Chapter 11: The Glass Forge
The Archive was no longer just a library; it had become a sanctuary. While the world above searched for a missing heiress and a "glitch" in the mana-grid, Ren, Elena, and Mia were buried beneath the weight of history.
Mia stood in the back of the Forge, the heat of the mana-capacitor turning her skin a shimmering bronze. She wasn't just fixing gear; she was learning to "read" the metal. The World-Forge hammer didn't just strike; it hummed, whispering the structural weaknesses of their equipment.
"Ren's blade is notched," Mia murmured to herself, her eyes glowing with that same orange light. "Elena's cloak is fraying at the mana-seams. If they go into the Black Market like this, the first Administrator spy will see them from a mile away."
She struck the anvil. The sound wasn't a metallic clang, but a deep, resonant thrum that rippled through the golden cord.
In the main hall, Ren and Elena were locked in the combat simulator—a space where the Archive projected hard-light phantoms of E-rank beasts. They weren't fighting for XP; they were fighting for [SYNC].
"Again," Ren panted, his Sovereign's Edge trailing silver sparks as he parried a hard-light wolf. "Elena, don't wait for my command. Feel the cord. When I dip my shoulder, you fire."
Elena wiped sweat from her silver-white brow. Her Spire staff was vibrating with an intense, violet heat. "I'm trying, Ren. But the Tether... it's heavy. Every time you move, I feel the drag of your fatigue. It's distracting."
"Don't fight the drag," Ren said, stepping into the wolf's reach and letting it graze his armor. "Use it. If I'm tired, use your mana to bolster my legs. If you're low on energy, pull from my stamina. That's what the 'Anchor' means."
Elena closed her eyes. She stopped looking at the phantom wolves and started looking at the golden line connecting her heart to Ren's. She felt the jagged, tired rhythm of his breathing. Instead of pushing her mana outward, she pushed it sideways, into the cord.
Ren's eyes went wide. A sudden surge of cool, violet energy flooded his limbs. His fatigue vanished, replaced by a crystalline clarity. He moved like a blur, the Sovereign's Edge cutting through three phantoms in a single, fluid arc.
[SYNC RATE INCREASED: 5.5% -> 5.8%]
[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: MANA-FLOW TRANSFUSION]
"I felt that," Ren breathed, the silver blade slowly fading as the simulation ended. "That wasn't a command. That was... us."
Elena leaned on her staff, a rare, genuine smile breaking through her icy mask. "It was like... playing a duet where I could hear the notes you were thinking before you played them."
Their moment was interrupted by a sharp, electronic chirp from the central stone table. Mia came running out of the Forge, holding Ren's newly reinforced short sword and a set of leather bracers for herself.
"The timer," Mia said, pointing to the holographic display.
[TRIAL PREPARATION: COMPLETE]
[COORDINATES LOCKED: DISTRICT 0 - SECTOR BLACK]
[CURRENT TIME: 02:00 AM]
"The Black Market is most active at 2:00 AM," Ren said, his voice dropping into a serious tone. "It's when the 'Unsanctioned Gates' are traded and the Administrators' eyes are busiest with the high-rank guilds."
He took his reinforced blade from Mia, feeling the subtle heat she had forged into the steel. He looked at his companions—a girl who had been told she was a tool, and a girl who had been told she was a prize.
"We go in as scavengers," Ren said. "Keep the weapons hidden in the sub-space unless I give the signal. Elena, keep your hood up. If someone sees those violet eyes, the whole District will go into lockdown."
"I have a veil," Elena said, pulling a piece of thin, enchanted silk from her pouch. "It distorts the facial features of the wearer. My father used them for... private negotiations."
"Good," Ren said. He walked toward the massive iron door of the Archive. "The first 'Leak' is waiting. If that projection was right, the world we think we know is just the surface. Tonight, we start looking underneath."
As the iron door groaned open, the cold, ash-tasting air of District 0 rushed in. They stepped out into the dark, three shadows connected by a golden thread that only they—and the monsters in the dark—could see.