“You want thinking? Fine. Then we think. But not for long.”

He tapped the table beside the runic weapons, sharp and decisive.

“We find a lead. One person, one warehouse, one rumor. Then we track it to the core. No month-long councils. No paperwork war.”

Kaela grinned like a cat hearing about fresh prey. Maurien nodded in approval.

Ragan rumbled, “A clean hunt.”

Harkun placed a heavy hand on Ludger’s shoulder, a gesture rare among beastmen outside their clans.

“We follow,” he said simply.

Linne and Dalan exchanged a look, half worried, half resigned.

“…then let’s start by opening those crates,” Linne said.

Dalan crouched beside one of the taller crates and pried it open with a metal lever. A soft hiss of air escaped, preservation seal breaking. Inside was not metal ore or clay parts like Ludger expected… but folded black garments stacked with unnatural precision.

Dalan lifted one piece out. And Ludger recognized it instantly.

Dark leather. Flexible plating. Interwoven mana channels. Layered runic stitching.

It looked almost exactly like the set he had used when he infiltrated Verk’s manor back then, only improved. Not a simple stealth suit, but hybrid armor:

Light enough for infiltration. Reinforced enough for combat. And lined in runes, lots of runes. He stepped closer, rubbing fingers over the surface. The craftsmanship was meticulous, more industrial, more refined.

Fire resistance runes woven into the lining. Ice dampening etched near joints. Poison absorption runes close to the neck. Weight-reduction symbols overlapping speed enchantments. Layered hardness runes on vital spots, chest, ribs, spine.

A multi-layered hybrid design that shouldn’t work together, yet it clearly did.

Kaela whistled low. Maurien raised a brow. Even Harkun seemed impressed, though quietly.

Renvar’s eyes lit up like a child seeing his first enchanted toy.

“This is, holy, you two made THIS?” he asked, picking up a sleeve and immediately checking how far it stretched. “I want one. No, I need one.”

Dalan puffed with pride. Linne crossed his arms, chin tilted smugly.

“We took your notes and ideas, and—”

“You stole my ideas,” Ludger corrected.

Linne cleared his throat. “—borrowed your ideas. And improved the previous prototype. We made an all-terrain combat rig. Thin enough for maneuverability, strong enough to stop a low-tier impact spell.”

Kaela grinned. “Can it stop me?”

Dalan and Linne exchanged a nervous glance.

“…Depends how angry you are and how well you aim and who is wearing it.”

Ludger didn’t smile. He narrowed his eyes instead.

“And where,” he asked slowly, voice dry as sandpaper, “did you two get the funds to make something like this? Because last time I checked, enchantment materials and layered runic stitching cost more alot.”

The two engineers froze. A beat of silence. Then Linne flashed the most suspiciously innocent grin in existence.

“Well… you see… when Verk disappeared, a lot of his business, collapsed.”

Dalan nodded too fast. “And we may have acquired some abandoned contracts. Not illegal! Technically!”

Kaela blinked. “Technically?”

Maurien sighed. “Meaning you got rich from the chaos.”

Linne raised a finger. “No. We got paid for stabilizing the chaos.”

Dalan added quickly, “And maybe we invested a little of that into our personal projects.”

Ludger stared. No expression. Just that slow, blank, judging silence he was famous for. They wilted.

“…we made four sets,” Linne finally admitted.

Dalan looked away. “Each better than the last.”

Renvar was vibrating like a sword in an earthquake.

“Please tell me I get to try one.”

Linne smirked. “If Ludger agrees.”

Ragan sniffed the armor. “Smells like oil and magic. Strange but strong.”

Harkun lifted a shoulder. “Not as good as hide. But light.”

Sivra tapped a runic string with a talon. “Air runes. Interesting.”

Ludger eventually exhaled, part annoyance, part reluctant approval.

Improvement was improvement. And if enemies were hunting specialized talent… It was time to arm his people properly.

“Fine,” Ludger said at last. “But if this suit explodes when Kaela sneezes, you’re both testing the next version with your own bodies.”

Linne saluted. “Understood.”

Dalan swallowed. “We’ll add blast resistance.”

Kaela grinned. Renvar pumped a fist like he won the lottery.

The beastmen exchanged glances, the kind predators give when realizing the cub they followed had claws sharper than expected. Ludger ran a thumb along the fabric again, thoughts shifting from suspicion to calculation. Runic gear. Hybrid armor. Missing engineers. Missing beastmen. Shadow buyers.

All the signs were pointing to someone gathering talent and weapons quietly. He strapped the armor to his forearm, feeling how light it was.

Linne straightened a few clasps while Dalan tightened the straps at Ludger’s waist, speaking quickly, like someone racing his own ideas.

“These suits still need refinement. Resistances function well, but mana flow through the seams could be smoother. And the weight-reduction runes overload a bit if too much power is pushed at once.”

Dalan nodded, adjusting the gauntlet plates around Ludger’s wrist.

“That’s why you’re the one who needs to field-test it. You fight up close, you handle mana like a high-circle mage, and you know how to work with runes instead of brute-forcing them. Anyone else would fry the enchantments on day one.”

Ludger checked the feel of the fabric across his shoulders. Smooth. Responsive. Each movement felt lighter than it should, like he was wearing cloth instead of armor. The plates didn’t grind or catch, instead they bent and realigned with his motions, alive with subtle runic pulses.

Piece by piece, they assembled him: Chestplate overlay. Shoulder and bicep guards. Flex-plated greaves. Gauntlets with embedded mana channels. Boots with silent-step runes. Neck guard with flexibility weave. A half-hood mask that merged into the collar like shadow.

When the final clasp slid into place with a soft click, Ludger’s entire silhouette changed.

He no longer looked like a guild vice-master or prodigy miner. He looked like a silent executioner, a phantom built for the dark.

The hood fell low, masking his brow. The plating curved to his jaw. Only his eyes remained visible, sharp, cold, and far too steady for a boy of twelve.

Kaela blinked. Maurien raised an approving brow. Renvar actually whispered woah. Even the beastmen straightened subtly.

Ludger flexed a hand. Speed increase, noticeable. Mana circulation, efficient. Bulk, practically nonexistent. Every rune responded to his mana like a well-trained hound.

He rotated his neck once, voice mild.

“…You should have added runes to distort the user’s voice.”

It was still unmistakably him, calm, youthful, unimpressed. Any spy or enemy hearing that in a dark alley would know exactly who they were dealing with. Linne froze mid-note like lightning hit her brain.

“That— actually— yes. Yes! Voice modulation runes layered with vibration dampening, we could tune it to produce three output tones!”

Dalan grabbed a quill. “Deep resonance option for intimidation… neutral mode for stealth… and maybe a youthful pitch for infiltration…”

Kaela cut him off with a smirk. “Just give Ludger the scary one. He doesn’t need a cute voice.”

Ludger stared at her. She winked. Maurien gestured lightly toward the armor with her chin.

“How does it feel?”

Ludger took a single step, soft as falling dust. The suit absorbed impact and returned energy. He pushed mana through the lines just a little, and the suit came alive, plates aligning, channels glowing faintly.

“…responsive,” he said. “Light. Efficient. I’ll need a day to adjust but it works.”

Ragan gave a deep approving rumble. “Ludger  now looks like a hunter.”

Ludger lowered the hood slightly so they could see his eyes, still the same, still calm, still holding that unshakable conviction.

Ludger turned, armor plates whispering under the lantern glow. His eyes fixed on Linne and Dalan, too steady, too knowing.

“Names,” he said simply.

The room paused. Kaela leaned against a crate, amused. Maurien folded his arms. The beastmen watched without blinking. Renvar just frowned, waiting for the explosion.

Linne blinked, once, twice, then smiled far too stiffly.

“Names? What names? We didn’t say…”

Dalan immediately looked away toward a corner of the ceiling. “I don’t, maybe the air runes need recalibrating—”

Ludger cut them with a tone that wasn’t raised at all, but might as well have been a blade.

“You wouldn’t have made this armor unless you were expecting me. Not soon, immediately. You knew I’d come back looking for leads, not politics. Or maybe you were planning to send a message to call for me.”

Both engineers froze harder than ice magic.

“And you made it look like the old infiltration suit.” Ludger tapped the chest plate. “Same silhouette. Same color scheme. Just enough changes to throw off defensive patterns but keep the myth intact.”

Kaela smirked wider. “Oh, that’s what this is. You want the rumors of ‘the shadow who raided Verk’s manor’ to resurface again, don’t you?”

Maurien nodded slowly. “To unsettle his allies. Send a message.”

Sivra’s feathers lifted, a predatory interest. Ludger’s voice remained calm but cornering, like stone closing around prey.

“So who are the names you want me to scare?”

Silence stretched until it became uncomfortable. Then Linne exhaled, long and loud, like air escaping a bellows.

“…Is it written on my forehead?”

Dalan threw his hands up. “He saw everything. Why do we even bother hiding things from him?”

Everyone stared. Kaela grinned with teeth. Maurien’s expression relaxed just slightly. The beastmen looked ready to hear the real story now.

Linne rubbed his face with both hands. “Fine. Yes. We had a list.”

Dalan groaned into the table. “A short list. Of engineers, guildmasters, and ‘donors’ who suddenly gained wealth right after Verk disappeared.”

Ludger raised a brow. “How short?”

Linne held up two fingers.

“…three pages.”

Kaela couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Maurien pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s not short.”

Ragan rumbled. “Three pages is… much prey.”

Harkun bared a thin smile. “More fun.”

Sivra quietly sharpened a talon on her knee. Ludger let the amusement in the room swirl without joining it. His gaze didn’t waver.

“You made this gear because you wanted someone to recognize it in the dark,” he said. “So they’d remember what happened to Verk. So they’d panic.”

The two engineers looked thoroughly exposed, shoulders sinking in defeat.

Linne muttered, “We thought subtle intimidation would help negotiations.”

Dalan added under his breath, “Also maybe a little revenge.”

They both stared at Ludger, resigned.

“…You’re really going to make us say the names, aren’t you?”

Ludger’s eyes hardened, not cruel, just absolute.

“You invited me back into your mess. Now let me see the list.”

Linne and Dalan shared that same look, the one where both know there’s no going back, and Linne reached into a drawer beneath the table.

He placed a folder down. Thick. Heavy. Marked only with an inked rune shaped like an eye.

Linne whispered:

“These are the people who profited from Verk’s disappearance.”

Dalan’s voice followed, softer but darker:

“And maybe the same ones trading in beastmen and engineers.”

The beastmen leaned forward, breath quiet as knives. Ludger opened the folder.

Page one stared back at him, names, crests, notes, dates, connections. His fingers tightened on the paper. The hunt had teeth now.Real targets. Real direction. Real war ahead. And Ludger, wrapped in shadow-forged armor, looked like someone born for it. He didn’t raise his voice.

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