"...Father?"
Before I could take another step, Ashtir's knees suddenly buckled beneath him. The forge tongs slipped from his grasp, clattering loudly against the stone floor as he collapsed beside the furnace.
For a brief moment, everyone stood frozen.
Then the entire forge erupted into chaos.
"Master Ashtir!"
Several apprentices rushed toward him while others quickly moved the surrounding tools away to make room. Ordrin was the first to react. Without waiting for instructions, he turned and sprinted toward the entrance of the forge.
"Get Master Kazrik!" he shouted as he disappeared into the workshop. "Master Ashtir collapsed!"
Within moments, several dwarven smiths abandoned their stations and hurried over. Two carefully lifted Ashtir away from the furnace while another checked his breathing.
"He's alive," one of them said with visible relief. "But he's unconscious."
Only then did one of the smiths notice the bronze bracer lying near Ashtir's outstretched hand.
"...Was this what he was holding?"
No one answered.
Assuming it had simply fallen from Ashtir's grasp, the dwarf bent down and picked it up with his bare hand.
The moment his fingers touched the metal, the intricate engravings carved across the bracer suddenly glowed with a faint blue light.
Everyone stared.
The light pulsed only once before spreading across every engraved line like flowing veins beneath the metal.
The dwarf's eyes widened.
His body stiffened.
Then, without warning, he collapsed just as Ashtir had.
The bracer slipped from his fingers and struck the stone floor with a heavy metallic clang.
A stunned silence settled over the forge.
No one dared move.
One of the apprentices suddenly pointed toward the unconscious dwarf.
"His hand..."
Everyone followed his gaze.
Across the back of the dwarf's right hand, strange markings slowly appeared beneath the skin. They glowed with a faint purple light for only a few brief seconds before fading away completely, leaving behind nothing but ordinary skin as though they had never existed.
The only sound that remained was the crackling of the furnace.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the entrance of the workshop.
The gathered smiths instinctively stepped aside as an older dwarf pushed through the crowd. His silver-streaked beard reached the middle of his chest, and years spent beside the forge had left soot permanently staining his hands and forearms.
His sharp eyes swept across the room, taking in the two unconscious dwarves, the bronze bracer resting alone upon the stone floor, and the frightened apprentices surrounding them.
Finally, his gaze settled on me.
"What happened?"
One of the apprentices quickly stepped forward, still visibly shaken by what had just happened.
"They both collapsed after touching the bracer," he explained. "Master Ashtir touched it first, and then the others tried to move it after he fell. The same thing happened again."
Kazrik's expression hardened as he looked toward the ancient artifact lying on the stone floor.
"Don't touch it again."
He turned toward two of the apprentices.
"You two, go get a doctor. Tell them we have two unconscious smiths and we don't know what caused it."
The apprentices immediately nodded and hurried out of the forge.
Kazrik remained beside the unconscious dwarves, carefully keeping everyone else away from the bracer. The surrounding smiths watched in uneasy silence, their attention constantly shifting between the artifact and Ashtir.
Before the apprentices could return, another dwarf came rushing into the workshop carrying a large wooden bucket filled with water.
He barely stopped before the furnace.
"Move."
He stepped beside Ashtir and threw the water directly over him.
The sudden splash jolted Ashtir awake.
He coughed violently as water ran down his beard and clothing, his hands instinctively pushing against the stone floor as he tried to sit up.
"Easy," one of the smiths said, reaching toward him. "Don't try to stand."
Ashtir ignored him and looked around the workshop, his breathing still unsteady.
"...What happened?"
"You collapsed," Kazrik answered.
Ashtir's eyes slowly moved toward the ancient bracer lying several feet away.
The moment he saw it, his expression changed.
Before he could say anything, the strange markings on his right hand suddenly flickered purple.
The light appeared for barely a second.
Ashtir's entire body stiffened.
He immediately grabbed the side of his head.
"Ah..."
A sharp pain suddenly tore through his skull.
His face twisted as he squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to remain conscious.
"It hurts..."
The words came out strained and barely audible.
One of the nearby smiths immediately knelt beside him.
"Ashtir?"
Ashtir couldn't answer.
The headache intensified, forcing him to lower his head while his hands trembled against the stone floor.
Kazrik watched the purple markings disappear from Ashtir's hand.
His eyes then shifted toward the bracer.
For the first time since entering the forge...
He looked genuinely concerned.
---
Kazrik didn't immediately approach the bracer.
Instead, he reached for a thick piece of cloth hanging beside one of the workstations and carefully wrapped it around his hand. Only then did he crouch beside the artifact.
"Nobody touch it with your bare hands."
Using the cloth as a barrier, Kazrik picked up the bracer.
Nothing happened.
No blue light.
No strange reaction.
He turned it over several times, examining the engravings before looking toward Ashtir.
Then his eyes shifted to me.
"Ash."
I straightened.
Kazrik walked over and held the bracer out toward me.
"Take it."
I hesitated.
After what had just happened, I wasn't exactly eager to touch it.
Still, I reached out and accepted the bracer.
Nothing happened.
No light appeared across the engravings.
No dizziness.
Nothing.
Kazrik's expression became more serious.
"It reacted to your father."
He glanced toward the unconscious dwarf lying nearby.
"And to him."
His eyes returned to me.
"But not you."
I looked down at the bracer in my hands.
"I don't know why."
Kazrik studied me for a moment before asking his next question.
"Where did you get this?"
I hesitated.
My fingers tightened slightly around the bracer.
"The northern mountains."
Kazrik's eyes narrowed.
"Where in the northern mountains?"
I remained silent.
He waited.
I knew he wasn't going to let the question go.
"...I can't tell you."
A few of the surrounding smiths exchanged glances.
Kazrik didn't become angry. Instead, he crossed his arms.
"Then tell me why you brought it here."
I looked down at the engravings.
"I've been studying them."
I turned the bracer slightly, allowing the forge's light to fall across the markings.
"I first saw symbols like these in some of the old books in Metal Veil. Later, I found similar markings on some of the equipment and artifacts here at the Magma Ox Forge."
I pointed toward the large emblem hanging above one of the main entrances.
The symbol of the Magma Ox Forge.
"That."
Kazrik followed my finger.
Several of the same geometric patterns appeared within the old emblem, woven into its design so subtly that they could easily be mistaken for decoration.
"I wanted to compare them."
"I thought maybe the Forge had records of them, or someone here might know what they mean."
Kazrik remained silent.
His gaze shifted between the bracer and the emblem.
Before he could say anything, Ashtir spoke from the floor.
"Kazrik..."
Everyone turned toward him.
He was still pale, one hand pressed against his temple as he struggled to sit upright.
His eyes remained fixed on the bracer in my hands.
"...That might be exactly what we need."
Kazrik looked back at him.
Ashtir took a slow breath.
"If those markings really are connected to the old records..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...then maybe this isn't just some ancient piece of armor."
The forge fell silent again.
For the first time, Kazrik looked at the bracer not as an artifact...
But as a possible answer.
---
Several days passed before both Ashtir and Ordrin had fully recovered from the incident at the Magma Ox Forge.
Neither suffered any lasting injuries, but the strange reaction of the bracer had changed the way the forge viewed the artifacts brought from the northern mountains. What had initially been an interesting discovery had become something far more significant.
Ashtir and Kazrik decided that the matter could no longer remain within the forge.
A meeting was called.
Representatives from the Hunting Guild, Tailoring Guild, Smithing Guild, Forgers' Guild, Adventurers' Guild, and several other guilds were summoned to the Magma Ox Forge. The captain responsible for the soldiers and guards stationed around Aegis Mountain in the south was also invited.
Ash was called to attend as well.
By the time everyone had arrived, the meeting hall was packed.
Guild masters and senior craftsmen sat around a long wooden table, while several assistants and guards stood along the walls. Conversations continued throughout the room, most of them centered around the unusual reason so many different guilds had been gathered.
At the center of the table sat a glass case.
Inside was the ancient bracer.
It looked almost ordinary beneath the light of the lamps.
Only the strange engravings covering its surface hinted that there was something more to it.
Ashtir stood at the head of the table.
"Thank you all for coming."
The conversations gradually faded.
"A few days ago, an incident occurred here at the Magma Ox Forge involving this artifact."
He gestured toward the glass case.
"This bracer was recovered somewhere within the northern mountains. Until recently, we believed it to be nothing more than an ancient piece of equipment."
He paused.
"We now know that assumption was wrong."
Ashtir explained what had happened.
He described how the bracer had survived inside the cattle forge without melting, how its engravings suddenly illuminated when he attempted to remove it, and how he collapsed immediately after touching it.
He then explained what happened when another dwarf attempted to handle it.
The room became increasingly uneasy.
"So it reacts to whoever touches it?"
One of the guild masters asked.
"We don't know," Ashtir answered. "That is part of the problem."
Another representative leaned forward.
"Where exactly was it found?"
Ashtir's expression remained calm.
"Somewhere within the northern mountains."
"Can you give us a more precise location?"
"Not yet."
The answer clearly disappointed several people, but Ashtir continued before the questions could multiply.
"There is another matter."
He looked toward Ordrin.
The young apprentice stood from his seat.
Several representatives immediately became nervous.
"What is he doing?"
"Wait."
"Is that the apprentice who collapsed?"
Ordrin approached the glass case.
Ashtir watched him carefully.
Ordrin opened the case and reached toward the bracer.
A few people stood from their chairs.
"Are you certain about this?"
Ordrin nodded.
"I want to know if it will happen again."
Before anyone could stop him, his fingers wrapped around the ancient metal.
The engravings immediately illuminated.
A faint blue glow spread across the bracer.
The room erupted into startled voices.
But Ordrin remained standing.
He looked down at the artifact.
Nothing happened.
The glow faded.
Ordrin slowly released the bracer.
"...Nothing."
The room erupted again.
"Why didn't he collapse?"
"Then what determines the reaction?"
"Was it something specific to Ashtir?"
"Could it be mana?"
"Blood?"
"Age?"
Ashtir raised his hand.
"Enough."
The room gradually settled.
He looked around the table before speaking again.
"For five hundred years, our people have advanced very little."
The words immediately drew everyone's attention.
"We have improved our tools. We have refined our techniques. We have built stronger weapons and better equipment."
"But when was the last time we made a discovery that truly changed our understanding of the world?"
No one answered.
Ashtir placed both hands against the table.
"We found metal in the northern mountains that our greatest furnaces cannot melt."
"We found engravings that resemble symbols preserved in some of our oldest texts."
"And now we have an artifact capable of surviving the heat of the cattle forge."
He looked toward the bracer.
"The clues to something greater may have been sitting in front of us for generations."
His voice grew firmer.
"Are we really going to remain stagnant for another five hundred years?"
The room fell silent.
Ashtir slowly looked from one representative to another.
"I called you here because this cannot be investigated by the forge alone."
"The Hunting Guild knows the mountains."
"The Smithing Guild understands metal."
"The Forgers' Guild preserves techniques passed down through generations."
"The Adventurers' Guild can investigate areas that ordinary craftsmen cannot safely reach."
"The scholars can examine our records."
"And our soldiers can secure the areas where necessary."
He turned toward the captain responsible for Aegis Mountain.
"We have an opportunity to rediscover something our ancestors may have understood centuries ago."
He looked back toward the table.
"I want to establish a task force."
Several representatives exchanged glances.
"A group dedicated to investigating the discoveries made in the northern mountains. We will study the unknown metals, compare the ancient engravings with our records, investigate any ruins we find, and determine what kind of technology our ancestors left behind."
The room remained quiet for several moments.
Then one of the guild masters slowly nodded.
Another followed.
The murmurs that spread throughout the room were no longer uncertain.
They were interested.
Excited.
Perhaps even hungry for answers.
Ash remained quiet throughout it all.
Part of him wanted to stand up and tell them everything.
He wanted to know what the symbols meant.
Why the ancient metal couldn't be melted.
Why the bracer reacted to some dwarves but not others.
What the mask was.
And what had happened to the people who once lived beneath the mountain.
But there was something else he couldn't ignore.
The more people involved...
The greater the chance that someone would eventually find Metal Veil.
The others only knew that something had been discovered somewhere in the northern mountains.
They did not know where.
They did not know about the hidden city.
And Ash intended to keep it that way.
He lowered his eyes toward the bracer.
He wanted answers.
He wanted to uncover the truth buried beneath the mountain.
But he didn't want that truth to lead anyone to his home.
For the first time, Ash understood that discovering the past would not be the only challenge.
He would also have to decide **how much of it the outside world was allowed to know.**