The transition from the Smog District to the Dross Pit was like leaving a loud party and walking straight into a graveyard. As Kael and Luna climbed down the rusted iron stairs, the air changed. It didn't just feel heavy, it felt wrong. This was the trash heap of Oakhaven, a place where the waste from the high-end forges above settled into a thick, poisonous fog.
The further down they went, the darker it got. The only light came from patches of glowing green mushrooms growing on the damp rocks.
Luna was practically walking in Kael's shadow. She was so close that her shoulder kept bumping into his. Usually, she was the one watching out for danger, but down here, she looked like she was drowning.
"The air here is so… rotten," Luna whispered with shaky voice. She had spent her life sensing duo qi to stay safe, but in the Pit, the energy was like static on a broken radio. It hurt just to breathe.
Kael didn't say much. He couldn't. He was too busy focusing on a weird pulling sensation in his chest. It was like a magnet was tugging at his soul, leading him deeper into the gloom.
"There," Kael said.
He pointed at a shack made of scrap metal and old, blackened wood. It didn't have a chimney like the forges above, but you could see the heat shimmering off the walls. A giant iron glove was nailed to the front door, a silent warning to anyone thinking of causing trouble.
Kael pushed the door open.
The inside was a mess of junk. Piles of rusted scrap metal reached all the way to the ceiling, leaving only tiny paths to walk through. It smelled like burnt wires and old, dried copper.
"Hobb?" Kael called out.
"Hobb's gone," a raspy voice replied from somewhere above them. "Died of boredom years ago. I'm just what's left."
A man dropped down from the rafters, landing with a heavy thud that shook the floor. He was thin, wearing a dirty leather apron, but he moved with a strange, unnatural strength. One of his eyes was milky and blind, but the other was so bright that it seemed to look right through them.
He didn't look at their clothes or their faces. He looked straight at their chests, where their power lived.
"A girl who sees too much and a boy who isn't there," the old man muttered. He walked up to Luna first. "You. You don't need a sword. You're already exhausted from seeing every little ripple in the air, aren't you? You want something to make the world go away."
Luna froze. "My weapons... they keep breaking. I just want to be able to fight without the feedback killing me."
"Because you're using the wrong tools," Hobb grunted. He reached into a pile of dark rocks and pulled out two daggers wrapped in old cloth. He shook them out. They were made of black glass, with thin silver lines running through the blades. "These are Obsidian. They don't use qi; they eat it. They'll kill the sound and the light around you. It'll be quiet, girl. But you'll be all alone in that silence. Can you handle that?"
Luna reached out, her fingers trembling. The second she touched the hilts, she let out a long, shaky breath. The look of pain on her face vanished. For the first time all night, she looked like she could actually think.
"Yes," she whispered. "I can handle it."
Then Hobb turned to Kael. His blue eye flared bright. He actually took a step back as he gave Kael weird glances.
"And you," Hobb said, his voice turning into a growl. "You're a problem. You're the kind of person who starts wars just by standing still."
"I just need a weapon that won't shatter when I use it," Kael said as he tried to keep his voice calm.
Hobb stared at him for a long time. Finally, he sighed and climbed a ladder into the dark rafters. "Wait here. Don't touch anything."
While he was gone, the silence between Kael and Luna felt different. It was somehow awkward.
"He's scared of you," Luna said softly.
Hobb came back down carrying something wrapped in a heavy, dusty cloth and thick chains. He dropped it on the floor with a massive sound.
"This," Hobb said, pulling the cloth back, "is a piece of a dead star. It isn't iron, and it isn't magic. It's just... nothing. It blocks out energy. It doesn't glow, it doesn't hum, and it'll never break."
It's a black iron rod about four feet long. It's covered in scratches and dents. It looked like a piece of trash.
"Pick it up," Hobb dared him. "If you're as empty as I think you are, it'll feel like a feather. If you're full of hot air, it'll crush your feet."
Kael reached down. The moment his hand closed around the cold metal, he felt a click in his soul.
He lifted it easily. It felt perfect. No fancy lights, no humming power, just a solid, heavy weight.
"The price," Kael said.
Hobb looked at Luna. "For the daggers, I want that silver locket. The one you keep touching."
Luna's hand flew to her neck. Her face went white. "This is... it's all I have left of my mother."
"I know," Hobb said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "But you can't be a Shadow and a daughter at the same time. If you want the silence, you have to let go of the past. That's the trade."
Hobb turned to Kael. "And for the rod? I don't want your money. I want a promise. When you go into that Abyss, the monsters are going to smell you. They're going to be drawn to that void you're carrying. My price is this, when they come for you, you don't lead them back here. You take your trouble and you run the other way. Deal?"