The Discovery and Use of Coal

Nidhogg.

The world was caught in two extremes: the sky was divided into two distinct colors, with the intense golden sunlight shining on the Cloud Sea of clouds overhead, making the whole world seem to be bathed in a golden ocean.

On the other side, however, was a Dead Silence still white expanse, with howling winds bringing a chilling frost.

Cold and heat appeared simultaneously in this world. The Lord of Dawn and the God of Light unleashed their power, just like the Flower of Morning Radiance, which could bring incredibly terrifying power.

The extinction in the Northlands was silent, leaving life with the deepest despair.

A living hell? That's probably how you'd describe the world of Nidhogg. Ryan's experience of entering this world was completely different from before.

"The underground river has been poured beneath those cities, and in accordance with your wishes, we have placed those... great substances within them."

The great matter, naturally, was the part of Surtr's body that had fallen from his body. Ryan had never thought of how to use it. The Eternity burning flames brought Eternity heat, radiating light and heat as if they would never go out.

Their existence ensures the activity of the underground river; otherwise, the Northlands would freeze it, and the power of the Sun would evaporate it.

Essentially, this is a method of using Deities to fight against Deities.

"We found those things while we were dredging the riverbed. They were dark, grimy stones that couldn't be washed off once they got on you, and they were also very flammable."

The government official spoke respectfully and led Ryan to their destination, a the Wilds where the river had been diverted due to the discovery of coal.

Ryan could see the towering flames from afar.

Clearly, the exposed coal was burning under the Sun, and the fire has not yet been extinguished.

"The flames produced by these coals cannot be extinguished; we have tried many methods."

The political official looked somewhat uneasy because some people had died in the process.

Ryan looked at the Alchemist and Mages behind him, and the Alchemist frowned before looking at the Mages in return.

These Mages are not highly skilled; they are mostly magic apprentices. More than 90% of people on this extraordinary path are at this stage.

Those at their level are the easiest for Ryan to control; they are pitifully weak and have no say, yet they possess precious magic.

"If you remove the air, the flames will naturally go out."

Mages couldn't create a vacuum simply by waving their hands, but they learned how to inscribe magic circles to prevent air from circulating.

About three hours later, the exposed coal extinguished the flames. Ryan had his soldiers move huge blocks of ice over and over. Naturally, it was the result of their efforts over those three hours. The world was polarized, and a lot of ice could be dug out from the nearby Mountain Forest.

"Maintain humidity. If you want this coal to prevent it from spontaneously combusting, just water it. Isn't there enough water in this world?"

As Ryan spoke, he approached the Coal Mine, wanting to test whether the coal in this world could truly be used as fuel.

He picked up a lump of coal with his fingers and rubbed it repeatedly until sparks appeared on his hand, igniting all the particles. Flames burned along Ryan's palm, but they did not harm him in the slightest.

"It's more fragile than I imagined."

Ryan also discovered that the gases produced by burning these coals were not as pungent as he had imagined.

How is coal formed?

Ryan wasn't quite sure; he didn't have that much knowledge. He simply knew that the stones were formed from the remains of plants and animals that had evolved underground over a long period of time.

In short, the raw materials for coal are the plants and animals of the world.

Different plants and animals produce different types of coal.

Nidhogg, on the other hand, is a world inhabited by Dragons, a world of extraordinary beings. Animals here can easily transform into Magical Beast, and plants here undergo even more advanced evolution due to the excrement and energy radiation from Magical Beast and Dragons.

The substances produced will also be altered.

The coal was more fragile than Ryan had imagined, but also more powerful. A piece of coal the size of a thumb, crushed into powder and not even refined, burned in Ryan's palm for nearly an hour.

The temperature is terrifyingly high, comparable to the blast furnaces in the Frozen Earth Territory.

"With these things, the Alchemy Academy should be able to be more efficient."

Ryan said to Mr. Roth that he had brought the Dean of the Alchemy Academy with him because Ryan wanted to entrust the coal-related work to the Alchemy Academy.

Mages are too high-level beings, and Mages who enjoy meditation find it difficult to be active in the world of ordinary people.

Alchemist are similar, but they are much more "approachable" than Mages.

"If we turn this coal into solid fuel, we can solve all the fuel problems in the Frozen Earth Territory —no, we could even say it will change the world..."

Ryan's voice trailed off as he murmured, "Yes, he wanted to find coal so that his people would be less dependent on firewood, but coal is, in essence, an energy source that could change the course of history."

A more advanced energy source than wood and stone.

"Perhaps, the Alchemy Academy really can become a towering structure that changes the world."

Ryan looked at Rose, who didn't quite understand, but Ryan's confidence was swelling at that moment.

"The Magic Academy in the Imperial Capital has developed for a hundred years to reach its current scale and become a holy place for Mages to learn. But if you can develop this, Mr. Roth, you will become Deities to all Alchemist."

Ryan clenched his fist, extinguishing the burning coal, then opened it again, delivering the black coal to Rose's hand.

"I hope this can become our trump card in the fight against the Northlands as soon as possible."

Professional tasks should be left to professional Alchemist and craftsmen. In the Frozen Earth Territory, Ryan has already sent the roster of all craftsmen to the Alchemy Academy. From now on, the craftsmen of the Frozen Earth Territory will be a subordinate professional institution of the Alchemy Academy, jointly managed by the Dean of the Rose Alchemy Academy and the Chief Artisan Brock.

Ryan called it the Ministry of Works.

This incident did cause some repercussions, but Lord Ryan's authority in the Frozen Earth Territory remained unshakable.

The main reason was that he witnessed the clash of civilizations brought about by the collaboration between Alchemist and craftsmen during shipbuilding, which was extremely beneficial to the development of the Frozen Earth Territory.

"Everyone is watching the world in the South. A war breaking out in the South can draw everyone's attention. But one day, they will come to the north at any cost, just to learn the power here."

Ryan turned and left, leaving behind words that made many people gasp for breath. They had unwavering faith in Baron Ryan's ability to accomplish his goal.

"Keep searching; there's definitely more coal in this world than just this little bit."

More coal in this world must be discovered before the Northlands snowstorm from above completely blankets the land. Ryan even arranged for ships to set sail again to search for Coal Mine hidden on the seabed.

"The pressure on energy is not something that my Frozen Earth Territory is facing alone."

Instead of returning directly to the Frozen Earth Territory, Ryan began inspecting the cities of Nidhogg.

He was thinking that the population of the Norris Continent was too large.

For example, his Frozen Earth Territory, and the territories of the nobles of the Empire, a third of Norris is human land, and it actually has a population exceeding the limits that current production conditions can sustain.

Why? Of course, it's because those great nobles always manage to discover Otherworld Plane, capture and tame humans from Otherworld, turning them into their slaves and cheap labor.

They will all be concentrated on the Norris Continent.

However, even in the most prosperous empires on the Norris Continent, a Baron territory, plus two or three Lordship, could not support more than three thousand people. But in reality, the population within those Baron territories certainly exceeded that number.

The firewood, food, and suitable production conditions required for three thousand people are all major issues.

This problem has always existed, but it hasn't erupted yet. As more and more people appear on the Norris Continent, this contradiction will trigger a terrible disaster.

In fact, this contradiction has already been revealed once.

This refers to the emergence of the Baronet System.

The emergence of the Baronet System elevated the status of the fifth rank of nobility to a higher level, allowing more people to acquire Noble Title and become nobles, thus gaining a prestigious status.

Why did the Baronet System emerge? It was because the great nobles no longer had enough land to reward their offspring or the knights who had followed them for generations. In short, there were too many wolves and not enough meat; there were too many nobles, but not enough land for them to consume.

Essentially, it's a result of insufficient distribution of energy, resources, wealth, and power. This is because a large number of nobles from the north fled to the South, and because nobles from Otherworld entered the Norris Continent, disrupting the rules and hereditary authority of the native nobles.

The conflict first erupted at the level of the rulers, that is, the nobility, and then began to spread downwards.

The Baronet System was the beginning of this conflict, but because the rule of the nobles was stable and the nobles believed that their existence was justified, they adapted and withstood this outbreak of conflict.

But no matter how much you can eat, if you keep eating without ever vomiting, there will come a day when you can't hold on any longer. When the population conflict completely erupts, this will be an extraordinary world, and no one knows what will happen then.

All of Ryan's historical memories are of no use to this extraordinary world.

He could only prepare for this. No matter what happened, he had the most powerful army and the strongest logistics, so he would not fear any disaster.

However, given his limited knowledge and the current global environment, he is incapable of developing such advanced technologies.

Looking at the tall and imposing Knight Retainer around them, these cold weapon warriors would not fall from grace for any reason.

Because they are extraordinary.

Ryan doesn't need to worry about the day he'll be suddenly eliminated.

only...

"I've heard that at the southernmost edge of the South lands, on the southernmost Boundary Line between human territory and the [The Woodlands] where the Elves reside, there exists a kingdom of Dwarves. Those Dwarves are said to be able to forge terrifying ranged weapons?"

Because of the recent events in the Sera Kingdom, Ryan once again turned his attention to the alien races in this world besides the Orcs.

Elves, Dwarves, and even the Sea Demon currently attacking the empire at sea—these alien races, so different from humans, intrigued Ryan. But the only ones he had ever seen were Elves slaves in the noble castles, and he couldn't discern any difference in civilization.

Ryan was very curious about how the powerful Elves were able to seize a vast the Forest from humans and make it their territory. He also wondered about the Dwarves, who were caught in a dilemma and could not survive in the cracks. It was said that the Church had once led humans to attack the Dwarves kingdom, and the Woodlands Elves had also launched attacks against the Dwarves.

Without exception, the final result was that the land with numerous volcanoes still belonged to the Dwarves.

Ryan is too far away from that place, and has not seen any Dwarves yet. Dwarves are also rare in the Empire, and they only appear in small numbers on the West Coast at specific times.

This was told to him by his father-in-law, Viscount Melendez.

Why the West Coast instead of the Imperial Capital? It's not hard to guess. The West Coast can be reached by sea, and the powerful Dwarves are not afraid of sea pirates. But going to the Imperial Capital would require the Dwarves to waste more resources and time.

It's simply a matter of cost.

The sky is polarized, while on the ground, Lord Ryan contemplates poetry and distant places, the magnificent and colorful world civilization.

The alchemists, meanwhile, huddled in dark, damp corners, munching on hard bread and staring at the black coal in front of them, deep in thought.

"We can just burn this stuff, but that's wasteful and unsafe. In a few days, all the houses in the Frozen Earth Territory will be burned to the ground, and then we'll be doomed."

"Dean Rose must have a way, right? Lord Ryan said we could try exchanging other materials for coal, but we'd have to make sure the proportions are right to make these things last longer and be more convenient and safe?"

Ryan thought that new energy sources would take some time to develop, but he underestimated the innate extraordinary abilities possessed by those alchemists.

Ryan had been wandering around Nidhogg for seven or eight days and was about to return to the Frozen Earth Territory when Rose came to him again, carrying the finished products he needed.

Looking at the black, ink-strip-like thing Rose had placed in front of him, he wondered why Rose's original plan had turned out to be something like honeycomb briquettes.

and...

Ryan casually drew the Knight's Greatsword from the attendant beside him and slashed at the ink stick.

It's not broken. This is Knight's Greatsword from the Frozen Earth Territory, yet it can't even cut through this lump of coal.

"What did you use?"

Ryan couldn't believe that a simple lump of coal could turn into this.

Rose answered truthfully:

"Dragon blood, Dragon Scale, and the skin of a third-tier giant python Magical Beast, plus a batch of Dragon Blood Wheat that has recently ripened."

After hearing this, Ryan's face turned as black as the coal.

He looked at Rose and said:

"What you're talking about is enough firewood for 10,000 people for a year."

So, the coal that Ryan painstakingly searched for was actually the cheapest material in the production of this thing?

Is it still fuel? Why not just go home and take out those treasured dragon bones to burn as firewood?

Rose understood, of course, so she produced another answer: a gray, honeycomb-like, spherical, porous object.

"One can burn for a whole day, providing a high-temperature flame of up to 600 degrees."

"However, it is made from coal, the feathers of a Thick-feathered Birds, the dung of Northern Warhorse, and wood chips. During the burning process, some fine, invisible ash will be produced."

According to Rose, he himself couldn't explain the principle behind it; it was simply due to the Alchemist under his command using their innate alchemical skills to create this substance.

Ryan once again experienced the madness of so-called alchemy.

Should I prepare some large cauldrons for these Alchemist, so that I can just throw them in and boil them whenever I want to get the result?

In any case, the livestock of the Frozen Earth Territory have gained another flying creature.

(End of this chapter)