Status: Intrigued]
[Faith Generated: +5 FP]
[Current FP: 30]
"Now, the Labor," Zephyr commanded.
The work began.
It wasn't prayer. It was construction.
The old man, Silas, knew masonry. The orphans, Jinx and Pip, were small and fast—perfect for gathering clay and small stones.
Zephyr hovered over the site like a project manager from hell.
[Structure: Blast Furnace]
[Progress: 12%]
[Efficiency: Low]
"Rotate the intake pipe," he whispered to Kael, spending 1 FP per correction. "The angle maximizes airflow."
Kael jumped, looking around. "Who said that?"
"Focus!" Elara snapped. "The Architect is watching."
Kael grumbled but adjusted the pipe. The draft caught instantly, the fire roaring to life with a heat he had never felt before. The clay casing groaned under the thermal stress.
"It's too hot!" Kael yelled. "The structure is cracking! It's going to blow!"
Zephyr watched the stress lines. Kael was right. The primitive clay couldn't handle the blast furnace temperatures.
Unless...
[System Notification]
[Achievement: Industrial Revolution.]
You have introduced advanced manufacturing to a primitive civilization.
[New Domain Unlocked: The Domain of the Forge (Fragment)]
Passive Effect Acquired: [Unbreaking]
Description: Structures dedicated to crafting have +50% Durability and Heat Resistance.
A subtle, metallic hum resonated through the shrine. The cracks in the clay stopped spreading. The groaning ceased. The structure stabilized, held together not by physics, but by the conceptual weight of the Forge itself.
Kael blinked, wiping soot from his face. "It... it held. By the Gods, it held."
He grinned. It was the grin of a man who had found his purpose again.
"More charcoal!" he yelled at the orphans. "Feed it!"
As they worked, the numbers in Zephyr's vision ticked up.
[Faith Generated (Labor): +2]
[Faith Generated (Awe): +5]
[Faith Generated (Purpose): +10]
[Current FP: 42]
It wasn't just fear anymore. It was satisfaction.
They were building something. They were eating the bread Elara provided (purchased by Zephyr's dwindling FP). They were safe under the watchful, terrifying gaze of the golden eyes.
By sunset, the furnace was smoking. A small, ugly thing of clay and stone, but it roared like a dragon.
Kael held up a glowing iron spike he had smelted from scrap.
"Impurities... gone," he marveled. "This is High Steel."
He fell to his knees, not in fear, but in respect.
"Architect," he murmured. "Teach me more."
[Faith Quality Upgrade: Devout.]
Zephyr looked at his map. The "Territory" boundary had expanded. The shrine was now covered by a Level 1 Influence Zone.
But on the edge of the map, red dots were gathering.
The Elder wasn't stupid. He saw the smoke.
"Phase 1 Complete," Zephyr announced to his tiny congregation. "Now, we fortify."
He selected the [Stone Wall (Basic)] blueprint.
"Kael. Melt everything metal you can find. We need spikes."
"Yes, Lord!"
"Elara. Organize the perimeter."
"Yes, Lord!"
Zephyr watched them scramble. They were tired, dirty, and outnumbered.
But they had a Blast Furnace empowered by a God. And they had the [Unbreaking] will of the Forge.
"Let them come," Zephyr thought, opening his [Defense] menu. "I haven't played Tower Defense in years."