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Thalia unwound her scarf and shed her outer layers, hanging them on a hook near the door."I wouldn't miss it," she said, running her fingers through her hair to untangle the wind's handiwork."Especially not today."

Today was special.After weeks of basic metallurgy, Kaine had promised to teach her the fundamentals of ice-metal forging; prior to their end-of-year trial, first-years were expected to forge their first ice-metal blade.While other students practiced blind, Thalia would have the advantage of expert guidance.The thought sent a flutter of anticipation through her chest that had nothing to do with the trials and everything to do with the man now gesturing her toward an empty forge station.

"Start by selecting your ore," he instructed, nodding toward a collection of metal ingots arranged by type on a nearby shelf."Ice-metal can be made with any base, but steel gives the best balance of strength and magical conductivity."

Thalia approached the shelf, studying each option with care before selecting a steel ingot."The Southern Kingdoms mostly work with copper and bronze.”

"One of many Northern advantages," Kaine said, but without the smugness most Northern students displayed when discussing such things.His tone was matter-of-fact, almost apologetic.

He moved beside her at the forge, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him.It was a different quality than the forge's fire, steadier and more contained."The advantage of ice-metal is that it remains responsive to cryomancy after forging," he explained, gesturing for her to place the ingot in the forge's heart."Standard metal weapons are static.Once forged, they can't be altered without returning them to the fire.But ice-metal," he paused, and there was something like reverence in his voice."Ice-metal remembers the cold.It can be manipulated in battle, called back to your hand if lost, even reshaped with sufficient skill."

Thalia placed the ingot in the roaring forge, watching as the metal slowly began to glow."Like the golems along the edge of the Crystalline Plateau?Or the Golem Fields?”She was plenty familiar with the off-putting metal guardians of the academy’s grounds, though she had only seen the roving constructs in the Golem Fields, the snow-swept valley below the plateau, on days with good visibility.

"Exactly.The most complex application is in constructs and golems — living metal, some call it, though that's not quite accurate.The ones you've seen in the Golem Fields are failed creations.Making a construct is difficult work.In the best-case scenario, a failure will be inert.Worst case, it'll be deadly."He paused, as though he could sense her building apprehension."But don't worry about any of that yet.We'll start with the basics: a blade that responds to its wielder's cryomancy."

As the metal heated to a cherry red, Kaine handed her a pair of tongs."Draw it out now.Work it evenly."

Thalia extracted the glowing ingot and placed it on the anvil.She took up a hammer, its weight familiar in her hand after weeks of practice.With steady, rhythmic strikes, she began to flatten the metal, stretching it into the rough shape of a blade.Each impact sent sparks flying and rang out in the cavernous forge.

Kaine watched without comment, his gaze intent on her technique.Only occasionally did he make small adjustments to her grip or stance — a hand on her elbow to correct her angle, fingers repositioning hers on the hammer's handle.Each brief contact sent a current through her that had nothing to do with magic.

After several rounds of heating and hammering, the blade began to take form — a tapered length of metal with a dull edge that would later be honed to lethal sharpness.Sweat beaded on Thalia's forehead despite the relative cold of Frostforge; she wiped it away with her sleeve before it could drip onto the hot metal.

"Now comes the difficult part," Kaine said, taking the blade with his tongs and returning it to the forge."When it reaches white-hot, we'll infuse it with ice magic.This is where most first attempts fail."

Thalia reached for her frost gloves, but Kaine held out a hand to stop her.

“Not like that,” he said.“You’re not ready to use frost gloves for this.”

He crossed to a locked cabinet in the corner of the forge, returning with what looked like elaborate gauntlets.Unlike her simple frost gloves, these were works of art — dark metal layered with intricate runes that covered the hands and extended halfway up the forearms.The palms glowed with a faint blue light.

"These are infusion gauntlets," he explained, handling them with care."Standard equipment for master smiths.The runes help direct magical flow, preventing the ice from overwhelming the metal or the heat from negating the cold.It's all about balance."

He helped her don the gauntlets, which were surprisingly light despite their appearance.The metal was cool against her skin, and she felt a strange resonance as the runes activated, responding to her natural magical signature.

"Now," Kaine said, retrieving the white-hot blade from the forge, "we work quickly.The metal must remain malleable while we infuse it.I'll hold; you channel."

He laid the glowing blade on the anvil, gripping it with specialized tongs."Place your hands on either side — don't touch it yet — and focus your cold through the gauntlets.Visualize the frost entering the metal, becoming one with it.Not freezing it, but joining it."

Thalia positioned her gauntleted hands as instructed, feeling the intense heat radiating from the blade.She closed her eyes, concentrating on the cold within her, directing it through her arms and into the runes of the gauntlets.The sigils began to glow brighter, frost patterns forming along their lengths.

"Now," Kaine instructed, his voice low and intense."But gently.Too much ice will shatter the steel; too little won't take."

She lowered her hands until they hovered just above the blade's surface.The heat was nearly unbearable, but the gauntlets protected her skin while conducting her magic.Beads of sweat rolled down her temples as she focused, feeling the push and pull between her cold and the metal's heat.Steam hissed and danced above the blade, forming ghostly shapes in the forge's dim light.

"Feel the metal," Kaine murmured, so close his breath stirred the loose strands of hair by her ear."It's alive in its own way.Listen to what it wants."

Thalia reached out with her magical senses, surprised to find that she could indeed feel something like a pulse in the steel — a rhythm created by its molecular structure, now in flux between solid and liquid states.She tried to match her cold to that rhythm, to insert frost between the metal's very atoms without disrupting their dance.

For a moment, she thought she had it; the blade glowed with an inner blue light beneath its red-hot surface, like veins of ice running through molten rock.But then something shifted.The balance tipped.The ice spread too quickly, and the metal's heat fought back.The blade warped beneath their hands, twisting away from her intended shape.

"Hold!"Kaine called, but it was too late.The delicate balance was lost.

When they finally set the cooling blade aside, Thalia stared at it in dismay.What should have been an elegant weapon was a misshapen, lumpy thing with frost fissures running along its edge.It looked like it had been chewed by some metal-eating beast rather than crafted by human hands.

"I'm sorry," she said, disappointment heavy in her chest."I ruined it."

Kaine studied the failed blade, then surprised her with a short laugh."This?"he asked, turning the malformed weapon in his hands."This is excellent for a first attempt."