"Oh." Lith could swear he heard the Staff sighing in relief. "Sorry, Mom."

He turned around, just to see Ragnarök peeking from around the corner of the Forge’s door, with what he could only describe as worried gemstones on its crossguard.

"I won’t hurt you either." Lith said. "It will be no different from when you went from War to Ragnarök."

"Another name? I like this one." Ragnarök half sighed, and half groaned. "Why so fickle, Master?"

"Your name will remain the same, and so will your body and its design. As Solus said, we’ll just put you in a nicer suit."

"Like this?" The angry blade’s scabbard shapeshifted into a black-tie attire.

"Sort of." Now it was Lith’s turn to groan. "Now please, trust me and let us go back to work."

"Okay." Ragnarök Mirror Warped in the nursery to play with babies.

It turned its scabbard into a safe flying carpet for their secret adventures, but that’s a story for another day.

"Are we skipping dinner or what?" Faluel snarled.

Waiting wasn’t an issue for her. It was waiting for hours with a sack on her head and on an empty stomach like a war prisoner that made her cranky.

"I’m so sorry!" Solus took the black bag off the Hydra’s head, finding her sweaty and hissing. "Time sure flies when you’re engrossed in your research."

"It sure does." Faluel snorted.

"Look at the bright side." Solus said. "We are almost done with- Damn!"

"What’s wrong?" Faluel liked neither Solus’ expression nor her clenched teeth. "Another attack?"

"No, but nothing good either." Lith turned around as if he was looking in the distance, and his eyes became pitch black. "My parents, Rena, and Senton are overtraining again.

"Right after they calmed down, they started spending all their free time in the Firing Range. They consume lots of magic- and body-enhancing potions, but that’s not the issue. They practice magic without rest for so long that a single night of rest is not enough to recover.

"Their bodies must be screaming at them in pain, yet they refuse to stop. If they were Awakened and practiced Accumulation like that, they would have compromised their mana cores."Solus sighed.

"It’s a dangerous, reckless behavior. This doesn’t look good at all."

"Leave them be." Faluel replied. "Scolding them now would only make them feel even more helpless. It would reinforce their impression of being kids under your supervision and destroy what’s left of their self-confidence.

"Part of being an adult is figuring out your problems by yourself and knowing when to ask for help. Don’t take that away from them. I don’t think they can take it."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Lith snorted. "Letting them hurt themselves until they run out of steam?"

"Yes and no." Faluel shook her head. "Yes, you’re going to let them hurt themselves. No, because you’re not just letting them tire themselves out. You do it because you trust them and their judgment."

"You’re right." Lith lowered their gaze. "My parents and Rena are far from stupid. They are just frustrated and have to make an important decision. I’ve walked too many miles in their shoes not to know how they feel."

Dinner was peaceful, but the signs of exhaustion were visible on many faces, even Leran’s. While Protector was in the Infirmary, the young boy was too worried about his father to care about his own trauma.

Now that Ryman was out of the woods and recovering steadily, Leran was having trouble falling asleep and sleeping for more than a few hours. Sleeping with his parents or Slash helped only up to a certain point.

Leran rested easily only as long as he clung to someone. The moment he lost his grip or rolled to a side, he would tremble and get sweaty until he suddenly woke up with his hands gripped around an imaginary Boros.

Aside from that, the young boy was otherwise fine. He ate, joked, and played a lot, showing no change from his usual easygoing personality. Unlike Lenart, who was often silent and gloomy, Leran looked alright.

Yet judging from Protector’s and Selia’s expressions when their son wasn’t looking at them, he wasn’t.

’It’s too soon to be worried.’ Lith thought. ’Everyone has yet to process what they went through, and they are facing their inner demons their own way. Forcing them to admit what’s troubling them would only backfire.

’I need to wait until they open up on their own, or in the kids’ case, their parents ask for my help. There is no point in talking if they are not ready to listen.’

Solus shared with the family their plan about Faluel’s weapon and how they hoped it would affect the Awakened society.

"You think you can craft Blade Weapons and so quickly at that?" Orion was sincerely impressed. "It would be an amazing accomplishment for someone so young. Do you mind if I watch you work? 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Ever since I’ve taken my leave of absence, I don’t get to share much with my fellow Royal Forgemasters."

"Sorry, but I do mind." Lith raised his hands in apology. "I can only perform complex enchantments inside my secret lab, and by using several experimental instruments I’m not comfortable revealing."

"I see." Orion nodded and dropped the subject.

"Consider it a compliment, Orion." Solus chuckled. "We believe in your skills and talent so much that we know you’d understand our secrets with a glance and make them your own."

"Thanks, but ’we’?" He asked in confusion. "Is it because you share the lab, or do you discuss these kinds of things together?"

"Both." Solus nervously laughed. "We... I mean, Lith, Tista, and I work together often since we lack a solid legacy like yours, Orion."

Jirni didn’t even raise her eyes from her plate since she didn’t believe a word Solus said.

’Either Menadion is teaching Lith something despite her firm denials, or these two are hiding lots of somethings.’ She thought. ’And the weird part is that Orion and I are the only ones who Lith keeps in the dark.’

A glance around the table revealed that even Garrik and Ryla showed no curiosity. They actually didn’t know half of it, but they believed they did.

"Still, I’m not sure of anything at the moment." Lith said. "Solus’ Sage Staff might just be a fluke. If my new experimental technique works, however, it should take much less time to craft a Blade Weapon and make my creations much stronger."

***

After dinner, Lith met with his friends inside the tower to explain the full procedure to them.

"Please, count me out this time." Protector said. "I’m still weak, and I can’t push myself too hard."

"Don’t worry." Lith replied. "We were going to ask you, Nalrond, and Morok to sit out anyway."

"What? Why?" Nalrond asked in surprise.

"Because we’re going to try something new and untested." Lith said. "You and Morok are not even Forgemasters. We bring you in only because we trust you, and we need a power source. Your skills are negligible."

"Fine by me." Morok shrugged. "Yet that means you’re going to need replacements. Someone you can trust with your tower and Faluel’s weapon. Master Ajatar, maybe?"

"Not a chance." Solus snorted. "Again, Dragon Eyes are forbidden in here. We’re thinking of calling Dawn to replace Protector and-"