Volume 8, Chapter 30 – Bribery and the Tempest

“This… this is simply marvelous! If this cannot be called a divine miracle, then there are no gods in this world!”

Having witnessed Yisi’s forging process with his own eyes, Avis’s aged face was filled with excitement. He raised his hands high, his face flushed as he shouted. If he were to start dancing, he would surely be taken for a madman.

But only in this way could Avis express the shock in his heart. He gasped for breath, excitement and ecstasy filling every cell in his body. As if afraid of missing a single detail, his eyes were wide open, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, staring intently at the foundry platform in front of Yisi.

“The world of forging has never seen such a method! This is a true revolution! Once it is popularized, the status of magic chanters will be replaced by magic weapons, bringing a new order to the world! This is a new world brought to us by the gods! No wonder… no wonder I could never decipher the structure of Durandal. So the secret was hidden in the production method. Without your guidance today, my divine lord, I would have probably been stuck on this sword for the rest of my life. Thank you, thank you so much!!!”

Overjoyed to the point of tears, Avis trembled all over, his gaze, as if caressing a lover, gently fixed on the weapon that Yisi had just taken from the foundry platform. Like Durandal, it was an iron sword with no special features on its exterior. But unlike Durandal, since it was only to demonstrate the technique to Avis, Yisi had not used any high-grade materials, only some very basic monster materials. Even so, the finished product far surpassed anything forged by traditional methods.

Lightly weighing the iron sword, Yisi unobtrusively glanced at Avis, who was prostrate beside her.

It feels a little too exaggerated.

After gaining Avis’s trust, Yisi, under his guidance, had demonstrated the process of forging Durandal for him in the workshop. That is, with the assistance of the [Foundry Platform – Tier 4], she had combined molten iron ingots into the shape of an iron sword. At the same time, as the foundry platform gradually shaped the sword, she had used the platform’s built-in magic carving knife to inscribe the magic circuit inside the sword. The exterior of the weapon and the internal magic circuit were worked on simultaneously. It could be said that the production method of Durandal was almost impossible to replicate by a single human. Even Yisi needed the assistance of the [Foundry Platform – Tier 4] to create it.

In the past, magic weapons were usually divided into two types. The first was to inscribe a simple magic formula on the surface of the weapon. The second was to inscribe a more difficult magic formula inside the weapon. Weapons forged by either of these two methods could be called magic weapons, but for the same effect, the weapon forged by the second method was often more durable.

The first forging method usually involved forging the weapon itself first, and then inscribing the magic formula on the surface. Once the formula on the weapon’s surface was formed, the magic circuit that made up the formula would hide itself. This production method usually faced a problem: although the magic circuit was hidden, it still existed on the surface. If the weapon was deeply worn, it could easily damage the magic circuit, rendering the “magic” in the magic weapon useless.

In contrast, the second forging method, because the magic circuit was inscribed inside the weapon, did not have this problem. Unless the weapon was broken in half, the magic circuit would not be damaged.

Of course, this forging method was not without its flaws. First, the complexity of the formula was high, and only those with a deep understanding of magic had the ability to use it. Second, the difficulty of forging was great. Since the magic formula had to be inscribed inside the weapon, smiths often had to first split the weapon in the middle—like splitting a sword horizontally from the blade into two halves—and after carving the magic circuit on the cross-section, reattach the two halves. This process was quite cumbersome, and a single mistake could lead to the weapon’s destruction. Combined with the complex formulas, this led to a situation where very few weapons were made in this way.

For a magic weapon with the ‘Fireball’ formula, the cost of inscribing it on the outside might only be five gold coins. But for the method of inscribing it on the inside, the cost would be at least ten times as much. Even if the quality of the latter was excellent, its price made it pale in comparison.

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Therefore, there had always been two voices in the Blacksmiths’ Association. One side believed that the complex method was not advisable, and the future development of the association should be in the direction of ‘inscribing magic formulas on the outside of weapons.’ The other side insisted on inscribing the magic circuit inside the weapon, believing that only in this way could magic weapons of exceptional quality be created.

Although Avis was engrossed in exploring the limits of magic weapons and disliked participating in such debates, he could not deny that he could not act alone without a team. Many creative ideas for magic weapons required the cooperation of other smiths to be realized. And this factional division would undoubtedly slow down the development of magic weapons. It was like two people who both needed to move forward, but started a tug-of-war over some trivial matter. No matter who won in the end, they could not be called the true winner. Both of them had been treading water all along.

And now, the appearance of the divine messenger had broken this stalemate.

At this thought, Avis’s heart, which was already about to leap out of his throat, trembled again.

To skip the order of forging the weapon’s shape and inscribing the magic formula, and to inscribe the internal magic circuit at the same time as forging the exterior, was an answer that Avis had never dared to imagine in the past.

One had to know that the reason the magic formulas inscribed inside a weapon were complex was to ensure that the two halves of the weapon could still be stably and tightly joined together after being attached. And to achieve this effect, many other formulas needed to be added to the original one.

For example, for an iron sword with a ‘Strength Boost’ effect, if the method of inscribing the magic formula on the outside was used, the smith only needed to, like enchanting, directly inscribe the formula representing ‘Strength Boost’ on the outside of the finished weapon to create a magic weapon.

But if the method of inscribing the magic formula on the inside was used, then on top of the original ‘Strength Boost’ inside the iron sword, ‘Solidify’ and ‘Toughness’ formulas needed to be added to stabilize the sword’s body and the magic formula. And to make the three magic formulas stack together without affecting each other was not a matter of simple addition, but required the smith to accumulate a large amount of magical knowledge and, through countless permutations and combinations, merge the three magic formulas into one.

However, the technique that Yisi had just demonstrated, of forging the weapon while simultaneously inscribing the magic circuit inside, had completely broken this deadlock. The weapon was a single entity from the beginning, so there was naturally no need to add ‘Solidify’ and ‘Toughness’ formulas to stabilize it. And because the magic formula was inscribed inside, it would not be like a magic weapon with the formula on the outside, where the magic circuit could easily fail due to combat wear. It completely solved the respective defects of the traditional forging methods. If this could not be called a technological revolution, then Avis could not imagine what else could be given such a title.

Only a weapon forged by such a method could truly touch the limits of magic weapons.

His heart enlivened, the heavily panting Avis looked up at the divine messenger shrouded in a black robe.

“My divine lord, may I have a look at the weapon you just forged?”

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“It’s fine.”

Yisi handed the longsword to Avis. After carefully feeling the integrity of the blade, Avis tried to infuse magic power into it. Although Avis did not know any combat magic, due to his long-term devotion to the forging of magic weapons, he had obtained a level of over thirty through the repeated use of magic power. When he had injected more than two hundred points of magic power into the weapon, until his magic was nearly depleted, the weapon finally reacted—a thick layer of ice, emitting an extreme cold, quickly climbed up the blade. But Avis himself felt no cold.

Gradually, Avis’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Why don’t I feel cold? This feeling… is it a magic weapon that doesn’t harm its user? Only an Orichalcum-grade magic weapon could possibly have such an innate blessing. You actually forged an Orichalcum-grade weapon in less than an hour?! Gods… I used to think that I was about to touch the limits of magic weapons, but now, I was so wrong. To dare to compete with the gods, in my entire life, I haven’t even been able to catch a shadow of the gods. If I had not seen the divine skill you displayed today, I would have probably been immersed in ignorant self-satisfaction for the rest of my life.”

“It’s too early to draw conclusions. You still have a chance to make up for it,” Yisi said indifferently. “I have already demonstrated the forging method once. You can follow my method to pursue the limits of magic weapons.”

“Impossible,” the previous excitement was now gone. Like a gambler who had lost his entire fortune overnight, Avis shook his head dejectedly. In just a few breaths, Yisi had the feeling that Avis had aged several decades. “With my ability, I cannot use the technique you just demonstrated, my divine lord. Even though I only saw you use it and haven’t tried it myself, I know the level of skill required. To inscribe a magic circuit inside a weapon while forging its exterior, if I were a few decades younger, I might be able to try. But now… I have missed the most vigorous time of my life. No—if I had six hands, perhaps I could start making it.”

An expected answer.

If she didn’t have the [Foundry Platform – Tier 4], to be able to multitask, and with both tasks requiring full concentration, she wouldn’t have been able to achieve this skill either. But if she were to let Avis give up here, it would be detrimental to her coming back later in the identity of Yisi Enya to ask for knowledge. Yisi answered right after Avis.

“You still have a chance.”

“W-what?”

The old man, who had been on the verge of death just a moment ago, suddenly seemed to have become several decades younger. Avis’s wrinkled face was filled with hope as he looked at Yisi like a person yearning for rebirth.

Yisi turned sideways, lightly pushed off with her legs, and sat on the foundry platform. Then she slightly tilted her chin up, looking down at Avis, who was prostrate on the ground.

“Indeed, the skill I just displayed is not something an ordinary person can learn. No, it should be said that no human can accomplish it on their own. Not even I, a divine messenger, can do it.”

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“But you clearly did it just now…”

“That is because I borrowed the convenience of an artifact. Apart from the Goddess, no one can create Durandal with their bare hands.”

As if he had received a divine oracle, Avis’s eyes gradually lit up.

“My divine lord, what you mean is?”

A mischievous curve appeared on her lips. Yisi lightly tapped the surface of the foundry platform with her index finger.

“Do you want to use such a tool?”

“I do! As long as I can get a glimpse of the limits of magic weapons, I am willing to give my all!”

“Mm, a good answer. It’s just that the foundry platform I’m using now, with your level, you cannot operate it. But in return, you can choose a weakened version that you can use.”

The [Foundry Platform – Tier 4] required a large amount of magic power to start each time. With Avis’s level, he couldn’t operate it at all. To pique his interest and make him obey her every command, she had to at least take out something he could use. She still had the foundry platforms she had used in the past in her storage. Although Avis’s strength couldn’t even use the [Foundry Platform – Tier 1], the [Novice Foundry Platform], which could be used at level 1, would not be a problem for him.

Of course, the novice platform would lack a considerable number of functions compared to the tier four platform. But for just forging a weapon like Durandal, the novice platform was completely sufficient. And Yisi was not willing to lend a more expensive item to Avis.

“Before that, I need you to understand one thing.”

“What is it?”

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“The Goddess’s grace asks for nothing in return. But I am different. I have not yet stated my demands.”

Jumping off the foundry platform, Yisi secretly sighed in relief. Now she just needed to make up a sufficiently clever reason, and she could come back tomorrow in the identity of Yisi Enya to ask Avis for the knowledge of trigger-activated magic weapons.

◇

After settling matters with Avis, Yisi directly used [Advanced Teleportation] to appear in the sky above the Dragon’s Spine Mountains.

Ripping off her cloak and mask, the torrential rain that hit her face was invigorating. Probably because she was too close to the sealing barrier, the rain on the Dragon’s Spine Mountains was exceptionally fierce. The gale, carrying the downpour with it, almost made Yisi unable to breathe as the raindrops shot into her nose.

“Puha, cough cough.”

『 Strong Airflow 』

The airflow surrounding her body prevented the rain and wind from intruding. Although she had only been exposed to the outside for less than two seconds, Yisi’s entire body was still soaked. The wet feeling made Yisi frown.

“Damn it, this damned rain.”

The reason she had come to the Dragon’s Spine Mountains was to solve this endless rain. She just hadn’t expected to be given a show of force as soon as she entered the range of the mountains. Even if the other party was not a conscious living being, Yisi couldn’t help but want to vent her frustration.

Stretching her right hand towards the sky full of dark clouds, the rain-soaked, silver twin tailed Yisi’s face was ferocious.

“Regret your recklessness—『 Instantaneous Tempest 』.”