The first forge bracket reached the mine road before sunset, where workers bolted it across a timber brace that had shifted twice that week.
Hajin returned after Marrick closed the wage line, finding the eastern worksite cleared except for Ferra and one covered lantern beside the anvil.
The repaired bellows sat idle while charcoal settled inside the furnace. The ceramic basin stayed warm beneath its new clamps, and the chimney kept quiet above it.
Ferra had placed the apex core inside a shallow iron cradle, with four tools arranged nearby and a local steel billet waiting across the anvil.
"You sent the workers home," Hajin said, stopping outside the marked heat line while the last daylight faded beyond the roof braces.
"The test may break the basin," Ferra replied, checking the cradle with one finger. "I kept away anyone who cannot survive the furnace failing."
