Reto came to with a headache that felt like someone dropped a brick on him.
He was lying on an old couch in some half broken hideout. The walls looked like they'd been kicked in more than once.
Milo was digging through a crate. "You're up. Took long enough."
"Yeah," Reto muttered, rubbing his neck. "Did we win?"
Taz snorted from the corner. "If you call not dying a win, sure."
Reto sat up slow. Everything hurt, but he could move. "Where are we?"
"Old zone," Milo said. "No cameras, no patrols. You're safe for now."
Reto looked around. "Kaien?"
"Gone," Taz said. "Dude walked off after wrecking half the block."
Reto leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "So he let me live."
"Guess he didn't see you as a threat," Milo said.
Reto's jaw tightened. "Then I'll fix that."
Taz rolled his eyes. "Bro, you just got tossed like trash. Maybe fix your ribs first."
Reto ignored him. "Kaien called his move Prism Lock. Seven colors. Each one hits different."
Milo shrugged. "Sounds above your pay grade."
"Yeah," Reto said. "That's why I'm gonna learn it."
Milo looked up. "You serious?"
"Dead serious." Reto stood, grabbed his jacket off the chair. "There's a guy outside the city old monk, used to train high ranks before the government paid him off to disappear. If anyone knows how to control an Echo, it's him."
Taz frowned. "You mean Forge Monk? Thought that dude was a myth."
"Guess we'll find out." Reto headed for the door. "Either he trains me, or I figure it out the hard way."
Milo muttered, "You're gonna get smoked."
"Then I'll learn faster," Reto said, walking out.
They moved at dawn.
Reto, Milo, and Taz kept their hoods up, slipping through the quiet streets before the patrol drones started scanning again.
"Outskirts road's dead past the checkpoint," Milo said. "We cut through the drainage line, we can hit the mountain in three hours."
Reto nodded. "Then let's move."
The wind out here felt heavy,.
By the time they reached the mountain ridge, the sun was dropping. The Forge Mountain stood tall in front of them, covered in fog and blackened metal scaffolds from old factories.
"Yo," Taz said, catching his breath. "You sure this guy even exists?"
Reto didn't answer. He was already climbing.
The closer they got, the more wreckage they saw rusted mechs, shattered training dummies, chunks of armor stuck in rock. Then they hit the mouth of a cave carved into the side of the mountain.
Inside was silent. Just the faint echo of metal tapping somewhere deeper in.
They followed it.
When the tunnel opened up, they froze.
There he was.
An old man, bare chest, scarred up like stone, doing one finger pushups on top of a steel block. The man didn't even look up when they entered.
Milo whispered, "That him?"
"Yeah," Reto said quietly. "Forge Monk."
The room behind the monk looked insane rows of shattered Forge Dummies piled against the walls. Hundreds of them. Each one looked like it had been smashed clean through.
Those things were top grade made from Liuasamaniam and goat skin, some of the toughest material you could buy. Seeing even one broken was rare. Seeing a mountain of them was unreal.
Taz muttered, "You know how much each of those costs?"
"Doesn't matter," Reto said. "Means he's strong enough to break 'em."
The old man finished his last pushup, lowered himself slow, then stood up straight. His back cracked like thunder.
No one said anything.
Then blink.
He vanished.
Milo's eyes went wide. "Where'd he "
Before he could finish, the old man's voice came from right behind them. Calm.
"Who taught you to walk into my forge uninvited?"
They turned.
He was standing there right behind Reto eyes.