Ethan and Sera returned to Haldric’s workshop carrying the rare components Drienne had given them. The old rune smith greeted them with urgency. He had heard whispers that the Guild was preparing official action. He said they needed to work quickly and quietly. Ethan placed the new materials on the table and began explaining his plan. If they could create a full scale scan frame they could present undeniable proof of the device’s medical value before the Guild shut them down. Haldric agreed though he warned that such a device could draw even more attention.

Ethan sketched the design on parchment. Instead of a single ring he envisioned three concentric rings each with layered arrays of focus cores. The outer ring would stabilize mana fields. The middle ring would read structural flow. The inner ring would capture distortions with high resolution. Beneath the rings he designed channels that would redirect excess mana safely. He explained that the rings would create a continuous resonance wave that mapped the body’s internal state into visible patterns. Sera watched amazed as Ethan described concepts she had never imagined could exist in healing.

Haldric studied the blueprint and said it would require metal with high resonance and runes beyond typical craft. He said he could forge the frames but the etching would require extreme precision. Sera offered to help channel mana during crafting to maintain stability. Ethan knew it would be dangerous. The device demanded perfect alignment. One mistake and the entire frame could collapse or explode.

Despite the risks they began work. Haldric heated metal bars with mana flames until they glowed white. Ethan shaped the curved frames using tools and measured distances with obsessive care. Sera maintained mana flow through the workshop stabilizing energy so the metal would accept the runes. Hours passed as they repeated each step with patient coordination. The entire workshop flickered with rhythmic pulses of mana as if it breathed alongside them.

By nightfall the three frames were forged. They sat cooling slowly under cloth while glowing faintly from the residual mana. Ethan stared at them in awe. Before him lay the skeleton of what could become the world’s first full arcane scan system. Haldric clapped him on the shoulder and said it was madness but magnificent madness. Sera smiled and said that this device would save countless lives once complete.

Before they could continue a loud knock shook the workshop door. Haldric approached cautiously. A messenger wearing the city guard emblem handed him a sealed document. When Haldric opened it his face darkened. He gave it to Ethan. The notice contained a formal warning. The Healer Guild had filed a petition to halt all of Ethan’s activities. They accused him of practicing unauthorized healing. They demanded he appear before the Guild tribunal within three days.

Sera exhaled slowly anger rising. Haldric muttered curses. Ethan read the document again feeling a spark of rebellion ignite within him. He understood what the Guild wanted. They wanted time to seize his ideas destroy his prototypes and silence his work. A tribunal was merely a stage for public condemnation.

Ethan looked at the frames cooling on the table. The device was close to completion but not close enough. He realized he needed more time. And time was something the Guild would not grant.

Haldric suggested hiding the device. Sera suggested leaving the city. Ethan shook his head. He said running would only prove the Guild’s accusation. Worse it would leave the world without the device it desperately needed. He said they should finish the system before the tribunal. If they demonstrated undeniable proof that the device improved accuracy and safety the public might support them.

Sera looked startled at the audacity of the idea but slowly nodded. Haldric sighed heavily. He said he had lived long enough to know revolutions began in dusty workshops just like his. He said he would stand with them. Ethan felt gratitude and resolve merge within him. He looked at the blueprint again imagining the finished system. He remembered every patient Sera had struggled to diagnose. He remembered the fear in the merchant’s voice when he thought his leg might never heal. He remembered Drienne’s diagrams proving that mana was measurable.

He understood his purpose more clearly than ever.

Innovation was not only about building devices. It was about challenging old structures that limited progress. It was about giving healers and patients the tools they needed. It was about breaking the illusion that magic was unknowable. He would finish the Arcane Scan System. He would present it before the tribunal. And he would reveal the truth that mana could be measured guided and understood.

The workshop pulsed with a soft glow as the frames continued to cool. Ethan felt his heart synchronize with their rhythm. They had three days to complete a device that could change the world.

And no threat no warning and no Guild decree would stop him.