Chapter 318
Outside, the faint traces of ratmen civilization started to emerge from the darkness. The air was thicker here, musty and heavy with the weight of stone and earth pressing down from above. The ratmen had carved out small, makeshift homes and workshops into the tunnel walls. Pipes, made from metal scraps, weaved through the stone like veins, carrying heated steam to warm their living spaces and power their crude inventions.
These rudimentary technologies were the earliest signs of a steampunk society beginning to take shape. The ratmen, though ingenious in their adaptation to the underground, had only just begun to harness the power of steam. Their forges were small and isolated, hidden deep within their burrows to avoid filling their narrow homes with smoke and fumes. Small, sputtering engines powered crude mechanical tools, but it seems they understood the risk of contamination and illness so they kept their experiments on a modest scale. They relied on natural ventilation systems, carefully crafted by the more forward-thinking engineers among them, to keep the air breathable in their subterranean cities.
While there were no vast factories, small workstations could be found nestled into the walls, dimly lit by flickering lanterns fueled by whatever resources they had managed to extract from the earth. The ratmen were builders, scavengers, and survivors. Their resourcefulness allowed them to create crude steam-powered carts for transporting goods through the tunnels, and in some places, simple mechanical elevators moved between levels in their underground network.
The glowing eyes of ratmen scurried in the darkness, their wiry frames moving swiftly from one tunnel to the next. Despite the harsh conditions, there was an undeniable sense of progress. They tinkered with gears and pipes, always seeking to improve, but their work was limited by their environment.
Inside the carriage, Keles studied Ikenga as he moved his piece across the board. "It’s truly fascinating" she said softly, her eyes glinting. "They’re on the verge of something greater, but they’re held back by their own limitations. If they continue like this, it’s only a matter of time before their experiments put them in real danger."
Keles leaned back in her seat, her focus shifting from the chessboard to the flickering lanterns outside. "They’ve managed to survive this long, though it’s more out of necessity than innovation. If they keep pushing steam power without refining their methods, their entire society might suffocate under its own fumes."
Ikenga didn’t look up from the chessboard, but his voice was thoughtful. "True. But necessity breeds innovation. They’re reaching a crossroads. Steam may be their escape from the limitations of mana in these tunnels—or it may be their undoing." He made his move, capturing one of Keles’s knights. "Our presence will influence that choice."
Keles smirked. "You sound as if you care for their future."
He looked up at her, his eyes calm. "It’s not about caring. it’s about granting them a way out from their doomed existence and at the same time having their goal align with our own purpose"