Watching Balkan and his father, I felt my own spirits lift. ... Recursive things can't be perceived by detection magic, so I have no concrete proof. It was just a feeling.
The illusion of the father smiled fondly at Balkan.
"Who do you take after to have grown up so handsomely?"
"I must take after Mother." ...
I don't think so. It must be one hundred percent from his father's side. Balkan continued in a trembling voice.
"Father. ....by any chance, where is Mother? Can I see her?"
The father's face hardened.
He said.
"... Your mother became completely one with the floating stone. As long as the floating stone isn't destroyed, she will likely remain inside it forever."
"My word..."
Balkan was at a loss for words. To become one with the floating stone. Could that even be called living?
To my eyes, it seemed like a catastrophe, but...
"That's incredible."
"Yes, she reached the pinnacle as a blacksmith."
"The state of becoming metal itself. So Mother became the floating stone."
It seemed to have a different meaning for the dwarves. Balkan's father gazed at Balkan for a moment before holding out his hand.
"Here, let me see your hammer."
To a dwarf, a hammer is life itself. For a human, it would be like measuring the height of a son they hadn't seen in a long time.
"My hammer? But this is an illusion..."