Starfall Relics Lock Away the Dust

Clang, The clear, quivering ring of metal fresh from quenching had barely faded when the pool suddenly rippled in strange concentric circles, as if something beneath the water had awakened. Lin He’s pupils contracted, and his knuckles turned white around the iron tongs. This sword… it was breathing. It was no illusion! He could clearly feel the metal grain of the blade greedily drawing in the pool’s bitter chill. The dark-gold patterns along its spine, usually dull and lifeless, seemed to come alive, gently pulsing like the veins of a living creature.

“Boy, you need to take three-tenths of the force off that twenty-seventh hammer blow.”