Three loud carefully timed knocks hit the wooden door. After waiting for a second, the sound of iron hammering came to an abrupt holt, as foot steps echoed behind the door. A few moments later, a familiar stranger greeted them.
It was a young man covered in dark ash and soot, with several of his handsome features still somehow shining through. He was wearing an equally dirtied apron with matching gloves, and a hammer was held firmly in his right hand.
"Hey Anvil. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Suffice to say, he didn't look too pleased to see them. Then again, it was hard to tell whatever he was feeling behind that neutral expression of his.
"Yes, it has been quite some time. You have arrived with need of me, have you not?"
"We need to go check on that door today so we won't have any issues leaving tomorrow. You don't have to come if you don't want too of course, but are you interested?"
The young heir of the Valor clan gazed at him in thought for a moment. It didn't take too long for him to make up his mind though.
"Allow me to make some preparations then."
He retreated into the smithy, leaving Ki Song and Epsilon on their own for a while.
"Talk about stiff."
"He speaks like an old man."
For a moment, they just looked at each other, brows raised. Then Epsilons lips twitched, Ki Song snorted, and suddenly they were both laughing — loud, helpless laughter with no need for explanation.
A while after, Anvil returned with a much cleaner appearance. He was wearing his signature light weight black armour, fit with a matching sword strapped to his waist.
Looking at the two, he could tell that something had changed about them while he was gone, but he couldn't figure out what.
"Did I miss something significant?"
Holding himself back, Epsilon replied.
"Nah lets go."
**
The journey there wasn't as long as Epsilon would've thought, but it was even more awkward than when it was just him and Ki Song. While the two could talk leisurely, it was as if Anvil didn't bother even to engage, nor was he even observing. He was just kind of... there.
Along the way somehow, the topic of their conversation drifted towards Aspects.
"I've been trying to figure out my aspect a lot lately, but I haven't been able to practice with it because of you know what. But even then, I'm stumped on how to even continue."
Ki Song gave it a bit of thought, before quickly replying,
"I wouldn't know, my aspect is simple enough that I don't need to worry about things like that."
Hers was really straightforward, so there was no creative use she could apply other than targeting lethal spots for her dormant ability to erode. Other then that, it was also important to note that her aspect didn't just apply to any weapons she wielded, but also her hands. Even without weapons, she could very well kill nightmare creatures.
'hmm.. I guess I could try asking Anvil for help.'
Thinking about it now, he had never really seen or even knew of his aspect. Before he could even ask though, Anvil sternly said,
"My dormant ability is metal manipulation."
No wonder he didn't know, it wasn't that flashy so it would be hard to notice it even being used.
'I didn't even ask him yet..'
Shaking his head, he asked,
"How does it work exactly?"
"Ordinarily, I employ it to control the trajectory of my blade with fine precision. For now its only limited to one small object at time, but anymore requires too much concentration which I don't have in the middle of combat. I also use it to assist me with forgery by controlling and changing the shape of metal, which is even easier when its hot."
To Epsilons surprise, their Aspects were actually more similar than he thought. While Anvil could only control existing matter with some difficulty, Epsilon could create his own, which he also controlled with his intent just like him.
Manipulating the shape of his light into certain forms did also require some mental imagery on his part, although nowhere near as costly as Anvil.
'Is that why he still uses a hammer in forgery?'
Maybe it was because the two things they controlled were fundamentally different? Metal was hard and solid, while his tangible light was much more malleable in comparison. But it seems Anvil had already conquered his hurdle, while Epsilon remained stuck at his.
'No that's not it, we had two different problems to begin with. His Aspect seems to be more utility rather than combat based.
Still, there was a lot he could learn from him. With this he was now certain that the answer to a problem he hadn't even found yet, lay somewhere within Anvil. Before he could continue on with his questioning, Ki Song loudly interjected.
"Say, speaking of Aspects, what is your Aspect rank?"
The out of nowhere question made him flinch quite hard.
'Do I tell her? It could cause problems..'
What problems would it cause aside from mild disbelief though? Really, there was nothing wrong with telling her, or even Sylas and the cohort anything. He had risked his life with them several times already, so trust wasn't an issue. What was the worst thing that could happen anyway? Being stabbed in the back out of jealousy? That seemed too petty for any of them.
'I haven't even told Emma yet, she should be the first to know really.'
It would cause an awkward situation later too. He could already picture the nagging in his head.
His hesitation was clear, and so taking that chance to tease him a little, Ki Song added,
"Too embarrassed to tell me because its low?"
His eyes glinted with amusement as a smile threatened to break through. Barely holding back a smirk, he replied,
"Like yours is any higher."
Not like it could be.
Then she spoke with a careless tilt of the head, voice smooth and edged with superiority,
"I'll have you know that mine is of the transcendent rank."
It was a common consensus that most awakened in the world had a dormant rank aspect, with those owning an awakened being even rarer in number. So Ki Song who owned the 4th highest tier of Aspect was akin to standing next to a gold mine. Anyone just having an ascendent would receive immense praise.
And yet, Epsilons face showed no hint of that thought.
"What's that look for? Why are you unimpressed??"
Despite showing no interest in how the conversation had gone, Anvil suddenly decided to speak,
"That holds no remarkable merit, when mine is also of the transcendent rank."
As if Anvil also possessing an Aspect of the same rank wasn't impressive enough, what he said overshadowed it entirely. Transcendent and unremarkable in the same sentence?? Really??
"What are you trying to say exactly?"
Clearing his voice, he explained,
"Logically speaking, if two out of three people in a room happened to possess diamonds, then solely in that room, owning diamonds isn't really impressive."
Although what he said made sense, it just didn't sound right. For some reason though, Ki Song interpreted it as Anvil looking down on her despite his own self depreciation.
For a second, it seemed like the two were about to fight. Just before it could reach that point, they finally arrived at their destination.
"Wow would you look at that? We're here already! Calm down please?"