Chương 303: Chapter 98: A Sword Beyond Cael

Seighard kept the controlled weapon racks behind iron mesh beneath the western licence offices. The Cinderline Falchion rested in the final locked section beside two tunnel spears and a broad-headed hammer, each marked Bronze and priced high enough that the tags carried more security seals than decoration.

"I need a blade that can survive Ember Blade against something ranked late Bronze," I said. Seighard looked at the repaired Woodsman's Axe over my shoulder.

"You have an axe."

"It nearly lost its temper inside two Deep Ironbacks."

"The axe or you?"

"Both." Gertrud stood beside the rack with the furnace records. She held out one hand, and I passed her the axe. The repaired haft showed where new wood met the original socket, while the blade carried a darkened line around the beard from repeated concentrated heat. She turned the edge beneath the licence lamp.

"Another sustained use at the same temperature will soften this section further. The socket may hold. The edge will not hold its shape." My hand tightened after she returned it. The axe had belonged to Arra Glen before it became mine, and its balance had carried me through the road, the mine, and fights the tool had never been made to survive. Repairing it had restored use without changing what the metal was.

"I need something appropriate," I said. Halden stood beside the counter with Wade's message folded beneath one arm.

"That is better than asking for something stronger. Stronger equipment in untrained hands produces more expensive failures." Seighard unlocked the rack.

"Body rank?"

"Copper mid."

"Combat abilities?"

"Ember Blade and Eisenhammer are Copper mid. Hunter's Eye is at threshold. Ironwood Strike remains below Bronze."

"Then you cannot equip a Bronze weapon."

"Not yet." She looked from me to Halden.

"You brought a man to purchase a weapon he cannot use."

"He intends to reach the requirement during the southern journey," Halden said.

"By what training plan?"

"The road," I said. Halden closed his eyes briefly.

"His progression planning continues to resemble testing bridge capacity by driving heavier carts across it until the answer becomes visible."

"It has produced answers."

"So does collapse." Seighard removed the falchion. Its broad, slightly curved blade was dark grey rather than polished, with enough forward weight that my hands recognised part of the movement before I touched it. A narrow red-gold line ran inside the blade from the guard towards the forward third, disappearing when the steel turned away from direct light.

"Cinder-brass," Gertrud said.

"Copper and zinc carrying a measured emberstone fraction. The line is welded through the spine and drawn towards the edge during the final fold."

"Decoration?" Her expression flattened.

"It conducts channelled elements away from the tang and distributes them across the cutting line. Decoration would have cost less." Halden examined the blade without touching it.

"The conductor narrows near the forward third."

"To keep the point from retaining more heat than the edge can release," Gertrud replied.

"The steel around it remains hard enough to hold the curve." Seighard passed me the grip.

"One controlled movement. No ability." The weight settled farther forwards than a straight sword and closer to an axe than Talia's blade. My first cut came from the shoulder. The point travelled wider than intended, and Seighard caught the back of the blade with two fingers before the recovery reached the counter.

"You are trying to split with it," Halden said.

"It has an edge."

"So does a saw," Seighard replied.

"You do not swing one through armour." I shortened the motion and flattened the cut. The blade moved more cleanly, although the recovery remained unfamiliar. The Woodsman's Axe left a beard available to hook, pull, or redirect after impact. The falchion passed through the line and expected my feet to place the next one. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Seighard opened a narrow furnace test channel beside the rack.

"One breath of Ember Blade. Gertrud watches the temper. I stop the test if your hand changes." I let heat enter the tang. The cinder-brass accepted it faster than the axe. Red-gold brightened towards orange inside the dark blade, then spread along the entire cutting edge without filling the heavy spine. The heat remained narrow and continuous instead of pooling near my hand or softening one section first. The left ring finger tightened around the grip.

The ability wanted to continue through the conductor, drawing more heat than I had intended to supply. The centre of the edge sharpened towards white before Seighard closed her hand around my wrist.

"Enough." I ended Ember Blade. The ordinary steel darkened first, while the cinder-brass retained a dull orange line for several breaths. Gertrud took the weapon with a folded cloth and checked the edge.

"No temper loss. The conductor pulled evenly."

"It felt easier."

"That is not the same as safer," Seighard said.

"The blade will accept heat quickly enough for you to overdraw before your hands warn you." The system recognised the weapon through the controlled licence test. ITEM RECOGNISED Name: Eisenfeld Cinderline Falchion Rank: Bronze (early) Quality: Refined Effects: +3 STR while properly equipped Cinder-Brass Conduction: Increases elemental conduction through the blade. Heat-Drawn Edge: Reduces uneven temper loss during sustained elemental use.

Elemental Retention: Holds channelled heat briefly after active supply ceases. Requirement: At least one Combat ability at Bronze (early). The requirement settled across the weapon. I could hold it and conduct a limited test under supervision, but the strength bonus and complete item connection remained unavailable.

"Price?" I asked.

"Forty-six Bronze," Seighard said. Halden looked at the tag.

"The previous controlled-sale record lists forty-two."

"The previous buyer did not intend to feed it uncontrolled elemental heat while travelling towards a late Bronze target."

"The grip requires refitting."

"His left hand requires refitting."

"My hand is temporary." Gertrud and Seighard both looked at the ring finger. Halden continued.

"The cinder-brass line narrows unevenly near the forward third."

"It narrows by design," Gertrud said.

"Design does not prevent price negotiation." They settled at forty-three Bronze, including a fitted shoulder harness, reinforced scabbard mouth, and one return inspection if the edge survived long enough to reach Eisenfeld again. ITEM ACQUIRED Eisenfeld Cinderline Falchion has been added to your carried equipment. Ownership recognised. Equipment effects remain inactive until the Bronze (early) Combat-ability requirement is satisfied.

The forty-three Bronze left the sale account before the metal wealth had become familiar enough to feel owned. I kept the falchion wrapped and unequipped across my back. The repaired Woodsman's Axe returned to the working loop at my shoulder, its weight familiar and its remaining life easier to measure now that another weapon waited to replace it. Halden used the armoury stores to purchase forge clamps, hardened pins, steel-edged chisels, and enough bridge fittings to occupy two reinforced crates.

He tested each chisel against the provided block until one returned a poor note. Seighard removed that piece from the invoice and told him the discovery did not qualify him for employment. By the time we reached the western gate, Talia and Mörk had turned the retained metal into two southbound wagons. The first carried the Bridge Building Fund. One hundred of my Iron bars and ten Copper bars sat beneath Halden's matching contribution, producing two hundred Iron and twenty Copper bars altogether.

Timber runners separated the lower layers, and the eleven hundred kilograms of metal sat low across reinforced axles with chains crossing each stack in opposite directions. The second wagon carried provisions, personal equipment, Halden's forge supplies, the retained Deep Ironback plate, pressure tendons, the preserved sensory organ, water casks, rope, spare wheel parts, and enough charcoal to make Halden inspect the rear cover twice for sparks. Mörk tightened the final chain on the metal wagon.

The bars shifted once, then settled against the runners without leaving space for the load to gather momentum on a descent.

"You hired Mörk," I said. Talia looked up from a written contract.

"Yes."

"With whose money?"

"Primarily yours." Mörk tested the rear hook.

"Meals, lodging, one Copper per travel day, two during active crisis labour, medical care, cart use, salvage rights on unclaimed structural material, and one additional Bronze if the bridge exists before she releases the contract."

"There is no bridge," I said.

"That is why the contract has work." Halden read the terms.

"The rate is acceptable during travel. Crisis labour requires written activation."

"Then activate it when the crisis begins," Talia said.

"Dunmere sent a message saying it has already begun."

"Excellent. The contract is efficient." Mörk climbed onto the first wagon's driver board. Talia had arranged the second so she and Halden could rotate control while my hands remained unreliable. Our sitting space had been reduced to narrow boards between crates, but the axles held and every retained object had a marked place.

"You prepared all this while we were inside?" I asked.

"You were buying a sword you cannot use."

"It is Bronze."

"So is the thing near Dunmere."

"That is why I bought it."

"That explanation would improve once you can equip it."

"Ember Blade will reach Bronze on the road." Mörk looked towards the repaired axe.

"Against what?"

"Whatever made Wade send the message." Talia folded the contract and placed it inside the wagon ledger.

"I had forgotten how much easier your planning was when poverty removed the options." Halden completed one final circuit of the metal wagon and checked the rear axle.

"The load is within tolerance. We travel more slowly than an unburdened party and more quickly than Dunmere can produce a tonne of Iron by urgency alone."

"It remains the Bridge Building Fund," Talia said.

"The material may serve other structural priorities."

"You named it after a bridge."

"A fund can outlive its first project."

"At present, it contains bars."

"Bars are undecided infrastructure." The western gate opened. The road descended towards Longreach, Araluen, and the river country beyond, carrying two wagons, eleven hundred kilograms of donated metal, one contracted dwarf who understood loaded carts better than any of us, and a Bronze sword waiting for an ability I had not yet earned. The repaired Woodsman's Axe rested against my shoulder. The Cinderline lay across my back inside its reinforced scabbard.

I climbed onto the second wagon and watched Eisenfeld begin to recede behind the load.