The Luminous Heart Ore.
In the age of the Ancients, it had been spoken of as a living metal, a crystallized echo of creation itself. Back then, mana essence flowed freely in the air—woven into breath, earth, and flame. The ore formed naturally when that essence sank deep into veins of Magisteel, reshaping them into something brighter, stronger, alive.
But those days were gone. The skies no longer sang with mana essence, and the veins had long since gone cold. The Luminous Heart Ore was considered extinct.
For anyone else.
Rhys's lips curled in a faint smirk as he trekked across the stony ridges. Thanks to his bond with the Ancients—through Puddle, Aurelius, Moonbounce, and the very legacy of the Tamer—he still carried mana essence, not the thinned and separated "mana" of modern times, but the true primal current. His core wasn't just a reservoir. It was a forge. And that meant he could do what no smith alive could. He could create it.
Still, one problem remained.