It didn't take long before he sensed a presence, and as he opened his eyes, he spotted the burly figure of Master Mardoc approaching, the man giving him a firm nod.
"Good you're here, lad."
His gaze drifted to the cracked section of Sangrelia protruding from Mikael's back, "Follow me."
Mikael wordlessly fell into step behind him, and in this way, the two men began to make their way deeper into the building, as they walked, the surroundings gradually took on a darkened hue and the temperature continued to rise rapidly, reaching a point where even Mikael began to sweat.
Soon enough, after turning around a corner, a door marked with a 'Master Mardoc Forging Room' tag came into view, and without wasting time, they entered, with Master Mardoc leading the way.
'Hot!'
That was the first thought that crossed Mikael's mind as he stepped through the door, and at that moment, the heat inside the room was genuinely uncomfortable for him, even with his cultivation base and his Ninefold Physique Method, otherwise it would have been far, far worse.
Mardoc raised an eyebrow, 'This lad is genuinely impressive, I was expecting him to have difficulty enduring the heat considering his weak cultivation base, especially since this room is adapted to 6th-layer Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivators and above, but…'
He glanced at Mikael's expression, which, aside from a few beads of sweat forming on his skin, hadn't changed at all, 'He can endure it,' he thought, genuinely surprised, before giving a mental shrug, 'All the better, that way I won't have to lower the heat in the room and complicate the forging process unnecessarily.'
Meanwhile, Mikael eyed the room, which had everything a blacksmith could dream of and more, from formation-engraved anvils and neatly arranged forging hammers to racks of spirit metals and rare beastbone fragments.
All of it resting in silence beneath the steady glow of array-lit torches, and at its center burned a forge powered not by coal, but by a glowing essence crystal, its heat dense and constant, the air around it humming faintly with Fire Qi.
Clap.
Master Mardoc suddenly clapped his hands, capturing Mikael's attention, "Okay lad, I know our first meeting didn't go the… best, but we're here to repair your longsword, so let's focus on that, okay?"
Mikael gave him a small nod.
"Excellent," murmured Master Mardoc before making his way toward an obsidian worktable, cluttered with half-melted ingots and broken weapon parts scattered across the worktable and floor.
With a wave of his hand, everything on and around the stone worktable vanished into his storage ring, following which he turned to Mikael, "Place your sword here."
Even though he disliked this Master Mardoc for what he had said about Sangrelia a week ago, Mikael knew it was for his loyal sword's good, so he ignored his distaste and obediently placed her on the worktable.
Master Mardoc leaned forward before examining Sangrelia attentively, carefully eyeing her, running a finger along the length of her edge, gently tapping her blade while listening to the sound produced to assess her 'internal state'.
A serious expression appeared on his visage as he proceeded to wrap his Divine Sense around her cracked form, remaining in this position for a couple of seconds before turning to look at Mikael.
"Alright lad, the results from my detailed examination match what I discovered during my quick analysis a week ago—your sword destroyed itself from the inside in a strange manner I've never seen before, which caused tremendous internal damage."
He traced a finger along the length of Sangrelia's cracked form, "You see these cracks?" and without waiting for an answer, continued, "These are actually the lightest of the damages your sword suffered, the real problem lies within, the metal has become extremely brittle and is nearly entirely destroyed."
"Your sword's real state is far worse than what it outwardly shows, a little exertion of force and it could be permanently destroyed, beyond repair."
'Sangrelia… you really… sacrificed a lot for me,' thought Mikael, his heart aching as he eyed her cracked form for a moment, before his gaze turned extremely serious and landed on Mardoc, he hesitated just briefly before speaking, his voice less steady than earlier,
"I-it should be repairable, right, you said s-so earlier?" he asked, a dangerous edge in his voice, an edge that masked the hint of desperation creeping in.
Mardoc nodded without reacting to the tone, either not hearing it or simply choosing to ignore it, "I can totally repair it, and with my skills it shouldn't be too hard…" his gaze drifted toward Sangrelia's cracked form, "...it's a special case, and I've never seen anything even remotely similar, but with my skill, I'm one hundred percent confident I can repair it."
The hint of a smile appeared on Mikael's previously ice-cold visage as he heard this piece of excellent news—honestly, if even this Master Mardoc hadn't been able to repair Sangrelia, he would have been at a complete loss, because from what he knew, the man was one of the best blacksmiths in the entire Sect…
His gentle gaze landed on Sangrelia, 'It seems you will be "complete" once again soon enough!' he thought, joy erupting in his previously worried heart.
At that moment, even the once-burning temperature of the place seemed to lose some of its heat, and even Master Mardoc—toward whom he harbored not only dislike but even killing intent—suddenly appeared less… hateable, and for a brief instant, he momentarily forgot his hostility toward him, the joy of knowing that Sangrelia could be repaired overwhelming everything else.
But then—
Master Mardoc continued to speak, "It's just…"
'Just!?' Mikael's heart turned cold as the master blacksmith went on, each word dragging on like an eternity.
"…That I don't think I'll be able to repair it to the same degree it was before being critically damaged."
"What do you mean?" Mikael asked coldly.
Master Mardoc shook his head as he gave Mikael a curious look, "Honestly lad, I don't know how you got this sword, because it's truly unique, the craftsmanship…"
An excited glint appeared in the blacksmith's eyes as he threw another glance at Sangrelia, "...is the best I've ever seen, it's truly a masterpiece, and even with my skills, I don't think I can replicate it at 100%. At most, the sword would be 80-90% similar, but it wouldn't reach the same level as before—purely in terms of craftsmanship, I have to admit I'm not as good as the master who forged it."
As he spoke those words, a pained expression crossed Master Mardoc's face; it was clear that it almost physically hurt him to 'damage' a weapon of such excellence. He even threw an annoyed glance at Mikael, blaming him silently for having damaged a masterpiece like Sangrelia.
A glance that Mikael didn't even register, as flashes of the moments that had led to his Partial Enlightenment were currently passing through his mind.
He remembered it all—the muddiness clouding his thoughts, the blood spraying around him, the pain and poison coursing through his body, and… Sangrelia, burning through it all, silently sacrificing herself to help him, all for him, she had been ready to give everything.
It passed through his mind in an instant, but to him, that brief moment felt like a violent electric shock, as he recalled the reason behind his worry for her, even letting out a small sigh of relief, '80-90% of her capabilities will be restored… it's bad, but… at least it's not the worst-case scenario,' he thought, feeling a mix of relief, guilt, and something indescribable.
His fingers neared Sangrelia's blade before stopping just short of touching her, 'I was so, soo close to losing you, wasn't I?' he thought, somewhat melancholic, before refocusing on reality, his gaze rising to meet Mardoc's 'accusing' one.
His mouth opened, about to speak, but then something hit him like a thundershock, 'Her spirit!' he thought, his eyes bulging in shock and dread.
His gaze, now filled with seriousness, locked onto Master Mardoc, "For the repairing process, it won't damage her spirit, right?"
Master Mardoc's heart skipped a beat as he heard the word 'spirit', "Lad, did you just say 'spirit'!?" he asked seriously, an excited glint flashing in his eyes.
Mikael gave a small nod—he knew, from Master Mardoc's reaction and his own limited knowledge of the Cultivation World, that a sword… or any weapon, really, having a spirit was a big deal, but he wasn't about to hide it.
Especially not when it could potentially affect the repairing process, and he didn't want anything to happen to Sangrelia just because he had the 'brilliant' idea of hiding the fact that his longsword had actually begun to develop spirituality.
Master Mardoc began to tremble as he looked toward the ground, "N-no wonder this lad used a 'her' to describe it… it's because she has developed a spirit!" he murmured to himself, excitement coursing through his body.
With hurried steps, he quickly moved toward a shelf, from which he retrieved a small flask containing a purple swirling liquid that glowed faintly and radiated an ethereal aura, making it appear as if it existed both on the material plane and outside of it at the same time.
"This, lad, is a bottle of Spirit Preserving Liquid—a special substance used in forging involving a weapon that has developed spirituality, to preserve the spirit and ensure that it doesn't dissipate during the forging process."
Clink.
He gently placed the flask beside Sangrelia, on the obsidian worktable, before turning to look at Mikael, an excited glint in his eyes, "It's excessively precious, even among Core Formation-ranked treasures it remains rare, and normally, I would never use something like this casually, especially not for a forging process I'm doing for free, no matter how interesting the weapon might be…"
He threw a glance at Sangrelia, "But your sword… is fascinating, not only is the craftsmanship excellent beyond belief, but it's also developed a sword spirit…"
"Seeing something like that, what kind of blacksmith would I be if I refused to forge it and didn't use every means available to me to reforge it? It's exactly the kind of task that helps develop one's own forging skills!"
He explained to Mikael, because from his experience, if somebody thought you were being generous with them for no reason, they would undoubtedly grow wary of you, but if he made his interest clear, then everything would change and they would understand, which would lead to them dropping their guard and not annoying him during the forging process…
'I see!' a light of understanding appeared in Mikael's mind at the same time as a hint of gratitude was born in his heart, no matter Master Mardoc's reason, the truth was that it would help Sangrelia, and that was all that mattered.
He then forced himself to push through the discomfort and pride that lingered in his heart to perform a deep, thankful bow, "Thank you, Senior, for your magnanimity."
"Oohohohohohooohoho, no need lad, we all gain from this," laughed Master Mardoc.
Mikael ignored Mardoc's words and remained in position for several long and uncomfortable seconds before he slowly rose, and as his head lifted, his expression remained calm and composed just like before, perfectly masking the discomfort in his heart—but if it was for Sangrelia's good, he could endure it.
'This lad ain't that bad,' thought Master Mardoc to himself as he eyed Mikael, who had respectfully called him 'Senior'.
Author Note:
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———
Lots of things happened in this chapter at the same time of nothing much happening.
Sangrelia 'burning herself' put her in a truly awful state, who would have thought?
At the same time we saw that the craftsmanship of the sword that Mikael 'casually' picked up in the Dwarf World is awesome which is normal after all it's dwarf against cultivators' forging techniques, so…
It make senses that from a craftmanship side of things and how well forged was Sangrelia that the dwarf are far better, of course cultivators are able to create far higher end swords or weapon but it more a scenario of 'brute forcing it' in a way compared to the meticulous crafting of a scientific method or the way dwarf did things.
At the same time we also saw Mikael gets somewhat emotional, I don't know how well I did it as this is kinda weird to write for Mikael so feedback would be appreciated on this point.
———
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— End of Chapter —