Chapter 118 - 40: [Love, Craftsmanship, and Caster]

Chapter 118: Chapter 40: [Love, Craftsmanship, and Caster]

He pondered for a moment before typing "Nether Copper" into the search bar.

[Nether Copper]

[A stable copper phase achieved through Spiritual Energy processing and phase transformation. During casting, seven different processing methods can yield seven distinct copper phase structures. These can be combined with one another to produce stable and reliable logic gate automation devices.]

[Possesses usable Spiritual Energy conduction capabilities and a controllable selective conduction mechanism. It can be used to manufacture stable Spiritual Energy Circuits, including Spiritual Implants and inorganic Spiritual Constructs.]

[Hard, highly reliable, and adaptable to extreme temperatures. It is capable of slow, automatic recasting for self-repair, but its volume cannot be compressed, and its conductive performance is relatively poor. It is unsuitable for the core components of small, precision instruments, and is typically only used for automated industrial machinery in harsh, unmaintained environments.]

[Based on the ambient concentration of Spiritual Energy and aether radiation, it can actively control Spiritual Energy permeation and absorb heat during this process. Upon taking damage, it uses this absorbed energy to slowly recast and repair its own structure. Suitable for manufacturing automated space industrial machinery, unmaintained automated architectural structures, and the outer shells of unmanned spacecraft and artificial satellites.]

[The intertwined technological product of Level 1 Basic Materials Science and Level 2 Basic Matter Phase Transformation.]

[Missing prerequisite technology and prerequisite equipment. Temporarily uncraftable.]

How bizarre. Samael raised his arm and looked at the dark gold slash mark on his arm guard, where Musa’s Witch Gold Blade had nearly cleaved all the way through. The large gap, which previously let light shine through, had already automatically repaired itself by a small fraction. Although the repair speed was slow, it was undeniably effective.

During the previous battle with Musa, he had also scanned two [Biological Structures]: a polarizing gland and an anti-pump shell. The description had mentioned something about [Lacking an organic Spiritual Energy structure, temporarily unusable].

If [Organic Spiritual Constructs] referred to the Undead in the conventional sense, including Skeleton Soldiers and Corpse Demons, then what were the [Inorganic Spiritual Constructs] mentioned in the Demonized metal entry? Metal-cast Spiritual Energy automatons?

Perhaps different components could be manufactured using Demonized metals like Witch Gold and Nether Copper, and then manually assembled to create some sort of Spiritual Energy automaton similar to his own Ghost Knight construct? Samael stared blankly into space.

"TA-DA! Look at this." A hand reached over from the side, holding up a little wooden puppet—a cute, chibi-style Knight that looked exactly like Samael—right in front of his helmet. "Take it, it’s a little gift I made for you."

A stray lock of her steel-gray hair stuck up, bobbing back and forth right in front of his helmet.

"Oh." Samael paused in surprise, extending his Nether Copper Hand Armor to accept the little toy.

Talia’s craftsmanship was just as excellent as that of her fellow Demon Race compatriots. The carved lines were clean, smooth, simple, and elegant. The little burrs on the wood had been scraped away meticulously with the back of a knife, leaving it smoothly polished. The puppet’s design was adorable, practically rivaling a small toy hand-crafted by an outstanding Craftsman.

The little wooden puppet’s helmet design and details were extremely exquisite. It included a Magic Potion Bag at the waist, a Kite Shield on the back, a Knight Sword strapped to the waist, and even an Exile’s Cloak.

Even though the scavenged Exile’s Cloak had already been shredded to pieces by the harvesting machinery, and the shattered Nether Copper Sword Shield had been reclaimed before he had a chance to recast them, this little wooden handicraft still perfectly recreated Samael’s Exiled Knight look from the recent past.

"Oh wow..." Samael grasped the little puppet carefully, feeling as if a heart he didn’t even possess had just skipped a beat.

Grabbing his helmet with both hands, he yanked it upward and took it off, revealing the hollow opening at his neck. Through the gap in his Armor, he stuffed the little toy right into the inside of his breastplate.

"What... are you doing?" Talia asked.

"I’m going to keep it safe—for at least seventy or eighty years, or until the wood rots away." Samael snapped his helmet back onto his neck, plugging the gap. However, the moment he stood up, the little wooden toy fell right out from the seam at the bottom of his breastplate.

He frantically reached out to catch it, carefully cupping it in both hands.

"Change of plans. Do you have a string or something? I’ll hang this around my neck to show it off for a few days first." He looked around for a lanyard.

"Uh... if you like it, I can carve you a different style every day," Talia chuckled. "Logically, I should cleave a mountain in half to use as a mold, mix steel and bronze, and cast a majestic statue dozens of times your size, weaving in some Gold for patterns and inlaying it with some green Gemstones..."

"No, no, this is perfect." Samael gripped the little wooden Knight puppet, planning to go find his good bro Yaki Yevir to ask if he had a string. While he was at it, he would "casually," "accidentally," and "with surprise" ask Yaki:

"How did you know this is the little puppet Talia carved for me?"

As it happened, the Exiles’ cargo wagons rolled to a stop right at that moment. Clutching his little wooden puppet, Samael eagerly poked his head toward the driver’s seat at the front, habitually preparing to playfully mess with Yaki.

Only when he lifted the wagon curtain did he realize that a massive crowd was blocking the way ahead. The sea of people was noisy and surging, as if some large-scale event was being held.

Far ahead of the convoy, nestled among the brick, wood, and rammed-earth houses of the Empire’s citizens, stood a towering hall. It was constructed from a mix of luxurious and solemn marble, white stone bricks, and lime concrete, adorned with imposing black iron and red copper. The white walls bore reliefs of hammers, anvils, and blazing forge fires. The entire building resembled some sort of soaring cathedral.

Within the small shrines stood statues of Saints grasping iron hammers. Some were striking sword blades, some were adjusting plowshares, some were carving molds for gears, and some were pumping bellows for a furnace.

The massive square in front of the Holy Hall was packed with furnaces and anvils. The endless CLINK CLANK of hammer strikes rang out like some sort of powerful percussion instrument. Dozens of Blacksmiths and Casting Technicians bustled about, surrounded by throngs of spectators, Holy Hall Priests keeping order, and seven or eight sergeants. It appeared to be some kind of forging competition.

A massive copper-framed hourglass sat on an elevated platform in front of the Divine Hall. However, instead of sand, it was filled with finely sifted iron filings.

Five or six Priests, draped in deep red robes bearing the insignia of an anvil and the Sword Crown and Iron Crown, were seated in armchairs on the Holy Hall’s platform. Presumably the competition’s judges, they toyed with weapon billets and sharp blades of various shapes, observed the contestants’ progress, and conversed in hushed tones. Occasionally, a Priest would step down to inspect a contestant’s forging progress and condition.

"Albert! Albert! Hammer King Albert!"

"Ryan! Steel-footed Ryan! Go hard, Ryan!"

"Carbon-Handed David! David!"

The spectators screamed for the Caster contestants they supported. Some contestants smiled over their shoulders and waved in response to the crowd’s enthusiasm. Some excitedly flexed their biceps at the cheering audience. Others, lagging behind and pressed for time, couldn’t spare a moment to respond, burying their heads and furiously hammering away with a steady CLINK CLANK.

The contestants ranged from men to women, young and old, all without exception sturdy Blacksmiths or capable Casting Technicians. There were even seven or eight Dwarf contestants.

In the crowd stood a small tower made of three or four stacked wooden grocery crates, with several anxious Dwarves clinging to the top. It was clearly a three-dimensional auxiliary viewing device rigged up because, under normal circumstances, they couldn’t see the competition over the sea of people.

The area surrounding the square was packed to the brim, with even the streets overflowing with people. A ceremonial parade of floats rolled through the adjacent streets, carrying singing Minstrels and musicians wielding an array of instruments, singing heartily in front of giant papier-maché models of anvils and hammers. Seven or eight musicians were tapping away at a steel percussion keyboard with tiny iron mallets, producing crisp, melodious music.

Nearly all the citizens of the Empire seemed crammed into the streets, mingled with peddlers hawking all sorts of snacks, making the road ahead completely impassable.

"The Caster’s Festival." Yaki turned to look at Samael. "The road is completely blocked. We might be delayed for a day or two, Mr. Samael..."

He had intended to apologize for the delay, but then he noticed Samael’s helmet aimed fixedly at the competition venue in the square.

"Wow, there’s even a bladesmithing competition..." If Samael had eyes and a mouth, his eyes would be glazed over and he’d be drooling.

No man could resist a bladesmithing competition! Unless it was machine repair or a display of industrial machinery—but right now, he actually got to watch a live, other-worldly bladesmithing competition!

[Colony Construction System Authorized User Detected.] A pop-up suddenly appeared on his helmet UI, oriented toward the Caster’s Hall right in front of him.

Huh? Samael blanked.

A circular radar view lit up in the corner of his UI, marking a stationary, blinking red dot located straight ahead in the Empire’s Caster’s Hall.

[Please scan the user’s identity code to obtain authorization and unlock the relevant database.]