In this area of the forest, sparse tree coverage allowed moonlight to drench the entire clearing in pale light. A hooting sound pierced the air every seven seconds; between those intervals, other birds sang love songs to each other.

The air was cool, and Kage was tempted to sleep on the tree branch longer, but since the hooting started, he found it impossible to continue. Instead, he lay there silent, thinking.

Then he heard footsteps and glanced down.

Kaito was beneath him, walking away.

Kage frowned in mild irritation, then sighed.

"Disappointing..."

Kaito stopped and looked around, brows furrowed. He glanced up—the moonlight revealed someone perched in the tree but obscured their face.

"Who's there?"

Rustling, then a loud thud. The figure's face came into view. Kaito's eyes widened—something between shock and relief.

"Friend! Good to see you!"

He glanced up belatedly.

"...On a tree again."

Kage didn't return the pleasantries, just gave him a flat, expressionless stare.

"You're a coward."

Kaito's expression went rigid. He suppressed it with a smile, cupping his hands.

"Why say such a thing to someone you barely know?"

Kage looked past him and pointed to the Stone Guardian.

"You fought that thing for hours and didn't notice its pattern. No—you did, but you chose to scurry around like a stains breath. You'd rather get hit than do anything right?"

Kaito's features creased into a visible frown.

"That stone construct had a 70% chance of breaking my bones. I tested that. The pattern had an 83% chance of changing the moment I committed to that opening. In other words, it could be a trap."

Kage was silent, staring with that same expressionless mask.

The boy's frown deepened.

"What?"

Kage's voice carried a note of utter disbelief.

"You didn't even… try."

Kaito's gaze burned.

"Why try something with high odds of breaking me and failing when I can take the optimal route?"

Kage looked at him with pure disdain.

"What's the rotten nature of kids being trained these days? What's this golden cushion even doing here?"

He walked past him.

Kaito whirled in rage but kept his voice low.

"You don't know anything about me. You don't know how I got here. Golden cushion? I wish. Perhaps like the scions of the great clans—maybe then such a word would fit."

Kage ignored him completely and walked off. The moment he crossed the perimeter, the Guardian's orb-like eyes flickered to life, and it lunged.

He stood perfectly still. The first jab targeted his shoulder—Kage tilted right with minimal movement, hands behind his back. The second came for his head, but Kage spun, letting the massive stone fist pass within a hair's breadth of his face.

Then the Guardian threw a punch toward his knees. Kage leaped. The fist crushed the ground, and Kage landed with one foot on it, moonlight bathing him in silvery radiance.

He stepped away and walked past the stone Guardian. Kaito watched, stunned—the Guardian didn't pursue. Instead, it stood motionless. His mouth fell open.

Kage walked into the ruin. The moment he entered, his ears perked.

The ringing of metal echoed toward him. But it wasn't just the sound that made him stop, nor the fact that someone had beaten him here.

The real shock was the pace of the ringing, the quality of each metallic beat. It spoke of sharp, powerful forging skills that had taken him years to recognize and even more years to achieve.

Instructors weren't supposed to be forging anything. It stunned Kage that a student... possessed the level of mastery he'd only reached in his late twenties—at merely their teenage years.

Kage followed the sound through the ruins, passing torn pillars and cracked chambers, until he reached the entrance where the ringing originated.

It was a magnificent sight.

"...perfect grain structure, good fold, good fold—now we temper… careful, careful three seconds interval—not four… good, good, like that Talia."

In the hands of a tall, broad-shouldered girl—with a build suggesting she'd been literally forged in her family's workshop—was a massive hammer, raining down on the anvil and birthing a cascade of blue and cantaloupe sparks that scattered around her.

Her bright amber eyes glowed with excitement, locked on the red-hot metal. Each strike smashed the heated metal with a rhythm that never wavered in force or timing.

Her copper-red hair was braided back with actual steel wire to keep it clear of the forge. She wore a reinforced leather vest over a sturdy tunic and heavy work pants with numerous pockets stuffed with random materials and tools.

Kage lingered at the entrance, observing her forging skills and the surroundings. The bellows had been mended with rope. Minerals and ore had been gathered. Multiple blades lay scattered on the ground.

He turned his attention back to the girl. Her eyes, her hair—he could already tell which clan she belonged to.

And exactly who she was.

She might be like this now, but this girl would become a legendary forger. It wasn't just that—her works were so distinctive they separated her from countless forgers in her generation, even the older ones, especially because of her Weaver and Purist lineage.

'The Emberforge clan.'

The hammering stopped instantly. The girl looked toward the entrance, her eyes lighting up as she spotted Kage.

"Finally! Someone made it! I've been waiting here since yesterday afternoon!"

Kage frowned.

"You've been what?"

The girl dropped her hammer and turned to him fully, face radiating excitement.

"Waiting. Since yesterday. Afternoon. The moment I smelled the broken forge, I came straight here."

Kage stared at her with slight bewilderment.

"You... smelled... the forge?"

She nodded eagerly.

"Yes! And you? How did you get here?"

Kage's face darkened.

'By the heavens, may all talented and prodigious scions drown in the continental sea.'

At that moment, Kaito reached the entrance as well, halting and exchanging glances between the girl inside and Kage, who looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

The girl shifted to Kaito and said radiantly:

"My name is Talia Emberforge of the Emberforge Clan! What are your names? What clans? What weapons do you prefer? We should absolutely forge something together—three hands make stronger metal than one, that's just basic metallurgy!"

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