Red woke up. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring at the wooden ceiling of the cabin Eiwin had left him in. He couldn't tell how much time had passed, but the colour of the sunlight streaming in from the small window was red, indicating that the sun was now setting. Sitting up on the bed, the boy closed his eyes and tried to think back to the dream he had just had.

Unlike his previous visions, he could actually remember this one quite clearly. The black desert, the bone mounds, the crimson sky, the dark star, and the fiendish creature that rose from beneath the dunes. Most important of all was the feeling that was left with him after the roar, of the anguish and grief, and he asked himself why a living being had to suffer so. The youth felt strangely compelled to get up and go help this monster, to do anything to reach it, even if he had no idea where to start.

However, a minute later and this odd emotion slowly dissipated into nothingness, as if it was never there in the first place. Red shuddered as he recalled the irrational sentiment that had inexplicably arisen inside his body. Did the creature mess with his mind? Including the visions during his escape from the mines, this was the second time the youth had experienced strange side effects as a result of these dreams.

In the past, Red had looked forward to them - they had offered him an opportunity to experience something other than the monotony of the underground. But now, it seemed he had to be wary of them. For some reason, the youth thought he would have left these weird phenomena behind in the mines, yet it now became clear this was not the case. Was it all part of the curse?

A few minutes went by, as Red reflected on everything he had seen and the differences of this dream compared to the previous ones. However, his thoughts were abruptly interrupted. There was knocking at the door. At first, the boy didn't respond, but then he remembered Allen's complaints to him.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's me, Red." Eiwin's voice called from behind the door. "May I come in?"

"It's your room." Red didn't understand the need for the question.

The handle turned and the woman slipped in, carrying a few things in her arms. The first thing Red noticed was the bright lantern that illuminated the dark room and made his eyes squint in pain from the sudden flood of light.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot you were inside all day." Eiwin apologized and adjusted the lantern, its brightness magically decreasing until the boy was finally able to see comfortably again.

She walked over to the table and put the items she was carrying on top of it. After that, she turned around and smiled at Red.

"How are you feeling?"

"...Better." The boy responded. Actually, his wounds aside, he had never felt this well rested in his life before.

"Good." Eiwin nodded. "You almost slept through the entire day, so I can imagine how tired you must have been. Unfortunately, I had to wake you up so we could apply the medicine and change your bandages."

"It's okay. I don't feel tired anymore." Red replied.

"That's good then because now you can come with me and grab something to eat. I brought you some clothes but..." She looked at Red, noting his disheveled state. "It's best that you take a bath first before you change into anything new."

"A bath?"

"Yes, so you can wash away all the grime and dirt from your body and we can properly apply the medicinal paste. But you can do that after you eat." She continued, grabbing all her things from the table. "Come with me. There's someone who has been quite eager to meet you ever since he learned about you."

"Who?" He frowned.

"You'll find out." Eiwin smiled in response.

After his earlier experiences, Red didn't feel like having any more surprises, but he wasn't about to argue. Getting down from the bed, he followed the woman outside into the nightly air.

The courtyard was well lit with lamps similar to the one Eiwin was carrying. In fact, looking downhill, a lot of the city seemed to be lit up with similar lanterns, glowing very brightly in the darkness. Theirs wasn't the warm, orange light of a torch, but a different, whiter light. He looked at the object in Eiwin's hand.

"What's that thing?" Red asked.

"This?" She lifted the item. "It's a lantern."

"...I know what it is." The youth continued. "I mean what's creating the light inside of it."

"Oh!" Eiwin smiled in embarrassment. "It's flarestone. The town runs a mining operation in the canyon for this material, and we export these to cities all over the world!"

At the mention of mining, Red's heart started to beat faster. Still, he did his best to maintain his composure, and the woman didn't seem to notice the changes.

"Do you mine anything else in that..." The youth trailed off.

"Canyon? We do. There are lots of useful ores and precious gems in there, but the flarestone is our main staple. The area is actually infested with monsters too, so there's still a lot of it we haven't explored." Eiwin explained. "There are a lot of books I could show you on this subject, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. Now you should focus on eating and recovering."

Red nodded and didn't push the subject further, but internally, his mind was intrigued by a concerning possibility - could it be that these mines were also the ones he had worked in, or were at least linked to them? Given his background, that could be dangerous. It was a priority for Red to find out more about this topic, but he had still felt he had to approach his information gathering carefully.

"We're here."

Eiwin's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Red looked up.

In front of him stood another large stone house, the second biggest one in the courtyard. The youth recognized it as the place where banging sounds of metal were coming from earlier. He inquisitively looked over at the woman.

"Be warned that Goulth's attitude can be a bit..." She struggled to pick the right words. "Too much, when you first meet him. However, he's truly excited about the prospect of having someone to study under him, so... Be nice, okay?"

Red didn't know what he had done to warrant this kind of warning, but he simply nodded. He recognized the name from Domeron's speech earlier in the day, but he didn't know what to expect. Eiwin knocked on the door.

"Master Goulth, I'm here!"

Silence.

"Master Goulth!"

"Come in, come in!" A deep voice responded from within the walls. "I'm at my forge!"

Unlike the outside, this house seemed to be illuminated in the orange lighting Red was used to. The first thing he noticed about this place was how messy it looked. Materials and tools of all kinds were spread over the room. Hammers, planks, plates. The two of them had to carefully step around some of them to make their way further in. Along the way, the youth even saw a few weapons in different states of disrepair.

There was also a sulfuric kind of smell that seemed overwhelming to him at first, but that he soon got used to. As they entered another room, Red came face to face with the so-called Master Goulth. He was sitting next to a burning furnace and tending to a pot that was placed over it, which emitted a pleasant smell of chicken stew. Goulth was a large, bald, middle-aged man, almost as big as Gruff but a bit overweight. He was wearing an apron and baggy clothes that were as dirty with coal and grime as some of the things the slaves Red met before wore. As soon as they entered the room, he turned around to greet them.

"I thought you were never going to come, Eiwin." He replied in his grave voice. "The food is almost read-"

He trailed off as his gaze settled on Red's figure. He blinked. Shock came over his expression, and he turned to stare at the woman.

"Is that..." The man asked as if looking for confirmation.

"Yes." Eiwin smiled, patting the boy's shoulder. "Red meet Master Goulth, Master Goulth meet-"

She was interrupted as the large man shot up to his feet and approached them extremely quickly. Red's fight or flight instinct activated, but before he could do anything the giant was already upon him. Goulth stopped right in front of the youth and crouched down, examining him carefully, while the boy frowned, looking at Eiwin.

The woman shook her head in resignation.

"Calm and collected attitude...Looks young, maybe around 10?" The man commented as if he was contemplating a weapon. "Good age to teach, though. Anything older and they're already too set in their ways to ingrain good habits. A bit dirty, but nothing a bath can't solve."

Red thought about rebuking him over his evident hypocrisy, but he remembered Eiwin's advice.

"Very serious wounds, it seems." Goulth said as his gaze came to a stop on the boy's shoulder. "Here, let me see your hand."

The youth hesitated, remembering his experience with Hector earlier.

"It's fine." Eiwin said from behind, patting his shoulder.

'You said the same thing about Hector...'

In the end, though, Red supposed he didn't have any more secrets to keep about his wounds. He extended his good hand, and the man gripped it, examining his palm.

"Perfect!" Goulth exclaimed. "These are the hands of someone who hasn't led a pampered life like that good-for-nothing Young Master. You're a bit on the malnourished side, but nothing a good diet can't solve..."

The man let his arm go, before putting both hands on the boy's shoulders. Red almost yelled in pain, but upon seeing the man's expression he froze. The blacksmith had a huge smile on his face, and the youth could almost swear he saw tears welling up in his eyes.

"My disciple!" He shouted in joy. "You've finally come home!"

The man embraced him with a huge hug that took almost all the air out of Red's lungs. The boy felt his still recovering rib creak in pain, and he tried to struggle out of the man's grip to no avail.

"Master Goulth!" Eiwin yelled. "He's still injured!"

"Oh! I forgot!"

The giant of a man let the boy go. The youth fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath, but he was suddenly dragged up to his feet by a set of large hands.

"Sorry about that."

He did not look sorry.

"Here, I actually have something for you."

The blacksmith wandered off to a messy, cluttered desk nearby and — after some looking — retrieved a vial from it. He returned to Red and offered him the glass container in which some dark liquid was floating.

"You can consider this as a gift from your new master!" The man smiled.

"Is that..." Eiwin looked surprised.

"It is." Goulth nodded. "But you better not tell the old man about it, girl!"

The woman smiled and shook her head. The youth was hesitating, but a look of encouragement from Eiwin made him accept the vial. However, he gazed at the man in confusion, unsure of what to do with it.

"Drink it, kid! The results will surprise you!" The giant laughed.

Red examined the liquid. It didn't look very appetizing, but he had eaten worse-looking things before. Uncorking the vial with his teeth, the boy was hit by an acrid smell. He hesitated again, but under Goulth's expectant gaze trained on him, he simply decided to get on with it.

In a single gulp, the liquid was down his throat. The taste wasn't any better than the smell, and Red felt as if he was about to vomit its contents. However, a few seconds later he felt a gentle warmth in his stomach. A familiar tingling feeling spread throughout his body, but the youth soon felt it accumulate around his shoulder and bruised rib.

Suddenly, another painful sensation appeared over his injuries, but it was nothing beyond what he was used to dealing with. Somehow, Red could feel the flesh under his skin moving, and he wondered what was happening to him. The process seemed to take about a minute, and before long the feeling was gone.

Red felt different, and he was about to ask the man what the purpose of the liquid was. However, abruptly he felt something. A slight movement of his left arm. He tried it again, and the limb moved freely as strength slowly but surely returned to it.

"There we go!" Goulth laughed. "Can't have my disciple running around with only one functioning arm, right?"