The forge had never been quieter.
Not because there was less work.
Because everyone present understood they were looking at something that might never be seen again.
Brannic slowly walked around the Frost Giant King's remains.
His hammer hung forgotten at his side.
Merriweather knelt beside one of the enormous bones, fingertips brushing across shimmering frost runes embedded deep within the surface.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally...
Brannic broke the silence.
"...How?"
Jax smiled.
"We won."
Brannic snorted.
"I gathered that much."
He looked back down.
"I meant..."
"...how in every forgotten kingdom did you manage to harvest these without ruining them?"
Jax shrugged.
"Carefully."
Merriweather laughed.
"I hate that that's probably the real answer."
They spent the next several hours examining every piece.
Bones.
Hide.
Crystal marrow.
Frozen glands.
Mana cores.
The Frost Heart.
Every discovery raised more questions than answers.
Merriweather suddenly froze.
"Brannic..."
He looked over.
"What?"
She slowly lifted a strip of Frost Giant hide.
Mana flowed through it.
Not around it.
Through it.
Like water through a river.
"...That's impossible."
Brannic took it from her.
The mana didn't weaken.
It grew stronger.
His eyes widened.
"...It remembers."
Jax raised an eyebrow.
"What remembers?"
"The enchantment."
Brannic looked almost disturbed.
"Metal forgets."
"Leather forgets."
"Crystal eventually forgets."
"But this..."
He turned the hide over in his hands.
"...this remembers every enchantment placed upon it."
Silence settled over the forge.
Merriweather looked toward Jax.
"If we weave even small amounts of this into your armor..."
She swallowed.
"...every future upgrade will become stronger than the last."
Jax smiled.
"So..."
"...an investment."
Brannic barked a laugh.
"Lad..."
"I think you've just brought us the greatest forging material in recorded history."
The upgrades began immediately.
Peacemaker was first.
Not replaced.
Refined.
The Frost Giant marrow fused with the crystalline veins already running through the dragon-forged blade.
The weapon hummed.
Not loudly.
Almost...
Contentedly.
Merriweather paused.
"...Did your sword just..."
Brannic slowly nodded.
"I think it did."
Jax reached out.
Peacemaker lifted from the workbench by itself.
It drifted through the air.
Stopping neatly beside him.
He blinked.
"...Well."
"I wasn't expecting that."
Brannic wasn't smiling anymore.
"Neither was I."
One by one...
The others followed.
Starpiercer floated toward Llandra.
Lilith's Kiss slithered through the air like a curious serpent before wrapping comfortably around Nyxian's arm.
"...Well hello to you too."
Nyxian scratched beneath the whip's handle affectionately.
"I think she likes me."
"I should hope so," Bunny laughed.
"It's your whip."
World Breaker practically leapt into Bunny's waiting hands.
She caught it instinctively.
"...I definitely like this upgrade."
Sanctaris drifted gently toward Zee.
She barely reached for it before it settled naturally into her palm.
"It feels..."
She searched for the word.
"...alive."
Merriweather looked between every weapon.
"I've enchanted thousands."
She slowly shook her head.
"I've never seen weapons choose their owners."
Brannic quietly muttered,
"Nor have I."
Jax looked thoughtfully at Requiem.
The twin pistols remained exactly where he had left them.
He smiled.
"They're waiting."
Brannic nodded.
"They're still growing."
That sentence stayed with Jax.
Still growing.
...
Later that afternoon...
They visited Grathok.
The enormous troll merchant was halfway through lunch when Jax opened his dimensional storage.
The warehouse disappeared beneath monster parts.
Crystal Yetis.
Ice Behemoths.
Frozen hides.
Rare organs.
Mana-rich marrow.
Grathok stopped chewing.
"...Jax."
Another pile appeared.
"...Jax."
Another.
"...Jax!"
The troll finally threw both hands into the air.
"Would you PLEASE stop making my warehouses look small?!"
Nyxian grinned.
"He says that every time."
"And every time he's correct!"
Grathok shot back.
He climbed onto one particularly massive carcass.
Running experienced hands across the hide.
"No tears."
"No rot."
"No mana leakage."
He looked genuinely impressed.
"You harvest monsters better than professional butcher guilds."
Jax shrugged.
"I had help."
Grathok laughed.
"So did the monsters."
Hours later...
The troll had categorized everything.
"Restaurants get these."
He pointed.
"Alchemists get those."
Another gesture.
"Luxury leather."
"Medicine."
"Mana fertilizer."
"Culinary cuts."
Then he reached one unusually beautiful section of meat.
Perfect marbling.
Crystal veins shimmering beneath the surface.
Grathok became very quiet.
"...No."
Jax blinked.
"No?"
"This..."
He carefully wrapped the cut himself.
"...isn't for sale."
Nyxian tilted her head.
"Why?"
The troll looked almost offended.
"Because..."
He held it up reverently.
"...this belongs in your restaurants."
Jax smiled.
"You think?"
"I know."
Grathok grinned.
"If this tastes half as good as it looks..."
He laughed loudly.
"...people will travel kingdoms just to eat dinner."
Jax nodded once.
"Done."
As they prepared to leave...
Grathok stopped him.
"...Jax."
He turned.
The troll folded his massive arms.
"You know..."
"I've traded monsters for forty years."
He looked toward the mountain of monster parts.
"...I've never once wished I was younger."
A smile spread across his broad face.
"...until you started showing up."
Jax laughed.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should."
Grathok pointed toward the overflowing warehouse.
"Now get out."
"I've got enough work here to become even richer."
The Vixens laughed all the way back to the Compound.
Behind them...
Brannic was already sketching.
Merriweather was already enchanting.
Grathok was already selling.
And without realizing it...
Jax had once again changed an entire industry.