The day before departure, a messenger arrived at the Compound.
Brannic and Merriweather were ready.
The message itself had been brief.
Come to the forge.
Bring everyone.
The Vixens immediately decided this meant something important.
Jax agreed.
Whatever had both Brannic and Merriweather requesting his presence personally wasn't going to be minor.
By midmorning, the entire group made their way through Solmere.
The city was thriving.
Workers unloaded crates of fruit harvested from Darkthorn's Titan Orchard. Vendors shouted about new juices, preserves, and desserts. Tavern owners bragged about Titan Berry Wine. Restaurants advertised dishes infused with mana-rich produce.
The changes were already spreading.
One fruit settled upset stomachs.
Another accelerated natural recovery.
A third helped people feel full while eating less.
Jax had spent the week experimenting with recipes.
The results had been ridiculous.
Customers loved them.
Restaurants were reporting record sales.
People were traveling from neighboring villages just to try the food.
"You're smiling again," Nyxian observed.
"I smile all the time."
"No," Bunny said.
"The merchant smile," Zee clarified.
"The dangerous one," Llandra agreed.
"The one that means he's making money," Bunny finished.
Jax didn't deny it.
That only made them laugh harder.
When they reached the forge district, the sounds of industry greeted them immediately.
Hammer strikes.
Grinding wheels.
Enchanted bellows.
Business was booming.
The moment they entered the yard, Merriweather spotted them.
"There he is!"
She pointed dramatically.
"The menace!"
"I paid for that title."
"You earned that title."
Brannic emerged from the workshop carrying a clipboard.
A clipboard.
The dwarf looked at it.
Scowled.
Then threw it over his shoulder.
"I hate paperwork."
A worker caught it without looking.
Clearly this happened often.
"You ready?" Brannic asked.
"Ready for what?"
The dwarf blinked.
"You didn't tell him?"
Merriweather froze.
"...I thought you told him."
Both pointed at each other.
"Your fault."
Jax sighed.
The Vixens laughed.
Business as usual.
Then Merriweather looked around.
"Wait."
She frowned.
"Where's the knight?"
The Vixens immediately grinned.
Jax rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Right.
He still hadn't properly introduced Warden.
Shadows stretched across the ground.
Mana gathered.
Darkness condensed beside him.
And from that darkness emerged a towering knight clad in ancient black armor.
Shield.
Sword.
Crimson cape.
Silent authority.
The forge yard fell completely quiet.
Warden stepped forward.
Dropped to one knee.
"My liege."
Several workers nearly choked.
Jax sighed immediately.
"You don't have to call me that."
"Understood, my liege."
Bunny folded in half laughing.
Nyxian pointed dramatically.
"My liege."
"My liege," Bunny echoed.
Jax pointed at both of them.
"Don't encourage him."
"Of course, my liege," Nyxian replied.
Even Brannic cracked.
Only Warden remained perfectly serious.
Which somehow made it even funnier.
Eventually Merriweather clapped loudly.
"Enough."
She pointed toward the trial field.
The area behind the forge had been completely rebuilt.
Steel targets.
Crystal pylons.
Moving constructs.
Mana barriers.
Everything looked expensive.
Dangerously expensive.
At the center rested a reinforced case.
Merriweather approached it carefully.
"This," she said proudly, "is our masterpiece."
She opened it.
The air shifted.
Inside rested two pistols.
Blue-black metal.
Titan bone.
Temporal crystal.
Dragon-forged components.
Mana circuitry.
The crystalline veins running through the weapons pulsed faintly.
Like a heartbeat.
Nobody spoke.
Even Warden's helmet turned slightly toward them.
Jax stepped forward.
Lifted the first pistol.
Then the second.
Perfect.
The balance felt natural.
As though they had always belonged in his hands.
Brannic folded his arms.
"We followed your blueprints."
Merriweather grinned.
"Then improved them."
"Of course you did."
"We call them Eclipse Requiem."
She pointed.
"Solaris."
Then the second.
"Umbra."
Jax tested the weight.
Perfect.
Then the System appeared.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Unique Weapon Compatibility Detected
Would you like to learn Hidden Combat Skill:
GUN-KATA
This skill will integrate Eclipse Requiem into your combat instincts, allowing the weapons to function as extensions of your body.
YES / NO
Jax smiled.
"Yes."
Knowledge exploded into existence.
Angles.
Timing.
Rotations.
Target acquisition.
Crossfire trajectories.
Movement patterns.
Every instinct sharpened.
The guns no longer felt separate from him.
They felt like hands he had forgotten he possessed.
Merriweather stared.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
Jax looked up.
"I think I know how to use them."
Brannic frowned.
"You've never used them."
"Correct."
The dwarf frowned harder.
"That answer somehow worries me."
The testing began.
Jax raised a hand.
"Arise."
Dozens of shadows emerged.
Knights.
Mages.
Soldiers.
Elite crystal warriors.
All B-Rank or higher.
The forge workers immediately backed away.
Brannic blinked.
"You brought an army."
"I brought test subjects."
The shadows stood at attention.
Jax pointed toward the far end of the field.
"Objective."
The shadows waited.
"If you reach me, you win."
The entire shadow army surged forward.
The Vixens immediately stepped aside.
Brannic's eyes widened.
"Those are real attacks."
"They're shadows."
Jax shrugged.
"They'll be fine."
The first knight charged.
Jax moved.
Both pistols spun.
The holsters rested inverted at his waist, forcing a crossed draw.
His hands crossed.
Solaris and Umbra cleared leather.
The motion was impossibly smooth.
The pistols rotated once around his fingers.
Then snapped forward.
BOOM.
The first knight exploded into shadow mist.
The second disappeared a heartbeat later.
Then the third.
The field erupted.
Jax moved like a dancer.
Not a soldier.
Not a duelist.
A force of nature.
Every step flowed into the next.
Every movement became part of the attack.
Targets exploded.
Constructs shattered.
Shadows vanished.
A mage launched a spell.
Solaris barked once.
The spell detonated midair.
Another shadow appeared behind him.
Umbra fired without Jax even turning.
The shadow disappeared.
Gasps erupted from the workers.
Bunny's ears stood straight up.
Zee had stopped blinking entirely.
Llandra watched with calm fascination.
"He moves differently."
Nyxian nodded.
"Like he already knew how."
More shadows rushed him.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Jax accelerated.
The guns spun around his fingers before returning to firing position.
Energy beams crossed.
Shadows vanished.
Constructs exploded.
Targets shattered.
He never missed.
Not once.
At one point a shadow knight got within ten feet.
The closest any had managed.
Jax pivoted.
Both pistols crossed.
The knight disappeared.
The shockwave flattened three targets behind it.
The field fell silent.
Nothing remained standing.
Not one shadow.
Not one target.
Not one construct.
Smoke drifted across the yard.
Jax exhaled.
Then casually spun both pistols.
Once.
Twice.
And holstered them in a smooth crossed motion.
Click.
Silence.
Nobody spoke.
Even the workers looked stunned.
Bunny whispered first.
"...That's cheating."
Zee adjusted her glasses.
"That wasn't combat."
"What was it?" Nyxian asked.
Zee stared at Jax.
"Art."
Llandra smiled softly.
"I was thinking the same thing."
Brannic looked horrified.
"We gave him two."
Merriweather looked delighted.
"We absolutely did."
Only Warden remained silent.
Watching.
Not the guns.
Not the destruction.
Jax.
As if evaluating whether the weapons were worthy of the man carrying them.
For the first time since Warden's creation—
The knight slowly nodded.
Approval.
Nothing more.
Yet somehow it felt significant.
The armor arrived afterward.
And things became stranger.
Lilith's Kiss slithered across the workbench.
Wrapped itself around Nyxian's wrist.
And refused to let go.
"...Well."
Nyxian raised an eyebrow.
"That's either adorable or deeply concerning."
The whip tightened affectionately.
Everyone agreed it was both.
The remaining upgrades were equally impressive.
Starpiercer.
Sanctaris.
World Breaker.
Peacemaker.
Each stronger.
Smarter.
More responsive.
Titan-forged.
The tests continued until sunset.
By the end of the day, everyone understood the same truth.
They were stronger than they had ever been.
Tomorrow they would leave.
As the group prepared to head home, snow drifted lazily from a clear sky.
The first signs of winter.
Frostveil waited.
A Frost Giant waited.
An unclaimed Raid Cave waited.
And somewhere beyond the northern mountains, something had already destroyed fields, frightened settlements, and survived every attempt to stop it.
Jax rested a hand on Requiem.
The twin pistols pulsed softly beneath his touch.
For the first time in weeks, he felt it.
Anticipation.