Arc 1 – The Engineer of the Dark Ages

  Chapter 1 – The Man Who Insults Steel

  The battlefield of Excelion was chaos—breaking metal and dying screams.

  Sir Kaelan, commander of the Silver Knights, swung his legendary blade, Silver Wing. Priests had blessed it. Nobles praised it as the finest sword in the kingdom.

  CRACK.

  The blade struck the hide of the Grey Walker.

  Instead of cutting, it bent like cheap tin.

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  “That’s not a sword.”

  A bored voice cut through the chaos.

  “That’s overpriced scrap metal.”

  Kaelan froze.

  Standing in the mud behind him was a young man in soot-stained clothes, watching the battlefield with open disgust.

  “Carbon content’s wrong. The quenching was uneven. And those impurities… honestly, it’s a miracle the thing didn’t shatter on the first swing.”

  The Grey Walker roared and lunged.

  Jin didn’t move.

  Instead, he reached down and picked up a rusted woodsman’s axe from the mud.

  He weighed it once in his hand.

  Balance.

  Edge alignment.

  Impact point.

  “Steel doesn’t lie.”

  The axe left his hand.

  It spun once through the air—

  —and buried itself deep into the monster’s skull.

  The Grey Walker collapsed instantly.

  Silence fell across the battlefield.

  Kaelan stared in disbelief.

  “Who… who are you? An Archmage?”

  Jin wiped grease from his hands.

  “I’m a blacksmith.”

  He glanced at the twisted remains of the Silver Wing and snorted.

  “And your armory is a disaster.”