As far as we were concerned, the only hard things currently were limestone and iron wood. So what could be harder than that?

​"No," the beaver said, carefully unwrapping the rag.

​The hall went silent. Sitting in the center of the cloth was a jagged chunk of rock, but it wasn’t normal stone. Even in the dim light of the hall, it gave off a dull, heavy glint. It was dark, almost black, with veins of a deep, bronzed gold running through it.

I stood up, my exhaustion vanishing as if it had never existed. I grabbed the rock, almost dropping it because—holy crap—it was heavy. It wasn’t just a shiny gold rock; it was high-grade metal ore.

The ones you see in those movies, and you’re like, Ah, I wish I were that lucky. I’d immediately get rich.

And that is happening to me right now.

​"It’s a vein," I whispered, my heart doing a little victory dance against my ribs. "Oryn, if there’s a vein of this near the cliff, we aren’t just building a marketplace, we’re making a mint." A money factory, if I might say.

But when ​I looked up, they all looked at me with confused faces. I realized they probably didn’t get a word out about what I had just said besides the marketplace.

I cleared my throat, a giddy, quirky grin spreading across my face despite my shaky legs.

"​Okay, quick lesson, guys! Listen carefully." I said as I cradled the precious ore. "A vein in the ground is like a giant, hidden treasure pipe. It means this isn’t just one lucky stone—it’s a massive, solid line of wealth buried right under our feet. It’s like... like finding a never-ending river of honey, but instead of sticky fingers, we get unbreakable tools, sharp swords, and actual money!"

To think there was a vein hidden right under our feet this whole time. Am I truly blessed, or is this someone’s plan?

Well, it doesn’t matter. There’s no beast that can pull this off anyway, so I enjoy it while it’s coming.

​I did a little awkward wiggle-dance, ignoring the way my lower back twinged.

​"Do you guys even realize? I hit the jackpot! This is the ultimate ’Welcome to the Palace’ gift! We just went from a cozy kingdom to a potential world power in one afternoon. I am literally the luckiest person in this entire beastworld right now. It’s a pipe of wealth. Jackpot, baby!"

​Noah blinked, looking between me and the rock.

"A pipe of wealth? So... I can stop trading my best dried meats for Thalor’s shiny cooling sea-glass?"

​"Exactly!" I exclaimed, but then paused. "Wait, what?"

He shrugged his shoulders, turning his head away, and I narrowed my eyes. What were these guys doing behind my back?

But I laughed, patting the heavy ore. I was too excited to be sidetracked.

"So, this money," Noah continued, crossing his arms. "We can use it like the sea-shells we get from the shore?"

"It’s better than the shells, Noah! We take this particular rock, melt it down, and turn it into little circles." I pinched my thumb and index fingers to make a circle through my fingers for emphasis. "We call the process a mint. We’ll be the ones setting the prices for everyone else. We’re going to be rich. Like, ’buy-the-entire-ocean-if-we-want’ rich."

Fenric, who had been listening intently while keeping an eye on the crawling babies, stepped closer. He didn’t look excited. He looked worried.

​"If this ’mint’ can buy the sea, Arinya..." Fenric began, his voice low and serious. "Won’t that attract a level of greed we haven’t seen before? If the surrounding tribes or the red-scales hear we have a ’river of honey’ that makes us more powerful than anyone else, they won’t just attack for territory. They’ll come to take the honey."

​I paused, my excitement cooling just a tiny bit as I looked at the dark, heavy ore.

Fenric was right. In the beastworld, strength was usually measured by claws and numbers. Introducing ’wealth’ was like throwing a piece of raw meat into a den of starving lions.

​"You’re right," I murmured, leaning back against the table and feeling my waist throb again. "Metal is a game-changer, but it’s also a target. We can’t let the word spread too fast."

I gave it a nice, long thought. How to ensure we do not endanger ourselves by bringing the knowledge of metal into this world?

Ah, was there even a need to think long about it?

I snapped my fingers, my lips curling in victory. We had just the thing to keep us safe.

"We play this smart. Security first, ’honey river’ second. Once those walls are finished and the watchtowers are manned with guards carrying iron-tipped spears, the rest of the world can be as greedy as they want. They won’t be able to get past the front door anyway."

Everyone began whispering in relief. The idea of the walls for security and safety was great, and the only reason the red scales were able to get through was because the wall was still in progress.

It would take about two more months to complete, and if the mer-folks were to lend a helping hand, it would be even faster.

By then, we can let the world hear of our metal and how great our kingdom has become.

​I sat back down, the heavy ore still resting in my lap. My brain was already cataloging what I’d need to create the coins as well as metal armour if necessary. I know beasts don’t need it since they can transform into their beast form at any time in battle, but it’s still quite necessary.

Let’s have the type of armour you can strip off as quickly as needed.

For that, we’re going to need a forge, high-heat bellows, and someone who knows a thing or two about smithing—or at least someone with the patience to let me teach them.

I don’t even know much about it, so we might as well hit our heads together to get the right process, haha.

​"Oryn, tell your crew the digging is for ’deep structural foundations,’" I instructed. "If anyone asks why the rocks look weird, tell them it’s just a strange type of heavy slate. We don’t use the words ’metal’ or ’gold’ outside this hall. Got it?"