Seven weeks after Titanworks received its first foundation stones, the city prepared to light its first foundry.

The ignition was scheduled for the fourth bell.

But as always it did not happen.

Master Brakka struck the lower furnace wall with an iron testing rod, listened, then moved half a pace and struck again. The second note came back duller.

Forewoman Sera closed the inspection slate beneath her arm.

"That section passed yesterday."

"It changed."

"The furnace is cold."

"It will not remain cold."

She took the rod from him and tested the seam herself. The difference was small, but enough to justify another inspection.

The repair crew removed the outer bricks and found a narrow hollow where the mortar had settled behind the lining. Heat would have widened it once the first charge began.

The workers reopened the seam, packed the gap, and sealed it again. Coal carts waited beneath the charging platform while smelters checked the air channels and mold crews prepared the casting floor.

By the fifth bell, the repaired wall answered the testing rod with a firm note.

Sera faced the crew.

"The first charge remains at one-third capacity. Every pressure change is called aloud. No valve is adjusted until the order is repeated. If something looks wrong, report it before deciding it is harmless."

The workers moved into position.

The ignition team carried the prepared flame into the lower chamber. Coal caught across the furnace bed, spreading from a dull red line into a steady glow. Outside, the temporary water-driven shaft began turning. The bellows answered with slow, heavy strokes, forcing air through the lower channels.

Measured baskets of ore followed.

Men climbed the charging platform in pairs, emptied each load, and returned for the next. Below them, the mold crew packed sand around patterns for test bars, rail clamps, pump housings, axle-collar blanks, switch plates, and the heavy base of the first large lathe planned for the machine hall.

The furnace deepened from a glow into a controlled roar.

By the seventh bell, the heat had driven everyone without a task behind the safety line.

Joran stood near the lower pressure station, watching the gauge needle climb.

He checked it twice before raising his hand.

"Pressure above the expected mark."

Sera crossed the floor.

"How far?"

"Half a division and still rising."

Brakka turned toward the bellows platform.

"Reduce the air feed by one step."

The order passed down the line. The water gate narrowed, slowing the shaft without stopping it. The bellows lost part of their rhythm, and the pressure began to fall.

Sera watched the repaired seam.

The lining held.

"Temperature stable," one worker called.

"Pressure returning," Joran answered.

Brakka stopped beside him.

"You called early."

"Yes, Master."

"Keep doing that."

The dwarf moved away before Joran could respond.

Sera glanced at the young smelter.

"That was praise."

Joran looked after Brakka.

"It sounded like an order."

"With him, it is usually both."

The first tap began shortly before midday.

Workers cleared the casting channel. Sera inspected the molds and raised one gloved hand.

The lower valve opened.

Molten iron entered the channel in a controlled orange stream, casting light across the foundry floor. The flow divided between the molds while workers watched the level and cleared slag from the surface.

The valve closed cleanly after the final mold filled.

For several breaths, the crew remained silent.

Then the charging platform broke into cheers.

Workers struck gloved hands against shoulders and called across the floor. The furnace had held. The air feed had stabilized. Titanworks had produced its first metal.

Sera allowed the celebration to continue briefly.

"We have made hot iron," she called. "We have not proved it is good iron."

The workers returned to their stations.

By late afternoon, the first test bar had cooled enough to cut.

Brakka placed the exposed section beneath the inspection lens. The grain remained clean through most of the center, but the outer edge showed uneven cooling.

"The mold vent needs adjustment," Sera said.

"And the mixture needs a smaller correction."

"Reject the batch?"

"Restrict it."

Nothing from the first charge would enter permanent or military service. The rail clamps would face load testing. Pump housings would be machined and pressure-checked. The axle blanks would be fitted to trial wagons. The switch plates would remain workshop pieces until their strength had been confirmed.

Each casting received a mark.

Restricted.

Awaiting machining.

Cut for inspection.

Load test required.

The workers did not hide the flaws.

One switch plate was packed into a reinforced crate with two rail clamps and an axle-collar blank. The first Titanworks stamp remained visible along its rough edge.

The crate was loaded onto the Ironheart-II waiting beyond the foundry yard.

Its destination was Iron Junction.

The branch line had opened only two days earlier, and the locomotive travelled under reduced speed. Six construction wagons followed behind it, carrying tools, coal, spare timber, and the first pieces produced by Titanworks.

Workers stepped away from the track as the Ironheart passed through the unfinished industrial district. Pale coolant vapor slipped from its vents while the hybrid drive held a steady rhythm through the rising grade.

By late afternoon, the locomotive reached the first completed junction.

Three lines met inside the unfinished yard.

The eastern line returned toward Elarion.

The southern branch ran to Titanworks.

The western line continued toward the future freight district, ending beyond the next construction front.

Timber platforms stood beside a signal post and a temporary repair shed. Survey stakes covered the open basin where warehouses, loading yards, depots, and worker housing would eventually rise.

Oren waited beside the junction lever with Harl. Mira stood near the signal post with the inspection ledger, while Foreman Darric watched the approaching locomotive.

The Ironheart stopped before the switch.

Darric raised his hand.

"Western route first."

Oren checked the linkage and pulled the lever.

The point rails moved into position. The locking bar dropped beneath them with a firm metallic strike.

Mira checked the indicator.

"Western line aligned."

The blue signal rose.

The Ironheart advanced slowly.

Its front wheels crossed the switch, followed by the heavy driving wheels. Every worker near the junction watched the locking bar and point rails rather than the locomotive itself.

The first wagon crossed.

Then the second.

All six passed through without shifting the mechanism.

The final axle cleared.

The Ironheart stopped beyond the junction and prepared to reverse.

Oren reset the switch toward the Titanworks branch.

The lever moved halfway and caught.

"Hold."

The locomotive remained still.

Harl opened the guide cover. A small piece of frozen gravel had lodged beneath the linkage.

Oren removed it with a narrow hook.

"The temporary road is draining toward the switch," he said.

Darric crouched beside the guide.

"Water carries the gravel during the thaw."

"And freezes it under the plate overnight," Harl added.

Mira opened the ledger.

"Correction?"

"Cut the drainage away from the junction," Oren said. "Raise the guide cover and fit a full shield over the linkage."

"How long?" Darric asked.

"One day for the channel. Two for the shield if we have suitable plate."

Darric looked toward the newly arrived freight crate.

"Open it."

Workers lowered the reinforced box from the wagon and removed the first Titanworks switch plate.

Oren ran one thumb over the rough casting. A shallow defect near one corner had already been circled in chalk.

"First batch?"

The railway messenger nodded.

"Restricted for machining and testing."

Harl lifted one side of the plate.

"Enough material for the guide shield."

"If the metal passes," Darric said.

The plate was sent to the temporary workshop for cutting and cold-load testing.

Meanwhile, the junction crew cleared the linkage and worked the lever through its full range twice.

The points moved smoothly.

Mira checked the indicator.

"Southern branch aligned."

The Ironheart reversed across the junction and entered the Titanworks line. The engine crossed cleanly, followed by all six wagons.

After the final axle cleared, the workers checked the mechanism again.

No shift.

No damage.

No movement beneath the locking bar.

Darric looked toward Mira.

"Record controlled success."

She wrote the result.

First locomotive junction trial completed.

Western and southern routes operational under restriction.

No night traffic until guide shield and drainage correction are complete.

The Ironheart moved through the junction once more before sunset, this time carrying empty ore wagons, damaged tools, and repair components south toward Titanworks.

Workers watched until the last wagon disappeared beyond the ridge.

The first foundry had produced iron.

The first junction had directed the train carrying it.

Titanworks could now send components north.

Iron Junction could return ore, coal, tools, and damaged parts south.

The connection remained limited. The foundry could not yet produce reliable military-grade steel. The junction still required drainage work and a permanent guide shield. Most of both cities existed as foundations, tents, workshops, and marked ground.

Yet the circulation had begun.

At Titanworks, the night crew prepared the furnace for its second reduced charge.

At Iron Junction, workers cut a new drainage channel while the workshop began testing the first Titanworks plate.

Far away in Elarion, pale blue text appeared before Lucien.

Industrial Foundation milestone recognized.

First operational foundry established.

First multi-line freight junction completed.

Independent industrial circulation initiated.

Tier III Industrial Civilization: 41%

The notification faded.

Lucien had not witnessed the furnace lighting or the locomotive trial.

The system had responded only after both had succeeded.

Titanworks had produced.

Iron Junction had moved.

For the first time, two of the Five Pillars had begun supplying one another.