The old man's gaze lingered on Alex for a long mont before he continued, his voice calm and asured.
"Mikhail was not the only smith of great talent in those days; but he was an anomaly, a man who defied the natural order of the world. His forges did not burn with mundane fire, but with sothing far greater – sothing older than even the Primordial Expanse itself."
Alex felt a shiver run down his spine.
"What do you an?" he asked, unable to contain his intrigue.
The old man leaned against a nearby anvil, his expression darkening.
"The legends say that Mikhail crafted weapons that could cut through reality itself, that he wove concepts into his tal. He did not simply make weapons, he created legends. But such power does not go unnoticed. When you shape things beyond the comprehension of mortals, you invite the attention of beings who equally view themselves as above mortals."
"...The gods?" Alex asked hesitantly.
A dry chuckle escaped the old man's lips. "That depends on what you define as gods."
Alex's mind reeled back to the thought of Phoenix, to the sheer unfathomable might that man wielded as effortlessly as breathing. In fact, now that Alex's might was slowly starting to broaden, he considered whether Phoenix was even a man at all…
If soone like that existed, would he be considered a god? Or were the so called gods even more unfathomable than that?
The old man continued a few monts later, his tone heavy with caution, keeping his voice low as if he was afraid of soone overhearing him.
"In a way Mikhail's greatest flaw turned out to be his greatest achievent. He was simply too skilled, but that was not his worst cri. His worst cri was that he refused to kneel. He did not forge for anyone else's interest but his own, nor would he obey other's will. And for that, he had to pay."
Alex felt like he had finally received so of the answers to his most pertinent questions.
All this ti, he was considering where he might find Mikhail's forge, why the vision ca to him. In fact, now that he knew the true value of Virtue's Edge, he was beginning to wonder how sothing so powerful ended up in the hands of Principal Farnes…
So many things were opened up to him, but the main question still remained unanswered.
"What happened to him then?" He asked.
The old man smiled slyly at Alex's question.
"Nobody knows."
That was it. The answer, or rather non-answer was as simple as that.
The history that the old man knew ended up until that point, and even though his explanation to Alex seed short and vague, that was actually all that he knew either.
The secrets behind Mikhail were covered in a veil of mystery, as Alex had learned over his ti travelling through the Primordial Expanse, struggling to find anything out until this point.
Alex let the heavy words of the old man settle over him.
Nobody knows…
The answer frustrated him, but at the sa ti, it made sense. If Mikhail truly defied so higher power, then it stood to reason that his fate seed to have been erased from history. And yet, his legacy still lingered, whispered about in cautious tones and legends of his creations, hinting that not all of his history had been erased.
This at least gave him a little bit of hope.
Alex exhaled, trying to steady his racing thoughts.
"If no one knows what happened to him, then why are people still afraid to speak his na aloud, or in public?"
The old man's face suddenly turned deadly serious, no longer wishing to retain his nonchalant, easygoing deanour.
"Because, boy, history is not kind to those who challenge power. And neither are the ones who hold that power."
His eyes darkened, and for the first ti, Alex caught a glimpse of sothing deeper within the man – sothing that perhaps gave away a little bit of his mysterious nature.
'This man must be soone very important in the blacksmith association.'
Now that Alex had regaine so clarity, the fact that the entire bottom floor of the blacksmith association was empty except for the two of them didn't go unnoticed.
But Alex didn't bring this up to the old man, as there was probably a reason for him not bringing it up, and he looked like he still had more to say anyway.
"There are those," the old man continued, "who would rather his story remain forgotten. Those who consider his existence a threat, even now. To them, knowledge of Mikhail is a spark that could reignite an ember they worked hard to extinguish."
Alex frowned.
"Who are they?"
A mysterious smile crossed the old man's face.
"You should get going now, boy. I've already spoken too much to you. I don't know for what reason you are looking for information on Mikhail, but I'd advise you to remain cautious whatever the case."
The old man completely ignored Alex's last question.
'Wait, I didn't even ntion anything about looking for information on Mikhail?'
Alex felt both confused and alard at the fact that the old man knew his true purpose in coming there.
But even more surprising, was that after Alex blinked, the old man was no longer standing in front of him.
He had completely disappeared, like he was never there to begin with.
Even more shocking, was that when Alex looked around himself, the bottom floor of the Blacksmith Association was not empty as he had previously observed, instead it was bustling with people coming and going. There had to be hundreds of blacksmiths in there at any ti, and Alex struggled to not rub shoulders with people as stood there in utter shock.
'What…'
Alex was 100% certain that this place was completely empty barely even an instant prior. It was impossible for hundreds of people to not only show up in such ti, but do so while escaping his perception.
It beca clear that the old man was much, much more mysterious than he had originally thought.
'Just who was that old man…?'
Alex felt like punching himself for not asking his na.
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