A ripple of chuckles passed through the Northern students.Thalia kept her expression neutral, though her cheeks burned.

"Since you're on an accelerated curriculum, I will introduce you today to the cornerstone of golem creation."Wolfe turned and approached one of the incomplete constructs.She laid a hand on its chest plate, where a circular depression marked the absence of something vital."Activating the heart."

The instructor's voice softened with something like reverence."The core that determines strength, obedience, and power.A golem is only as strong as its heart.If you fail this step, you create a mindless beast — or worse, a traitorous one."

Thalia thought of the golems she'd seen patrolling Frostforge's perimeter — silent, obedient guardians with glowing blue eyes.She'd never considered what made them function, what gave them their eerie semblance of life.

Wolfe reached into a small leather pouch at her belt and withdrew an object that fits perfectly in her palm: a spherical device about the size of a fist crafted from a strange, smoky metal that seemed to absorb rather than reflect the forge's light.There were intricate patterns carved across its surface.

Thalia leaned forward, studying the device with fascination.It appeared deceptively simple, but her senses detected complex magical layers woven into its construction.

"This," Wolfe said, holding it up, "is a recently forged, inert golem heart.The process of creating the physical core itself is complex, requiring precise metallurgical techniques that you'll learn over the coming months.But forming the metal is only the beginning."She cradled the core in both hands."The true challenge lies in awakening it.And contrary to what many believe, it's metallurgy, not cryomancy, that will bring it to life."

Wolfe closed her eyes.Her expression remained unchanged, revealing nothing of what she was doing.No incantations, no visible magic, no obvious technique — yet suddenly, unmistakably, the core transformed.A cold blue light kindled in its center, pulsing like a heartbeat, throwing the patterns on its surface into sharp relief.

A collective intake of breath swept through the students.Thalia leaned forward despite herself, entranced by the rhythmic glow.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"Wolfe said, a rare smile touching her lips as she gazed at the awakened core."And deadly, if done wrong."The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Wolfe moved to a table at the side of the forge and lifted a cloth covering, revealing dozens of identical cores arranged in neat rows."Today, each of you will attempt to awaken a core.Initially, without guidance."

She began distributing them, one to each student.When she reached Thalia, their eyes met briefly.Something in Wolfe's gaze — curiosity?Challenge?— made Thalia's pulse quicken.She could practically hear an unspoken message:Prove that you belong here.

The core was heavier than it looked and cool against her palm despite the forge's heat.The metal surface was smooth but not uniform — the etched patterns created subtle variations she could feel under her fingertips.

"Instructor."One of the Northern boys raised his hand, Matthias.He had white-blonde hair and the ice-blue eyes common to those from the Reaches."If we succeed, will we keep these golems as our own constructs?"

Wolfe's lips curved in a grim smile."No.You won't."She walked back to the center of the forge."The golems you forge for the Gauntlet will be created entirely by you, throughout the year.Trust me when I say you won't want these golems."Her gaze swept over them."Many of you will fail this first attempt at awakening a heart.The constructs you awaken today will join the academy's defensive patrols along the Crystalline Plateau."

Her voice dropped."Those that fail, whether they don’t awaken or don’t comply with instruction, will be sent to the Golem Fields."

A murmur passed through the students.After the Frost Walk, Thalia was all too familiar with the Golem Fields, the valley that served as a graveyard for defective or dangerous constructs.

"Begin," Wolfe commanded, then stepped back to observe.

For a moment, nobody moved.Thalia glanced around, seeing the uncertainty on every face.Even the Northern students, who had been raised on tales of golem craft, seemed at a loss.

Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they all sprang into action at once.

Matthias strode to the nearest anvil and began hammering his core with methodical force.Others followed suit, the forge soon filled with the cacophonous rhythm of metal striking metal.Some students channeled visible cryomancy, their hands frosting over as they attempted to freeze their cores or shock them with crackling energy.

Nothing worked.

As minutes stretched into an hour, frustration mounted.One core cracked under too much force, causing a cry of dismay from its owner.Others remained stubbornly lifeless despite increasingly desperate attempts.

"This is impossible," muttered a girl to Thalia's right, her accent thick with Northern inflection.

Thalia hadn't moved to an anvil.Instead, she found a quiet corner and sat cross-legged on the stone floor, the core resting in her upturned palms.She closed her eyes, shutting out the sounds of frustration around her.

She didn't think of the core as just metal.She felt the magic lying dormant inside, sensing it the way she'd once sensed the subtle currents in herbs at her mother's shop.All natural things carried these currents, save for ice, which had always eluded her understanding.The sensation was familiar — a whisper beneath her fingertips, a pattern waiting to be recognized.

The metal had been forged precisely, she realized.Channels formed within its structure, like the veins of a leaf or the capillaries of a circulatory system.These were pathways for magic to flow, but they needed...what?Not force.Not external magic pushing its way in.

Resonance.

The word came to her unbidden, a memory of her mother explaining how certain herbs amplified each other when combined."It's about finding the right harmony," she'd said, her hands gentle as she mixed ingredients."Let them speak to each other."

Thalia traced her fingers over the metal, letting its magical currents guide her.The forge's noise faded into the background as she focused entirely on the subtle hum beneath her fingertips.She experimented with different levels of pressure, tapping the core lightly in different spots, listening to the way it vibrated.