[XASTOL CITY, IVAN'S HOME, THE BACKYARD — SEVEN YEARS AGO]
Hidemi looked up at the sky, allowing his mind to wander as the drifting clouds passed by.
It was warm today, he thought. The breeze was not only gentle, but the sun above was of a perfect temperature; not too hot, not too cold.
A white dove released a high-pitched coo and soared alongside one of the bigger clouds above; one peculiarly shaped like a swan. For some reason, Hidemi found himself captivated by the sight — as if it were calling out to him from some distant place.
"Those clouds must be happy!" he would say to himself. Being able to go and be anywhere they wanted wherever they wanted… the boy would often find himself in envy of their freedom. Would the world out there be better than the torment people gave him behind Xastol's walls? He couldn't help but wonder.
He felt a hand touching his shoulder and turned toward it. He smiled softly at the sight of his father, Ivan, standing silently by his side, taking in the view with him.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ivan smiled. He lifted his hands and locked his fingers, weaving signs only Hidemi could understand. "Your mother loved to watch them too. So much so she'd sketch them out on paper."
He chuckled and reminisced fondly of Gwentyn. To say he missed her would have been putting it plainly. She was as much a part of him as the skin on his bones; more important to him than every invention he'd ever created, and yet it was Hidemi — the final piece of her that they had both produced — that he cherished greater than anything else. For Ivan, Hidemi was no doubt his proudest achievement as not only a dwarf but a father.
"You really are her son, aren't you?" he smiled, ruffling his head.
Hidemi nudged his hand and grabbed onto his father's calloused fingers. Ivan hadn't even noticed, but a single tear had streamed down his face while he was thinking of Gwentyn. Hidemi had been so quick to console him.
"Owa…" the boy said, his voice like a low murmur.
He hugged Ivan gently and looked back up at the clouds. The dove had disappeared and the swan-cloud had long since faded into obscurity with the wind.
"Come on, buddy," Ivan smiled, patting his back. "Let me show you a project I've been working on."
-------🅰🆂🅷🅵🅸🅴🅻🅳-------
[XASTOL CITY, DWANIVIT TULOU — PRESENT]
Participants continued to rush forward, drawing chisels and hand-held drills from their waistbands and pounded away at the stone pillar closest to them. Almost five minutes had gone by and time was of the essence. However, it wasn't long before several people began finding success in securing the buried ores.
"Ah!" Gido smiled, leaning over the railing. His projected his voice with the gemstone on his neck and brought up a clearer image of the retrieved ores on everyone's screens. Faint light dimmed from the small rocks as the pieces of the pillars they'd come from disintegrated and vanished back into the earth as if never there to begin with.
"It appears the first of our first B-rank materials have been found! Two Odars and one Finnig!"
The boys that had found them screamed with joy and ran towards the nearest smithing station, not daring to waste a single second more of their time. After all, this Dwanivit was special. They were being given a chance to prove themselves against the scion of the Murong clan: Hisagi Murong himself.
The other participants sweated nervously, a few murmuring, "C-Crap…", as they carved deeper into the stone. Most were afraid that the easier ores like the Odars — which had fire-like properties — would soon run out and either be found by those lucky enough to have located them, or sink back into the ground with the pillars they came up with.
What's worse was that time was steadily running out on the clock.
TRNNNN!!!!
Three bright beams of mint-green, silver, and teal-colored energy erupted into the air behind a group of digging boys, causing the wind to pull in and rumble at the sound of the disintegrating pillars.
Every head whipped in the direction of the fallen pillars.
"N-No way!"
"Someone found an A-Rank ore?!"
"L-Look!"
The children collectively paused to see the three who'd done it. Standing sternly with a silver gem in his hands and his hair flowing in the wind, was Hisagi Murong who didn't hold a single carving item in his hands. Instead, etched on his opened palm were runes in old Dward that faded once he closed his hand.
Adjacent to him, with a mint-green diamond-shaped ore in his right hand, stood Esi Phizar. In his left hand, something that looked like a pen with a rotating tip. It had a small charge on its side, suggesting that it had collected energy and was it was full.
One would have assumed that they'd both be happy to have quickly collected A-grade materials of such caliber, but that was not the case. In actuality, both Hisagi and Esi's faces stiffened as their eyes landed on the third and final contender.
The boy, who no one expected anything from — who everyone hated and assumed to not be able to Sanctum-Smith in their ways — held his palm up to reveal a floating square-shaped ore bathed in teal and gold. Unlike the others, it did not glow because of its own energy; It merely hummed in resonance with Hidemi's.
Esi drew in a shaky breath. "T-The menark..!"
His eyes darted to Hisagi, hoping for answers, but none came. His shock was only heightened once he noticed his rival to be at a loss for words too.
Bewilderment spread through the onlookers like wildfire. How could someone not trained in their ways be so knowledgeable of it? How did he do what he did? How? Only Jacender and Aleximus, Hidemi's friends, clapped and cheered for him despite being clueless.
Only the Council above the stage seemed to know what had happened.
Sonority! Banderd realized. It's said Arsaes created the technique to bring minerals deep underground closer to him when mining wasn't an option. It can only be done by fine-tuning your Sanctum Energy in correspondence to the object of mineral you're aiming to bring to you. We developed Hammer-tuning as a skill due to that ability, but how?! How can Hidemi have such an advanced technique? Even amongst Stieli's, that skill is impossibly difficult to master! Who could have—
His mind flashed to Ivan's bearded face and shuddered.
"Brother!" Gido snarled, turning to him. "Explain this! How is that boy capable of such a feat?!"
A dark shadow formed across Huin's glasses. "I for one would like an answer as well. I will not stand for it to know our teachings are so easily replicable! If I find that that fake has somehow counterfeited our venerated skills to prove himself a dwarf, then—"
"—No," Banderd cut in in a low voice. He collected himself with a deep breath and looked back down. "It's no fake, nor is it as easily replicable as you may think Huin. It seems Ivan has been keeping secrets from us for some time now."
Understanding dawned on them both.
"You mean to say… " Gido began. "...That in the short time, Ivan has spent raising that boy…"
"...He was able to attain a skillset comparable to that of an Elder Stieli?!" Huin staggered. His glasses nearly slipped off his face at the weight of the revelation.
Banderd nodded grimly. "I'm afraid that looks to be the case. Nothing else can explain what he's just done a moment ago."
"Preposterous! Do you mean to tell me that such a genius went unknown by us for so long?!" Gido stomped.
"If that's the case, then…"
He stopped himself from saying "We've made a mistake". To say that would be to admit that Hidemi was to be considered a true dwarf; a part of their younger generation meant to be nurtured and cared for to inherit Xastol's teachings. To admit that they made a mistake would be to excuse his existence as a half-dwarf in the face of prodigious talent and accept him: someone they not only shunned but discarded like trash due to his heritage.
To admit they were wrong would be to say that Xastol's wrongs themselves were wrong; that was not something they would ever say.
Banderd winced at the sight of Hidemi. The eyes of his caged owl haunted him in flashes, mingling with the same gaze Ivan had given him when he had last visited his cell. He shivered as he recalled what his brother had told him:
"Tell me Banderd…," he'd said. "Do you really think some book is going to teach you what a real dwarf is? Do you think becoming another version of father will make you happy? I may be the one in this cell… But I am by no means trapped."
Something dove down Banderd's throat like a hot cup of tea and nestled in his chest. Was it regret, he wondered? Or possibly understanding? Either way, it didn't feel horrible, despite his surprise. He didn't know why, but he welcomed the shock. It was as if his understanding of dwarven culture was ever so slowly beginning to shift. Even if he didn't realize it was happening.
However, before Banderd could fully commit to questioning himself, he stepped forward to address the participants:
"It is quite the welcome surprise to have our first three A-rank ores found in succession so quickly! Good work!"
Confused chatters broke out below.
"Excuse me, sir!" a young boy with shaggy hair yelled. "But we'd all like an answer as to what that menark did! He cheated, right? I mean… he didn't even use a Sanctum tool!"
A bigger, more brutish boy with rolled sleeves stepped forward. "Please disqualify him, Speaker Banderd!"
Noises of agreement began to build up and spread like wildfire amongst the participants, soon spreading to even the stands.
Chants of "Disqualify him!" ran louder and louder until Gido took in a deep breath and shouted, "SILENCE!!!", shutting every single person down within seconds.
A cross-popping vein appeared on his forehead. It may have been a fact that he was displeased with the result of what had just happened, but he was a man of fairness. And more than anything else — like his brothers — he remained a man with adherence to the rules. Chaos would not break out in this sacred place. Not while they were here.
"A Lizzerag, Qyik, and a Trangyute have been found and you have the audacity to question if a participant we, the esteemed Council of Xastol — The Murongs — have invited, would dare to cheat in this Dwanivit?! Compose yourselves at once!"
Banderd placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, calming him down before he glanced at the crowd. "We understand your confusion, but please be assured that no foul play has been done here. It may be hard to believe, but the Sonority skill is well within the bounds of this test. It was just… unexpected for someone so young to have possessed it."
"SONORITY?!"
Adults and children alike turned to the closest person in disbelief, hoping to confirm that someone else heard what they had. Could it be true? How could a half-dwarf have knowledge of such a thing?
A ripple of waverence was starting to form within the minds of the city dwarves. They were not only beginning to question the "truths" they thought they knew, but also the rules they had been raised to believe as law.
I see, Banderd thought, noticing the shifts in the people's eyes. So this is what you meant, wasn't it, Ivan?
"If you believe you'll be able to find yourself by questioning the things you claim to live by… Then you are a bigger fool than I thought!"
His brother's words visited him like a plague. He was finally starting to understand the Lord Of The Weeping Forests' intent in having Hidemi participate in the Dwanivit in spite of the lack of friends he had here. To have even go so far as to agree to cut off any connection with Xastol just to have the boy participate… It was clicking for Banderd now.
Hidemi's joining of the Dwanivit was not borne from spite or hatred for other dwarves, nor confidence in his own abilities. As Banderd realized earlier, the boy merely wanted to take part in his people's culture as one of them, even if they did not consider him as such. Hidemi wanted to be a dwarf no matter what; thus he joined this test as a way of proving it possible for someone outcasted by the society he desperately wanted to fit in with — to be on par and as hardworking as the geniuses everyone revered and loved, like Hisagi.
Hidemi's goal here is to change the public perception of him… Banderd thought. If he can do that, not only will those around him question their hatred, but they will question those who told them to hate to begin with: us.
But if such a thing were to happen and it has an adverse effect… anarchy could descend and destroy everything our forefathers worked hard to build in this city. I cannot take such a risk, no matter the talent. I am sorry, Hidemi, but you will not succeed here today; you'll lose at Hisagi's hands: the representation of everything we've been able to achieve in a dwarf. He is our future. Not you. And he is a wall we must assure you can never scale.
Banderd's arms shook with self-loathing, but he managed to hide it by grabbing himself. Or so he thought. Huin had noticed and lowered his gaze out of pity. He still had no idea what his brother was going through, but to see him battle against himself was heart-wrenching.
Below, Hisagi, Esi, and Hidemi made their way to three open furnaces that came out from the wall. Tied to each handle was a pair of mitts for safety, and next to the furnaces poked out a small workstation equipped with an anvil, tongs, vices, clamps, and loads of other quality Sanctum-Smithing materials including a small wall of tools.
They each removed the lid of the crucible in front of them and tossed in their ore. They grabbed small vials of crushed rock remains like limestone, coke, and purple oil and mixed the contents in the crucible until their ore had been covered.
After they'd put the lids back on the top of each pot, they shoved it back inside the forge, allowing its doors to automatically close, not to be reopened until the liquid inside had been fully smelted.
They looked above their forging stations and saw a small clock with their reset time, just as the Council had told them. Next to the small clock were their points. Esi came in last at 213, while Hidemi placed second with 275. Hisagi maintained a lead gap with an even score of 300.
"As we said before," Gido announced, bringing all eyes back to him. "You must be able to not only ensure that your ore does not break, but that all its properties stay intact as you use it to create something new — something original. Due to this, we above your workbench stands your time, your points as you progress, and the object you will be tasked with reinventing!"
Damn it! Esi thought. I have fewer points than the menark?! His ore must be of a higher quality! I should have gone for one of the riskier pillars instead of following Hisagi!
He sucked his teeth and glared at his screen, awaiting his object. After a second, it flickered to life, drawing stifled gasps from the crowd:
A shield.
His eyes then traveled to Hisagi's screen, where his rival stared sternly at the shape listed there: a scale holding two eyeballs.
Then, everyone turned expectantly to Hidemi's screen. Not even a second passed before someone snickered.
"HA!" they shouted.
"You've got to be kidding me! You'll never be able to get that!"
"Let's see your fabricated skills save you now!"
A wide smile danced upon Esi's lips as he staggered. "Ha…. Haha!" he laughed, pushing back his hair. He sneered at Hidemi, saying:
"Even the Gods can't save you there, menark! A dragon?! You may as well give it up! Bwahaha!"
Hidemi stood there in silence, not taking his eyes off the screen.
Struck with fear, huh? Well, I don't blame you! I wouldn't be able to build something like that with only three hours! I doubt even a Councilperson could do it that easily!
Esi faced his workbench, took out his drilling pen, and clicked the button at the bottom to change its tip to an ink-based one. Then, he grabbed a piece of sketching paper from the lined rack and began to design the details of his shield. I'll prepare everything I need before the Lizzerag is done smelting! I only need to worry about Hisagi!
Hisagi dunked his hands in the emergency ice water situated near his workbench and slicked back his falling bangs. He knew he didn't have time to concern himself with things that didn't matter. Hidemi was just another disappointment in a life filled with expectations.
Hisagi Murong had no interest in becoming something like that. Instead, he fell back into his usual habit and concentrated on the task at hand. There were a few regular slabs of metal like iron, steel, and copper. He grabbed as many pieces of iron and steel as he could and divided them, making one group for iron, and mixing the rest with the bulk of the steel he had.
He unbuckled his hammer and pounded away at the iron slabs until they had been flattened like pancakes and took up the rest of his workstation. With the other group, he chucked them into a spare crucible and tossed it into the forge alongside his smelting Qyik. Those minerals needed only a minute in the heat of Xastol's forges.
While he waited, he removed one piece of the copper slab and began cutting it down with the shaver along the wall of the tool. Once he was done, he slipped his fingers into the pair of mits tied to the forge door and withdrew his melted metal. Hisagi removed the top and pour the bubbling mixture onto the flattened iron and poured a spoonful from the rest of his purple oil.
To add malleable properties to the flattened ore, eh? Banderd thought.
Everyone watched the young Sanctum-Smith work and his hands rubbed in the oil along the edges of the flattened iron, just avoiding the heated metal. Then, as a result of the oil, Hisagi folded the flattened iron over itself, covering the melted steel mixture, and rolled it into a long, thin pole: the base of his scale.
Aleximus watched Hisagi remove the sash around his waist, wrap it around the pole he'd made, and dunk it into the ice water bucket on the floor so it'd cool.
But what's the point? Aleximus wondered.
"That's no ordinary ice water," a voice said as if reading his thoughts. "It's electric ice water from an aquatic Sanct beast called the Binshu eel."
Both Aleximus and Jacender turned to see two woman pushing past the other audience members. Most of the dwarves had avoided being next to them so they wouldn't have to interact with the humans, so it was a shock to see people purposefully get close.
The leading woman, a short and rounder older lady Jace assumed to be in her forties or fifties, stepped forward with an outstretched hand and smiled invitingly. The other lady, a much younger woman inclined her head carefully with a tight-lipped expression. She exuded an air of youthfulness despite the lines of stress running along her forehead. Not only was her golden-brown hair running down along her outfit — a tight-fitted silver dress with a black collar — but it finished just midway down her back, hanging over a symbol that made Aleximus put his guard up:
The Murong family crest.
"Who are you?" he asked them with a raised brow. The smaller lady wobbled forward and examined the boy's face, poking and stretching his cheeks with a comforting smile. "Ahh… You're quite big for a human child, aren't you? Are all your kind like this?"
"W-What the..?" Aleximus grumbled, pulling her fingers from his face. "Let go of me, idiot! I asked you who you were!"
"Oh my," the woman laughed. "He's got quite the ego too."
She turned to the younger woman and said: "Just like your boy, Hisagi, eh, Xué?"
Both Jacender and Aleximus spluttered in shock at the mention of the name. "You're Hisagi's mom?!" Jace echoed. Leon stuck his head out from within his back and bit his nape, warning him to quiet down and allow him to sleep.
Xué bowed again to them and relaxed her brow. "Yes. My given name is Xué Li, but after marrying into the Murong clan, I've adopted their surname and become Xué Murong."
She peered down at Hisagi, her eyes softening. "I've heard that my stubborn son troubled you a month ago at the gates. Please allow me to apologize on his behalf. He's just been so… worried about this Dwanivit and wants to do right by his father's memory."
Aleximus crossed his arms. He wasn't so easily convinced.
"That's no excuse for the way he treated Hidemi," he said sternly. "I hope he gets what's coming for him."
But you treated Hidemi badly, too, Jace thought.
He stepped closer to Xué, a question in his mind:
"We heard from Nahasch that most dwarfs don't like humans because of Arsaes' rules, right? But I still don't get why they have so much hate when most of them have never left the walls. Why is everyone so mean?"
"Fear, mostly," the older woman interjected. "People fear what they don't understand — I can assume that goes for most humans as well. Though we have been behind these walls, we do have ways of getting information regarding the happenings beyond them, even if they are filtered through the Council first before they reach us citizens. Because of the large amounts of violence in recent years, superstition regarding humans has risen to an all-time high. Honestly, I'm surprised your presence here hasn't caused a total uproar yet. That just goes to show how much respect our people have in our Council."
Below, Esi finished his sketch and laid it atop a stack of carbon steel slabs, and clamped both his hands together, amassing razor-thin lines of Sanctum Energy at his fingernails and cut along the lines. Within seconds, the full stack had been incisioned in the shape of what he'd drawn: a detailed leaf.
Esi didn't waste any time throwing the remaining metal into the forge to melt down with his Lizzerag ore as he took out his pen again, adjusted the setting to a metallic, copper-like sheen, and sprayed down the small leaf incisions until they looked as if they'd been drenched in water.
Up above, Hisagi's mother kept her eyes on her son.
"You've noticed, haven't you?" the rounder woman continued to the brothers. "How revered dwarven culture is? It's so sacred because it is routine — constant, exact, and never broken. People are too scared to break out of the norm because they fear what others may think and how they'd be shunned. The truth is, deep down within everyone exists a piece of curiosity no matter how small. A good friend of mine once told me that curiosity was a choice; that it was a blessing that everyone had it, and a curse that no one knew they did. The more time goes by, the more I start believing Master Ivan's words."
The duo's ears perked up at the name Ivan. "Who exactly are you, miss?" Jace asked. "And how do you know Hidemi's dad?"
"Oh, silly me!" she laughed, covering her mouth. "My name is Davaa, dears. I am the director of Xastol's Children's hospital. I used to help assist Lady Gwentyn during the months leading up to the birth of Hidemi."
Both boy's eyes widened. "You're that Davaa?! From the story?" Jace gasped.
"Story?" the woman repeated, drawing Xué's attention. "What story?"
"Nahasch — The Lord Of The Weeping Forest," Aleximus explained. "A few weeks ago, he told us a bit about Hidemi's past and what happened to his mom. He didn't give us all the details, but you were one of the people he mentioned. Apparently, you helped sneak Ivan out of Xastol when he first left seventeen years ago."
Davvaa thought back reminiscently, a pang of guilt flashing in her eyes. "I see. It's always been one of my greatest regrets that I couldn't do more to help Lady Gwentyn during childbirth. Grand Elder Dwygrand, the Speaker at that time, barred me from moving to help them and threatened me with banishment. Having to stand by and do nothing as someone I'd grown to love — a human of all things — slowly died, knowing I could have saved her… it was then that I knew these laws that we so cherished were wrong; that they were a mark of a time when fear ruled and compassion didn't."
He wiped away a falling tear and sniffled. "That's why when I heard the news that young Master Hidemi — who I'd prayed was safe these past few months outside the wall — was finally being allowed to join the Dwanivit, I was overcome with joy. But most of all, I told myself that I would not fail my friend a second time. That I would be here to help and support Gwentyn and Ivan's child no matter what the results would be today."
She gently tapped Xué's shoulder and said, "We both came here for the same reason."
Hisagi's mother nodded and looked at them as Hisagi and Esi's hammers filled the air with clanging.
"That's right. My son… He's been so devoted to being the best and meeting the expectations of those around him, that it's hurting him. He may not show it because he's a resilient and well-spoken boy, but Hisagi, too, has been caught up in this war between hatred and customs; and I fear that due to his father's death, he's taking that anger out on Hidemi, forcing him to be a vessel for his anger and something to lash out on and prove his worth with. It's not healthy… and I wish I could save him."
Her heart ached with sadness for her son, but she had long since accepted the reality. As a non-Sanctum-Smith, she couldn't reach out to him in the way he needed to be spoken to.
"I know that there is only one person who can fulfill what Hisagi needs right now," she said as she glanced down at Hidemi. "And only he can save him from himself."
As she said that, Jacender and Aleximus both turned to Hidemi, noticing that he'd finally decided to take action. He loosened his arm guards and dropped them to the floor, causing them to fall with a loud CRACK that turned all heads back his way.
Weighted arm guards?! Gido gasped. What ancient practices has that boy been training in?
Murmurs of whether Hidemi was serious or not started circulating, and it wasn't long until the whispers were everywhere.
For the first time since the boy had arrived there in the Dwanivit arena, he unholstered his hammer from his waist and wrapped his hand around the leather handle.
A high-pitched noise screeched in the air before the first ring spun and lit up. Within seconds, the air itself — No, the Sanctum Essence in the air — began to get absorbed into the hammer, lengthening its handle and filling the first ring with a golden light.
The circular dragon emblem on the center of the hammer's face opened up to reveal a hollow hole. Hidemi picked up his Trangyute ore and tossed it inside of the slot and slammed it shut. Then, to everyone's surprise, he placed the hammer itself inside of the forge and shut the door.
"Is he insane?!"
"Does he mean to melt his hammer?!"
"What manner of Sanctum-Smithing is this?!"
It must have something to do with the hammer Shuo and the forest dwarves helped build, Aleximus realized. Perhaps the tool held some power only Hidemi knew about. Regardless, the bizarreness of the situation only took the dwarves more by surprise, prompting them to ridicule the boy with more jeers and arrogant laughs.
"Hmph," Huin noised, "We gave the boy too much credit. He obviously has no idea what he's doing. This farce is not Sanctum-Smithing. It's an insult to our ancestors to call it such."
Banderd remained quiet. Would the boy really take such foolish action now? After making it this far?
Other than the three boys in the lead, there were still a handful of other participants who had managed to retrieve their ores and had already begun smelting. In fact, some had even gotten their hands on low A-rank ores and already finished smelting.
Whatever he's doing… He risks losing his lead. Banderd thought. What is he up to?!
"Watch closely, Ms.Xué," Jacender said with a confident smirk. "You, too, Ms.Davaa!"
Both women marveled at the brightness in the boys' eyes — the level of sincerity.
"Hidemi's about to change the level of this Dwanivit," Aleximus said as he uncrossed his arms. "And you don't want to miss it."
[THE DWANIVIT [II] ]