By morning, the story had spread across Greythorn.
It had grown sharper in the telling.
By the time Kendo stepped into the market square to purchase charcoal, he heard three different versions of the same event.
In one, the spear had snapped clean in half.
In another, the hunter had been seconds from losing his leg.
In the most exaggerated version, the weapon had shattered mid-strike during the drake hunt itself.
No one mentioned that the spear had been designed for F-tier beasts.
No one mentioned that the hunter had chosen to test it against drake hide long after upgrading.
They only remembered the bend.
Reputation bent the same way.
The charcoal vendor avoided eye contact while weighing his order.
"You'll need to settle last week's balance soon," the man said carefully.
"I will," Kendo replied.
He paid what he could and returned to the forge, where Rollo was already waiting.
"They're talking," Rollo said.
"They always are."
"Not like this."
Kendo set the charcoal down and moved toward the furnace. "If orders slow any further, we'll adjust."
Rollo watched him prepare the fire. "Adjust how?"
Kendo did not answer immediately.
The forge roared to life, flames licking the interior bricks as he fed it fuel. He placed a bar of iron into the heat and waited until it glowed orange before withdrawing it.
The first strike of his hammer rang out across the workshop.
Clean. Solid. Precise.
"I'll improve the tempering process," he said at last. "Fold more layers. Refine the carbon balance."
"You've already refined it."
"Then I'll refine it again."
Rollo did not argue further, but concern lingered in his silence.
Midday brought a visitor Kendo did not expect.
A hunter from a smaller local team stepped inside hesitantly, helmet tucked beneath his arm.
"I need a blade," the man said. "Cheap."
Kendo nodded. "For what tier?"
"F. Maybe low E, if the guild clears it."
Kendo selected a finished short sword from the rack. "Balanced for F-tier hide. Reinforced spine. Tested against boar plate."
The hunter hesitated. "Does it bend?"
The question was not hostile. It was uncertain.
Kendo met his gaze steadily. "Not against what it was made for."
The man considered that, then nodded and paid.
It was not a large sale, but it was something.
Late afternoon brought a different sound to the square.
A beast roar.
Everyone froze.
The town gates had not opened.
Guards scrambled toward the northern wall.
Kendo stepped outside in time to see a massive boar-like creature slam into the reinforced timber gate. Its tusks were chipped from previous battles, its hide scarred and thick.
An E-tier stray.
Hunters poured out from the guild hall, weapons drawn. Garrick Vale stood among them, issuing calm commands.
The beast rammed the gate again, splintering wood.
"Archers!" someone shouted.
Arrows struck its flank and snapped uselessly.
A spear thrust from atop the wall glanced off its hide.
The beast reared back, then charged again.
The gate cracked.
Kendo's jaw tightened. He knew that hide. He had studied similar plates before shaping F-tier blades.
But this was thicker.
Harder.
An elite hunter leapt from the wall, blade flashing downward toward the beast's neck. The strike landed well.
The blade rebounded.
The hunter stumbled.
The beast twisted violently and caught him across the chest with a tusk. Armor dented. The man flew backward.
The square erupted into chaos.
Rollo stepped forward instinctively.
"Stay," Kendo said sharply.
"I can help."
"You'll get trampled."
Another hunter attempted a flank strike. His sword scraped sparks but failed to bite deep.
The beast broke through the weakened gate and entered the square.
Stalls collapsed beneath its weight.
People screamed and scattered.
Garrick advanced alone.
His blade was different. Broader. Darker metal. Likely reinforced with rare ore.
He waited for the beast to charge.
At the last second, he pivoted and drove his weapon upward beneath the jawline where the hide thinned.
The blade sank.
The beast roared once, staggered, and collapsed.
Silence followed.
The hunters exhaled.
Garrick withdrew his sword slowly and inspected its edge. No bend. No fracture.
Kendo watched carefully.
It was not simply stronger steel.
It was something else.
Something denser.
That evening, as repairs began and wounded hunters were carried toward the infirmary, Rollo spoke what both of them were thinking.
"Your blades would not have pierced that."
"No," Kendo agreed.
"And his did."
"Yes."
Rollo studied him. "You're thinking about the remains being hauled outside the gates, aren't you?"
Kendo's eyes shifted toward the northern road.
The boar carcass would be dragged to the disposal grounds by dusk.
High-tier beasts were stripped for valuable components.
Lower-tier ones were discarded.
Even elite hunters did not waste time processing what they considered beneath them.
Kendo wiped his hands on a cloth and untied his apron.
"Where are you going?" Rollo asked.
"To volunteer."
"For disposal duty?"
"Yes."
Rollo frowned. "That's not going to fix your reputation."
Kendo stepped toward the doorway.
"No," he said quietly. "But it might fix my steel."