The following morning, the village awoke to the sound of hammers and shovels.
The students, alongside villagers and two instructors, worked to reinforce the palisade. The news of the forged creature had spread like wildfire, and fear had hardened into resolve.
Eryon, sleeves rolled, helped repair a watchtower's collapsed scaffolding. Every few minutes, he'd glance toward the treeline.
Alice joined him silently, her movements efficient.
"We're not done with it," she said, low.
Eryon nodded. "No. It ran because it wanted to."
"Or because it was told to."
Later, Braedon gathered them beneath the main hall's canopy.
He pointed to a map of the surrounding region.
"There are ruins a few kilometers northeast—an abandoned shrine from the early Stellar Era. Local records say it was once used by elemental forgers. We believe that's where this construct may have come from—or worse, where more are being made."
He eyed them seriously.
"You're going to investigate."
The group—eight students total now—murmured in unease.
Alice frowned. "You're not coming with us?"
Braedon shook his head. "We need to keep the village secure. You're all more than capable. And this will be your test."
By noon, they were ready.
Eryon and Alice led the vanguard, moving through the denser parts of the forest with deliberate precision. The further they went, the stranger the environment became—plants twisted at unnatural angles, the soil blackened in veins, the air tinged faintly with sulfur.
At last, the trees parted.
A stone structure sat in the heart of the clearing. Weathered, half-buried in vines and dust, its arches were cracked and sagging. But at the center, etched into a massive column, was a symbol neither of them had seen before:
A flame wrapped in iron chains.
Eryon stepped forward, staring at it.
As he approached, the mark pulsed—faintly, like something beneath the stone had recognized him.
Alice reached for her sword. "That wasn't natural."
From the shadows of the shrine, three shapes emerged.
Each one moved like the first construct, but larger—one carried blades fused into its arms, another hissed steam with every step.
The third… glowed.
Eryon's hands flared with fire.
Alice moved beside him, blades drawn.
"Ready?" he asked.
She glanced at him once.
"Just don't try to protect me again."
He smiled. "Wouldn't dare."
Then the constructs attacked.