Chapter 278: Weapon Creation.

Chapter 278: Weapon Creation.

Without wasting time, Kael activated the Eye of Judgement, and the next moment, a status window appeared before him.

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[Emberline Spear]

[Rank: E]

[Level Requirement: 15]

[Abilities:]

•—Cinder Tip—•

Enemies struck have a 20% chance to be afflicted with Burn for 5 seconds.

Burn deals damage equal to 5% of the original hit every second.

Does not stack.

•—Heat-Tempered Shaft—•

Passive.

Grants 10% Fire Resistance while equipped.

•—Smoldering Thrust—•

Active Skill.

Delivers a forward thrust that deals 110% weapon damage.

Guarantees Burn on hit.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

•—Warm Grip—•

Passive.

Reduces stamina cost of spear attacks by 5% while the wielder is in a hot environment or near open flame.

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Kael stared at the screen with a smile on his face as he read through the details.

It wasn’t the greatest weapon he had ever seen, but it wasn’t bad either. Considering he had created it by simply combining the Corpse Fragments he had obtained from killing a bunch of low-level monsters, the result was actually quite impressive.

The weapon had several useful effects, and the guaranteed Burn from Smoldering Thrust could be particularly useful against enemies that were difficult to kill through conventional attacks.

Kael glanced down at the spear in his hand, his blood boiling with the urge to test his creation in actual combat.

That opportunity arrived sooner than expected. The thirty-second timer finally hit zero, and a flash of light swept across the battlefield.

The corpses of the monsters Kael had defeated during the first wave disappeared from the crimson ground, leaving nothing behind. Almost immediately afterward, the earth began to tremble again as another group of monsters started materializing in the distance.

A new horde.

Kael’s grin widened as he tightened his grip around the silver spear.

"Time to test my creation."

He lowered his body slightly.

Then he charged.

The distance between him and the approaching monsters disappeared in an instant. The spear flashed through the air as Kael thrust it forward, piercing straight through the chest of the first beast that reached him.

The creature let out a roar before collapsing.

Kael twisted the spear and swept it sideways, cutting through another monster before following with another thrust.

The spear was light and easy to handle. Its balance was surprisingly good, and the weapon’s abilities activated exactly as described. Flames briefly flickered around the spearhead whenever Burn was triggered, leaving trails of heat through the air.

Kael continued fighting.

Monster after monster fell.

Before long, the second wave had been completely wiped out.

Kael ignored the notification that appeared in front of him and instead looked down at the weapon in his hand.

Cracks had already begun spreading across the spear.

His expression slowly changed.

"This is..."

The silver surface began crumbling.

Kael stared at it in disbelief as pieces of the spear broke apart and fell through his fingers.

"How can the durability be this trash?"

He knew the weapon was only E-Rank, so naturally its durability wouldn’t be particularly impressive. But this was ridiculous, the thing had barely survived a single wave.

Kael frowned as he examined the remains.

"Could it be because I didn’t pay enough attention to the details while creating it?"

Thinking back to the creation process, Kael realized he hadn’t actually done much beyond imagining a spear. He hadn’t thought about how the weapon should be constructed, or any of the other important details, he’d simply pictured a spear, and the Corpse Fragments had done the rest.

Kael narrowed his eyes. "Let’s try again."

The next wave was about to begin, so he got to work. Using the batch of Corpse Fragments gathered from the previous one, he began focusing on the image inside his mind.

A dagger. Something small, compact and easier to visualize in detail.

He imagined the shape of the blade, the curve, the handle, the thickness, the overall structure. The Corpse Fragments reacted.

Shadow gathered around his hand before slowly taking shape.

Moments later, a curved dagger appeared in his grasp.

Kael looked at it with satisfaction.

"This should be better."

It wasn’t. By the time the next wave had ended, the dagger was already showing signs of deterioration.

But that wasn’t enough to discourage him. He tried again, then again, weapons of every type and shape, a short sword, an axe, a long sword.

Each attempt produced something with different abilities and appearances, but they all shared the same fundamental problem.

Their durability was terrible.

Wave after wave of monsters became nothing more than experimental subjects for Kael.

He didn’t need to worry about wasting resources because the Corpse Fragments were being produced by the very monsters he was killing. Every new wave gave him more material to experiment with, and every failed weapon taught him something new.

By the time the tenth wave ended, Kael finally stopped.

He stood amid the remains of another destroyed horde, staring at the latest weapon in his hand.

Then he slowly raised his palm and covered his face.𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I’m quite an idiot."

He finally understood.

The problem had never been his imagination.

It was the material.

The Corpse Fragments he had been using came from completely different monsters. Each fragment could contain one or more traits from the creature it originated from, meaning every fragment carried its own properties.

When Kael threw dozens of completely different fragments together and forced them into a single weapon, all of those traits were trying to manifest at once.

Some naturally complemented one another.

Others didn’t.

Some could even directly oppose one another.

The result was a weapon containing countless different traits that were constantly trying to influence the same structure.

It wasn’t surprising that the durability suffered.

In fact, considering the circumstances, it was surprising that the weapons lasted as long as they did.

Kael lowered his hand.

"So the problem is the interaction between the fragments."

Now that he understood the cause, finding a possible solution wasn’t particularly difficult.

There were two methods.

The first was the safer approach.

Sort the Corpse Fragments beforehand.

Instead of throwing fragments from completely unrelated monsters together, Kael could select fragments that possessed similar or synergistic traits and combine them. If the traits complemented one another, there would be far less internal conflict within the finished weapon.

That alone should improve its stability.

But there was another method.

A more barbaric one.

Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He could select only a few highly compatible fragments and use them as the core material of the weapon. The remaining fragments wouldn’t become the primary material. Instead, they would serve as subsidiary support, empowering the core fragments rather than trying to impose their own traits directly onto the weapon.

It was essentially the difference between having dozens of people fighting over control and having a small group lead while everyone else supported them.

Of course, Kael didn’t know whether either method would actually work.

He needed to test them.

Fortunately, he couldn’t have asked for a better place to conduct the experiments.

The Tower was providing him with endless monsters.

The monsters provided Corpse Fragments.

And the Tower’s trial provided an environment where he could test his creations without worrying about wasting materials or damaging the surrounding world.

Kael looked toward the horizon.

Another wave was already beginning to materialize.

A smile slowly returned to his face.

"Then let’s test it."

He tightened his grip.

There was still a long way to go before Kael reached his limit, and until that happened, he had every intention of making the most of every single wave he could.