The Coalition escorted Logan Mercer through a series of guarded corridors toward the inner compound. Lanterns hung from metal brackets and cast soft light along the walls. The deeper they walked the more organized everything became. Workers carried labeled crates. Scribes recorded inventory on wooden tablets. Guards in silver trimmed armor patrolled with precise rhythm. Logan felt like he had stepped into the engine room of an organized machine.

At the end of the corridor a large set of wooden doors slid open revealing a wide workshop filled with raw materials and stacked crates. Two dozen craftsmen and engineers moved between workstations adjusting tools sharpening blades and assembling metal frames. This was not a simple forge. It was a full scale production facility in early construction. And it was meant for him.

Thalen Voss entered behind Logan with a proud expression. Impressive is it not Logan This is your workshop. Still incomplete but the foundation is ready. You will have metal forges bone carving tables core stabilization chambers and mechanical benches. Everything you need. And more once you tell us your preferences.

Logan stepped forward slowly. The air smelled of hot iron wood dust and faint magic. Nearby a craftsman was polishing a metal frame that would support a forge crucible. Another was shaping a rack for tools. A young apprentice hammered nails into a bench top. Logan felt a strange pressure in his chest. Responsibility. Potential. And the weight of being needed.

He ran his fingers along a metal worktable. The surface smooth strong and large enough to spread multiple weapon designs. It reminded him of the engineering station he always wanted back home but never received due to budget cuts and company rules. Here he had more freedom and more danger than any job on Earth.

Thalen walked beside him. This workshop exists because of your work Logan. You changed something fundamental in our trade. Beastbone refinement was a dream. Magic core integration was unreliable. But you made both stable. You created more in three days than most master smiths create in three decades.

Logan felt a small uneasy smile forming. That sounds like pressure.

Thalen shrugged. Excellence is always pressure. But it brings rewards.

Logan moved toward the forge section. Workers were installing dual bellows and a ventilation pipe connected to the ceiling. The forge pit itself was reinforced with a stone chamber layered with heat resistant clay. It looked cleaner and stronger than the forge he used at Outpost Brinn.

He spoke softly. This feels unreal. Back home I worked in a small metal shop. Quiet. Controlled. Here Im standing in a facility meant to arm an entire realm.

Thalen answered calmly. This place exists because the realm needs you. And because we trust you to guide it responsibly.

Logan turned to him. Thalen I need a few things before I start.

Name them.

Logan collected his thoughts. I want a materials inventory list daily. I want separate storage for cores. I want beastbone treated by trained handlers. And I want no one entering my workspace without my approval.

Thalen nodded. All reasonable. Anything else

Yes Logan said. I need a team. But I choose them myself. I will not work with spies or forced assistants.

Thalen smiled slightly. You have sharp instincts. We will gather potential candidates and let you evaluate them.

Workers continued building around them. Logan walked to a side room that contained a reinforced door. Inside wooden shelves filled the walls. Thalen explained. This is your design vault. Only you and those you approve may enter. The Coalition will guard it but not open it.

Logan nodded. Good.

Thalen stepped back. I will leave you now Logan. Tomorrow we discuss your first official designs. But tonight this workshop is yours. Explore it. Understand it. Make it your own.

He left. The workers gradually cleared the area until only a few guards remained at the hallway entrance. Logan stood alone in the center of the workshop surrounded by tools crates and potential. The silence felt heavier than battlefields he had seen.

He unwrapped the prototypes and set them on the central worktable. The short blade glowed faintly. The crossbow limbs shimmered with layered beastbone. These two creations brought mercenaries kingdoms and merchants to his door. They also opened a path to a future he never imagined.

He exhaled slowly. Then he began exploring the workshop room by room. He found a grinding wheel built with adjustable speed. A set of bone shaping chisels of different thickness. A magical stabilizer that kept core fragments from overheating. He tested each one with careful thought.

At the far corner he discovered a crate containing refined metal bars. The labels showed iron nickel and small strips of bright alloy called shimmersteel. He lifted a shimmersteel piece. It was light with a dull shine. He tapped it with a hammer and it rang like tempered glass. A strange material but full of potential.

Hours passed as he organized his tools and sorted materials. He worked quietly lost in the familiar rhythm of shaping order from chaos. When the forge coals finally glowed warm he felt the moment settle inside him. This workshop was not just a place. It was a beginning.

He whispered. Lets see what I can build.

And the forge hummed like it was ready to answer.