"What are Marks, Hikari?"
The question returned to him again and again.
A sword cut through the silence of Hathor's training grounds.
Then another.
And another.
Onoko flashed beneath the moonlight while Hikari forced his body through the same motion until his shoulders burned and his hands began to tremble around the hilt.
His breathing had become uneven long ago.
His arms were heavy.
His legs felt weak.
Even the muscles around his back had begun to ache every time he raised the sword.
Still, he refused to stop.
The encounter with Noel and Rosalia had stayed inside his mind.
Gold Rank.
The same rank as him.
Yet the difference had been impossible to ignore.
Hikari had spent years trusting the power of his Light Mark. He had always known that his body could not release everything the Mark was capable of, but until now that limitation had only irritated him.
Now it disgusted him.
"One more swing..." he muttered.
Onoko moved again.
Light gathered around the blade.
Too much.
The air around the sword hissed as Hikari forced more energy into the attack than his exhausted body could safely support. His muscles tightened painfully beneath his clothes.
The strike landed against the training dummy.
The wooden figure split apart.
Hikari nearly fell with it.
His vision blurred for a moment.
He clenched his teeth.
"One more."
"You're an idiot."
Hikari stopped.
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Yoshimura stood at the edge of the training grounds with his arms crossed. He had apparently been watching for longer than Hikari had noticed.
"Since when have you been there?" Hikari asked.
"Long enough."
Hikari turned back toward what remained of the dummy.
Yoshimura's expression was unusually serious.
"Did you ever think about restraining yourself?"
Hikari said nothing.
"You're smart," Yoshimura continued. "At least sometimes. So tell me something: did it seriously never occur to you that putting everything you have into every single attack might be the reason you're half-dead right now?"
"If I can't handle my own power, I'll never grow."
"That isn't what I asked."
Hikari adjusted his grip on Onoko.
Yoshimura walked closer.
"You keep acting like more power automatically means more strength."
Hikari raised the sword again.
Yoshimura placed one hand against the sheath.
"Stop."
"No."
"Hikari."
"I said no."
Hikari pushed him away.
For a brief instant his irritation broke his concentration.
The next swing came almost automatically.
Light traveled through Onoko—
—but this time, less of it.
The blade cut the air cleanly.
No burning pain.
No violent pressure in his arms.
No feeling that his bones were being forced apart from the inside.
Hikari froze.
He looked down at his hands.
For the first time that night, he had attacked without hurting himself.
A small smile almost appeared on his face.
"Yoshimura—"
He looked back.
Yoshimura was gone.
Hikari stared at the empty space for a moment.
Then he looked toward Onoko again.
"I need to keep training."
The discovery should have been enough.
It wasn't.
Adrenaline carried him forward.
One strike became five.
Five became twenty.
The pain returned.
His control disappeared.
His vision darkened.
Eventually his fingers opened on their own.
Onoko struck the ground with a metallic sound.
Hikari collapsed beside it.
A few seconds later, footsteps returned.
Yoshimura looked down at him.
"Ugh... I knew that would happen."
He picked up Onoko, then grabbed Hikari under the arms.
"You're lucky I came back."
Hikari did not answer.
He was completely unconscious.
* * *
Yoshimura carried him through Hathor until they reached the room assigned to Hikari through his Gold Rank privileges.
The moment Yoshimura stepped inside, he looked around.
A real bed.
Clean sheets.
A proper table.
Enough space for weapons and equipment.
Even the windows were better than anything Yoshimura had slept beside in years.
He slowly lowered Hikari onto the bed.
"It really is a good place," he muttered. "Gold rooms get way too many privileges."
Hikari did not move.
Yoshimura sighed and dropped into a chair.
The rest of the group had not received the same treatment.
Hoan was still considered a Rookie within the Guild's ranking structure and had originally joined the expedition under a mercenary arrangement. Eto was Silver Rank. Yoshimura himself was not officially ranked at all; in Hinosca he had only been allowed to participate because he had been invited into the expedition.
Hikari was the only Gold Rank among them.
Yet rank did not always match experience.
Hoan had years in the military.
Eto had already participated in expeditions before.
Yoshimura had survived as both an independent mercenary and a scammer long before Hikari ever met him.
For Hoan, this journey was a chance to rebuild his life and reputation.
For Yoshimura, it was a chance to earn enough money—and enough legitimacy—to stop entering cities like a criminal every time someone recognized him.
He leaned back.
Outside, Hathor had changed completely.
During the day the streets were crowded with merchants, adventurers, families and workers.
At night, silence filled the same roads.
The city felt almost unfamiliar beneath the darkness.
Yoshimura eventually closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, the expedition would continue.
* * *
CAMAZOTZ
Camazotz are enormous bat-like creatures that inhabit the caves and cliffs surrounding Rock Valley.
They are completely blind.
Instead of sight, they navigate through an extremely developed sense of hearing and echolocation, allowing them to detect movement even in complete darkness.
Their oversized ears are sensitive enough to follow the smallest shifts in their surroundings, making direct movement through their territory dangerous even when the creatures themselves cannot be seen.
* * *
Morning came too quickly.
Hoan and Eto were already waiting beside the wagon when Yoshimura appeared carrying Hikari.
Eto stared.
Hoan stared.
Then both looked at Yoshimura.
"What happened to him?" Eto asked.
"This dumbass trained the entire night."
Yoshimura adjusted Hikari's weight.
"He pushed his body until it stopped working."
Hoan rubbed his eyes.
"Is he actually okay?"
"Probably."
"That doesn't sound convincing."
"Because I'm not a doctor."
Hoan grabbed Hikari over one shoulder like a bag of potatoes and threw him into the wagon.
Eto winced.
"Careful!"
"He's unconscious. He won't complain."
"That doesn't mean you can throw him!"
Yoshimura climbed in after them.
"He only needs rest."
Eto looked toward Juan.
"And him?"
Hoan's expression softened immediately.
"Juan should be fine now."
The old horse had recovered considerably after the previous day's crossing through Rock Valley.
Hoan returned to the front of the wagon and took the reins.
Yoshimura had used part of the Silver Crowns earned from the Camazotz corpses to finally buy himself clothing that did not make every merchant immediately assume he had slept in an alley.
He now wore a simple Hathorian tunic and travel robes.
Hathor's economy depended heavily on textiles. Cloth, dyed fabrics and finished garments moved through its markets constantly, and large portions of the city's wealth came from exporting them elsewhere across Asuka.
Yoshimura looked down at himself.
"Not bad."
Eto looked at him.
"You still look poor."
"Give me time."
The wagon began moving.
They left Hathor through the mountain route beyond the city.
The terrain quickly became steeper.
Rock gave way to narrow paths climbing between long slopes, and Juan had to pull the wagon carefully through each incline.
Hoan kept his attention ahead.
"Once we reach the top, the path should become better."
"How long until the border?" Yoshimura asked.
"Several hours if everything goes perfectly. Maybe a full day."
"Great."
"We're traveling toward the border between Asuka and Eldoria, not visiting the bakery."
Yoshimura moved forward and sat beside Hoan.
Hikari remained unconscious behind them.
Eto had already opened her notebook.
There was never a bad time for her to write.
After several minutes of silence, Yoshimura looked toward Hoan.
"Mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Your Beast Taming Mark used to be Tier I, right?"
"Yeah."
"So how did it become Tier II?"
Hoan's hands tightened slightly around the reins.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he answered.
"It happened when I was still in the military."
Yoshimura listened.
"Beast Taming users depend on their beasts more than most Mark users depend on weapons. Most of us begin at Tier I. Advancement takes time."
Hoan looked toward the road.
"The Hinosca military eventually began cooperating with Onism. The Church offered rituals that could help certain soldiers push their Marks toward ascension."
Yoshimura frowned.
"I didn't know the military was connected to Onism."
"Most people didn't."
"Five years ago they were barely anything."
Hoan's expression became uncomfortable.
"They grew."
"Clearly."
Yoshimura leaned back slightly.
"And the military just accepted religious rituals?"
"Commander Thomas accepted their terms."
"Why?"
"Because they offered results."
Hoan gestured toward the food bag beside him.
Yoshimura grabbed an apple.
"Onism performed the rituals without charging the soldiers directly. That was enough for a lot of people."
Yoshimura bit into the apple.
"Free power."
"Nothing is ever completely free."
The wagon continued upward.
Eventually Hoan found a safer route between the mountains.
From there, the group would continue toward the border.
* * *
"This is boring as shit."
Eto stretched her arms over her head.
"I just want to get to Eldoria and go back to Hinosca."
"You've said that three times," Yoshimura replied.
"I'm going to say it four."
Hoan ignored both of them.
With Hikari still unconscious, the journey became an excuse for Hoan and Yoshimura to talk.
They compared pieces of their old lives.
Military work.
Mercenary contracts.
Bad employers.
Worse food.
Hoan eventually looked at him.
"I still can't believe you used to work as a mercenary."
Yoshimura raised an eyebrow.
"What did you think I did?"
"Beg."
"That too."
Hoan laughed.
Yoshimura stared toward the mountain path.
"I wouldn't call it the best period of my life. But I learned things."
"How to scam people?"
"That was separate professional development."
Hoan shook his head.
"Are you actually planning to join the Guild?"
"Yeah."
"What's stopping you?"
"Documents."
Yoshimura sighed.
"I need to fix my situation in Hinosca before they register me properly."
The conversation continued until the sky began to darken.
By the time they stopped to camp, Hikari finally opened his eyes.
His entire body hurt.
Even sitting up felt unpleasant.
Yoshimura noticed immediately.
"I was starting to get worried."
Hikari blinked.
Hoan was preparing ingredients for dinner.
Eto was collecting wood.
Juan rested nearby.
Hikari slowly looked around.
Then at Yoshimura.
"You brought me here while I was unconscious."
"Yes."
"You kidnapped me."
Eto looked over.
"Yes, but it was necessary."
Hikari stared at her.
She stared back.
He decided it was not worth arguing.
Instead, he reached for Onoko.
"Yoshimura."
"What?"
"Come here."
Yoshimura approached cautiously.
Hikari looked directly at him.
"You were right."
That got his attention.
"I was trying to give everything I had just to become stronger."
Hikari looked down at Onoko.
"But I think the beginning of my training was never supposed to be about using more."
Yoshimura remained quiet.
"It was supposed to be about control."
He placed one hand on Hikari's shoulder.
"So you finally learned something?"
"Maybe."
"Remember the forest?" Hikari asked. "When I lit the campfire with my Light Mark?"
"Yeah."
"I barely used anything."
"Exactly."
Yoshimura removed his hand.
"You always had that ability. You just never treated it like part of yourself."
He walked away.
Hikari remained where he was.
Rain began falling.
At first it was light.
Then heavier.
Eto immediately cursed.
Hoan rushed to protect the campfire.
Yoshimura helped cover the supplies.
Juan was moved beneath shelter.
Hikari did none of that.
He remained in the rain.
Water ran down his hair and clothes.
He drew Onoko.
No swings.
No push-ups.
No attempts to break his body.
For the first time, his training was almost completely still.
Hikari closed his eyes.
The weakness was not only physical.
His mind had been treating his Light Mark as something separate from himself.
A weapon.
A source.
A force that had to be dragged outward.
But it was his.
It had always been his.
Hours passed.
The rain continued.
Hikari did not move.
He focused only on the feeling of Light passing from his body toward Onoko.
Not more.
Not less.
Only enough.
By the time morning approached, his muscles had become cold and stiff.
He finally opened his eyes.
One swing.
Onoko moved.
Nothing happened.
Yoshimura, watching from nearby, raised an eyebrow.
Then a sound echoed across the mountain.
CRACK.
A rock several meters in front of Hikari split cleanly in half.
Yoshimura's expression changed.
Hikari looked at Onoko.
No burning.
No violent exhaustion.
No feeling that his body had been torn apart.
He had channeled the Mark through the sword instead of forcing everything through himself.
For the first time, Onoko had felt less like an object in his hands and more like an extension of his body.
"So?" Yoshimura asked. "How are you feeling?"
"Better than I expected."
Hikari returned Onoko to its sheath.
Then he looked toward the wagon.
It was gone.
So were Eto and Hoan.
He slowly looked at Yoshimura.
Yoshimura pointed toward a cave.
"They moved everything under there because of the rain."
"Oh."
Hikari looked at his soaked clothes.
"I should change."
He went toward the wagon to retrieve his kimono.
Then everyone felt it.
A distortion in the air.
The strange pressure of something appearing where nothing had been a moment before.
Five figures stood in front of the wagon.
Hoan immediately reached for the enormous sword stored behind it.
"Teleportation Mark!"
Four of the newcomers looked like mercenaries.
The fifth was smaller.
White hair.
Blue-purple eyes.
A white shirt worn carelessly over leather leggings.
A katana in his hand.
He stared directly at Hikari.
"Hello, Hikari."
His smile widened.
"Finally found you."
Hikari's expression changed.
Not fear.
Something closer to exhaustion.
"Hello... Noro."
His younger brother attacked immediately.
Noro crossed the distance between them in an instant.
Steel struck steel.
Hikari blocked the katana with Onoko, twisted his wrist and countered with a slash across Noro's torso.
Noro moved back.
The four mercenaries spread around them.
Eto and Hoan engaged two.
Yoshimura stepped toward the remaining pair.
"So you two are the weak ones I need to deal with?"
Diamond spread across his hands.
The mineral hardened around his fingers into sharp edges.
One mercenary carried a Tier II Wind Mark.
The other was a Beast Tamer.
The Beast Tamer began summoning.
Yoshimura did not let him finish.
A diamond shard formed between his fingers.
He fired.
The shard entered the man's throat.
The mercenary collapsed before his beast could appear.
The Wind user stared at the corpse.
Then at Yoshimura.
"Ugh. You're a good murderer, aren't you?"
He moved.
Wind exploded around Yoshimura and formed a rotating prison.
Yoshimura crossed his arms in front of his face.
"Yeah."
Diamond spread outward.
"I could say the same about you."
A sphere of diamond formed around the Wind user.
For a second, both men had trapped each other.
"You can't attack me," Yoshimura said. "And I'm not letting you out until my—"
The Wind user smiled.
Air moved through the gaps around him without requiring direct contact.
The Gale Prison tightened.
Yoshimura's eyes widened.
"...right. That."
* * *
Hoan had his own problem.
His opponent was fast.
Too fast.
A dagger user moved around him with short, efficient steps, constantly entering and leaving the range of Hoan's massive sword.
Hoan could not summon one of his beasts quickly enough.
His current weapon was too heavy to catch someone who refused to remain still.
Then something flew through the air.
"Hoan!"
He turned.
Eto had thrown a greatsword toward him.
He caught it.
The difference was immediate.
It looked heavy, but the balance was almost absurdly clean.
"A normal person can lift it," Eto shouted, "but it'll still cut rock!"
Hoan grinned.
"Good enough!"
He returned to the fight.
Eto, meanwhile, had finally decided to test what she had been designing since the beginning of the expedition.
Metal gathered around her.
Pieces locked together.
A long handle formed.
Then an enormous axe head.
Bāsa.
Her opponent stared.
He carried a Tier II Gravity Mark.
Eto charged.
The man raised one hand.
Gravity multiplied around the weapon.
Bāsa suddenly became five times heavier.
The ground beneath Eto's feet cracked.
The mercenary smiled.
Eto kept moving.
His smile disappeared.
"What the—"
She brought Bāsa down.
The impact smashed him into the ground.
He barely avoided being crushed completely.
Eto pulled the weapon free.
Then generated it again over his position.
The second impact ended the fight.
The Gravity user remained unconscious beneath broken stone.
Hoan, using Eto's greatsword, finally caught the dagger user and forced him down.
He raised the weapon.
"This thing is great!"
"Thanks!" Eto shouted.
Hoan smiled.
"Seriously, thanks."
"You can pay me after the expedition."
His smile disappeared.
Yoshimura, having finally overcome the Wind user, turned toward the only fight still happening.
Hikari and Noro.
* * *
"That's all you've got, brother?"
Noro breathed heavily, but he was still smiling.
Hikari stood across from him.
He already knew two of Noro's Marks.
Teleportation.
Mist.
But there was still a third.
Noro moved.
A wave of heat followed his attack.
For one second Hikari thought he had finally understood.
Flame Mark.
No.
Something was wrong.
The heat felt different.
Not like a Mark manifesting an element.
It felt structured.
Practiced.
"What is this, Noro?"
Noro did not answer.
He adjusted his stance.
"Enken-ryuu: Netsu Giri."
The strike released a violent wave of heat.
Hikari raised Onoko.
The heat burned across his arms and clothes.
Noro immediately changed posture.
"Suiken-ryuu: Danzai no Taki."
The next motion carried the force of water.
A rushing impact crashed against Hikari like a falling torrent.
Hikari slid backward.
Then he understood.
"Fighting styles..."
Noro's smile changed.
Hikari pointed Onoko toward him.
"Your third Mark is the Martial Artist Mark."
Noro clicked his tongue.
His trick was gone.
"Yes."
He laughed.
"You seriously never learned about Martial Arts, Hikari?"
The Martial Artist Mark did not simply hand someone strength.
It allowed the user to reproduce Martial Arts without undergoing the years of physical practice that normally built them.
But there was a condition.
The user still needed to understand the theory.
And even if the Mark knew the technique, the body still had to endure it.
Hikari remembered the lesson from the previous night.
Power without control was worthless.
Noro began preparing Netsu Giri again.
Hikari moved first.
Light passed through his body.
Not violently.
Not wastefully.
Controlled.
His steps became faster without tearing at his muscles.
He closed the distance.
Before Noro could complete the technique, Hikari caught Onoko by the sheath and struck him across the head with the blunt side.
Noro collapsed.
Silence.
Eto stared.
Yoshimura stared.
"How did you know that would work?" they asked almost at the same time.
Hikari looked down at his unconscious brother.
"He's still a kid."
He exhaled.
"And he's my brother. I'm not killing him."
Eto and Yoshimura exchanged a look.
Then another.
Finally both understood what had happened.
Noro had been outperforming Hikari in swordsmanship because the Martial Artist Mark was doing part of the work for him.
Yoshimura started laughing.
Eto joined him.
Hikari slowly looked toward them.
"Shut up."
That only made it worse.
* * *
They restrained Noro.
Or at least they thought they did.
Hoan moved away to search the defeated mercenaries.
Yoshimura remained nearby.
Noro's eyes opened.
His hand moved toward the knife hidden at his belt.
No warning.
No hesitation.
The blade drove into Yoshimura's chest.
His scream tore across the mountains.
Blood spread immediately.
His right arm went numb.
He stumbled backward, one hand pressing desperately against the wound.
Hoan turned at the sound.
Hikari moved before anyone else.
"Noro!"
He drew Onoko.
Eto slammed Noro back down and reinforced the restraints around him.
Yoshimura tried to move toward Hoan.
He failed.
His knees gave out.
Hikari remembered the potion.
The Full Restore.
He ran to the wagon.
The glass bottle was still there.
Elder Koh's experimental potion.
Five Gold Crowns.
A potion that might restore almost anything—or might simply taste like blood.
Hikari returned and forced it into Yoshimura.
For several terrifying seconds, nothing happened.
Then the bleeding began to slow.
Color gradually returned to Yoshimura's face.
He remained unconscious.
But he was alive.
Hikari released a breath he had not realized he was holding.
"It worked."
Hoan helped him lift Yoshimura.
"Koh's potion actually worked."
They carried him toward the wagon.
Behind them, Eto stared down at Noro.
Her expression had changed.
He had nearly killed Yoshimura.
He had ruined the expedition.
He had attacked them repeatedly even after being defeated.
Eto knelt beside him.
Metal formed beneath her hands.
Not a weapon.
A small emblem.
The Blacksmith Mark responded to her control while she began applying a more delicate form of runification.
Noro's eyes opened again.
The moment he understood what she was doing, panic replaced the smile.
He tried to activate Teleportation.
Eto forced him back down.
"No."
The Martial Artist Mark resisted.
So did Noro.
But Eto continued.
The process was not clean.
Marks were tied to the soul.
Removing one was not the same as taking away a weapon.
It meant taking something that had become part of the person.
The emblem began to change.
Energy gathered inside it.
Then the Martial Artist Mark disappeared from Noro.
The metal emblem remained in Eto's hand.
Runified.
Noro's breathing changed.
Something inside him was gone.
Eto stood.
"You're done."
The sun had already begun descending.
* * *
Yoshimura woke near sunset.
His vision focused slowly.
Someone was sitting beside him.
"Ugh..."
He blinked.
"Is that an angel?"
Hoan looked down at him.
There was a pause.
"Thanks, but if you say things like that again I'm throwing you into a bush."
Yoshimura smiled weakly.
Then immediately regretted moving.
"Good. He's awake," Hikari said.
Hoan looked toward him.
"You can go back to controlling the wagon now."
Hoan nodded.
Yoshimura looked around.
"What happened?"
"You almost died."
"I noticed that part."
Hikari showed him the empty Full Restore bottle.
"Koh saved you."
Yoshimura took it carefully.
He stared at the glass.
"Alchemy at this level is rare."
"It was experimental."
Yoshimura slowly looked at him.
"You gave me an experimental potion after I got stabbed in the heart?"
"You're alive."
"That is not the reassuring answer you think it is."
Hoan laughed from the front of the wagon.
They continued through the mountain route.
Eventually the path opened.
Hoan stopped.
"So... here we are."
Beyond the mountains, they could finally see part of Eldoria.
Not clearly.
Mountain peaks interrupted the horizon.
A strange mist covered sections of the distant territory.
Eto immediately opened her notebook.
"Don't move."
"What?"
"I'm writing."
She began cataloguing what she could see.
Mountain positions.
Terrain.
Visibility.
The strange haze.
She labeled it provisionally:
Eldorian Mist.
Then she stopped.
Far beyond the nearest slope stood something unnatural.
Old stone.
A structure partially hidden by distance and mist.
Eto narrowed her eyes.
"A dungeon?"
The others looked.
It appeared abandoned.
Possibly unexplored.
If it truly led deeper into Eldoria, the discovery could change the purpose of future expeditions entirely.
People might have a reason to enter the forgotten continent again.
Hoan looked at the sky.
"We found what we needed."
The group agreed.
They would return to Hathor.
* * *
Hours later, the wagon crossed back into the city.
At the Strive Guild branch, one receptionist was in the middle of explaining the expedition quest to another adventurer when the group entered.
She stopped.
"You're back?"
Hoan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"That fast?"
Eto placed the expedition book on the counter.
The receptionist immediately began reading.
The notes were sent to the Guild's analysis department.
Routes.
Mountain conditions.
The Eldorian Mist.
The possible dungeon.
All of it.
The mission had been completed successfully.
Hoan's performance earned him a promotion.
Bronze Rank.
He stared at the updated registration for several seconds.
Yoshimura slapped him on the back.
"Look at you."
Hoan smiled.
The group received 122 Gold Crowns each.
They were also allowed to select one special reward item.
Hoan chose proper mercenary clothing.
For the first time since losing everything after Hinosca, he would no longer need to depend on his sister's ballerina outfit whenever he ran out of clean clothes.
Yoshimura selected a Warlock Potion.
Hikari and Eto decided not to claim their special items immediately; they would choose later through the Hinosca branch.
The receptionist congratulated them.
Once the information recorded by Eto was confirmed, their names would gain more recognition inside the Guild.
Hoan and Eto began preparing the wagon.
Yoshimura stood nearby trying to plan how they would survive Rock Valley again.
"Camazotz hear movement."
He tapped his chin.
"So if I attract them first—"
Hikari barely listened.
He was already thinking about Elder Koh.
He still remembered the promise.
If the Full Restore worked, Hikari would bring him to Hinosca.
It had worked.
And Hikari now had enough money to keep his word.
They returned to Rock Valley.
This time, nobody treated the crossing like an unknown threat.
Eto remained near the wagon, ready to reinforce it the moment anything attacked.
Yoshimura prepared diamond shards to draw the Camazotz away from Juan.
Hoan kept the wagon moving.
Hikari rested one hand on Onoko.
The valley was still dangerous.
The creatures were still there.
The cliffs still hid things in the darkness.
But something had changed.
Not the valley.
Hikari.
He had spent the previous night trying to force himself into strength.
Now he understood something different.
Strength was not always about how much power someone possessed.
Sometimes it was about how little they needed to waste.
He drew Onoko.
This time, he was ready.
* * *
BĀSA
An immense battle axe designed and created by Eto Yaruzu.
Bāsa was developed around efficiency: Eto wanted a weapon capable of maintaining devastating offensive power while consuming less of the material stored through her Blacksmith Mark.
Despite its enormous size, its construction is highly economical compared with Eto's previous weapon designs.
The axe is powerful enough to crush bone and destroy skulls through raw impact.
Its primary material is a special steel developed by the Yaruzu Clan, designed with increased resistance to dulling and oxidation.
Bāsa represents Eto's attempt to solve one of the greatest weaknesses of using the Blacksmith Mark directly in combat:
a blacksmith cannot afford to waste material forever.