Harem Sync: Divine Edition-Chapter 66: The Reborn Sword

"Arathôr vel’kamin."

The whisper echoed in Gandloaf’s ear as if someone had spoken directly into his mind.

He woke suddenly, still dark outside, his whole body tense. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was something else, a strange, warm sensation, pulsing in his chest like a second heart.

Connection.

He felt a new connection. One more beyond the dead forge he had in his own workshop. As if an invisible line had stretched across the mountain and touched something distant that now responded.

He got up from the makeshift bed in the corner of the workshop, went to the furnace, and just by getting close to it, the flames ignited on their own. Without new coal, without lighting a fire. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Isabela and the guards had killed themselves trying to keep that furnace properly lit all night. And now it lit on its own at his touch.

Gandloaf’s eyes shone, literally, his irises turning orange-gold every second, a reflection of the active Flame Path coursing through his veins.

He stretched out his right hand, the only one he had left, and plunged it directly into the fire.

It didn’t burn.

The hand began to dematerialize, flesh and bone turning translucent, then invisible, entering the fire as if plunging into water. He felt the heat of another forge on the other side, distant, in the mountains, burning brightly after being extinguished for a long time.

The path between the forges had already been made.

He pulled his hand back, solid again, and smiled, the first genuine smile in days.

"They did it..." he murmured softly to the fire.

"They did it!?"

Gandloaf almost jumped, turning quickly.

Yukihime was standing at the entrance of the workshop, her hair disheveled with sleep, her eyes wide.

"Yes." Gandloaf nodded, a smile still on his face. "Your father and Kira... did it. They relit the other forge."

"Does that mean they’re coming?" hope clear in her voice.

Gandloaf simply nodded and turned to Vorath’s sword on the anvil, placing his free hand on the corroded blade with almost reverential respect.

... The sounds of galloping horses broke the dawn silence.

Haru and Kira arrived exhausted, dismounting with the slow movements of those who had spent the entire night awake. Haru especially, shirtless because he had lost his shirt somewhere during the mission, his body covered in dirt and dried sweat, his eyes sunken with fatigue.

The only ones awake and waiting were Gandloaf, still standing beside the anvil, looking at Haru’s sword with his hand on it. Yukihime beside him, small and quiet, looked curiously at who had just arrived.

"DAD!" Yukihime shouted, running, but she didn’t run to Haru. She ran to Kira, jumping and clinging to her tightly. "MOM!"

Kira froze completely.

Eyes wide, body stiffening, fox ears flattening against her head. It was the first time Yukihime had called her mother, and that was... dangerous. Very dangerous for her.

Her tribe worshipped Yukihime as a sacred entity. If they knew that the nine-tailed fox child was calling Kira mother... the political, religious, and social implications were absurd.

She preferred to be called by her name, or anything else, but not mother.

But Yukihime was still clinging to her, her little face against hers, happy.

Kira looked at Haru, silently pleading for help.

Haru just shrugged, too tired to deal with it.

Gandloaf looked at Haru, his deep voice breaking the moment. "How was the crystal chamber?"

"I melted everything." Haru replied with a tired expression, too tired to elaborate. "It doesn’t exist anymore."

"What!?" Gandloaf blinked in surprise. "I had fun there, breaking those things..."

"At least you should have warned us..." Kira retorted.

Haru completely ignored her, already walking towards the door that led inside Gandloaf’s house. "Where’s your bed? I want to sleep."

Gandloaf’s workshop was sort of in a garage attached to his house, and there was an internal door connecting the two spaces.

"I left the signal up in the mountains..." Gandloaf replied to Kira, who carefully placed the resonance crystals on the table.

"Come on, Dad!" Yukihime let go of Kira and ran to Haru, taking his hand. "I’ll show you where the bed is!"

"And the Culprit?" Gandloaf asked before they went inside. "Did you encounter him?"

"Nah." Haru replied without looking back. "Just a dead, somewhat humanoid creature on top of the mountain."

Kira elaborated as he followed Haru: "Three meters tall, deformed body, grayish skin with black veins. Precise wounds. Someone killed him before we arrived."

Gandloaf was astonished. "Someone killed the Culprit..."

"It was the Culprit!?" Kira exclaimed, disappearing through the door.

Isabela had already fully woken up because of the conversation and the galloping of the horses. He was in Gandloaf’s room when Haru entered, guided by Yukihime.

They stopped.

They stared at each other.

Isabela saw Haru shirtless, his defined muscles covered in dirt and battle scars, that right eye still with a residue of darkness around it even though it wasn’t active, and especially his gray eyes that seemed colder than before, more distant, as if he had seen things that had fundamentally changed something within him.

Every day he seemed less like the clumsy boy she had met weeks ago. He seemed like something else.

"Hey." Haru said simply, his voice hoarse with exhaustion, and continued walking to his room without waiting for a reply.

[Affinity Update: Isabela Valtherion]

[Trust: 100% → 65%]

[Status: Growing Suspicion]

[Warning: Relationship Deterioration]

Haru saw the notification and stopped in his tracks, turning slowly. He looked at Isabela, who was still standing there, looking at him.

His gray eyes shone faintly in the dawn light coming through the window, too cold for someone seventeen years old.

"Gamers seem good but they’re not..." the old woman’s words echoed in her head.

Haru held her gaze for three long seconds, then turned and continued walking without saying anything.

"Hey, redhead!" Kira said right behind, passing Isabela.

Haru arrived at Gandloaf’s room, a simple space with a single bed, a work table covered in technical drawings, the smell of wood and metal, and he threw himself onto the bed without taking off anything but his shoes.

He fell back, arms outstretched, and passed out before even closing his eyes completely.

Kira entered soon after, she saw him unconscious, and simply lay down beside him without thinking twice. She rested her head on his chest, her tail wrapped around her waist, and fell asleep in seconds as well.

Yukihime looked at the two of them, smiled, satisfied with her own work, and whispered: "Yukihime did a good job... she guided her parents to rest."

She left, closing the door slowly.

...

Gandloaf lit the furnace completely, flames soaring high, heat filling the space. He grabbed a resonance crystal and threw it directly into the fire.

The flames changed from orange to intense blue, the temperature doubling instantly.

He took Haru’s sword with large tongs and placed it in the center of the blue flames. The metal began to glow, not the yellow of normal heat but also blue, resonating with the molten crystal.

He waited the exact time, then took it out and placed it on the anvil.

He took another resonance crystal, smaller, and placed it on the hot blade.

The crystal pulsed, resonating with the sword, visible vibrations spreading through the metal.

Gandloaf began to scrape the sword with increasing force, using a special tool in one hand, precise movements from decades of experience. Each scrape removed a layer of corrosion, but not as expected.

The corrosion didn’t fall apart.

It melted, transforming, turning into a liquid that dripped and was reabsorbed by the blade, purifying the metal from the inside out.

The perforations began to close, irregular holes covering the sword slowly filling in like wounds healing in fast motion.

The metal gradually darkened from corroded gray to deep black.

"Valtherion!" Gandloaf said, wiping the sweat from his brow, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to give the others work, he wanted them to participate.

Isabela approached, extended her hands, and covered the sword with Valtherion fire, red flames enveloping the black blade, maintaining the exact temperature Gandloaf needed.

One of the guards gave Gandloaf a wet cloth to clean his hands. Another brought fresh water. Gandloaf just laughed, a low and genuine sound of someone who was happy to be working again.

Yukihime sat in the corner watching quietly and fascinated, her eyes wide, following the blacksmith’s every move.

The sun moved through the window, rising and striking the workshop floor, then climbing the walls, reaching the ceiling, beginning to descend on the other side.

Gandloaf hammered with masterly precision, one arm but perfect movement, each impact shaping the impossible metal, each strike creating a deep sound that echoed throughout the entire village.

Sweat dripped.

Absolute concentration on his face, the entire world disappearing except for the sword, the fire, the hammer, and the art being created.

Finally... he stopped.

He raised the finished sword, holding it against the light of the setting sun that entered through the open door.

Finished.

...Haru woke slowly, consciousness returning little by little.

He felt a weight on his chest, Kira sleeping on top of him, slow and deep breathing, tail wrapped around his waist, clearly happy and comfortable.

It was late, the orange light of the setting sun entering through the small window of the room.

The system notified:

[QUEST COMPLETE: The Extinguished Forge]

◊ Objectives: All completed ✓

◊ Rewards: +1,500 XP

◊ Total XP: 9,747