Chapter 123: [Artificial Undead and Divine Era Technology]

Chapter 123 -42: [Artificial Undead and Divine Era Technology]

[Insufficient Permissions. Unlocks at Basic Materials Science Level 3.]

“Great, just great,” he thought. “If I want to unlock the Spiritual Forger, I need to scan an authorized identity code. But I need this Spiritual Forger to create a metal construct capable of infiltrating the Holy Hall to scan the identity code in the first place! Why is this another endless loop?” He felt completely worn out, his temper entirely gone.

“Are you trying to forge something?” Talia’s voice sounded from beside him.

Samael turned his head to see Talia sitting next to him. She hadn’t gone to participate in the Exile Camp’s music event, nor had she visited the town’s Caster festival. Instead, she had spent the entire evening sitting quietly beside him, watching him tinker with a dead rat and stare blankly into space.

“I have an idea,” Samael said, putting down the Witch Gold Long Curved Saber. “I have some structural blueprints that can be used to assemble and manufacture Nether Copper constructs—essentially, a type of artificial Undead. But due to the material properties of Nether Copper, the constructs end up too large and aren’t suitable for infiltration missions.” He spread his hands helplessly. “If I use Witch Gold, I might be able to successfully create a scaled-down version. However, I can only manipulate and control the shape of Nether Copper; I have no way to affect Witch Gold.”

Talia’s steel-gray eyes gazed at him quietly. “Can you draw the structure out?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“I can manually forge specific shapes and Spiritual Energy Circuits. Didn’t I tell you today? I also know how to forge and process materials, and my craftsmanship is better than a human’s. Did you forget that one of my combat skills is [Forging]?” She tilted her face up and laughed, looking like a massive feline dangling prey from its jaws to show off to a companion.

Samael scrambled to his feet, the little Knight doll hanging around his neck swaying. “Paper and pens… I’ll go ask Yaki if he has any paper and pens.” He subconsciously wanted to lean down and hug Talia, but then he caught himself, realizing that his Nether Copper Body was hard and cold. His movements paused.

“Aren’t you going to praise me?” But Talia had already opened her arms, eyes half-closed, waiting with a faint smile for his embrace.

“You’re amazing.” Setting aside his hesitation, Samael gave her a tight hug.

This was the first time he had initiated a hug with Talia. It felt a bit awkward; the tactile perception of his Nether Copper Body was quite dull, making it hard to feel much of anything. Yet, her slender frame left a warm imprint on the icy surface of his Nether Copper Armor. The sensation was so astonishingly clear that the imprint lingered even after they released each other.

A short while later.

“Paper and pens?” asked Yaki, whom Samael had dragged away from the camp activities. He rummaged through a box in a cargo wagon as he spoke. “What do you need those for?”

“I need to draw some structural blueprints,” Samael explained. “To reforge some Spiritual Energy machinery out of Witch Gold.”

“Spiritual Energy machinery? Can I take a look?” Hearing that combination of words, Yaki instantly grew excited. Even his usually squinted eyes widened slightly, making him look like a hound that had just caught the scent of a rabbit. “I’m a Casting Technician too. If you trust me, I can help.”

He dug out a stack of paper and some pens from the box and handed them to Samael. Samael grasped a pen. The last time he had held one was when he registered his adventurer identity at the Alliance Hall in Luojie City. Thinking back on it now, it felt like an eternity ago. The passage of time left him with a strange, unfamiliar feeling.

“We also need a furnace, an anvil, and a hammer,” Talia said, taking off her Claw-shaped Hand Armor and rolling her wrists. “Along with a set of forging tools like chisels, tongs, and a Sharpening Wheel.”

“I have small ones, will that work?” Yaki asked. “They’re what we use when crafting metal jewelry. Selling Gold and silver directly results in a huge loss, but with Demon Race craftsmanship, a simple bit of processing allows us to sell them for exorbitant prices in extravagant places like the Floren Royal Capital.”

“Is the workpiece large?” Talia looked at Samael.

Samael shook his head.

“Then the small tool set for crafting jewelry will be enough.” She nodded.

Yaki brought out a small charcoal furnace, a mini anvil about the size of a grapefruit, and a set of hammers and chisels. Talia reached out, igniting a pale Demon Fire in her palm, and thrust the fireball into the narrow hearth of the furnace.

With a WHOOSH, the tiny hearth instantly burst into flames. The surrounding air was sucked in, creating a faint whistling wind, while pale tongues of fire roared out from the mouth of the furnace.

“Wow, the signature ability of the Lord of Rondolan, the Spiritual Flame,” Yaki marveled, clicking his tongue in admiration. “During the eternal night and bitter winters of the Far North Region, who knows how many freezing Exiles this fire has saved.”

“My father obtained this Spiritual Energy skill from a Divine Era Ruins, and he taught me how to burn this fire,” Talia explained. “It’s a highly efficient Spiritual Flame that can be ignited without Demonization materials. A single burst of combustion is enough to keep the furnace burning for a long time.”

She leaned over to look at Samael, who was writing rapidly.

“Hold on a second, just give me a minute, it’ll be ready soon…” Samael muttered. Gripping a charcoal pencil and a ruler that the Exiles used for measuring clothes, he leaned awkwardly against the wagon’s floorboards, sketching the machining blueprint for the workpiece.

He still retained knowledge he had learned while alive. He vaguely remembered scoring full marks on the final exam for his college course, “Engineering Graphics”—even though his final grade had taken a hit because he frequently skipped classes.

Comparing his work against the Nether Copper construct blueprints in his UI database, he selected the necessary components. He drew the outlines and central axes of the workpiece, annotated the machining dimensions and slot shapes, and scaled everything down proportionally.

“Were you one of the Dwarf Kings in the mountains before you died?” Talia stared blankly at the exquisite blueprint. “This level of craftsmanship, such professional processing techniques, and such meticulous specifications for a blueprint… only a Dwarf could come up with something like this!”