A day later, Lucien went to visit Rurik and Shadow.
The moment he saw them, the air felt different.
Rurik was waiting for him.
He looked pleased.
Shadow stood beside him, arms folded, with the expression of someone trying to appear calm while also clearly expecting praise.
"Savior, we're close," Rurik said with a big smile.
Then he raised a sheet of dark metal from the worktable.
It was not large.
Only broad enough to serve as a prototype plate.
But the moment Lucien saw it, he understood one of its core materials.
Memory Alloy Fragment — metal that "remembers" repeated impacts and adapts accordingly. (A rare drop from the Alloykins)
Lucien's eyes sharpened.
Rurik had not wasted it.
He had blended it.
Lucien could see the additional traces in the metal immediately. It had not been forged as a simple sheet. It had been built like a learning organism pretending to be armor.
Lucien smiled.
"You mixed it well."
Rurik's grin widened.
Shadow gave a small nod.
