The storm passed by dawn, leaving the village heavy with mist and silence.
Kael sat on the roof of the forge, knees drawn close, watching the first rays of sunlight struggle through the clouds. The air was sharp with iron dust and wet earth. His new body was still weak, his breath uneven — but inside him, a rhythm had returned.
A pulse.A whisper.A memory of light.
He closed his eyes and focused. Somewhere deep in his chest, beneath flesh and bone, the remnants of his former star core pulsed faintly — a dying ember refusing to fade.
"You've come far from the heavens, Commander."The voice echoed again — faint, metallic, beautiful."Can you still wield me?"
Kael opened his eyes. "You sound weaker."
"Fragments do not sing as whole blades do."
He frowned. So it was true. Ardentia — his legendary sword — hadn't survived intact. What he'd felt last night was only a fragment, a shard of the divine weapon he once wielded.
"Then where's the rest of you?" he asked quietly.
"Scattered. Hidden. Bound to the Dominion's seals.""And one piece… sleeps in this world."
Kael stared into the mist. A fragment of Ardentia still existed — in this era, in this broken land. That meant the Dominion had touched this world too.
And that meant his war wasn't over.
The clang of metal broke his thoughts. The forge had come alive again — apprentices filing in, bleary-eyed and coughing from smoke. Kael dropped down silently and entered through the side door.
The overseer from yesterday stood near the anvil, barking orders. His eyes flicked toward Kael and narrowed.
"You. The quiet one," he said. "You're still here."
Kael didn't respond.
"You're behind on quota. One more failure, and you'll lose your meal for the week."
He held Kael's gaze, waiting for defiance. Instead, Kael simply nodded. "Understood."
It was enough to make the man uneasy. There was no fear in the boy's eyes — only an unnerving calm.
By midday, Kael was working at the back furnace, hammering dull sheets of iron into crude blades. Every strike of the hammer was rhythmic, deliberate. The other apprentices swung blindly, brute-forcing metal into submission. Kael listened instead — to the sound, the vibration, the breath of the steel.
The hammer rose and fell. Sparks danced. Each strike refined not only the metal, but his control. He began to sense the faint threads of energy within the iron — not aether, not starlight, but something else.
Raw, polluted mana — corrupted by centuries of Dominion influence.So that's what this world's power had become.
The gods poisoned the forge itself.
He adjusted the angle, channeling what little remained of his star-forged instinct. A faint glow rippled through the blade as impurities burned away.
The apprentices nearby stopped and stared.
"Hey, what the hell—why's his metal glowing?" one whispered."Must be some trick…""No way an apprentice could—"
The overseer turned sharply. "Enough gawking! Back to work!"
He strode toward Kael, scowling. "You—how did you do that?"
Kael set the glowing blade down calmly. "You taught us to listen to the steel. I listened."
The overseer grabbed his collar. "Don't play games with me, brat."
Kael met his gaze without flinching. "Then you should listen too."
He lifted the half-forged blade and let it ring — once. The sound cut through the air, pure and sharp, resonating like a chime. Every hammer in the forge went silent.
The overseer froze, eyes wide. That tone — clear, perfect — was the mark of masterwork steel. Something no apprentice had ever achieved.
Kael smiled faintly. "The steel's awake now. You can't force it back to sleep."
The man's face turned red with fury. "You arrogant—!"
He swung a hand, but Kael caught it midair — his reflexes honed by lifetimes of battle. The overseer's strength meant nothing. Kael's grip was precise, surgical, and in that moment, something shifted. The overseer felt it too — the impossible pressure of a man who'd once commanded legions.
Kael leaned close, voice quiet. "Strike me again… and your arm will forget how to move."
The man hesitated, then yanked his hand back and spat, "Fine. If you think you're special, prove it. You're taking tonight's delivery to the mines."
Kael's brow furrowed. "The mines?"
"South Ridge. The Night Pits." The overseer's smirk was ugly. "Most who go there don't come back. Let's see how your luck holds."
He tossed Kael a small iron case and turned away.
Kael caught it easily, his mind already elsewhere. The Night Pits. The name stirred something — an old memory of celestial maps and fallen stars. The coordinates aligned too well to be coincidence.
If Ardentia's fragment had fallen anywhere… it would be there.
Night fell again over Ironhaven.
Kael left the village with the iron case slung across his back. The path wound through dead forest and jagged rock, the moonlight barely cutting through the fog. He walked in silence, steps light, senses spread.
It wasn't long before he heard the sound of pursuit.
Three shadows detached from the trees, moving with the practiced stealth of hired blades.
Kael stopped walking. "How predictable."
"Delivery boy," one hissed, stepping into view. A scar ran down his cheek. "Boss said you don't come back tonight."
"So the overseer's pride is worth three corpses." Kael's tone was almost amused. "Efficient."
The men laughed. "You talk big for a rat."
Kael tilted his head. "Big enough to warn you once."
They didn't listen.
The first rushed in, knife flashing. Kael didn't move until the last instant — then sidestepped, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted. A crack echoed through the trees. The knife dropped.
Kael caught it midair, reversed the grip, and drove it through the attacker's throat in one smooth motion. The second charged, screaming. Kael pivoted, letting momentum carry his body through a low arc. The blade slashed upward, cutting clean through the man's chest.
The third froze, trembling. "W-What are you?!"
Kael looked at him calmly, blood dripping from the blade. "An apprentice."
The man turned to flee — but the iron case on Kael's back pulsed suddenly. A faint blue light spilled from the seams.
Kael paused. Slowly, he opened the lid.
Inside lay a single shard of crystal — black, cracked, humming faintly with power. As he touched it, warmth surged through his veins, followed by pain. Images flashed behind his eyes — stars, steel, and a voice whispering across centuries.
"The first shard… found."
Kael fell to one knee, teeth gritted as the shard burned into his palm, fusing with his blood. For a moment, the forest lit up with blinding light. When it faded, he rose — eyes glowing faint silver.
He could feel it.Ardentia's fragment had awakened inside him.Weak, unstable, but alive.
Kael closed the case, his expression unreadable. "One piece down."
The last mercenary still knelt nearby, shaking. "P-Please, don't—"
Kael walked past him, wiping blood from the shard. "Run," he said quietly. "Tell your master I'm coming."
By the time he reached the ridge, dawn was breaking. The Night Pits yawned before him — vast mines stretching into endless darkness. Chains hung from cranes, and echoes of metal striking stone drifted from deep below.
Kael stood at the edge, feeling the hum of corrupted mana rise from within. It was stronger here — the Dominion's corruption saturating every rock and shadow.
"You feel it too, don't you?" Ardentia's voice whispered faintly."Their rot spreads still. Even after eons."
Kael's gaze hardened. "Then I'll burn it out, one forge at a time."
He stepped forward — and disappeared into the darkness below.