Seven days later, Cornvelia finally reached port.
By then, the voyage had settled into something so comfortable it almost felt surreal. The trip had slowly become one of the rare stretches of peace he'd been able to enjoy without immediately expecting it to be stolen from him. So when the horizon ahead began to change, he noticed it before most of the passengers did.
The docks had long, elegant platforms of pale stone and dark wood. Gates rose over the harbor entrances. Lanterns hung from tall posts in rows. Banners drifted in the wind with stitched characters that Veneri couldn't read at first glance but could immediately appreciate as decorative and symbolic.
It hit him almost immediately that the place had a distinctly Chinese aesthetic. Veneri stood at the rail and just stared for a moment. Agnar noticed immediately. He gave a low chuckle from beside him.
"Shocked?"
Veneri glanced at him, then back at the port.
"A little."
"This is Shenlu Cheng, the capital of all Forgers in the Timeless Realm."
"All Forgers?"
"Mortal Anchor, Immortal Anchor, Divine Anchor, they all come here sooner or later. If you're from the Mortal Anchor, you need special access to enter, though. Not everyone gets to walk in like they own the place."
Veneri kept looking at the city as Cornvelia slowly approached the harbor. That explained the density of the energy he could already feel from the docks. Even from the ship, he could see dockworkers hauling in crates of raw ore, forging coal, timber, cloth bundles, stone cases and sealed containers that were likely full of tools, enchantment materials or both. Merchant shops sat in neat rows along the waterline while larger ships were being unloaded under the watch of officials in clean uniforms. The harbor itself had been built with wide stone piers. There were bridges crossing between the dock zones and the city and every bridge had carvings on its sides with mostly dragons, phoenixes, hammers, blades, furnaces and rings of flame or metalwork patterns. It was obvious that Shenlu Cheng honored forgers.
The people were just as striking as the architecture.
Veneri kept noticing clothing styles the moment they came into clearer view. Most of the locals wore garments that flowed while still looking practical enough to work in. Some outfits were clearly ceremonial, with embroidered shoulders, metallic trims or decorative cuffs that signaled rank or affiliation. Others were more utilitarian, but even those had an elegance to them that made them look intentional rather than rough. A lot of the men wore high-collar robes or coats, often paired with boots designed for long movement around workshops and docks. Women wore similar styles but with more variation and ornamentation. Some were in flowing sleeves, others in fitted waist wraps and some in elegant dresses.
Nobody looked poor in the obvious sense. It was not because everyone was rich, but because the city clearly understood appearance as part of craft identity. Even the laborers looked put together. Even the apprentices looked like they had standards.
Cornvelia was docked. The moment it locked into place, the whole ship seemed to relax. Passengers began gathering their things. Agnar turned towards his wife and daughter, Cornelia and Eunecia as the family gathered near the exit. Agnar looked at both of them and nodded.
"We're leaving to join the Forge Competition."
Cornelia gave him a nod. She clearly already knew the plan. Eunecia looked more excited than surprised, which made sense. A forging competition was probably not a small event in a place like this. It was likely one of the major cultural gatherings of the year.
Agnar turned back to him.
"You ready?"
Veneri glanced again at the harbor beyond the ship. The gates of Shenlu Cheng were already visible from here and even at a distance they made the city feel important.
"Yeah. I'm ready."
As they stepped onto the port, the air had a scent of salt, incense, metal, lacquer and forge smoke drifting in from somewhere deeper in the city. Vendors were already calling out trade goods from under red-and-gold awnings. Apprentices hurried past carrying tools wrapped in cloth. A few passersby turned to look at Agnar, clearly sensing that some combination of important people had just arrived. None of them said anything, which was probably wise.
°°°°°°°
Agnar booked them into a top-notch hotel without even letting Veneri argue about it.
He also covered the costs, which was even more annoying because he said it so casually that there was no opening for pride to make a scene. Then he vanished to register both of them for the Forge Competition, leaving Veneri alone in a restaurant with only Parasphlen for company. Parasphlen had shifted into spirit form and floated near his shoulder. Veneri wore his white faceless mask with patterns across it, covering his identity completely. That was useful in a city like this. Shenlu Cheng already had too much attention and last thing he wanted was a fresh round of people staring at him like he was the center of some romantic novel.
He glanced down at the menu and immediately lost interest.
The restaurant itself was elegant with the same refined cultural mix the city had everywhere else. The core aesthetic was unmistakably Chinese in inspiration but it was not a simple copy of anything from Earth. There were alien influences woven into it too that made the place feel like it belonged to the Timeless Realm instead of a museum of old civilizations. Some of the pillars had crystalline veins running through them. Some of the wall panels glimmered with mineral inlays that shifted color when the light moved. Even the lighting had a strange quality in certain corners, as if somebody had put old world elegance to a few pieces of cosmic architecture and decided the result was good enough to keep.
Veneri appreciated that. He also disliked the food options. Most of the menu was seafood. He stared at it for another second, then let out a long, tired sigh. Parasphlen floated down a little.
"What's wrong?"
"Too much seafood. It's tasteless to me. I'll just get tea and pastries."
He had no interest in paying for a plate of fish that would taste like tasteless jelly.
The restaurant was busy enough to be lively but was not so crowded. Most of the guests were wealthy enough to be entitled and comfortable enough to be loud about it. A few tables nearby were occupied by merchants, competition entrants and other travelers passing through Shenlu Cheng. Staff moved between tables, dressed in clean, elegant uniforms that fit the city's style.
Then, a group came in and made everything worse immediately. They were loud before they even sat down.
The leader was a spoiled-looking young man from some rich family, He was surrounded by women and a couple of men who clearly either admired him or were being paid to tolerate him. He threw himself into a table.
"Bring us the most expensive food you have," he snapped at the waitress the moment she approached.
The waitress blinked in shock but stayed professional.
"Certainly, sir."
"Not 'certainly.' We're not here for slow service. Make it the best."
Several people in the restaurant visibly irritated at his tone. One old man at a nearby table muttered into his cup. A woman two tables over rolled her eyes so hard it was practically a performance. Parasphlen drifted a little higher in the air, clearly intrigued by the incoming nonsense. Veneri sipped his tea once the server brought it.
The waitress left. He heard their conversation anyway, because of course, his senses were absurd. The group was talking about the Forge Competition.
"The scale of this thing is incredible. The best forgers from every anchor are going to be there. It's huge."
One of the women beside him smiled and leaned in.
"And you'll win?"
"Obviously. Why else would I be here?"
A couple of his companions laughed too quickly. Veneri took another sip of tea and let out a quiet scoff under his mask. After all, his mask was able to reveal his lips without him removing it. The young man's head turned towards him instantly.
"What's funny?"
Veneri didn't look up right away. He set the cup down carefully, then lifted his gaze and answered with complete laziness.
"You."
The table nearest them went still. The spoiled man narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.
"You got something to say?"
"You're not even a Mystical Forger and you're planning to win? That's pathetic."
A few heads turned. A few people pretended not to listen while listening harder. The young man's expression went red in the face almost immediately. He stood up so fast his chair scraped hard against the floor.
"What did you just say?"
Veneri remained seated. One hand rested near the tea cup and the other relaxed against the table.
"You heard me."
"You don't know who you're talking to."
"I can guess. You're somebody who got used to being applauded for breathing when you were a kid. Congratulations."
A few customers in the restaurant coughed on their drinks. The rich boy's face twitched.
"I should hit you."
Several people around him immediately shot him dirty looks, including the waitress who had just returned with a tray and now had to stop dead because the atmosphere had gone sour. The man's companions shifted uncomfortably. One of the older diners at a nearby table actually ordered the man.
"Sit down."
The man ignored them and kept glaring at Veneri.
"You're lucky we're in public."
"Are you though? Or are you just too scared to hit me?"
The restaurant went dead quiet again. Veneri could see the moment he considered launching himself across the table anyway and he even looked like he'd planned on it for a second, but the surrounding stares held him in place. The rich boy had not expected his anger to become a public performance with an audience that didn't like him.
"You think you're clever."
"You're too loud. Please respect the peace of the restaurant, young man. Don't embarrass yourself and your family like this."
The man looked like he wanted to choke on his own pride. Then, after a long and miserable second, he backed off. He returned to his seat with a furious motion, shoved himself down and muttered something angry to the people with him. A few of them tried to smooth over the embarrassment by laughing too loudly. The others kept their heads down. The waitress resumed moving again, visibly relieved the situation had not escalated further.
Veneri let out a slow sigh and looked at his tea. Parasphlen floated beside him, clearly amused.
"You really can't go anywhere without this happening, can you?"
"Apparently not."
"You insulted him pretty hard."
"He deserved it."
"That he did."
He took another sip of tea and stared out through the restaurant's open side windows at the city beyond. The competition was going to be interesting. The voyage had been peaceful up until now. Then, naturally, some idiot had to ruin the atmosphere.
"There's never peace wherever I go."
-----
The next morning, Veneri and Agnar headed to the venue for the Forge Competition.
It turned out not to be a simple hall or workshop complex like he had expected. The main arena itself was floating in the sky, suspended far above the ground. The problem was that the arena was under maintenance for now so they were not allowed inside yet. Instead, all of the contestants and attendants had been directed to the Forge Tournament headquarters where forgers could register, prepare, store materials and wait for the actual opening rounds. That at least gave Veneri something to look at.
The headquarters was packed.
He was still three meters tall and still wearing his mask, which made him stand out even in a city like Shenlu Cheng. There were a lot of races present, too. Mammal-like races with fur and horns, reptilian races with scaled skin and heavy tails, insect-like races with segmented armor and sharp eyes and humanoids everywhere, of course, but not only humanoids. The whole place had the dense, busy feel of a true multiversal forge hub.
Veneri could feel eyes on him from all directions. He didn't mind. Agnar, walking beside him, looked mildly amused at how quickly Veneri had become the center of attention again.
"You're getting attention already."
"That's their problem."
"That's one way to put it."
They moved deeper into the headquarters, where the walls were lined with registration counters, prep halls, material storage rooms and sealed side doors leading to testing chambers. The building had the same elegant look Shenlu Cheng had everywhere else but here the atmosphere was different. Sharper. Every other person seemed to be carrying either a weapon, a tool case, an artifact box or a very serious expression.
Agnar started explaining the tournament structure as they walked.
"You're not the only Mystical Forger here. In the Timeless Realm, there are four forge groups that are basically unrivaled. The Greek Pantheon and the Norse Pantheon in the Divine Anchor, and the Masamune Forge Faction and Forge City Faction in the Immortal Anchor."
Veneri stopped walking. That got his attention.
"The Greek Pantheon and the Norse Pantheon? Those names are here too?"
"Why wouldn't they be? Forging doesn't belong to one world. The best groups rise wherever craft gets taken seriously. The top four positions usually come from those groups. The fifth position is always brutal because everyone below them is trying to break in. That's where the real fights happen."
"Where did you get placed last time?"
Agnar let out a small, proud laugh. "Top ten, at position eight."
That was enough to make several people nearby glance over. Agnar didn't seem embarrassed by it either. In fact, he looked like he still enjoyed saying it.
"That made me pretty popular, especially since I don't come from a faction or pantheon. I got there on my own."
"What about the Mystical Forgers?"
Agnar made a face that suggested the answer was more annoying than important.
"Not much, honestly. They're all tied to one of the four big forge groups. They get taken in. They don't exactly get to refuse because the tradeoff is ridiculous. Infinite resources, rare metals, artifact-grade materials, specialized furnaces, access to entire libraries, support teams, protection, everything a smith could want."
"What resources?"
"What do you mean, what resources?"
"I mean, I have tools. Why would I use metal when I can make my own?"
Agnar stared at him for a second and then exhaled heavily through his nose like a man who had just been reminded that he was talking to someone unreasonably gifted.
"You really are a talented genius."
"Thanks."
"You say things like that and then wonder why people don't know how to respond to you."
"I'm actually more excited now."
"About the competition?"
"Yeah."
"You should be. Just don't get arrogant too early."
"I'm not arrogant."
Agnar gave him a dry snort, clearly unconvinced but not in the mood to argue.
They were still moving through the registration hall when a golden portal opened up. Several people around them turned around immediately. Out stepped a group of giants with blue skin, each one about six meters tall. Agnar noticed his reaction instantly and leaned slightly towards him.
"Those are the front giants. They're students of the legendary Huldra brothers, Brok and Sindri."
Veneri said nothing for a moment. He just looked. He'd heard of frost giants in myth before, back when that sort of thing had still belonged to the world of stories and dead civilizations. Seeing them here, alive and real, felt like one of those moments that revealed that the universe is vast than he expected. Thanks to the mask, none of them noticed his awe.
That was probably for the best.
The giants shot him a hard look as they walked past. Veneri ignored it while still privately noting how impressive they were. They continued to walk to the registration counter. Their large frames forced the local staff to step aside and look up at them.
Agnar watched them go and then turned back to Veneri.
"Because they're from a top four faction, they'll be placed further out in the bracket."
"So the tournament isn't random."
"Not for them. Putting them in the opening rounds with everyone else would be unfair. They'd crush the early field too easily. So the structure spreads the high-tier factions out. As a top ten from last time, I'll be placed higher on the ranking boards too. But for you, you'll start at the beginning. You shouldn't reveal that you're a Mystical Forger until you rank higher."
"Why?"
"Because the moment the factions and pantheons know, they'll target you. All of them. You'll become a problem worth stealing, recruiting or crushing depending on who sees you first."
Veneri looked across the hall again, where the front giants were still being processed. He understood the warning. He also understood that it was the right thing to do in such a situation so he gave a simple nod.
"I won't."
"Good."
They continued toward the registration line together. Veneri kept his mask on, stayed calm and let the attention wash around him without reacting too much. For now, he would play it carefully.