Not downward, but suspended in midair, following colossal spiral runic paths that coiled across the ceiling. Their golden-orange radiance illuminated the entire city like an artificial sun. From these rivers, droplets of refined tal occasionally fell, caught by enormous collectors below, ready to be processed into steel, cha cores, or warship fras.
On the primary level, the bustle rivaled that of an imperial capital.
Hundreds... no, thousands of blacksmiths, magitek engineers, and artisan apprentices moved ceaselessly through the streets. So dragged crates filled with half-finished tal blades; others carried energy cores sealed in protective casings; still others transported house-sized cha components with the aid of golems and cargo drones.
Above them, hundreds of logistics drones zipped through the air, ferrying boxes of raw materials and spare parts along intricate yet impeccably organized flight lanes. From afar, the constant clang of tal echoed throughout the city, not as chaotic noise, but as a rhythm, a harmonious work-song born of labor and precision.
The Eternal Forge was not rely a workshop.
It was the technological heart of the Divine Sky Realm.
And nearly every bolt, every steel plate, every defensive formation enveloping this city...
Had been touched, designed, or at the very least personally overseen by a single individual.
Gusti Bagus.
***
At this mont, the main plaza of the Eternal Forge was packed with people.
The plaza itself was a massive floating platform, spacious enough to hold fifty thousand individuals at once. Below it stretched an ocean of steel towers and colossal pipes; above it, the tranquil flow of molten tal continued its course.
At the center of the plaza, a luxurious golden vessel had just landed.
Its hull was sleek and radiant, adorned with reliefs of a cosmic dragon coiled around a star at its prow.
A diplomatic ship of the Star Empire.
A neighboring realm long renowned as one of the finest weapons producers in the surrounding sector.
"So... they finally ca," murmured a Lord from one of Earth Kingdom’s autonomous islands, standing among the invited guests. "If they find an opening to belittle the Eternal Forge in front of everyone..."
"We’ll beco the laughingstock," his companion cut in tensely. "Our reputation will fall with it."
Surrounding the plaza, thousands of young blacksmiths, magitek technicians, and Eternal Forge apprentices stood shoulder to shoulder. Many still wore their work aprons and gloves, the scent of charcoal and tal clinging to their bodies.
This was the one place where race no longer mattered, where all who were obsessed with chanics gathered as equals, and where one’s worth was asured not by combat strength, but by one’s understanding of tal and machines.
At the front of the crowd, atop a massive tal stage, several officials of the Eternal Forge stood proudly, including the Head of the Grand Workshop, who was preparing to welco the guests.
At first glance, many appeared human. But upon closer inspection, only a few were truly pure-blooded humans. Most belonged to other races that had undergone transformations through the fusion of magitek and tal.
One official even had long ears, an elf, a rare sight in a world dominated by machinery. Among them, dwarves were the most nurous, their short, muscular fras a common presence in the upper ranks of the Eternal Forge.
All eyes turned skyward as an energy staircase slowly descended from the golden ship hovering above.
A middle-aged man stepped down, clad in a dark crimson robe embroidered with hamrs and stars. His hair was neatly slicked back, his gaze sharp, and at his belt hung a forging hamr engraved with a small dragon.
Grandmaster Forge Varon.
A man revered within the Star Empire as one of the foremost blacksmiths of the era.
He slowly turned his head, surveying the Eternal Forge with an expression that was difficult to read, sowhere between admiration, envy, and disdain.
"Welco to the Eternal Forge, Grandmaster Varon," the Head of the Grand Workshop greeted politely. "We are honored by the Star Empire’s visit."
Varon smiled faintly.
"The honor is mutual," he replied. "We’ve long wished to see with our own eyes... the city said to give birth to weapons that make countless minor kingdoms tremble."
His tone was sweet.
But its edge was sharp.
The Head of the Workshop rely smiled, maintaining his composure.
Not long after, an area in the middle of the plaza was cleared for a demonstration.
A portable forging table was set up, its surface layered with protective formations. Several rune caras hovered nearby, transmitting live images to massive screens so everyone could see clearly.
"Friends of the Divine Sky Realm," Varon’s voice bood, amplified by a spiritual sound array. "We did not co today to quarrel... but to exchange knowledge."
The words caused so of the spectators to relax their shoulders—if only for a mont.
Varon clapped his hands.
One of his assistants stepped forward, carrying a round container sealed tightly with multiple layers of rune inscriptions.
Those seals trembled violently, their lines visibly unstable.
The Head of the Grand Workshop frowned the mont he saw it.
Varon began removing the seals one by one. When the final layer was undone, the air around the forging table seed to shudder.
Inside the container...
A spherical crystal core the size of a baby’s head floated in midair, emitting a flickering blue-violet glow. Fine cracks webbed across its surface, and with every pulse of light, those cracks seed to creep just a little farther.
"An Unstable Star Core," Varon announced, his smile widening. "A condensed fragnt of a star core, powerful, but not yet fully balanced. We recovered it from ancient ruins."
A low murmur rippled through the crowd.
Several young blacksmiths narrowed their eyes, instantly realizing how dangerous the object was.
Varon continued, his tone calm, yet laced with provocation.
"We have heard... that the Eternal Forge claims to possess the finest forging techniques in this sector." He turned toward the Eternal Forge officials. "If that is true, may we... request a bit of enlightennt?"
Wearing protective gloves, he lifted the core and placed it onto a rune-inscribed base atop the table.
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