The air in the grotto shifted from stagnant sulfur to a dry, blistering heat as Master Olin kicked the dampers of the kiln wide open. The Primeval Earth Fire within wasn't red or orange; it was a deep, thrumming ochre that seemed to vibrate the very bones of the cave.
"The Star-Core is stubborn!" Olin shouted over the roar of the furnace. "It remembers being part of the heavens. It doesn't want to be a tool for a mortal. Vincy! Hands on the conduction plates! Now!"
Vincy stepped forward, his palms hovering over two copper-etched plates on the side of the kiln. "Don't just push your Qi," Piet's voice hissed, now vibrating with a regal authority. "It's not a contest of strength. It's a song. Sync your heartbeat to the pulse of the fragment. I'll handle the stabilization; you just provide the bridge."
As Vincy made contact, his eyes flared a brilliant, piercing violet. To Olin's astonishment, the boy didn't scream or recoil. Instead, his posture shifted—his spine straightened, and a cold, ancient dignity settled over his features.
Vincy's Qi didn't just trickle into the furnace; it surged in rhythmic waves that perfectly countered the erratic "gravity flares" of the Star-Core. Olin watched, his ladle frozen mid-air. He had expected the boy to struggle, but he saw an innate aptness that defied logic.
However, as the heat reached its peak, something shifted. The Primeval Earth Fire—sensing a vessel of higher authority through Vincy's violet aura—began to flow backwards. Instead of staying in the kiln, a ribbon of the ochre flame licked up Vincy's arms.
"Vincy, pull back!" Seraphina shouted, her hand on her hilt.
"Hold still!" Piet commanded. "It's choosing a master."
Under Olin's stunned gaze, the core of the alchemy fire didn't burn Vincy. It sank into his skin, coiling around his dantian like a sleeping serpent. Olin realized with a start that the boy wasn't just bellows anymore; he had become a Living Furnace.
"By the Ancestors..." Olin whispered. "He absorbed the seed. Boy, you won't be able to use that fire for combat easily, but when you sit before a cauldron, you simply have to call it, and it will manifest through your palms. You've bypassed the need for an external hearth."
Seraphina stood at the ready, her silver rapier unsheathed to provide the "coolant" when the moment arrived. At first, she watched with intense focus, her silver eyes trying to dissect the "truth" of the alchemy. She saw the way the Qi twisted and the way the molecular structure of the Soul-Sunder Blade began to merge with the violet ore.
But as the minutes turned into hours, the sheer technicality of the process began to grate on her. Alchemy wasn't a sudden burst of martial glory; it was a grueling, repetitive dance of micro-adjustments.
The third meridian must be suppressed by 0.4 units while the fifth is expanded... Olin's muttered instructions were a blur of mathematics and spiritual chemistry. For Seraphina, who lived for the sharp, decisive moment of a strike, this was agonizing. Her eyes glazed over. She began to pace the small area of "clean" floor, her interest in the "complexities" of the forge evaporating in the sweltering heat.
"Is it done yet?" she asked, her voice flat.
"Patience, Lady of the Moon!" Olin barked. "We are at the critical juncture."
Suddenly, the kiln let out a high-pitched whistle. "Now!" Piet roared in Vincy's mind. "Manifest the flame and seal the core!"
Vincy focused on the heat beneath his navel. He felt the ochre fire surge up his throat and out through his palms. The localized blast forced the Star-Core into the steel of the blade. With a sound like a thunderclap, the kiln doors flew open. A blade, glowing with a light so heavy it seemed to pull the shadows toward it, slid out onto the cooling rack.
"Coolant! Now!" Olin yelled.
Seraphina, snapping back into focus, lunged forward. She channeled her "Cold Truth" through her hands, unleashing a wave of silver-rime that collided with the white-hot blade. The steam hit the ceiling like a physical blow. When it cleared, the weapon sat silent—a deep, matte black sword with a violet vein running down the center.