The Cordobo mine

Damon was in a carriage heading for the mining town of Cordobo to take over the mine there.

This was a welcome development as it allowed him to cut costs in the production of steel. It also enabled him to bypass all the hassle of price hikes, With this he could set his price more fluidly .

When he arrived he was welcomed by Count Cornelius and his family. Whilst shaking the counts hand , Damon could see in his eyes that the count was taking the mine transition badly. It was clear that he relied too much on the mines output.

" Lord Cornelius, please have your men fetch us fresh horses so we can inspect the mine , we will talk on the way."

When they got the horses, they transversed a muddy road till they got to the mine. There Damon could see how poorly maintained it was and how it was on the risk of collapse. There were no safety equipment that protected the miners from any accidents, the management of the mines were just incompetent and Damon controlled himself so as not to lash out and continued the inspection.

After the inspection, the miners were called over to were Damon made his announcement,

" Hello everyone, I am Damon von Wolfsburg the chairman of Blackfire incorporated and I have come to tell you that this mine is now under our management. In two days , I will be arriving with a team that will make sure the mine is safe before work will begin again. During this time frame, I would like you to think about if you want to continue your employment with Blackfire. If so you will have to sign a contract which will enable that each and every one of you get fair wages.

If you have any questions or complaints, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you."

As this was going on , the king of the kingdom of Ironpeak, Marcel Ironpeak had just received word about the weapon that was created in the western region .

" Are you sure this report is correct?" King Marcel asked the advisor who had brought the information to his knowledge.

" Yes you Majesty, the information came from a reliable source ." The advisor said.

" If what you claim is true, then we must get our hands on it ."

" Shall we approach the boy through Duke or shall we approach him directly." The advisor asked.

" I hear he relinquished claim to his father's seat, that means he's no longer an heir and is now easily discarded without much consequence so we will go to him and with the right coercion we will be able to convince him to make the weapon for us." King Marcel replied.

Two days later Damon came back to Cordobo with a team and began construction inside of the mines which were now held up with support beams to prevent collapse. They began laying down a rail track that would connected to a steam engine and allow for a much more smoother transportation of ore.

Three steam engines were transported to the site , two were for pulling the rail wagons while one was for pumping out water from the mines.

A road leading from the mines cutting through Cordobo to Hankook was also being built. This was going to be a concrete road, built in preparation of automobiles . It was large enough for four carriages to move side by side.

The entire town has turned into a beehive as manual laborers were being hired from the residents and paid fair wages.

As this was going on , thousands of people flooded the registration booths to sign work contracts but there was a twist, people below the age of adulthood couldn't work in the mines this meant that anyone who was below sixteen couldn't work in the mines . Because of some mining accidents or just fate some of the underage boys started working in the mines to become the breadwinners of their families. But things didn't always go as planned as they sometimes get injured or have their wages cut if they get any at all all because they couldn't retaliate.

But their hope wasn't dashed as they were provided with another opportunity to move to Hankook to work in another factory which was going to be less chaotic.

Within two weeks all construction was completed and work had begun , workers were required as per their contract to complete a six hour shift daily with a thirty minute break and the wages were to be paid at the end of each week. It was at least twice the amount they were making previously.

Everything dug up from the mine including the mud was to be transported back to Hankook.

From previous inspection, Damon realized that this was a very rich mineral deposit, aside from iron ore which was the target of the mining over the past years there were also many others like manganese which was a material was essential in industrial level steel production.

There was copper, nickel and cobalt , cobalt which was being discarded as a waste product was used in making lithium batteries, super alloys , magnets , electronic components, it acted as a catalyst, used in making dental equipment , making of pigments, dyes and so on .

There was also aluminum, phosphorus and sulphur present in the mine and in Damons opinion, this was ten times more valuable than a gold mine and he was grateful for it , because every thing that came out of it was valuable even the mud.

He was happy now that there were less things hindering progess and soon he would get to work on more exciting projects, but little did he know that there was a storm in the corner, something that would test his self control. Only time would tell if he would be able to overcome or be tied down by it .

This trying period would also determine if he would continue his life here in Wolfsburg or if it would uproot his life here .