For the next week, I imported ballistae, steel swords, axes, shields, and spears into Silverbrook. Carter and Timothy arrived, mass-producing waterwheels and blast furnaces before teaching people how to make steel and ballistae.

I silently annexed Silverbrook. With their consent, it became an independent kingdom known as a "vassal state." Vassal states are independent kingdoms that pay taxes to a powerful entity in exchange for protection. However, in our case, we provided the illusion of control to Valeria.

Setting up our weaponry wasn't challenging since Silverbrook already had towers on its walls. We installed five ballistae in each tower and positioned cannons along the walkable outworks, which archers typically occupied.

Cannons are very simple creations. They are just metal tubes packed with black powder and an iron ball before being ignited. Super simple.

Naturally, modern smokeless powder is now considered the ideal propellant. However, cannons were primarily loaded with black powder from the 13th century until the invention of the first practical smokeless powder by Paul Vieille in 1884. It was more than adequate to fight medieval soldiers.

Therefore, cannons were our main line of defense for regular soldiers.

Meanwhile, I hired everyone available to mine limestone in a quarry within our domain and had every pottery guild in the area working with blast furnaces to turn it into calcium carbonate, the white powder I used for both purifying sugar and paper.

"Alright, mages," I clapped. "Let's use your earth magic to break the limestone into walls."

After a series of chants, they created limestone walls 10 feet tall, and I dissolved them into large bins before everyone's eyes. It has been public knowledge that I could dissolve non-organic matter since it leaked when I was around 7. Therefore, there was no reason to hide it.

Moreover, I had the power to protect myself. There was no reason to hide.

People worked around the clock to send shipments to the pottery guilds, which used new blast furnaces to bake the limestone into calcium carbonate. This continued for three days as I awaited my first shipment of clay and shale.

Now it's time to make rebar-reinforced concrete.

Concrete starts with cement, made from calcium carbonate from limestone and clay. We imported limestone and clay in large quantities from Elderthorn using sky whales alongside silica and iron oxide. Luckily, these were the same minerals used for pottery, glass blowing, and metalwork, so they were abundant in our area due to our bustling economy.

I had Tina create large crushing drums to grind the rocks and connect them to water wheels. However, river water wasn’t enough, so we first had to create an underground well that declined at a 45-degree angle. When we opened a gate, the water crashed down with gravity.

Put simply: we created a dam.

"Alright, everyone," I clapped at the quarry. "We have clay and quicklime for days. It's time to mix them up. Everything here is top secret; leaking it will result in immediate death. If you try to run away, I will kill your entire family within a month, so I suggest you think of your parents and children. This is the condition you signed up for in exchange for making ridiculous sums of money, so I don’t want to hear complaints."

Everyone gulped and nodded. They were making a lot of money by creating concrete, but it came at the price of the threat of death if they revealed the process to the kingdom, even under torture.

Spreading these materials far and wide wouldn't be a problem in the future. However, right now, we are talking about war.

"Alright, we're mixing seven parts limestone to three parts clay mix, which I've already prepared," I announced. The clay added to the quicklime has a 2:1 ratio of silica to alumina, the minerals used for making glass and aluminum. When you mix them up in that quantity, it ultimately becomes Portland Cement.

Everyone immediately got to work, mixing the components with pails into large tubs and blending them with shovels.

After making the first batch, I returned it to the pottery guilds. "We need to cure this substance," I announced, handing them the mixture. "Use maximum heat."

They transferred the blended mixture into kilns and heated it to 2,642°F or 1450°C. This process, called calcination, causes a chemical reaction that transforms the raw materials into calcium silicates and aluminates. The resulting mixture is called "clinker."

Put simply: it fuses limestone, aluminum, and glass into a single substance called clinker.

"Once you take it out, let it cool," I instructed. "It will form dark-colored lumps that resemble gravel. That's what you want."

They nodded and set to work.

After we had the clinker, we ground it again and filled large pools we dug.

"We're nearing the end," I announced to the quarry workers. "We're adding gypsum now! Once you do that and grind it one last time, you have our secret mixture: cement."

Gypsum helps regulate the setting time of the cement, preventing it from setting too quickly.

Cement is typically mixed with water to lay bricks or make sidewalks. However, we wanted to create large walls. To achieve that, we turned it into concrete.

Concrete, like cement, is a mixture of minerals. In this case, it consists of cement, sand, and gravel. Once you mix 1 part cement with two parts sand and three parts gravel, put it into a mixer and gradually add water—that’s what concrete is.

Naturally, we mixed concrete with our dam waterwheel.

Once mixed, pour the mixture into wooden molds to create walls and vibrate it to remove air bubbles. Over the next three days, concrete walls will form. Lastly, you break off the wood mold, and you have a concrete wall.

However, it wasn’t time to make concrete walls yet. While powerful enough to withstand a car crash, they wouldn't stop a catapult with a massive boulder. Therefore, we needed to reinforce it with "bones."

"What the hell is this?" Carter frowned. "It's just a long twisted steel bar?"

"It's called rebar," I explained. "It's extremely hard and intentionally deformed so that concrete adheres to it. They're like bones, but for walls."

The man shrugged. "How many do you want?"

"As many as you can make," I replied. "We're turning Silverbrook into a castle."

Carter's eyes glazed over. "Are you ever gonna give me time to enjoy the money I make?" he asked. "I haven't slept in god knows when."

“You’re gonna live forever,” I shrugged. "So worry about that a century from now."

The man grumbled and began creating twenty-foot steel rebar bars for the concrete walls.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Once completed, we mixed concrete in our waterwheel blender with river water and poured it into 20-by-10-foot wooden molds, adding the rebar in even layers.

Now, they are known as T-walls.

How strong are they? To put it into perspective, the US Pentagon uses several layers of rebar-reinforced concrete to construct one of the most secure military bases in the world. If that doesn't give you an idea of its strength, nothing will.

"Alright, boys!" I yelled to my soldiers from Elderthorn. "The quarry workers are mixing cement, and you're lifting the walls. You're the most ridiculously powerful humans in existence, so I don't want to see anyone complaining."

My people casually carried these new walls, with four people per wall, and stacked them against the existing wooden walls, binding them with wet cement as glue.

In that way, we would turn our humble outpost into a fully-fledged castle within a month. Such is the power of modern technology.

Let them come. We'll be ready.

***

We worked from dawn till dusk daily, feasting in the evening with public events and town squares, keeping the beer flowing and the laughs hearty. This was our way of building camaraderie before the kingdom knocked at our door.

And right on schedule, seven days later, after a long march, Valerian soldiers approached our concrete castle, incomplete as it was. However, it had 50 feet of rebar-reinforced concrete on the north side of the gates, the only entrance to the castle.

There were two hundred men in full knight gear, elite soldiers riding on horseback, led by Benjamin Hughes and my mentor, Alphonse.

"HALT!" Benjamin yelled, bringing all the men to a stop in unison. They stopped and stomped their feet together, displaying order and power.

I silently scoffed at Benjamin's arrogance. One of my people could easily purge his rag-tag team of knights, and a few of my mages could have taken out his magic team. He was pathetic.

However, Alphonse—he was on another level entirely.

I'm unsure if I can kill him now, and he won't let me get close enough to use my powers. Moreover, he is results-oriented like me and would use my people as shields, knowing I won't attack with them there. Our fight would result in countless casualties.

Alphonse Gurring was the real deal—I wasn't ready to fight him.

I needed to play my cards carefully.

I looked at Alphonse and spoke. "Since we last met, I have harvested six Guardian-class beasts, 89 A-class beasts, and 129 B-class beasts. I have also consumed four Guardians, 473 A-class beasts, and 827 B-class beasts. You’re mistaken if you think your power alone can triumph over us."

Alphonse's face tensed as he surveyed the mana output of the "laymen" constructing the wall and the unfamiliar weaponry displayed on it. "I had my suspicions," he replied.

Benjamin trembled when the wizard admitted that his power alone might not guarantee victory.

"However, do you have the power to save your people from an annihilation spell?" Alphonse asked.

"If you make a warlike declaration again, I'll ensure that you never get a chance to start your incantation," I replied, my eyes cold as ice.

"I'm not declaring war on you," he replied.

"W-What are you saying?!" Benjamin snarled, flustered. "We're here to apprehend Baron Everwood on treason charges! He threatened King Redfield!"

"Are you blind?" Alphonse scoffed, pointing at the cannons. "We may not know what those metal contraptions are, but that contraption over there is a mounted bow with a spear. So I'm assuming they are more powerful than a super arrow."

Benjamin opened and closed his mouth, looking at me and realizing that he might die. After all, he declared that I would be imprisoned. "C-Can't you just destroy everything?!" he asked. "I was told that you can wipe out a small city."

"If I'm in the air and can chant for 20 minutes," Alphonse replied. "However, Baron Everwood can sense me and won't allow me to finish. Even if we were to fight, you would have to face his forces, and you stand no chance."

"NONSENSE!" Benjamin snapped.

"Enough!" I yelled. "I will not tolerate declarations of war in front of me. Now tell me, Commissioner Hughes, do you speak on behalf of the king?"

The commissioner struggled to provide an answer, carefully choosing his words. However, it wasn't clear whether he was acting independently or had been instructed to make his justification ambiguous—either way, he succeeded at hiding his intentions.

Politicians.

"Your evasiveness suggests that you are not acting under the direct orders from the king, so I will not hold the kingdom responsible for this transgression," I declared. "However, it also means that you are breaking the law, and I will rightfully defend myself. To that end, I will have one of my carpenters kill your men with their bare hands until you surrender. No one has to die today, so any deaths will be on your hands."

"RIDICULOUS!" Benjamin snapped.

"I am not being ridiculous," I replied. "You can send as many people to their deaths as you wish, and you can keep your life, so long as Wizard Gurring does not get involved. I will not initiate a war without an official declaration, but I also will not tolerate this abuse."

Alphonse narrowed his eyes. "You’ve shown your strength. Do you understand that if this is an official decree, we will come back with a larger force to claim your head?”

"Bring your army," I replied. "A decisive blow will put an end to such a futile war effort."

"YOU INSOLENT FOOL!" Benjamin screeched. "Alphonse Gurring, I command—"

"I will return without interfering and take Commissioner Hughes and those who back down back to Verdanthall," Alphonse announced. "If he confirms that this was not an official order, I will seek an apology. If he considers it a transgression, I will return to claim your head."

"Fine by me. Knights, leave or face the consequences," I declared. "No one needs to die, but if anyone brandishes their swords, they will not leave here alive. Ajax—"

I turned to one of my carpenters. He was a massive, 6.5-foot bodybuilder with well-defined muscles and long hair. He had spent all his gold on A-class monster meat, making him a towering figure among men.

"—kill any soldier who refuses to back down. There's no need for honor or ceremony. Just get it over with so we can get to work."

The knights immediately unsheathed their swords, displaying anger, sneers, and nervousness.

"These people defy your kingdom!" the head knight, dressed in red armor, yelled, raising his sword high while Ajax cracked his knuckles. "Show no mercy to—

Ajax vanished from his position. Like a ghost, he materialized beside the commander, seized the man's helmet with his bare hands, and squeezed, causing blood to pour out from under the helmet as the commander's body went limp.

As everyone tried to comprehend what had just occurred, Ajax hurled the lifeless body into the midst of the soldiers, plowing through them like a bowling ball. The impact produced resounding cracks as individuals were struck and horses bucked in response to the chaos.

Benjamin trembled with horror as he witnessed the lone man pummel his knights' helmets with his bare hands, causing the iron to deform and sending them hurtling into another group of ten people. It resembled a brutal game of dodgeball played in tight quarters.

"TAKE HOSTAGES!" a knight yelled. However, the moment the words left his mouth, a massive spear pierced his chest, skewering another 15 people in its path and leaving everyone stunned.

"Never utter the word 'hostages' in my presence," I commanded. "Or else there will be war today."

Benjamin turned to Alphonse. "Do something, you brute!" he exclaimed. "I'll have your—"

Alphonse swiftly struck the man at the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious, and then dragged him to his horse. He turned to me. "I've seen enough," he said, disregarding the one-sided massacre. "But before I depart, answer me this: How did you survive in the forest?"

"I used earth magic to remove the clay and replaced it with real soil from the forest," I replied. "Then I shared my soul mana meat to build my people’s strength. Even without my visions, I would still emerge victorious in a war against you."

The wizard's gaze shifted to the left, and he turned away. "Until next time."

With those words, he rode away.

"Until next time," I sighed, turning to my people. "Let's get back to work. If necessary, we have a war to win, and we must make every moment count."

Zenith walked up to me with a stern expression. “Why didn’t we just kill them?”

"You don't know who Alphonse Gurrigs is or what he’s capable of," I replied. "If we had fought, the damage and collateral would have killed everyone except us, and we would have to start over. There is a time and place for battle, and this is neither the time nor the place. So, I gave him enough justlification to leave."

I gestured toward Ajax, massacring the soldiers who hadn't fled. "If you want blood, then enjoy the spectacle," I said, walking away. "I am not a fan of violence for violence’s sake."

“Do you think that they’ll change after this?” Zenith asked.

I stopped. “If I marry Princess Rema they will. The only question is whether they will be wise enough to choose that path and adhere to my 'conditions.'" With those words, I vanished from her sight. The war games had begun, and I had to make preparations.