Saina sewed beneath the oil lamp for three straight nights.
Her stitches were dense and tight, every inch of fabric reinforced with double rows. The winds of the far north could freeze iron until it cracked, so she used the stitching method for fourth-tier windproof cloth on every seam of the winter clothes.
"Enough to wear," Su Li said, leaning against the doorframe as he looked at the mountain of clothes piled on the table.
Without looking up, Saina continued threading her needle. "I'll make two more. What if they get worn through?"
"You've made fourteen already."
Saina's hand paused. She bit off the thread, folded the last garment, and patted down wrinkles that were not there.
"Then fourteen it is."
The day of departure was brilliantly clear.
Little Stone knelt on the brick floor of the smithy and knocked his head against the ground three times. The thuds of his forehead striking the floor echoed through the empty workshop.
Su Li sat atop the anvil. After watching him finish, he took something from his robes.
A pocket watch. Its casing was forged from refined iron, larger than an adult man's palm by a full circle. The inner side of the cover was densely etched with circuit patterns that glimmered with a dim silver light when aether flowed through them.
"Catch." Su Li tossed the pocket watch over.
Little Stone caught it one-handed and flipped it open for a look.
"A protective formation?"
"If someone hits you, grip the cover tight. It can withstand one full-force strike from a fourth-tier fighter." Su Li jumped down from the anvil and dusted off his trousers. "Only once. Don't waste it."
Little Stone tucked the pocket watch into an inner pocket, hoisted his pack, and walked to the courtyard gate.
Saina stood on