The short blade sprang up from the knee, flipped half a turn in midair, and the forged patterns burst with a flash of golden light before it landed steadily back on the anvil.
Third tier.
At the same time.
In the kitchen, Saina was carrying a pot of meat soup over to the stove.
A surge of heat shot up from the soles of her feet, raced along her spine, and exploded in her chest. The muscles in her arms abruptly tightened, and her knuckles gave a soft crack.
The pot handle creaked with the sound of metal deforming in her grip.
Saina's pupils contracted. Gritting her teeth, she forcibly loosened her fingers by a fraction. Five faint finger marks were left on the handle, but it did not break.
The meat soup sloshed twice without spilling a single drop.
"Close one." She set the pot down firmly and lowered her head to examine her hand.
The veins on the back of her hand were a full ring thicker than before.
At the courtyard gate, Elena was pretending to write.
The instant ether flooded into her body, the charcoal pencil in her right hand snapped cleanly in two. The lead flew out and streaked a black line across the ledger.
She raised the broken pencil and stared at it for three seconds.
"Now I have to buy another one."
Behind the woodshed, Elonore was in the worst shape.
She had been crouching by the air duct, one hand resting on the bellows handle. When the ether rushed in, her whole body pitched forward. Her arm tugged the bellows from sheer momentum, and her grip crushed an imprint into the handle.
The bellows let out a piercing creak, and one side of the hinge came loose.
"Don't—" Su Li's voice came