Chapter 57

The heat inside the cabin was a physical weight, thick with the scent of ozone and cooling metal, but Lucas couldn't pull his eyes away from the forge. He stood in a silence broken only by the rhythmic ring of Smith's hammer. The man moved with a grace that defied his hulking frame, finishing a breastplate that shimmered with an unnatural luster. Lucas watched, his Metal Artisan class giving him a hyper-focused insight into the process. The metal wasn't just being shaped; it was being coaxed....