"It is getting quite late. Can you still make my legendary-grade katana as you promised?" Katana's voice was still quiet, but there was a clear, stubborn focus underneath the shyness.
The request had not left her mind even after the apology.
[She's so hung up on that...]
"Naturally!" Benjamin rolled his sleeves up with confident, deliberate motions, pushing the fabric past his elbows in two clean movements. "I'll have it whipped up in less than 20 minutes."
And the creation began.
Benjamin opened both of his palms, holding them out in front of him with the fingers slightly spread and the wrists relaxed.
The gesture was unhurried and casual — as if he were simply offering his hands to the air itself and waiting to see what it might place there in return.
He looked less like a person about to forge a legendary weapon and more like a man warming his hands at an invisible fire.
Almost at once, the palms began to emit a warm, orange light.
