The day finally arrived for the members of the Sky Squad to visit the specialized blacksmith forge owned by the Golden Crane Academy. Upon arrival, the entire squad was received and guided by Rakuta, the chief blacksmith of the Golden Crane Academy.

Warrior Jiro opted not to join them, choosing instead to step outside for a breath of fresh air. Commander Gonan accompanied the Sky Squad members to assist them in selecting the appropriate weapons, following the evaluations previously conducted by Warrior Jiro.

As Rakuta led them through the facilities, they passed several blacksmiths actively forging weapons. From the heating process to the magic-infused hammering, every stage of production was demonstrated by Rakuta in his role as chief blacksmith.

The forge was bustling with activity, and it seemed as though none of the craftsmen were resting. They worked with relentless focus, taking brief breaks only to drink water before immediately returning to their anvils.

During the tour, Aji felt a subtle vibration from his ring—a signal from Aaman. Whenever a representative message was transmitted, the ring emitted a soft glow. By sensing the unique energy signature embedded in the signal, Aji could instantly identify the sender, as the two of them had previously exchanged information and linked their communication artifacts.

Aji quietly excused himself to step outside. The rest of the Sky Squad remained captivated by the weapon-crafting demonstrations, eagerly preparing their individual orders. They could hardly contain their excitement regarding the weapons they were about to receive and the unique advantages those armaments would afford them.

Aji met Aaman near the city gates. Their meeting drew no suspicion from onlookers; Aji wore his official Sky Squad uniform, while Aaman was dressed in the standard armor of the continental defense forces. It appeared completely routine, especially since Aaman served in the specialized intelligence unit under Commander Yarko's authority.

"I confirmed that they dispatched an envoy shortly after nightfall," Aaman reported.

Aaman's findings firmly validated Aji's suspicions. The envoy in question had been sent to officially request that the Golden Crane Academy receive guests from the municipal administration, ensuring no suspicion would be raised.

This implied that Mayor Adante’s administration was, in reality, intimidated by the Golden Crane Academy. Perhaps not fearful in a conventional sense, but Adante had grown reliant on the continuous conveniences provided to his governance and city administration. The two entities maintained a mutually beneficial relationship, prompting Adante to communicate specifically via a private envoy rather than issuing direct administrative commands to the Golden Crane Academy.

Furthermore, Aaman informed Aji that the governance of the Golden Crane Academy was currently held by Sengturi, the son of Drakos, the former leader. Aji knew Drakos well—he had served as a minion of the Demon Lord during the great war twenty years ago.

Sengturi was thirty years old and already married. Yet, he was the very man seeking to take Alicia as his second wife.

Aaman also shared another crucial piece of intelligence gathered by himself and his fellow intelligence operatives. That very day, the blacksmith forge had abruptly placed over eighty percent of its workforce on leave. The decision had been enacted suddenly by the forge’s management, making it a quiet topic of discussion across the city until it reached Aaman’s ears.

The Golden Crane Academy was clearly attempting to conceal something. Could they truly be preparing a massive consignment of weapons to supply the Demon Lord’s forces? If true, there had to be a hidden facility somewhere within Linggar Emas containing the physical evidence needed to prove it.

Not long ago, when Aaman had posed as an ordinary martial artist attempting to commission a weapon, the forge had turned him away, claiming they could not accept new orders due to a heavy backlog. That incident strongly supported Aji's hypothesis. Their operations had to be thwarted, as Aaman also sensed an overwhelming number of anomalies at play.

He stood ready to assist Aji, fully aware of the catastrophic danger posed to the martial arts world if their suspicions proved correct.

"Investigate any location that appears suspicious, and inform me immediately," Aji instructed Aaman quietly. It was imperative that their operation remain undisclosed, as Aji intended to gather additional evidence to unravel the mystery surrounding the Golden Crane Academy—an institution long regarded as honorable and devoted to aiding the martial arts community.

They parted ways once more, and Aji returned to the forge. He remained deeply curious; if a vast majority of the artisans had indeed been placed on leave, it meant the management was deliberately hiding the forge’s true production scale from the Sky Squad and the defense forces.

They were staging an illusion of low activity to mislead their official guests—a stark contrast to how they turned away ordinary buyers by claiming to be overwhelmingly busy.

A few days spent around the Golden Crane Academy would inevitably expose their true nature, revealing whether the entire institution was complicit or merely a corrupt faction within it.

Upon returning to the forge, Aji found his comrades finalizing their weapon orders, guided by the specifications recorded by the forge staff. These blueprints reflected the evaluations provided by Warrior Jiro to Commander Gonan, detailing the ideal weapon types for each Sky Squad member while leaving the aesthetic design to the individuals themselves.

The squad members were free to customize their weapons' physical parameters. For instance, Nagada was assigned a magical artifact sword, but he was given complete freedom to choose its length, blade thickness, and the intricate engravings on the hilt.

Similarly, Lao’s energy discs were open to structural modifications. Lao had not expected to receive a weapon designed so precisely to his personal preferences. The materials and artifact components allocated for his discs were of extraordinary quality—durable and optimized for seamless energy conduction.

Nora, who had traditionally wielded a massive broadsword, was advised to adjust her design to a slightly more manageable size. While still large by normal standards, the new sword was smaller than her previous one, which had occasionally hindered her offensive agility.

The recommended design for Nora featured a blade three times the width of a standard sword, forged from high-grade artifact materials of extreme hardness. Because Nora focused entirely on physical strength rather than magic, her rigorous physical training would synergize perfectly with a heavy, razor-sharp weapon.

Her formidable defensive capabilities complemented the sword currently being crafted for her, as it utilized Adamantium—an exceptionally tough and sharp metal. The blade would be capable of parrying any weapon while delivering swift, devastating strikes. Nora could hardly wait for the forging process to be completed.

Arion, on the other hand, was guided to forge a dual-headed spear, featuring identical sharp points on both ends infused with fire energy. The core artifact component originated from an active volcanic peak—a dense fragment of petrified volcanic slag.

Though extremely rare, the material resonated perfectly with Arion’s dual-headed spear technique. The inherent fire energy of the material would allow the spear to ignite upon command, dealing immense elemental damage.

Arion requested custom engravings along the spearhead edges, providing detailed sketches of the designs he wanted etched into the metal to enhance its aesthetic and functional sharpness.

The fire magic embedded within the volcanic stone artifact would actively resonate with Arion’s own elemental fire arts.

The entire squad was thrilled; the Golden Crane Academy forge was exceptionally well-equipped. They thoroughly enjoyed the specialized attention and the rare privilege of designing custom weaponry built precisely to their specifications.

It felt as though they had their own private master blacksmiths. All that remained was to wait a few days for their custom armaments to be completed.