Chapter 172: The Forge Begins II

Siegfried held the containment chamber in his hands with a serious expression. Even Armani, who had been supplying mana to the array stones, slightly opened her eyes to look at it.

"Here we go," Siegfried said as he opened the chamber, and the reaction was immediate.

Hummm...

All thirteen array stones erupted with light simultaneously, sending a powerful tremor through the entire place and shocking everyone.

[That’s it. You’re all dead.]

"If I die, I’m bringing you down with me."

[How very kind.]

But after a few moments, the trembling slowly died down, and all three of them let out a breath of relief.

Siegfried wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead. "See? Nothing happened."

Zac looked at him with a ’really’ expression. He then looked at the glowing formation surrounding them and asked, "Do you recognize any of it?"

[I do.]

The system immediately answered.

"Want to talk about it?"

[I doubt that.]

"Thought so."

Siegfried reached into the containment chamber and slowly took out the Azryx, holding it in his bare hands for the first time in almost ten years.

Seeing his face, Zac asked, "Feeling sentimental?"

"You’re still too young, boy. You don’t know what it feels like to finally achieve your lifelong dream."

"I never thought I would actually get to hold this with my own hands in this lifetime. But now I’m holding it in my hands, and it barely feels any different from any other material I’ve forged."

He then carefully placed the Azryx onto the reinforced platform and reached into another space ring.

Boom!

A massive furnace came out of it.

When its weight struck the stone platform, vibrations could be felt throughout the entire place, and the stones beneath it cracked under its weight.

The furnace appeared to be constructed from some dark material that Zac couldn’t identify, covered from top to bottom in thick formations.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

It was the flame burning inside. A bluish-white flame burned perfectly still, without the slightest flicker or ripple of heat.

Zac stepped slightly closer, examining the flame carefully. "Why can’t I feel any heat?"

Siegfried smiled. "Looks can be deceptive, boy."

"You’re telling me that thing is actually hot?"

"Hot would be an understatement, kid. That thing inside is at least a hundred times hotter than our sun."

"Ha! Now you’re clearly lying."

"Well, if you don’t believe me, why don’t you touch it and see?"

("...")

"Just kidding, kidding. Why don’t you use your system to examine it?"

Zac turned his attention to the flame, and immediately, information appeared before his eyes.

Name: Star Fire (Fragment)

Grade: One of the Seven Cosmic Fires

Rank: Unknown

Description: Flame of an undying star.

Zac’s eyes widened. "One of the Seven Cosmic Fires?"

[Yes! And before you ask me what it actually means, don’t.]

"You are very excruciating to be with, you know that?"

Zac then turned toward Siegfried. "What is Starfire?"

The old man’s eyes became even more puzzled. "I don’t know. I had never seen anything like it either, until your father brought it here."

"My father gave this to you?"

"Yes. This was the second solution he gave me. And as you can see, it’s just a small fragment of the real thing. If it were an actual source, I doubt this furnace would be enough to contain it."

"You’re saying a material that can’t be heated even by mythical flames found in ruins can be melted by a small fragment of this fire?"

"Yes."

"Great. Now this is getting more and more out of hand."

[It got out of hand long ago.]

"So, what do you know about this fire? Do you know anything about it?" Zac asked Siegfried.

"I think your father must have gotten it from some ruins. I don’t know the exact properties of the original Starfire, so I can’t determine this fragment’s properties either."

"But unlike the true flames, this fragment isn’t self-sustaining. It only contains a limited amount of power. So once it’s used up..."

"It will disappear completely." Zac finished it for him.

Siegfried nodded. "By the time this weapon is finished, the Starfire will most likely extinguish permanently."

Zac fell silent, lost in his thoughts.

A fragment of cosmic flame, ruins that were so ancient and capable of isolating space. "Just what was my father doing back when he was still on earth?"

Siegfried then turned toward Zac. "Now, boy, it’s time for you to know why you’re still here."

"To get a sword, I presume?"

Siegfried stared at him, and Zac stared back and asked, "Is it not?"

"Well, that is technically correct," Siegfried admitted, "but that’s not what I meant."

"I told you forging this weapon could take seven days. Did you ever wonder why I insisted that you remain here for all seven?"

"Maybe you wanted an apprentice?"

"An apprentice? I was already a smith before your father was born, kid. I’ve gone my entire life without taking an apprentice. Why would I suddenly choose you?"

"Because you’ve never forged something that could end all of humanity?"

Siegfried opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped. "Fine. That was somewhat reasonable."

He shook his head. "But no, you’re not here to learn smithing. You’re here because of the connection between a weapon and the person who creates it."

...

"I don’t understand anything."

Sigh...

"Listen well, kid. When a sufficiently powerful weapon is completed, its future wielder can establish a bond with it."

"Yeah, I know. A soul bond, right?"

"That’s right. Once that bond is established, the weapon will recognize him or her as its owner. Other than that single person, the weapon will never let anyone else use it. You may be able to pick it up, depending on the weapon, but you’ll never be able to draw anything from it."

"That much I know. I read about it in the academy."

"Good. But here’s something most people don’t know about. The wielder isn’t actually the first person to leave something behind in a weapon."

"The smith is."

"You see, a smith uses his own mana throughout the entire process of making the weapon, starting from heating and shaping the material to hammering it and finally refining it. That leaves a small connection between the smith and the weapons he creates. It won’t be comparable to a true bond between a weapon and its wielder, ’but a piece of every smith remains in the things he creates.’"

Siegfried looked toward the Azryx. "A signature deeper than a name carved into steel."

"But this time, I don’t want that to happen."

"Can I ask why?"

Siegfried’s expression became complicated again. "Your father."

"Of course," Zac thought.

"He specifically told me that if I ever forged this material, I wasn’t to use my own mana. And strangely enough, it wasn’t the first time."

"I don’t understand. Isn’t this the first time you’ve forged this material?"

"Yes. But whenever I made a weapon for your father, he did the same thing. He wouldn’t let me use my own mana during the entire process. Even during critical stages, he would stand beside me and supply his own mana while I worked."

"Did he ever explain why?"

"No. Every time I asked, he would either avoid the question or tell me it was better that way."

"And you accepted that as it is?"

Siegfried nodded. "A good craftsman prioritizes the customer’s requirements."

[Translation: Maybe it’s because your father was a hard-ass just like you. So he gave up.]

"You carry the same blood as your father, so we’re doing it his way."

Zac looked toward the furnace. "What exactly do I have to do?"

"Well, it’s simple. Whenever I work the metal, you’ll supply me with your own mana."

"For seven days? You have to be kidding me... See, I may have great potential, but I’m still not there yet. I’m not Armani."

"Hold your horses, kid. I’m not asking you to do it constantly like her. You’ll need to maintain the flow whenever I’m hammering, shaping, refining, or performing any stage that directly involves me and the weapon."

"Well, those are all the stages in forging, aren’t they?"

"Do you need the weapon or not?"

Zac nodded.

"That’s what I thought."

"What makes you think I can keep feeding you mana for seven days?"

"Well, because unlike her, you get to have breaks."

"Huh?"

Siegfried reached into one of his storage rings and threw it to him.

Zac caught it and scanned the ring, seeing an enormous amount of mana crystals and recovery potions inside.

"Use it to recover whenever I’m heating the metal or preparing the next stage. And when I start working, you give me everything I need. Understand?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

Without another word, Siegfried lifted the Azryx with the tongs and bent down beside the furnace.

Just before putting the Azryx into the fire, memories of decades of obsession and Eldric’s final promise came flooding back to him.

Taking a deep breath, he placed the Azryx into the bluish-white flame and closed the furnace.

Siegfried then went to make some arrangements on the working table, and Zac sat silently by the side.

After three hours, the pitch-black surface had finally begun to radiate a faint glow.

"It’s ready," Siegfried said as he stood up. Zac immediately moved beside him and placed a hand over Siegfried’s shoulder, passing his mana into his body.

Siegfried pulled the heated Azryx from the furnace and placed it on the forging table and raised the hammer.

Klang!

The sound reverberated throughout the dimension, and Zac felt the impact travel through Siegfried’s body, the force passing through every movement as the old smith brought the hammer down again.

Klang!

Another strike.

Klang! Klang!

Siegfried’s eyes sharpened as he drew in more and more mana from Zac for every strike.

Raised the hammer.

Klang! Klang! Klang!

The rhythm continued without pause.

With every strike, Zac felt another surge of force pass through Siegfried’s body. The old smith kept drawing mana from him, using it to fuel each successive blow.

Half an hour passed.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the surface of the Azryx began to deform beneath the relentless hammering.

"It’s actually changing shape," Zac thought.

[That’s why they hammer it, idiot.]

After another hour of continuous hammering, Siegfried finally stopped.

"Enough."

He once again placed the Azryx inside the furnace.

The moment Zac heard the word "enough," he released a huge breath and collapsed onto the floor.

He tiredly pulled out a mana recovery potion and drank it like a man who had wandered through the desert without a drop of water.

Two hours later, the cycle began again.

Siegfried once again pulled the heated Azryx from the furnace and stood there with the hammer raised.

"Come, kid. Hurry!"

Zac let out a sigh. "What? Again?" Still, he dragged himself to Siegfried’s side and once again passed his mana into him.

The hammer came down.

Klang!

Klang!

And again.

Klang! Klang! Klang!

Zac held a mana crystal in one hand, drawing from it while simultaneously transferring his mana to Siegfried.

Strike after strike continued to resound through the dimension.

Zac glanced toward Armani in the distance.

She remained seated with her eyes closed, calmly pouring her mana into the formation and maintaining it without interruption.