Katsumi's workshop smelled like metal and madness.
The scent of oil and scorched leather stung my nose the moment I stepped through the heavy wooden door beside the forge. It was darker than I expected. Lit by lanterns with smoky glass and shards of glowing runes strung like charms on frayed wire.
Weapons covered every surface.
Some looked practical: short swords with reinforced hilts, folding knives, gauntlets thick with plates and gears.
Others were... not.
A bow that looked like a spine. A helmet with a spinning fan blade at the top. What I could only describe as a backpack-sized crossbow with six barrels and a crank.
My fingers reached for it.
SLAP!
Her hand struck my wrist.
"You touch anything without asking and you'll lose a finger," she snapped.
I stared at her hand, then at the weapon, then back to her. "I've lost worse."
She snorted. "Doesn't look like it. You're... whole. Surprisingly good shape, actually. Really good shape."
I scoffed. "You look weak. I could snap you in half."
Her smile turned sharp. "Is that an invitation?"
I tilted my head. "For what?"
She blinked, then laughed. "You really are dense. Great. Now I'm stuck teaching a muscled-up jungle animal how to use a rune rifle."
"I don't want your rifles. I want to learn."
Katsumi raised a brow. "Learn what?"
"Everything."
That gave her pause.
She waved a hand toward the far wall, where half-finished designs and glowing scraps of runes littered a long bench. "Alright then, forge-boy. This… this is a snap-release crossbow with a rotating fire rune chamber. Over there's a folding blade meant for wrist-launch. See the spring coil here? And those gauntlets increase grip strength and pressure by forty percent with pulse assistance."
I didn't respond. My attention had already drifted.
To a sword.
It hung by itself above her forge, faintly glowing, even in the gloom.
Like it pulsed, barely alive.
"What's that one?" I asked.
She glanced up and grimaced. "Failed project. It's rune-infused steel. Or supposed to be. Trying to make magic stick to metal is hell. Only people who've unlocked their dragon points can really wield magic. I've been working on weapons that don't need a mage to be dangerous."
She frowned. "Only problem? Runes are rare. Insanely expensive. And when I do get them, I burn them out in a week trying to get results."
"Can I touch it?"
Katsumi hesitated. "Sure. Just don't be stupid. The runes are weak. Probably won't feel like anything."
I reached up and gripped the sword.
It screamed.
A flash of white light erupted from the hilt. Runes ignited along the blade. The sword sang in my hand, a hum of energy that crawled down my arm and up my spine.
Katsumi gasped.
She stepped back, eyes wide. "What the… who are you?"
I looked down at the glowing blade. "I'm no one. Just Renzoku."
"How many points have you unlocked?" she demanded.
I shrugged. "I don't know. At least one."
Her jaw slackened. "Wait right here."
She spun on her heel and began tearing through drawers, crates, shelves, tossing aside blueprints and gears, muttering curses. "Where is it... where is it... YES!"
She held up a clunky brass device with a long needle and a round green crystal embedded in the center.
"This is a mana scanner. Crude. Inaccurate. But... good enough."
She jabbed it toward her own chest. The crystal shimmered.
"See? Eight red dots. One blue. That's one dragon point unlocked out of the traditional nine. The blue's the active one. The reds are dormant."
She turned to me. "Hold still."
The device buzzed the moment it touched my chest.
She froze.
I looked down.
Three blue dots.
One black.
The rest of the scanner was bathed in flickering red. So many it blurred into crimson haze.
Katsumi stared at it.
Then at me.
Then she dropped the scanner and stepped back. "...What are you?"
I stepped forward. "What did you see?"
She didn't answer.
"Katsumi."
She swallowed. "It says... it's trying to say... you've unlocked three points. But it's not registering nine. It's... it's registering hundreds. And the black dot? I've never seen that before. Ever."
I frowned. "What does black mean?"
"I don't know! Dead maybe? Corrupted? Sealed? Hell, maybe it means nothing."
Then she laughed. Loud and hard. "Gods. This piece of junk is probably broken. That's it. Makes no sense. You're not even a clan soldier."
I grinned.
"You've unlocked three points," she muttered again. "Without training. Without a clan. Without a teacher."
"I hunt," I said simply. "Things worth killing."
She chuckled. "Then you must hunt very dangerous prey."
I nodded.
She looked at me again, this time not like I was some dumb jungle brute. Her gaze lingered. "This is going to be... very interesting."