"Can you stabilize this core," he asked, "and then forge it into a sword… without making it explode?"
He let out a short chuckle.
"We've tried ourselves. Dozens of times. And failed every time. It seems… we require some 'guidance' from the technological heart of the Divine Sky Realm."
The plaza fell abruptly silent.
Those perceptive enough immediately sensed that something was wrong.
The Head of the Grand Workshop stared at the core, his gaze sharp. The energy inside it churned like a violent storm, unlike a normal star core, there was something… deliberately flawed about it.
"This…" he muttered.
"Well?" Varon asked casually, though his eyes gleamed as he awaited failure. "If you succeed, we will acknowledge your techniques. If not…"
He shrugged, as if the implication needed no words.
The Head of the Workshop looked out over the plaza, at the Eternal Forge apprentices, the Lords of the autonomous islands, and the representatives of neighboring realms.
He could not retreat.
