As the group made their way toward the heart of Calma, they were captivated by the unexpected vibrancy of the streets. A steady stream of trykes and bikes zipped past them, weaving gracefully between stone buildings and shaded alleyways. Though the streets were still paved with cobblestones, the roads had been refined—smoother now thanks to a careful blend of limestone, clay, marl, gypsum, iron ore, and silica—the same materials used in modern cement. The mixture gave the roads a polished finish that glistened faintly under the sun.
Hephaestus, the genius that he was, had long transcended simple metal smelting; metallurgy, architecture, and engineering—anything that turned raw material into a new form, he embraced with fervent curiosity.
