When Boran returned to Hall C, the common table went quiet for half a second.
Then Viktor looked up from his cup and grinned.
“Well, well,” Viktor said, looking up. “Look who came back. I thought you were going to spend the night somewhere else.”
Lin lifted her eyes from the small jars she was sorting and immediately smiled before hiding it badly. Uncle Koji paused with his cup halfway to his mouth. Mateo, of course, did not even try to hide anything. He turned in his chair, looked Boran up and down once, and grinned like he had found free entertainment.
Boran stopped near the entrance.
“What?”
Mateo leaned back in his chair and pointed the chewed pencil at him. “Nothing.”
Viktor’s grin widened. “Looks like someone had a good night.”
Someone from behind a bunk curtain gave a low whistle. Another person chuckled from somewhere deeper in the hall.
Boran stared at them. “What is wrong with you?”
“Wrong?” Mateo asked. “Nothing’s wrong. You look healthy. Refreshed. Ah… youth.”
Boran frowned. “What?”
Lin pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh.
Mateo tapped his own cheek with one finger.
Boran did not understand.
That made Viktor laugh harder.
“Was she a pretty girl?” Mateo asked.
Boran looked away.
Viktor laughed. “That means yes.”
Lin smiled into her cup. “Was she nice?”
Boran hesitated.
Then, quieter, he said, “Yes.”
That answer changed the mood a little. Not enough to stop the teasing, but enough to make it softer. Mateo’s grin stayed, but his eyes became less sharp. Lin looked pleased for him in a way that made Boran more uncomfortable than the jokes.
Mateo pointed the pencil at Boran again. “Listen, kid. I don’t know what happened, and I do not need details, because I am a gentleman.”
Viktor coughed.
Mateo ignored him. “But if you are going to bed, do not start doing stupid things under that blanket.”
Boran blinked. “What?”
Mateo’s hand made a small up-and-down gesture.
“You heard me.”
Boran stared.
Viktor covered his mouth with one hand, shoulders shaking.
Boran’s face went hot. “Are you insane?”
“Probably,” Mateo said. “But I have lived in shared rooms for four years. There are rules. Written rules, unwritten rules, and rules every decent man should know without being told.”
“I’m taking a shower,” he said.
Viktor finally lost it and laughed into his sleeve.
Boran walked past them without sayin anything else.
Behind him, Viktor said, “Good night, lover boy,” quieter this time but still loud enough for half the room to hear.
Boran kept walking.
He was annoyed.
But not completely.
The teasing was stupid. Mateo was stupid. Viktor was very stupid. But there was no cruelty in it.
The shared washroom was mostly empty at this hour. One shower stall was running at the far end, and someone had left a damp towel on the wrong hook. The mirrors above the sinks were a little fogged from steam, but the one near the corner was clear enough.
Boran put his clean clothes on the bench and sent his armor into his inventory.
Under it, he was just Boran again.
Tall enough that the mirror cut off the top of his head unless he stepped back. Broad through the shoulders. Thick arms. Heavy chest. A body built by military service, construction work, and the System deciding Constitution was the only thing he was allowed to be good at.
He was not lean like Shadow. Not balanced like William.
Boran was just big.
One hundred and eighty-nine centimeters of bruises, working muscles, new scars, and stubbornness.
His hair was black and still messy from the evening air. His eyes were black too, tired enough that they looked older than he felt. His forearms still had faint lines from the Skarn’s feathers.
He leaned closer to the mirror to check his face.
Then he saw it.
A clear red mark on his cheek.
Not huge. But obvious enough that anyone looking at him would notice it immediately.
Then he remembered Noemi leaning in. The warmth on his cheek. Her soft laugh.
His hand rose slowly.
He touched the mark with two fingers.
Lipstick.
That was why they had looked at him like that.
Boran stared at his reflection.
Then, despite himself, he smiled.
He did not wipe it away immediately.
He stood there for a moment, fingers resting lightly near the mark, and let himself remember the table by the window. The wine. Noemi’s eyes over the rim of her glass. Her saying she did not want the night to end either.
His chest felt warm again, in a way that had nothing to do with alcohol.
After a while, he lowered his hand.
Then his gaze moved down.
The smile faded.
Without the armor and shirt, the scar was impossible not to see.
It started at his left shoulder, thick and pale where it crossed the top of the muscle, then dragged down over his chest in a brutal diagonal line. It cut past the ribs, crossed toward his stomach, and ended near the right side of his abdomen in a rough taper. It was not a clean blade scar. Not a surgical line. It looked torn into him by something.
Most of the time, Boran did not look at it.
Most of the time, clothes covered it. Life was easier when the scar was only something under fabric.
Tonight, after talking about Elif, it felt closer to the surface.
He lifted his hand and touched the start of it near his shoulder.
The skin there was smooth in some places and raised in others. The scar had healed badly at first, then better after treatment, then wrong in the places where there had been too much damage for anything to make perfect. The line felt old and new at the same time.
Boran’s thumb followed it down a few centimeters.
His throat tightened.
“I didn’t think I had the courage to tell even that much,” he whispered.
His voice sounded strange in the empty washroom.
He had told Noemi about Elif.
Not everything.
Water shut off at the far end of the washroom. A curtain moved. Boran pulled his shirt from the bench quickly and turned away before the other person stepped out.
He wiped the lipstick mark with the side of his thumb only after one last glance.
It smudged faintly before disappearing.
Then he entered the shower.
The water was warm enough.
He stood under it with both hands against the wall, head lowered, and let the day run off him.
The water hit the scar and ran along it.
Boran closed his eyes.
He reached his bunk and sat down carefully. The mattress dipped under his weight. Thin, cheap, familiar. Hall C smelled like soap, old wood, damp cloth, and tired people. Someone snored softly two rows away. A drawer clicked shut. A curtain rustled.
He pulled his own curtain closed.
The little square of privacy appeared around him.
Boran sat there for a moment in the dimness, elbows on his knees, hands hanging between them.
His body was tired.
He lay down slowly and turned onto his side.
Boran closed his eyes.
The voices outside the curtain blurred into a low, familiar sound.
He slept.
The next day, Boran took a gathering mission.
Not because it paid well.
It sounded boring enough that half the people in front of the Guild Board ignored it without even opening the details.
That was the reason Boran chose it. He wanted to be alone
Wood. Root. Stone.
Three shield forms that still needed work.
Leaves moved above him. Water dripped somewhere deeper in the ravine. Something small ran through dry grass and vanished under a root.
Before calling Boney, Boran opened his inventory.
The bundle was still there.
Nine metal feathers, each one gray-black and sharp along the edge, taken from the Bladewing Skarn. The only boss loot he had accepted from Noemi's party.
He took out the bundle.
The Adaptive Shield reacted before the feathers fully settled in his hand.
[Adaptive Shield: compatible material detected]
[Skarn Metal Feather Bundle x9 can be integrated as a new Shield Form.]
[Warning: integration consumes all 9 Skarn Metal Feathers. This process cannot be reversed.]
[Integrate? Y / N]
Boran looked at the feathers.
Then he pressed yes.
The feathers lifted out of his hand one by one. They circled the shield, scraping softly against the air, then sank into the rim like blades being set into a frame. The shield narrowed slightly, losing some of the heavy safety. Its face became sleeker, sharper, with overlapping feather plates layered along the sides.
It did not feel like a shield. It felt like a weapon.
[Bladewing Form unlocked]
[Form: Bladewing Shield]
[Durability: 30/30]
[Physical Defense Bonus: +3]
[Shield Edge Damage Bonus: +7]
[Passive Effect: Bleeding Edge I]
[Effect: Successful Bladewing Shield edge attacks apply 1 Bleeding stack to living targets.]
[Bleeding: 1 damage per stack over time. Maximum 5 stacks.]
[Duration: 10 seconds. Applying a new stack refreshes the duration.]
[Limit: Does not affect targets without blood or similar vital fluid.]
[Active Ability Unlocked: Feather Launch I]
[Cost: 1 stored metal feather]
[Cooldown: 8 seconds]
[Regenerate: 8 Minutes]
[Damage: 28 piercing/cutting damage]
[Effect: Launches one metal feather from the shield rim toward a target within short range.]
He turned the shield slightly. The feathered rim caught the pale light coming through the ravine and flashed once. It looked dangerous in a way his other forms did not.
He looked at a dead branch lying near the streambed.
"Feather Launch!"
One of the metal feathers snapped from the shield rim.
The feather cut through the air and struck the branch with a sharp crack, biting halfway through the wood before dropping to the ground beside it.
Then he checked the shield rim.
One feather slot was empty.
“So I can fire one, and the shield will regenerate another later if it’s broken or lost. It doesn’t cost any mana, so it’s useful.”
He walked over, picked up the feather, and pushed it back into the empty slot. It clicked into place.
Boran switched back to Bone Shield Form III.
The dark feather plates folded inward. Bone returned. The shield grew heavier and safer on his arm.
Now he could call Boney.
[Bone Shield Form III active]
[Select linked feature]
[1. Bone Exoskeleton III]
[2. Bound Skeleton Companion: Boney Stark]
"Two," he said.
Purple-white mist spilled from the shield and ran over the ground. It gathered in front of him, first as a spine, then ribs, arms, legs, fingers, skull. Blue fire opened in the empty eye sockets.
Boney Stark stood in the ravine with his old bone bow on his back.
Boran lifted one hand awkwardly.
"Hey."
Boney tilted his skull and raised a hand in greeting.
Boran rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry."
Boney tilted his skull the other way.
"I know I haven't called you for a while," Boran said. "The Hub doesn't allow summons. And I was with people."
Boney kept looking at him.
"Not because I forgot."
The blue fire inside Boney's skull flickered once.
Boran looked away for a moment, toward the ravine path.
"I know you probably don’t care about it that way," he said. "Maybe you don’t think about time the way I do. Maybe time drifts differently while you’re inside the shield—like sleeping. But I still felt bad."
Boney raised one hand and gave him a thumbs-up.
“You saying it’s okay?”
Boney nodded.
"Thank you," Boran said, opening his interface. "As an apology—and a gift—I brought you something."
The companion panel appeared between them.
[Boney Stark]
[Level: 4]
[3 equipment upgrades available.]
[Select equipment to upgrade:]
[Bone Bow] [Quiver] [Arrows] [Eye Fire]
Boney's head turned slowly toward the panel.
Boran stepped aside so he could see it properly.
"This appeared after I reached Level 4," Boran said. "I could have selected them in the Hub, but I didn't want to choose for you."
Boney looked at him.
"I said I would let you pick what you wanted when I could call you again." Boran pointed at the window. "So choose."
His finger rose.
The first option glowed faintly when he touched it.
[Bone Bow]
Boney pulled the old bow from his back with both hands.
It was still ugly.
It had been made from bone pieces and gut cord with more stubbornness than skill. The curve was uneven, with small cracks along one limb. The grip had been wrapped badly. The cord worked, but it looked like something that might snap at any moment.
Then he tapped the select button.
[Upgrade selected: Bone Bow]
The bow changed in his hands.
The bone remained bone. But it became better bone. The pale surface smoothed, not perfectly, but enough that the roughest scratches faded. The small cracks along the limbs drew inward until only thin lines remained. The curve evened out. The grip reshaped itself around Boney's fingers. The cord tightened with a low twang and settled into cleaner grooves at both ends.
[Bone Bow II]
[Effective range increased.]
[Damage slightly increased when using compatible bone arrows.]
Boney drew the string once without an arrow.
The sound was clean.
Boran nodded. "Good choice."
Boney held the bow close to his ribs for half a second, then placed it back over his shoulder.
His finger moved to the second choice.
[Quiver]
This time, he did not hesitate.
[Upgrade selected: Quiver]
The rib-shaped quiver on Boney's back shifted.
Before, it had looked like a cage made from spare bones. It held arrows because the System had decided it did, not because it looked designed for the job. Now the curved bones pulled closer together and locked into a cleaner shape along his spine. Small slots formed inside it, narrow and angled. The upper edge sharpened into a smooth lip that guided arrows in and out without catching.
[Bone Quiver II]
[Arrow capacity increased.]
[Arrow break chance reduced by 5% while stored and carried in quiver.]
Boney reached over his shoulder, pulled an arrow out, slid it back in, then pulled it again.
The motion was smoother.
"That one will save us money," Boran said.
Boney nodded.
"And time."
Boney nodded again.
One upgrade remained.
Boney's finger hovered near it.
Then moved away.
It touched Eye Fire.
[Upgrade selected: Eye Fire]
The blue fire in Boney's skull vanished.
Boran's hand tightened around the shield grip.
"Boney?"
For one breath, the skeleton stood empty-eyed and still.
Then the fire returned.
It came back fiercer.
Before, the flames in Boney’s eyes had flickered like candles in the wind. Now they burned steadier—deeper at the center, with a pinpoint of brighter blue in each socket. When Boney turned his skull, the fire seemed to focus an instant before the rest of him moved, as if his gaze reached the target first.
[Eye Fire II]
[Accuracy increased.]
After the upgrade selection, he turned to Boran, placed one hand against his own rib cage, and bowed.
"You're welcome," Boran said.
Boran looked down the ravine.
"Now we work."
The work was simple but slow.
He took out his own small gathering knife and held it out, handle first.
"Here," Boran said. "You help too."
Boney looked at the knife, then at Boran.
"Careful with it. Don’t cut yourself."
Boney took the knife with exaggerated care, like Boran had handed him a holy relic instead of a cheap tool bought from a supply stall. Then he gave a very serious nod.
Boran took out the dagger William had given him and turned toward the ravine wall.
"Wood and roots with the blades," he said. "Stones by hand. No digging. There are enough loose ones."
Boney looked down at the dry streambed. Smooth gray stones and darker mineral pieces lay everywhere between the roots.
He nodded again.
Material Sense really helped here. The ravine was full of small outlines: brown around usable fallen wood, dull green-brown around root fiber that had dried enough to be gathered, and gray around loose stones sitting in the streambed or half-buried near the path.
They worked together.
The official mission accepted almost all of it.
[Common Wood Piece x6 obtained]
[Dry Root Fiber x5 obtained]
[Loose Stone Fragment x8 obtained]
[Smooth Stone Piece x4 obtained]
[Mineral-Rich Pebble x3 obtained]
[MISSION OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: Approved material units collected]
[Exit portal available from route marker.]
"We're not leaving yet."
Boney nodded like he had expected that.
"Shield needs more."
Boney pointed down the ravine.
"Yeah."
They worked another few hours.
Late afternoon light slanted down between the ravine walls when the first upgrade line appeared.
[Wooden Shield Form upgrade available]
Then the second.
[Root Shield Form upgrade available]
Then, after six more stones and one very annoying patch of mineral-rich packed earth, the third.
[Stone Shield Form upgrade available]
Boran sat on a flat rock beside the dry streambed.
Boney crouched beside him.
The panel opened between them.
Boran looked at Boney before selecting anything.
"I need to change forms," he said. "That means you will disappear for a few minutes."
Boney tilted his skull.
"I know," Boran said. "I will call you back after I finish. Just a few minutes."
Boney stared at him for a second, then gave a slow thumbs-up.
"Good."
He selected Wooden Shield Form first.
The Bone Shield on his arm folded away, replaced by the familiar wooden surface.
Boney vanished with it.
The wooden shield looked sturdier than before even as the System window opened. The grain tightened. The edge grew cleaner. A few weak lines in the wood darkened, then settled like old scars that had finally closed.
[Wooden Shield Form upgraded to Wooden Shield Form II]
[Durability: 20/20 → 30/30]
[Physical Defense Bonus: +2 → +3]
[Passive Effect improved: Wood Gatherer I → Wood Gatherer II]
[Effect: Wood-type material collection yield and quality slightly improved.]
Boran nodded. "Good. Useful."
Next came Root Shield.
The wood darkened and twisted, fibers thickening until the shield looked grown instead of made. The roots along the rim flexed once, then settled into a tighter pattern. It felt heavier in a different way, like it wanted to grip the ground.
[Root Shield Form upgraded to Root Shield Form II]
[Durability: 18/18 → 28/28]
[Physical Defense Bonus: +2 → +3]
[Ability improved: Root Anchor I → Root Anchor II]
[Load Limit: 200 kg → 350 kg]
"That is very useful."
Finally, Stone Shield.
The Root Shield hardened in his grip. Its fibers turned gray, then roughened into layered stone. The surface looked like cut rock now, still shield-shaped but denser than before. Its lower edge dragged slightly toward the ground as if it remembered where stone belonged.
[Stone Shield Form upgraded to Stone Shield Form II]
[Durability: 35/35 → 45/45]
[Physical Defense Bonus: +5 → +6]
[Passive Effect improved: Stone Footing I → Stone Footing II]
[Effect: While standing on stone, packed earth, or stable ground, balance and knockdown resistance are improved further.]
[Active Ability improved: Rising Slab I → Rising Slab II]
[Mana Cost: 5]
[Cooldown: 45 seconds → 35 seconds]
[Effect: Raises a stone slab up to 1 meter high from suitable ground within 3 meters.]
[Limit: Requires stone, packed earth, or mineral-rich ground.]
Boran stood.
The ground under him was packed earth and stone.
Good enough.
"Rising Slab."
[Mana: -5]
Three meters ahead, the ground cracked.
A stone slab rose from the streambed.
Boran looked at it.
"Hmm..."
He checked the time and the mission prompt. The exit portal was still available. The light in the ravine had started to fade, and he had no reason to test his luck after getting exactly what he came for.
He closed the registry.
"That's enough."
Then he switched back to Bone Shield Form III.
The stone folded away. Bone returned to his arm, heavier and safer.
[Bone Shield Form III active]
[Select linked feature]
[1. Bone Exoskeleton III]
[2. Bound Skeleton Companion: Boney Stark]
"Two."
Purple-white mist gathered beside him again.
Boney returned in a crouch, exactly where he had been before disappearing. His blue eyes turned first to Boran, then to the stone slab standing in the streambed.
Boran pointed at it.
"All three of my shields are improved," Boran said. "And you got your gift. Come on," he said. "Let's go back."