With his mind made up, Murphy no longer hesitated.
He held his palm upward, and a cluster of True Flame—pitch-black, deep, and seemingly capable of swallowing all light—leapt out without a sound. It hovered quietly in mid-air, slowly rotating to form a miniature Force Field vortex.
The very air in the secret chamber seemed to twist from its presence, and the light dimmed.
He picked up a fist-sized piece of Thunder Steel Ore, the one with the densest patterns, and placed it into the pitch-black flame.
The ore did not melt quickly like ordinary metal.
As if held aloft by an unseen force, it hovered and slowly rotated within the core of the black flame.
The grayish-blue hue on the ore's surface began to deepen. The lightning-like scorch marks seemed to come alive, wriggling slightly and emitting an incredibly faint BUZZING, like thousands of insects beating their wings.
