/~Contrario~/
The hiss of steam and the echo of clanking metal filled the air around me as I walked away from Axel. Noix Forge was alive and burning, breathing, groaning with heat and history. Sparks rained from high above where molten alloys were being cast into weapons and armor for clans preparing for the tournament. But I wasn't here for gear. I was here for something deeper.
This was my act of desperation.
I stood hunched over the forge bench, my bag already ripped open and its contents scattered across the scorched table. My fingers wrapped tightly around the red Core that was shimmering, pulsing like a living thing. It throbbed in my palm with a slow, hypnotic rhythm.
Stray hovered beside me in standby mode, humming quietly. I opened the diagnostics link in my HUD.
"Stray," I muttered. "What's the current core status?"
A flicker of static, then Stray's voice crackled to life in my ear.
