The violet light in the north didn't fade; it pulse-settled into a constant, bruised glow that tinted the horizon. Within hours, the Windswept Outpost transformed from a sleepy trade town into a frantic staging ground.
"The main road is a parking lot," Jin-Ho reported, leaning out the forge's window. "I'm seeing logos from guilds I've only ever read about on the forums. Golden Lion, Iron Vanguard, even the freelancers are crawling out of the woodwork. They're all heading for the Forbidden Peaks."
But there was a problem. The soft blockade Azure Heaven had set up earlier had backfired. By slowing down the trade of raw materials to the region, they had inadvertently drained the local shops. The standard merchant NPCs were sold out of basic potions, whetstones, and mid-tier repair kits.
Hana looked at the small mountain of "scavenged" materials they had brought in from the ridges. "The big guilds have their own internal supply chains, but the mid-tier players and the solos are panicking. They're heading into a high-corruption zone with gear that's sitting at 40% durability."
"Then we open the doors," Si-woo said. He was sitting at the secondary anvil, stripped down to a simple tunic, his eyes focused on a pile of raw iron. "Grizz, I need you to take that wind-torn silk and start making basic limb-guards. Don't worry about the ornate stuff. Just make sure the grain of the silk follows the curve of the arm. It'll help the players move faster."
"On it," Grizz said, already reaching for his shears.
"Mina, that Azure Marrow Salt," Si-woo continued. "Don't turn it into high-tier crystals yet. Dissolve it into a basic wash. If a player dips their blade in it, it'll act as a temporary buffer against the corruption in the north. Call it 'Mist-Water Coating'."
Hana looked at the central forge. "And us?"
"We're making nails, Hana," Si-woo said with a grin. "And spear-tips. And arrowheads. We aren't making masterpieces today. We're making things that don't break."
The first customer arrived twenty minutes later. He was a solo player, a Level 28 spearman with a cracked wooden shaft and a look of pure exhaustion. He peered into the forge, smelling the fresh ozone and mountain cedar.
"The main smithy said they're out of stock until tomorrow," the player said, sounding desperate. "Do you guys have any spear-heads? I don't care if they're common. I just need something that won't shatter when I hit a Stone-Crag."
Hana looked at Si-woo, who nodded. She reached into a cooling bucket and pulled out a simple, unadorned iron tip. It didn't glow, but the edge was so clean it seemed to drink the light.
"Ten silver," Hana said.
The player paid without hesitating. He slotted the tip onto his spear, and as he did, his eyes went wide. The weapon's durability bar didn't just refill; it extended.
"Wait," the spearman muttered, swinging the weapon. "This feels... lighter? What's the stat on this?"
"No stats," Si-woo called out from the back. "It's just balanced correctly. Good luck up there."