x.x.xX Continent, Seraph Kingdom, within Kelsey"s smithy.
"I trust you that you can do just that, right?" Dane looked at Kelsey with expectation since she was the only blacksmith within the Seraph Kingdom that could handle both of the materials he brought out with great proficiency and skill. Kelsey looked at the Gale Dragon Wood and Spirit Star Steel Dane brought out and pondered for a bit as a slight frown appeared on her face. After about a minute or so, Kelsey clasped her hands together and nodded with a smile towards Dane, saying, "Alright! I can do what you want me to do."
Just as Dane wanted to head towards Kelsey"s furnace and start the crafting process, Kelsey raised two…no, three fingers up in the air as a grin appeared on her face. "Of course, you know the rules of this establishment…"
"Right, Dane?"
Dane looked at the number of fingers Kelsey held up and let out a sigh as he snapped his fingers after placing both items on a nearby table. A few seconds later, a rift was opened in front of Kelsey as gold coins started to pour out of the rift, forming a pile of gold coins in front of Kelsey"s feet.
Cling! Cling! Cling!
After a while, the last gold coin was poured out of the rift, prompting Dane to close the rift as he looked at Kelsey and said, "Here you go. Thirty thousand gold. Is that enough for you?"
Kelsey became speechless at Dane"s decisiveness to pay up at the first instant she mentioned money. She could not help but look at the pile of gold coins in front of her that spanned around five meters in diameter and had a height that was equal to her waist. Mind you that she"s a tall person, being 1.83 meters in height.
"Oh man, I just did as a joke, but now…" Kelsey could not help but shake her head and mutter to herself, "Oh well, I"ll just make sure that the product is going to be something I put my heart into."
"Come with me then," Kelsey put on a light smile on her face as she urged Dane to follow her to the furnace found in the smithy, which was also the only furnace that could withstand temperatures of over 8000 degrees Celsius, befitting of Kelsey"s t.i.tle as the best blacksmith.
Without delay, Dane grabbed the two items he brought and followed Kelsey to the furnace, wherein he gave the Spirit Star Steel to her and said, "I want you to craft a blade with this material that is best suited for fighting. Can you also create a few grooves on the blade so I can imbue it with mana?"
Tying up her hair into a bun, Kelsey examined the Spirit Star Steel for a bit before giving a thumbs up as she sat down on a chair near the furnace, where an anvil laid in front of the chair. "Got it. Is it a one-handed magic blade or a two-handed one?"
"One-handed," Dane replied without thinking twice as he sat down on a chair, facing the Gale Dragon Wood that was placed down on a nearby table. It was fortunate that the table Dane was working on was close to where Kelsey was working, allowing them to speak with each other.
"Hmm…since it"s one-handed and meant for fighting, then nothing can beat a saber," Kelsey decided on the type of blade she was going to craft in just a few seconds. "Also, since you mentioned it a while ago, there are a lot of types of grooves for imbuing mana. Is it to increase its attacking power, increase its mana regeneration, or…"
As a magic circle started to appear in front of Dane"s right palm, Dane thought for a bit before responding with, "Create a hybrid groove on the blade that can increase the user"s mana regeneration, as well as their perceptivity towards elemental particles."
"Got it." With Dane"s input, Kelsey easily formulated a blueprint for the blade she was going to craft, placing the Spirit Star Steel into the furnace as she fanned the flames, allowing the temperature of the furnace to reach greater heights.
While Kelsey was starting to melt the Spirit Star Steel, Dane was bringing out the full properties of the Gale Dragon Wood, especially the incomplete soul found within the piece of wood he bought.
"With this incomplete soul, this will allow the Ninth Prince to cast more Level 3 and Level 4 spells from the [Wind Dragon"s Four Forms] spell I created." With this thought in mind, Dane started to chant the words needed to do just that.
"2nd Circle. Aule Supris Vitalis Singulus. Nihil Opse Trigitas Maximus."
"Soul Siphon."
Swoooooshhh…
As a sucking sound started to softly reverberate around Dane"s surroundings, a small shriek coming from the Gale Dragon Wood could be heard, which made Dane happy as he knew that this shriek came from the incomplete soul found in the Gale Dragon Wood.
Pinpointing the location of the incomplete soul of the Gale Dragon Wood, he then used a large amount of his mana to affix this soul in a certain spot as he casted another magic circle.
"1st Circle. Gravitas Supris Widus."
"Soul Scatter — Gravitas."
Swiiiishhh…
Not long after, a sound akin to what one could hear when a breeze pa.s.ses by could be heard as the vitality of the incomplete soul was scattered all throughout the Gale Dragon Wood, allowing the aura of the Gale Dragon Wood to be increased by a few notches.
He then carved a few grooves on the Gale Dragon Wood, taking the incomplete soul and the blade that was still going through forging into consideration, as he wanted to maximize the effect of the grooves that he was going to imbue mana into.
Looking at the grooves he carved on the Gale Dragon Wood, he could not help but let out a sigh of enjoyment. Just as he was about to look at what Kelsey was doing, Kelsey asked Dane, "Since this is a magic blade that you and I, two great beings within the Seraph Kingdom would craft, don"t you think that it should have an overbearing name like Super Ultra Wind G.o.d Slayer or Zenith Tempest Devourer?"
Dane could not help but shudder after hearing the names Kelsey suggested. As he gradually infused mana into the Gale Dragon Wood, he could not help but think up of a good name for the magic blade. "You know what Kelsey, you"re right. The first name you gave is slightly garbage while the second one is decent but…"
"Hey! How dare you call my names garbage!" Kelsey could not help but puff her cheeks from anger. Nonetheless, Kelsey decided to take Dane"s name for this weapon they were going to craft. "So, what name shall it have?"
Dane closed his eyes for a bit before opening them up with a flame of firm determination within them.
"Let"s call the blade…Magnus Tempestria."
Dane obtained his inspiration from an old book he read about one of the ancient languages of Erudinia, where Magnus meant "best", and Tempestria meant well…"tempest".
"Magnus Tempestria…"
"Dane, you have a naming sense that"s worse than mine!"
"…"
Within the Tempest Cliff where the Tempest Branch Alliance"s base resides. Within it lies a small ecosystem where a building named the Sparring Tower exists. Inside the Sparring Tower was a secluded room where a coc.o.o.n made out of Wind energy particles could be seen.
This coc.o.o.n was the sh.e.l.l protecting the insides of the currently evolving Aurus. It has been 3 days since Aurus started to evolve from grade to S-grade. During these 3 days, the aura that the coc.o.o.n emanated had intensified by a few times. Not only that, the body that was being molded for Aurus was now different from before. If his previous bodies were all bodies that resembled sticks and branches, this time, it was more akin to a rough wooden sculpture of a human.
Indeed, a rough wooden sculpture of a human. Since the Animas that made up Aurus" body were semicorporeal and flxeible, this meant that Aurus could pretty much take up any shape while he was an grade Inanimate. Nonetheless, he stuck with his branchy body throughout all that, save for a few times where he had to use it.
This time, Aurus" body was now leaning towards a humanoid shape, which meant that Aurus" previous branch body could not accommodate the skills that his S-grade evolution would give him, and a humanoid shape would allow him to use those skills better.
Amidst all this, a faint white energy enveloped each and every Anima that made up Aurus" body as the aura his body emanated gradually intensified as time pa.s.sed, increasing the aura that the coc.o.o.n radiated.
A few minutes later, something magical happened.
The coc.o.o.n that covered Aurus" body started to form cracks, which hastily became bigger as Aurus" new body was brought to light. But rather than breaking apart and dissipating into thin air, this coc.o.o.n made out of Wind energy particles decided to head towards Aurus" body, which was absorbed by his body subconsciously. Gradually, the coc.o.o.n that covered Aurus" body disappeared, revealing a humanoid shaped Aurus that looked like a rough wooden sculpture, yet at the same time like a smooth marble sculpture due to the white energy that covered each and every Anima on Aurus" body.
A few seconds after the coc.o.o.n dissipated…
Aurus opened his sense of vision.