The central municipal workshop smelled of sulfur and scorching slag as bellows blasted air into the smelting hearth.
"Pump faster!"
"Bellows at full draft, Master Varek!"
Three apprentices worked the leather handles in rapid rhythm, sending bright orange sparks showering across the packed floor.
Upon the central anvil block rested the black Apex core acquired on credit from Lady Seliza's trading company.
The crystalline sphere remained completely unaffected by the roaring coals, absorbing the surrounding heat without heating up by a single degree.
Master Varek, the senior travelling metalsmith employed by the southern consortium, gripped his bronze tongs with knuckles locked tight.
"Bring the core to the flame again!" Varek shouted above the roar of the blast hearth, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Are you sure?"
"We need at least two thousand degrees of radiant heat before the crystalline crust shows the slightest sign of softening!"
