Chapter 306: Ryun

Chapter 306: Ryun

ForgingNew novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Ryun walked through the abandoned city. There were more of them North of the Empires Wall, some sacked and now only ruins, others so demolished that they could only be called a pile of rocks. And then there were others, like this one, a city that had been abandoned with no signs of battle. People probably ran before the monsters even came close. And after the pursuing monsters came well, they had no use for an empty city.

It was left whole, mostly, slightly ransacked, but nothing like the destruction he had seen before. He walked through the buildings, looking around. In their hurry people left things behind. Nothing truly valuable, but he had gathered trinkets and items of low value. Most of which he fed to Bright Star. Zenkers storage was a cave filled with wonders. So many items, so many treasures of all kinds. It was a wealth accumulated over a thousand years, by someone who was obviously a bit of a hoarder. There was a pile of broken weapons and armor in the corner of the storage, which Ryun had fed to his forge immediately. He was still going through the rest to figure out what he was going to give to the Bright Star. Though, he wouldnt give him much, he had other plans for the items.

He made his way through the town, already knowing where he was going. His resonance sense told him exactly where he could find what he was looking for. The forges were in the eastern part of the city, what probably used to be some kind of industrial area. He made his way through the buildings, heading straight for the largest one. It was a formidable forge. Larger and better than anything that he had built in the Twilight Melody Sect. But it was also less in a way.

Sect forges utilized formations, tools that conventional Blacksmithing didnt use. This this reminded him of forges on Earth. He sensed no formations, but that wasnt surprising, these people were Classers. But there were no arrays either. He wondered how they could craft anything better than a common or uncommon items here. Perhaps they relied on their perks much more. A Cultivator who was on a Path of Blacksmithing didnt have that. A Cultivating smith had a body that was improved, made to survive in the forge, made to harness and impart all of his craft into his work. They relied on skills and on formations to achieve greater effects.

Ryun had studied Blacksmithing, and his awakened partner had taught him more. But he had no tools other than his own body and knowledge. Nothing to push his craft beyond.

We are not here for complicated work, Bright Star said. At least not in that way.

Their bond was now on the sixth stage, and it allowed him to store up to relic rarity items, with slight increases to other bonuses.

Forged in Stars (Bond Perk)

Any item worn by the user gains +40% to their durability.

Star Forge-Bright Star

Armory of the Stars

Grants the user the ability to store up to 9items into the Star Forge up to Relicrarity. Each item placed in the forge will be replicated and stored alongside the original, with the maximum of 12copies. The rate or replication is:

Common rarity - 1 per 30 minutes.

Uncommon rarity - 1 per 2 hours.

Rare rarity - 1 per 8 hours.

Epic rarity - 1 per 24 hours.

Legendary - 1 per 48 hours.

Mythic - 1 per 72 hours.

Any ideas as to why that happened? Ryun asked. He was hoping that they could make this work. Hoped that it might make him understand Essence better.

Well, I dont think that Void plays that well with this material, iron is simple and weak. The Essence we used was tier 9. That could be the cause. Or it could be something in the oil, I dont know, this isnt our forge, I dont know what purpose the smith had for all of his tools.

Ryun grimaced and nodded. They would need to do some more experimenting. He did need to get back to his sect, but he felt that this time was important for him. Selia had told him some of what he should expect in the Sect, and he knew that once he got back there would be far less time for him to spend just working on his craft and Cultivation.

After relocating to a new forge, he tried the same thing with his Qi, trying to crystallize and somehow bond it with the metal itself. It never lasted for long even after he managed to get it to survive for a bit, and he had spent a couple of days on it. His Qi just it broke apart after a while, when he no longer focused on it. Even though the Void was easier for him to manipulate because of his Peak Evolved perk. Bright Star was certain that there was a way to keep that from happening, he just didnt know yet. His knowledge had increased with their bond, but there was still a lot that he didnt remember.

His next attempt was again with Essence. This time he took Essence from the forge itself. Fire Essence entered his body and he moved it through his conduits. He had found that he couldnt really change the state of Essence that he drew in, not unless he drew into his core first. Somehow that allowed him to crystallize it. He didnt want to pollute his core, so he took in just the amount necessary. He pulled it out of his core and focused on shaping the crystal along the paths that he created in the blade.

He quenched it after he was done, waiting for it to explode. But then it didnt. He pulled the blade out and saw orange crystal along the edges and inside the blade, like it was filled with it. He used his Void Claw to shear off the roughness, and to create a sharper edge, make it resemble a real metal blade. After he was done with that and the blade cooled, he moved to the small workstation in the corner of the room where he assembled the hilt and the guard.

What he got was a short sword with crystal edge. The Framework asked him for a name, but he left it as it was and looked at what he had crafted.

Lesser Short Sword of Forges Fire

+4 to intelligence.

+4 to strength.

+30 to strength.

This blade deals a small amount of fire damage with each wound inflicted.

A simple weapon, but somehow still Epic rarityprobably because it had such an effect, or because it was made with forged Essence. The 30 stats came from his Star Improvement ability which also told him that the strength came from iron. Intelligence though that could only be from the Essence. And the name had a hint too. It was called Forges Fire, indicating that perhaps the source of Essence used in making the weapon mattered too. Intent and purpose, were important for a lot of things it seemed.

He leaned the weapon against his forearm and cut. It didnt pierce his skin. He grimaced, his endurance was too high for him to be cut by such a weak weapon it seemed. The edge was made out of fire from the forge, which he estimated to be around tier four. His body was made out of tier nine Void, it did make sense that it couldnt injure him. Still, he tried again, this time he stabbed it. After applying slowly increasing pressure, the blade broke in his arm. The crystal shattered first, and the iron bent and broke apart. Both had been made up out of low tiered Essences, but the crystal shattered first. Of course, this was his first successful attempt at crafting a weapon like this.

He would need to practice a lot more than this.

The silence was deafening. Not just the lack of sound, but the lack of life. No monsters had moved in behind the dome monsters, no people. There was nothing. He sat on the highest tower in the empty city and just took it in. He had never truly been this alone, always he had other life around him, even on Earth. Ryun didnt mind being alone, by himself, but This experience had made him realize something. He no longer enjoyed it. He couldnt help but wish that Anrosh, or Selia or Erdania were with him. Someone, anyone.

The bond he had with Selia reminded him always that he wasnt alone, not really. She was always just a thought away. He prepared to reach out to her for their evening talks, and then paused.

Something a sensation intruded on his thoughts. A familiar one. He stood up and tilted his head, turning on instinct to look Northwest. Something in the distance was He hadnt felt this in a while, not since Ullia Dar Ishi. It was the call of True Death that was about to happen, not just any death, but one that was accepted even welcomed. Someone was about to die.

Ryun sprang into motion running across the sky, heading straight for it.