After all the upgrades were finally over, they rested for the day.
Not the kind of rest filled with excitement or planning, but the quiet, heavy rest that came only after something important had ended. No one talked about skills or ranks anymore. They ate, cleaned up, and slept like people whose bodies had been pushed just far enough to demand silence.
The next morning, Victor woke up before anyone else.
The sun wasn't even fully up when he left the hut, already pulling his jacket on as he walked. His steps were quick, purposeful, the kind of pace that came from having something clear in mind. He went straight to the smithy without stopping, without looking back.
Life, for everyone else, slipped back into its familiar rhythm, and ten days passed just like that.
Mina and Raul were already outside by the time Arin stepped out, the desert air cool against his skin. The two of them were sparring, just like they had countless times before—but it wasn't the same anymore.
Raul moved first.
Phaseshift had changed him.
His steps no longer followed a readable pattern. He didn't circle or press forward the way he used to. Instead, he appeared, vanished, and reappeared again, sometimes barely a meter away, sometimes behind Mina, sometimes far enough that the air itself seemed to lag behind him. Each movement was sharp, decisive, and unnervingly quiet until the delayed crack of displaced air followed half a breath later.
He was learning.
Not just how to use Phaseshift—but how to rebuild his entire fighting style around it.
He attacked from angles that didn't make sense, retreated without retreating, and repositioned so fast that even Arin had trouble tracking him at times. He was faster, yes—but more than that, he was unpredictable. Dangerous in a way speed alone had never made him before.
Mina didn't fall behind.
Her shield moved.
Not as something she held—but as something that belonged to her.
Shifting Aegis hovered her practice shield, snapped, rotated, and intercepted with precision that grew cleaner by the minute. At first, when she'd begun practicing days ago, the shield had lagged behind Raul's hyperspeed bursts. It had moved where she told it to, but a fraction too late. Enough to matter.
Now, that delay was gone.
She had learned how to think ahead.
The shield no longer reacted; it now anticipated. When Raul vanished, it shifted position before he reappeared. When he struck from behind, it was already there, angled just right, not blocking blindly but redirecting the force away from her body.
Her stance never broke.
Her spear remained steady.
She commanded the undead, shield, and weapon without pausing, without panic. The shield spun around her, covering every angle, adjusting constantly, as if guarding her on instinct alone.
Arin watched for a while before speaking.
"Guys," he called out. "Victor asked us to come by the smithy. Looks like he's done."
Raul blinked into existence a few meters away and rolled his shoulders. "Finally," he said, grinning. "It's been ten days already since we got our upgrades."
Mina lowered her shield, letting it settle against her arm again. She didn't say anything, but the smile on her face said enough. She was more than ready to see the results.
—
Victor had barely left the smithy in those ten days.
He sat there now, exhaustion heavy in his bones, soot staining his hands and clothes, eyes ringed with fatigue, but there was satisfaction in his expression.
The first thing he had focused on was Mana Steel.
It had taken focus and precision, what exact ratio to use to maximize it.
But not for long.
With Deep Forge Control guiding his hands and Blacksmith's Oath anchoring his intent, he had succeeded faster than he'd expected. Once he understood the flow, how mana needed to be folded into steel instead of forced, the rest followed naturally.
After that, the real work began.
He stripped the Dawn series weapons down completely.
Every piece. Every layer.
He removed the Aetherite from their original materials, separating it carefully, refusing to waste even a fragment. Then he reforged the weapons from the ground up, shaping new Mana Steel from Black Iron infused with his own mana, tempering it again and again until it responded exactly the way he wanted.
Only then did he reapply the Aetherite.
Carefully and precisely.
When he tested them, the difference was immediate.
First Dawn. Silent Dawn. Dawnpoint. Dawnveil. Dawnbreaker. Dawnfall.
Each weapon moved more cleanly. Hit harder. Held enchantments better. Their balance felt sharper, their mana response smoother. By his measurements, every single one had improved by at least fifty percent, some closer to sixty.
They weren't just stronger.
They were reborn.
After that, he turned to armor.
He started with his own.
Victor's armor was no longer black.
He reinforced every piece with Mana Steel, then layered Emerald Aetherite throughout, weaving it into the structure for improved health and stamina recovery. As a tank, he needed to last. Needed to stay standing no matter how long the fight dragged on.
The result was striking.
Emerald plates with black borders and etched designs, Captain-rank lizard leather beneath for flexibility, reinforced joints crafted with an expert's attention to durability. Heavy, solid, and reliable.
When Arin arrived with Mina and Raul, Victor was still seated, wiping his hands on a rag.
Raul squinted at him. "Wassup, bro? You look like a beggar."
Victor didn't even look up. "Shut up. You look like a maniac."
Arin stepped between them before it escalated. "So," he said, "our weapons are ready?"
Victor nodded toward a rack. "Yeah, go ahead. They're there, test them out."
They didn't need to be told twice.
The moment they picked them up, all three felt it.
The balance, the response, the weight that wasn't weight.
They practiced for a while, quietly, each lost in testing their own weapon. No one spoke much, but no one needed to.
After that, Victor brought out the armor.
He explained his own first, then moved on.
Raul's armor came next.
It wasn't leather or chitin anymore.
It was Mana Steel, entirely.
But reinforced with White Aetherite.
Now as light as air.
The armor didn't look bulky. It followed Raul's frame cleanly, white plates edged with black Captain-rank lizard leather at the joints. Boots and gloves came with it, along with a hood that suited him far better than any helmet ever had.
Raul put it on and laughed.
"It's lighter than my old armor," he said, incredulous. "And this is steel?"
Victor smirked. "Your defense won't hold you back anymore."
Next was Mina's.
Her armor followed a similar design, but Victor had used Blue Aetherite instead, layered into the Mana Steel to improve mana recovery. For a necromancer, it was game-changing.
He kept the skirt, too—made from high-quality cloth crafted by the villagers. It didn't add protection, but it suited her. Balanced the armor's presence. Boots and gloves completed the set.
Then came Arin's.
It was Crimson.
Mana Steel layered with Crimson Aetherite.
Mina opened her mouth.
Victor spoke before she could. "Before you say anything, Arin has the Anchor of Identity Skill. He's immune to internal and external influence. Crimson Aetherite drives people mad. But he can't lose himself even if he wanted to. So for him, it's a free strength boost."
Mina and Raul froze.
"…That's actually genius," Raul said.
The armor matched the others in structure, reinforced with Captain-rank leather. Boots. Gloves. And a head ornament shaped like a crown.
Arin stared at it. "All these colors… we look like Power Rangers. Cool."
Victor frowned. "What's a power what?"
"Nothing," Arin said quickly. "Just mumbling."
Raul tilted his head. "By the way, what's with the crown?"
Victor answered without blinking. "He's our Lord, of course. He should have a crown."
Arin grimaced. "It's embarrassing."
"I made it for you," Victor said flatly. "You'll wear it even if you don't want to."
Mina watched them and laughed.
And just like that, they were ready.
Now all of them, Captain-rank, fully equipped, sharpened by battle, reinforced by trust.
The Scorched Pass waited. And beyond it, the desert would finally end.